Another G&E 1928 Gould & Eberhardt 20" Standard Shaper Saved

[blaXmith]

Living in North Central Nebraska we're in a machine desert being so far from rail and river shipping we still don't have much for heavy industry up here. So whenever a decent size machine becomes available I'm usually at least interested in looking at it. A couple weeks ago I was able to get the winning bid on a 20" G&E shaper only about 250 miles away. Got it home now and am cleaning it up, it's all free and moving and surprisingly doesn't show much for wear from hard use. I didn't have the serial number until getting it home, it is serial number 701A2. In what little I understand about their serial numbers it appears that this was the last machine produced in 1928 with only one shaper being produced in 1929. Does anyone have better or more understanding of the serial number sequence? Also as far as I see we don't really have a good understanding of the meaning of the suffix(number following A) today, is that correct?

 

[ncjeeper]

It is good you got the shaper complete with the vise and handles.

 

[johnoder]

Most of the G&E products are suffix A in my 1975 serial book

 

[Ohio Mike]

I didn't have the serial number until getting it home, it is serial number 701A2. In what little I understand about their serial numbers it appears that this was the last machine produced in 1928 with only one shaper being produced in 1929. Does anyone have better or more understanding of the serial number sequence? Also as far as I see we don't really have a good understanding of the meaning of the suffix(number following A) today, is that correct?

I believe you are correct. I haven't seen any additional data.

 

[blaXmith]

It is good you got the shaper complete with the vise and handles.

In my opinion the vise was worth at least as much as I paid for the whole machine. Came with a couple of tool holders and a couple of the square drive cranks. One very large cast wrench that doesn't actually fit anything currently with it but may have been original. No lantern tool post with it however I had one from my old Nebel lathe that was a perfect fit somehow. Also unfortunately the vise handle wasn't with it.

 

[wood2steel]

Congrats on the G/E shaper! Not many smaller units like that around these days. Had to walk away from a 36" in Anniston a few years ago. That was a real beast! Haa! It made my 16" Lodge and Shipley Lathe look small sitting next to it. As far as I know, that one is still sitting in the same building.
Interestingly, I am supposed to be picking up what I believe is the same model you have there in the next month or so; sadly I'll have to drive only 4 1/2 miles across town to get to it!!
This one has been stored inside a building for the last 20 + years so hopefully it will not require as heavy amount of cleaning as you're facing. Such a joy to watch these old clunkers come back to life. Send a PM sometime, and I'll reach out to you when I get my hands on the machine and we can compare notes. Good Luck!
Johnny

 

[blaXmith]

Congrats on the G/E shaper! Not many smaller units like that around these days. Had to walk away from a 36" in Anniston a few years ago. That was a real beast! Haa! It made my 16" Lodge and Shipley Lathe look small sitting next to it. As far as I know, that one is still sitting in the same building.
Interestingly, I am supposed to be picking up what I believe is the same model you have there in the next month or so; sadly I'll have to drive only 4 1/2 miles across town to get to it!!
This one has been stored inside a building for the last 20 + years so hopefully it will not require as heavy amount of cleaning as you're facing. Such a joy to watch these old clunkers come back to life. Send a PM sometime, and I'll reach out to you when I get my hands on the machine and we can compare notes. Good Luck!
Johnny

Sounds like you have a great find there. It'll be interesting to find out your machine age, features etc. Over the weekend I was able to complete cleaning out the gearbox sump on mine. I can say that it was the nastiest machine cleanup that I've ever done and I've recovered quite a few older machines. Due to the fact that these older shapers are open top they fill up with a lot of junk. I was able to get the oil pump screen out and cleaned as well as scooping out all of the old chips and dirt. It was worth the effort. I then filled the sump with diesel and powered it up for a first run and flush. It appears that everything flushed and ran well at this point.

 

[wood2steel]

Great news!
I've been through a dozen or so of these older extremely grungy machines and am amazed at how well they all performed shorty after the hard work was complete. Just goes to show the incredible Engneering that went into the design almost a 100 yrs ago. Will keep you posted when I get my hands on that machine!
Johnny

 

[rj1939]

All shapers need to be saved. Very nice size and "modern" enough to be handy.

