20" Steptoe Shaper Rebuild. Help needed.

[wordsmith07]

New to me 20" John Steptoe Co. Shaper that appears different than those I have found inline. Electric motor and multispeed gearbox appear factory since attaching mounts etc. are cast iron. 3 phase motor drives gearbox with two v-belts and output of gearbox drives mainshaft with flat belt on single sized pulley. There is a two speed internal (back gear) handle on rear of main casting. The main "clutch" is handle behind handwheel used to inch and postion ram. No photos I have found show this. Power crossfeed is adjustable by cam action on stroke. Further inspection on vertical table feed shaft shows keyed shaft which allows one to swap gear at rear on cross drive to vertical drive to power table up and down.
Clutch engages by cam on arm but when released it continues to run and cannot be stopped safely by holding handwheel. If started from stop, onr can hold handwheel to prevent main shaft turning and will idle until engaged, I would think there would be a brake of some sort but cannot find one. Photos in the Steptoe booklet being sold online does not have this type setup. Any help identifying date of mfg etc would be appreciated. Cannot find serial number and left front of ram has company ID tag from "B&E Tool and Die Co." #32 and Vise has same tag #33. Serial number may be under tag.

 

[tailstock4]

Nice looking shaper.

I have a 14” Smith & Mills that is real similar to what you have. I know Smith & Mills and Steptoe had some history together. I believe either Smith or Mills at one time worked for the John Steptoe Company but split as seems to be pretty common in those early days.

My shaper had an oil can and the oil system for the internals was all gravity fed. I converted it to a reservoir with a pump. What kind of oil system is on yours?

Power on mine comes from a 2 hp 1,200 rpm motor and instead of a belt, Smith & Mills used a large gear reduction ahead of the clutch. I think they experimented with a few ways to power these early shapers as the line-drive era was drawing to a close. Just a guess.

I’ve posted pictures of my machine and a link to a post that includes more information about it along with a discussion about its age in case you want to compare more.

Heres's the link: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/age-of-smith-mills-shaper-and-some-pictures.400662/

I also have a book by Kenneth Cope titled “American Planer, Shaper and Slotter Builders” (2002). I’ve includes some pages that include comments on the history of Smith & Mills and Steptoe.

 

[wordsmith07]

Nice looking shaper.

I have a 14” Smith & Mills that is real similar to what you have. I know Smith & Mills and Steptoe had some history together. I believe either Smith or Mills at one time worked for the John Steptoe Company but split as seems to be pretty common in those early days.

My shaper had an oil can and the oil system for the internals was all gravity fed. I converted it to a reservoir with a pump. What kind of oil system is on yours?

Mine has zero oil provisions other than gits oil caps in no less than 24 places...Internal gearing is done with smearing grease. If I were to run oil lines to each gits cap it would look like spaghetti covering it. Possibly a later design project. Base ( like yours) is open. Your shaper is awesome and nice details! I plant to move this to my metal shop from its WW spot now and play with it. I have another restoration project ahead of it Hopefully in a year or so I can get it looking more like yours.

 

[wordsmith07]

Found serial number under the grease on top of the ram States "Ser No 1288" Hope someone has an idea of date of mfg. Motor tag is 3 phase 2 hp and found another add on tag under paint on door.

 

[cretedog]

New to me 20" John Steptoe Co. Shaper that appears different than those I have found inline. Electric motor and multispeed gearbox appear factory since attaching mounts etc. are cast iron. 3 phase motor drives gearbox with two v-belts and output of gearbox drives mainshaft with flat belt on single sized pulley. There is a two speed internal (back gear) handle on rear of main casting. The main "clutch" is handle behind handwheel used to inch and postion ram. No photos I have found show this. Power crossfeed is adjustable by cam action on stroke. Further inspection on vertical table feed shaft shows keyed shaft which allows one to swap gear at rear on cross drive to vertical drive to power table up and down.
Clutch engages by cam on arm but when released it continues to run and cannot be stopped safely by holding handwheel. If started from stop, onr can hold handwheel to prevent main shaft turning and will idle until engaged, I would think there would be a brake of some sort but cannot find one. Photos in the Steptoe booklet being sold online does not have this type setup. Any help identifying date of mfg etc would be appreciated. Cannot find serial number and left front of ram has company ID tag from "B&E Tool and Die Co." #32 and Vise has same tag #33. Serial number may be under tag.

Some scans from Steptoe Catalog #30 attached. Enjoy.

 

[morsetaper2]

Found serial number under the grease on top of the ram States "Ser No 1288" Hope someone has an idea of date of mfg. Motor tag is 3 phase 2 hp and found another add on tag under paint on door.

That "number" doesn't match up to what is listed in my S/N books. See photo below. I used to have a late model 14" Steptoe and the S/N was stamped on the top of the ram (like yours) and it did have a similar format to that shown in the S/N book. Although mine was from 1969. Yours looks early, may have been OH belt driven from the factory. And the elec drive setup made as a later modification. Serials may have been done different on "early" models.

I was actually able to get a copy of the build card for mine from someone on this forum who managed to salvage some records from a dumpster at the auction/disposal of the remaining Steptoe-Western asset auction. Was 20-ish years ago.

 

[morsetaper2]

Am now recalling... There are some differences between "John Steptoe" shapers, and the later "Steptoe-Western" shapers. So S/N format likely re-giggled when Steptoe became part of Western. Find out when that happened, and yours is probably before that date.

 

[wordsmith07]

Some scans from Steptoe Catalog #30 attached. Enjoy.

Awesome Thanks!

 

[wordsmith07]

That "number" doesn't match up to what is listed in my S/N books. See photo below. I used to have a late model 14" Steptoe and the S/N was stamped on the top of the ram (like yours) and it did have a similar format to that shown in the S/N book. Although mine was from 1969. Yours looks early, may have been OH belt driven from the factory. And the elec drive setup made as a later modification. Serials may have been done different on "early" models.

I was actually able to get a copy of the build card for mine from someone on this forum who managed to salvage some records from a dumpster at the auction/disposal of the remaining Steptoe-Western asset auction. Was 20-ish years ago.

Thanks so much. Yes I think it is an earlier model and electric drive might have been a package sold later for the model with new gear reduction assembly and cast mounting . (No welded plates/arms as a shop built assy.)

 

[wordsmith07]

Some scans from Steptoe Catalog #30 attached. Enjoy.

These are great and closest photos to what I have,, Thanks!