GEMCO 24" Standard Shaper

OK, its all over but the sweating to move the machine. Check has cleared the bank, sale is complete.

That said, I now have a few questions to those who may have information, or own, one of these machines.

Plan is, that as soon as the shaper is safely ensconced in my shop and leveled, I will clean it of all surface rust, dirt, and dried oil. Whilst doing that nasty little chore, I will also familiarize myself with the machine, and look for any obvious deficiencies, repairing as needed, along with installing new power cord and plug.

At that point, I will want to change the oil and clean the filter. I do not expect to have any problems with the filter, as I have done a little reading on CUNO filters. Changing the oil, and cleaning the sump will probably be a messy job, but if the machine is start its new life out fresh, this step is necessary.

Question is: what type of oil do these critters take? Also, approximately how much?

Further, I would also like to have a copy of the instruction/owners manual and parts list. There is a guy on E-fillet selling copies for a whopping $75. At this point, I am not ready to lay out that kind of bread for a copied manual.

Thanks folks!

JDLeach,

Consider draining the sump before you bring it into your shop, possibly using a suction pump as used to drain automobile differential housings.

Consider doing the clean-up before placing and leveling the shaper.

A hose connected directly to the drain cock on your hot water heater can do useful work. The hot water cuts oil faster and the heat helps it to dry before rust starts.

If you could take it to a place that steam-cleans automobile engines, they could make short work of cleaning the inside. (Not many of these places still in operation these days due to water pollution regulations.)

John Ruth

Just in the process of doing the same thing to the same machine. On mine there is a drain on the left hand side. The plug is in the base and the fill is just above it on the lower column. These guys take 30 wgt circulating oil such as Mobil DTE heavy. Don't use detergent oils. Definitely easier to catch all 5 plus gallons of oil if you have it jacked up a bit. I don't favor water based cleaning on machine tools, but YMMV. Cleaning machines is about the only thing WD40 is good for.

I found about an inch and a half of sludge in the sump, so you might consider opening up the cover to get access to that.

on edit: These shapers have a tendency to collect chips down between the column and the cross rail. Eventually the accumulation will foul the elevating nut. Some people here have put covers over the back of the back of the cross rail. If you hear anything crunchy when you operate the elevating crank, pull the cross rail and clean it. Might as well cover it too while you are there.

Good luck on the move.

Here's a brochure:

Gemco Metal Shaper Brochure

ALWAYS open the side. You are going to want to see the crank pin block that slides up and down in the slot in the vertical arm is FOR CERTAIN getting oiled.

I was just eyeballing this area today on the 36" Ohio. Having a little intermittent oil delivery for some yet to be determined reason.

Thank you one and all for the replies.

Nick: Already have the sales brochure, need the manual now. When this machine was first posted (the Craigs List ad), someone was kind enough to point the link out, and I downloaded it.

As for the side cover, that will probably be the first thing I open up. After flushing and cleaning the sump and filling with oil, I want to start the drive motor and check for good oiling. The brochure gives a basic run-down on how the Lubrigard system works, where the oil is pumped to, and where it is supplied by either drip or spray. I want to make sure that it is performing as it should.

Only after I am thoroughly satisfied all is as it should be, will I then throw the clutch lever. Although the machine was relatively recently used, I figure that in addition to the oil change, I will also need to clean or replaced a few wipers, and possibly a wick. The brochure mentions a couple wicks that supply oil to the ram pivots and a couple other places. I want to be sure those wicks have not gotten hard and plugged.

Jdleach,

First off, congratulations on a great shaper find!

Second, I use Mobile DTE light because of my unheated shop conditions:

Mobil DTE Oil Named Series

Now, I might get flamed a bit for this next point, but I also add a bit of ZDDP additive in the shaper sump. Zinc Dialkyldithiophophates are helpful at preventing scuffing/galling of cam lobes and tappet faces in flat tappet (non-roller tappet) engines with metal-to-metal sliding surfaces. I've seen that galling effect on cam lobes and tappet faces of older engines (pre catalytic converter period) when they were switched to modern non-ZDDP oils by unknowing owners. Not pretty.

Synthetic Oil | ZDDP

Our shapers have lots of metal-to-metal sliding surfaces (and no catalytic converter concerns), so my view is that a little ZDDP can't hurt and could be very helpful at maintaining a protective hydrostatic layer of oil film during high load cutting periods.

Just some food for thought from a stranger on the interweb - worth every bit of the $0.000237 you paid for it!

Best,

Bob (snake oil flame suit ON!)

Zinc additives are probably not a bad idea at all. Iin fact, that link will probably have me swapping to high mileage Mobil in my vehicles for that reason alone (my Volvo wagon only has 360,000 miles on it now). I almost ended up with a GEMCO 16HD, which is nearly identical to the 24. One feature I clearly remember was the interlock that prevented the clutch handle being engaged if there was not full oil pressure in the system. Should be no need for a remnant hydrostatic film in that case. Congrats on the shaper score, jdleach!

I use Mobil DTE 24 which is the same thing as a good AW-32 oil. My small shaper and my mentor's huge Cinci shaper both like Warne Brand AW-32 oil, which is available for $28 a 5 gallon bucket at a good independent auto parts house or a good indy ag supply store.

Kerosene works well for cleaning and flushing the system. I would avoid using any water at all.

Many thanks to Andrew, alias mpmar_bt, who was gracious by sending me a zipped file of the GEMCO manual and parts list. Just need to do a little cropping, de-skewing, and touch-up to get it quite presentable.

Will probably use kerosene to de-gunk the sump. Kerosene has the nice properties of cleaning well, low volatility, and tends to not eat paint.

Was supposed to go out to the Shop today to do a little work, but ended up sleeping late. I do some volunteer work around town, and we had our annual Block Party concert where the city center is closed off, and three stages are set up for bands of different genres to play. Last evening there were a total of 12 bands performing, and by the time the Arts Council (and myself as volunteer) got the area cleaned up, and everything packed away, it was near 3:00 AM.

This old dude was pooped.