 

[blaXmith]

Living in North Central Nebraska we're in a machine desert being so far from rail and river shipping we still don't have much for heavy industry up here. So whenever a decent size machine becomes available I'm usually at least interested in looking at it. A couple weeks ago I was able to get the winning bid on a 20" G&E shaper only about 250 miles away. Got it home now and am cleaning it up, it's all free and moving and surprisingly doesn't show much for wear from hard use. I didn't have the serial number until getting it home, it is serial number 701A2. In what little I understand about their serial numbers it appears that this was the last machine produced in 1928 with only one shaper being produced in 1929. Does anyone have better or more understanding of the serial number sequence? Also as far as I see we don't really have a good understanding of the meaning of the suffix(number following A) today, is that correct?View attachment 377779View attachment 377780View attachment 377781View attachment 377782

It's not really obvious but if you look near the handle of the compound/tool vertical slide in the first image see if you can see and identify the National Monument in the background. This wasn't staged it's just the image from the auction listing.

 

[svs]

Scott’s Bluff?

I enjoy my G&E 14” universal, but don’t use it so often as I should. Was demonstrating it to visitors this weekend and I’d kinda forgot which lever did what!

 

[rj1939]

I've got to get the downfeed working on my G&E, seems to just be stuck from lack of use. The cam that actuates it is gone too. The tool lifter has been gutted as well.
The Navy ordered it with all the bells and whistles.

Vintage Machinery's Cincinnati Manuals have been very handy for the electric clutch/brake, it looks to be identical. The rheostat let all the smoke out and cooked some wires and it had a crappy patch job on it.............trying to get it back to normal

 

[rj1939]

+1 on the vise.......................if you don't get one with it, they can be a problem to find.

 

[blaXmith]

Scott’s Bluff?

I enjoy my G&E 14” universal, but don’t use it so often as I should. Was demonstrating it to visitors this weekend and I’d kinda forgot which lever did what!

Very near Scott's Bluff but that's not it.

 

[blaXmith]

+1 on the vise.......................if you don't get one with it, they can be a problem to find.

I bet so, I've never come across one separately. This one is a 14" and probably weighs near 200#s. I lifted it off to clean and then put it back on last night by hand, I did't hurt myself but I should't have lifted it.

 

[blaXmith]

I've got to get the downfeed working on my G&E, seems to just be stuck from lack of use. The cam that actuates it is gone too. The tool lifter has been gutted as well.
The Navy ordered it with all the bells and whistles.

Vintage Machinery's Cincinnati Manuals have been very handy for the electric clutch/brake, it looks to be identical. The rheostat let all the smoke out and cooked some wires and it had a crappy patch job on it.............trying to get it back to normal

Sounds like yours is quite a bit more modern than this one. This one only has power feed on the cross feed. The tool holder doesn't lift per-se just floats and falls by gravity. As far as electric goes just a start/stop plus someone had set this one up with a jog button that doesn't lock the motor starter, so far that has been more useful than I thought it would be given that it has a clutch/brake handle.

 

[rj1939]

Sounds like yours is quite a bit more modern than this one. This one only has power feed on the cross feed. The tool holder doesn't lift per-se just floats and falls by gravity. As far as electric goes just a start/stop plus someone had set this one up with a jog button that doesn't lock the motor starter, so far that has been more useful than I thought it would be given that it has a clutch/brake handle.

The G&E is a 1964 model, says G&E/Norton on the ram, they were together for a brief time apparently. I never expected to find one that new, let alone 12 miles away...............couldn't really afford it at the time, but bought it anyway.

The only one I am currently using is an old 1919 ATW 15 inch It wasn't even all there when I bought it, but I have fabbed what it needed, have an insane amount of effort into it, but that is the curse I live with. Maybe this winter I can get the G&E electrical control back like it should be.

 

[blaXmith]

Been making some progress here and there. Currently having some trouble getting oil to flow freely through the lower pins on the rocker arm and link. I can blow air through the passage but no oil flow yet. The way oil supply is routed on this machine it passes through the lower pin hinge points and then on up to the top rocker arm to ram pin and then down to the crank pin and sliding block. To get them oiled for now I added in another line, a flexible one though as this one will flex with each stroke. This must be a common issue as I was able to pick up a kit with everything to do the job at the local farm store. They're sold under the name of "ice maker installation kit"... I don't get that but whatever... Once I had good oil flow I made a few first chips, worked my way to a .040 depth of cut .010 step-over in an A36 bar. Will have to do more adjusting and get a proper grind on a tool to get more than that.

 

[rj1939]

Shoot some carb cleaner into the various lines and let it set overnight. Might dissolve years of crud and dried oil...............your compressed air might be more effective then.

I've got an old 30 inch one that has drip oilers on the ram to oil the sliding block