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I'm looking at buying this shaper, and I'm in highschool. I don't have much money and I want to know if it's worth it $700 and it's 2.5 hours away so gas is getting up there too. Just figured I would ask the pros... Thanks!!!
I have a Seneca falls lathe with a 10" swing it has a lot of chatter that I'm chasing to remove. I plan on making some quick change tool posts and machine vises for stuff on the shaper1. What do you plan to do with it?
2. Do you have space to set it up and use it?
My gut says a lathe would be a better place to start. But I don't know what equipment you have/have access to or what you plan to do with it so... ???
If you get it, use good sense in moving it. The late thirties catalog says the 20 standard weighed 4800 before they ever put the motor on it. If it turns out to be the 20 Heavy, add another 1000 Lbs.
Thumbnails are the first 5 of 8 pages from 1938 I scanned some time ago
I'm in upstate NY, he says he's charging scrap for it but I don't think I can get it for that much but idk.A big shaper like that goes for scrap iron price in my part of the country. But location makes a huge difference in old machinery pricing.
Budget, we would need much more in terms of details and photos to give you any helpful advice. Overall condition, size, included tooling and other goodies will all factor into a reasonable price to pay.
Tom B.
Budget, we would need much more in terms of details and photos to give you any helpful advice. Overall condition, size, included tooling and other goodies will all factor into a reasonable price to pay.
Tom B.
I see you are young. You can bet on many moves in your life. That one will be a stone bitch to move.
I'd suggest a Bridgeport slotter attachment to put on your mill. Even if you have not bought a mill yet.
I think it's very unlikely that anybody else is going to give the seller $700 for a WWII vintage shaper that weighs upwards of three tons, especially when he has no way to load it. I don't care how much it's worth in scrap, by the time the guy disassembles it to be able to load and haul it to the scrap yard, he's going to lose money on it anyway. I'd say somewhere between free and $250 would be a completely reasonable offer.
I'll over-generalize just to make a point. Please humor me.
There are basically two types of folks that frequent and contribute to this board, those that are or were pros and feed their families via their skills and creativity through the use of these machines and the rest of us. If you are a pro, you need to assign value to these machines based primarily on their utility. If you are a hobbyist, you can assign value based on the amount of satisfaction you derive from buying, refurbishing and using these pieces of history. Most pros will tell you that while a shaper can still do some jobs better than other machines, they are not worth the space they take up and therefore have no commercial value. In my opinion you need to assign the value of something like a shaper based on your personal circumstances. Buying massive obsolete machine tools is by definition irrational so don't try to rationalize it. Like anything, it is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
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