Smith and Mills Co. 16 inch shaper saved from scapper at the last minute

cb1 · May 10, 2016

All,

Just the other day I lamented on my score at an auction of a lathe after a bidding war with the scapper (not much of a war), and not getting the old metal shaper. Well today I went and picked up the lathe and long story short, the scrapper happened to be there and I gave him 150 for the shaper.

Smith & Mills Co. 16"

Any idea where the serial number is on this beauty?

What are the expectation with this, i.e, what can I do with it. I'll be watching some video'

s!

Thanks,

cb1

cb1 · May 10, 2016

Some more pictures

cb1 · May 10, 2016

cb1 · May 10, 2016

And the best pic of all!!!!!

[486] · May 10, 2016

Interesting, looks to be very similar in vintage to my 12" plain backgeared S&M. Yours appears to be the model where they just had a step pulley on the bull gear's pinion, of course later modified to include the transmission and electric motor.

The two pads where the outboard table support would later come to be were tapped 9/16-12 on mine. I fabricated up a simple outboard support, and it helps immensely with rigidity. A nice machine to have around when you start to think of where you can use it (and don't have power feed on your milling machine).

As a final parting shot, I'm jealous of that armstrong holder, never seen a "cranked back" one like that, certainly a shaper/planer specific one.

Salem Straub · May 10, 2016

NICE. I am happy for that machine, and for you, that you went back and happened to get it. I was a bit bummed by the scrapper getting it in your other thread....

rj1939 · May 10, 2016

Looks like a homemade clutch of sorts on the pinion shaft...........I'd like some close ups of how it works. I'm in the process of doing something along the same lines on an American Tool Works shaper (as time allows)

sfriedberg · May 10, 2016

Now that is a save from the scrapper. Well done.

idacal · May 10, 2016

You mentioned what to do with it in post one. I absolutely love mine Im a well digger and ham handed if it don't move get as bigger hammer. I have broken way many end mills trying to tru up torch cuts have a big mill a cinncinati vertical but a lot of table slop . a shaper is awesome for that I bought a 12 piece lot of big hss off of eBay and have tooling for years. in a shop billing by the part probably a worthless piece of equipment, in a hobby shop or to fix your own parts I don't know how I got along without it. plus I love watching those 16" chips pealing off and chasing the dog around the shop

cb1 · May 11, 2016

[486] said:
Interesting, looks to be very similar in vintage to my 12" plain backgeared S&M. Yours appears to be the model where they just had a step pulley on the bull gear's pinion, of course later modified to include the transmission and electric motor.

The two pads where the outboard table support would later come to be were tapped 9/16-12 on mine. I fabricated up a simple outboard support, and it helps immensely with rigidity. A nice machine to have around when you start to think of where you can use it (and don't have power feed on your milling machine).

As a final parting shot, I'm jealous of that armstrong holder, never seen a "cranked back" one like that, certainly a shaper/planer specific one.

I see that there was a table support when new. Must have been too much trouble to keep with the machine.

johansen · May 11, 2016

idacal said:
You mentioned what to do with it in post one. I absolutely love mine Im a well digger and ham handed if it don't move get as bigger hammer. I have broken way many end mills trying to tru up torch cuts have a big mill a cinncinati vertical but a lot of table slop . a shaper is awesome for that I bought a 12 piece lot of big hss off of eBay and have tooling for years. in a shop billing by the part probably a worthless piece of equipment, in a hobby shop or to fix your own parts I don't know how I got along without it. plus I love watching those 16" chips pealing off and chasing the dog around the shop

torch cuts are hard as hell.. do yourself a favor and buy an angle grinder.

Bateye · May 11, 2016

johansen said:
torch cuts are hard as hell.. do yourself a favor and buy an angle grinder.

A bit OT ,,but I agree with the disc grinder ,,Until I got a Plasma cutter , it's a heap cheaper to run than normal Oxy cutting ,, and although I don't use either to much nowadays ,I have found Plasma cuts easy on mill and shaper compared to the Oxy ones , I'm presuming it because the job doesn't get as hot?
Chris NZ

mark_dingbaum · May 11, 2016

Hi,

I've got a similar Smith & Mills 16". Mine has an electric motor with 4 speed transmission and fabricated chain drive to the bull gear. A previous owner fabricated a front support for mine. If you need any pictures or info, let me know. I suspect our machines are similar vintage.

thanks for the pictures,
mark

[486] · May 11, 2016

cb1 said:
I see that there was a table support when new. Must have been too much trouble to keep with the machine.View attachment 171063

cb1 · May 11, 2016

rj1939 said:
Looks like a homemade clutch of sorts on the pinion shaft...........I'd like some close ups of how it works. I'm in the process of doing something along the same lines on an American Tool Works shaper (as time allows)

I think the clutch may be original and may have been hidden by the flat belt pulleys. Need to see a breakout of an original.

cb1 · May 11, 2016

Location of serial number

Anyone know where the serial number might be on it?

rj1939 · May 11, 2016

cb1 said:
I think the clutch may be original and may have been hidden by the flat belt pulleys. Need to see a breakout of an original.

I was wondering if it had a friction type clutch or just an In/Out setup (a notch type system)

Andy FitzGibbon · May 11, 2016

cb1 said:
I think the clutch may be original and may have been hidden by the flat belt pulleys. Need to see a breakout of an original.

Unlikely. The clutch would have been a flat belt friction unit, mounted to the ceiling or wall.

Andy

Mike C. · May 12, 2016

"As a final parting shot, I'm jealous of that armstrong holder, never seen a "cranked back" one like that, certainly a shaper/planer specific one."

They call it a gooseneck tool holder in my old Audel's book. Puts the tool tip in line with the clapper hinge pivot to eliminate digging in and chatter.

enginebill · May 12, 2016

You can find those tool holders on Ebay once and a while.

Smith and Mills Co. 16 inch shaper saved from scapper at the last minute

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Stainless

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Stainless

Aluminum

Plastic

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Stainless

Diamond

Diamond

Stainless

Similar threads