Atlas 7B shaper restoration

[cnr6400]

Most paints I've used you can do another coat when tacky, but after last coat wait at least a week before handling it, would be my suggestions.

[vdubjunkie]

Seriously everybody, thank you all so much for the kind words, encouragement, and insight.   

Beyond just the fact that it helps encourage me to keep going, and feeling like I'm not making any major mistakes, it also makes it easier to not take shortcuts along the way that I might otherwise.  I'll be sharing everything with you guys!   

I am getting a little bummed though.  With the length of time I'll have to allow these parts to sit, I don't think I should be doing any kind of metal removal out there until I'm all done!     I only have about 4 other projects right now I could be working on.

[Dave Otto]

Simple solution, move the painted parts into the house to finish curing; then continue working on the other pieces. 

Dave

[vdubjunkie]

Simple solution, move the painted parts into the house to finish curing; then continue working on the other pieces. 

Dave

Now that is funny.  It's made even funnier when you know that I am married!   

[wlburton]

Have you made any more progress with the shaper?  I bought one (a 7B) at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago and am in the process of giving it a much needed cleaning.  I'm also stripping three layers of paint off of it and repainting it a very similar color to yours (which seems to have been the original color of this shaper).  I didn't remove the two main shafts since they seem to be fine and I'm working around them as I clean and paint.  I enjoyed your account of your restoration and it's been helpful.  I don't think these things were ever designed to be taken apart!  The photo was taken at the estate sale.

[vdubjunkie]

Oh man, you got the vise and the stand too.  Nice find!   
I'm so glad to hear that it was helpful.  I'd be really curious to hear others accounts of there something was different than mine.

Sorry for the huge delay, but life kept happening.  I've finally been able to get some time in the garage recently and I'm dry fitting everything.  I'll try to get some more pics up shortly!

[vdubjunkie]

Hey again everyone.  Yes, it's basically been seven months since I was doing anything meaningful in the garage with a project.
Within the past few weeks, I've been able to begin doing some dry fitting of components and applying final paint where desired.



The dry fit accomplishes several things.  Obviously, you get a chance to make sure you have all your parts.  Ensuring that everything fits is implied by the name and also quite important.  A deeper reality to fit is that you find things like huge threads with no tap which still need a good cleaning and other such similar things.



I'm already loving the look of the unpainted feed ratchet housing and guard.  I haven't yet decided whether I'll actually polish it.  Right now I'm thinking that's a bit too much bling!   
Maybe you noticed the missing bolt in the flange.  I was certain I had all the big bolts, but I'm just not finding it at this moment.   



Nothing too special here other than I think it's visually stunning.  I've got PLENTY to learn about paint and I honestly don't know what I should expect from a brush, but I thought it turned out quite well overall.



Here was one of my earlier surprises of missing hardware.  Looking back through my pictures, I can see that I was missing one of the grub screws, but I did have three nuts.  I'll have to figure out where I've put those.   



The S7-83A shaft protruding from the side of the frame here has excellent movement.  Since I found no need to try to press off bearings, collars, nor gear, I did have a pretty good shot.  Those huge threads I mentioned earlier, these were what I was thinking of.  When I first tried to start the collar threads, I quickly realized cleaning of the female threads would be absolutely necessary.  More so, I had a hard time imagining how the collar was ever able to occupy that space before.   



Here we are with the cross rail and lift screw attached, as well as the S7-68A disc and gear, with rods and bushings.



Now, with the table installed and the ratchet assembly connected, I'm able to test the vertical and  horizontal movement of the table.  Everything is quite smooth.   



Other than some final fit and finish stuff and some missing hardware, this is one of the few remaining more involved issues.  I don't know why this surface is so badly galled, but I'm currently in the process of making some aluminum soft jaws for the South Bend so I can clean it up.

[vdubjunkie]

Well everybody, it's time for me to consider other's opinions.  The Tool Post Clapper and Swivel Assembly (S7-8AX) was missing one of the 1/4-28 dog-point set screws.  While looking for a replacement (no surprise), I've found it is much easier to find socket, or female hex type screws.

I think it is fair to say that these are an improvement over traditional slotted style.  However, as infrequently as one should have to adjust the gib, if you take the time to do things properly, you should be able to avoid chewing up a slotted screw.

I guess my question is whether anybody feels strongly one way or the other, but also whether anybody knows where in the heck I could find slotted dog-point headless set screws.  If need be, I'm sure I could take it as an opportunity to "make" my own by just cutting the head off a longer screw and turning a dog-point into the tip.

Oh, also, I did find a pretty decent option for the switch replacement.  I'm sure some would argue that I should just mount a big ugly box to the outside of the machine as so many others have done, since accessing this switch late will be problematic.  However, I just cannot bring myself to do that intentionally, when I have the opportunity to make it look right.

https://www.grainger.com/product/CARLING-TECHNOLOGIES-Toggle-Switch-2X464?internalSearchTerm=Toggle+Switch%2C+Number+of+Connections%3A+2%2C+Switch+Function%3A+On%2FOff&suggestConfigId=8&searchBar=true

If anybody knows of a better place to find a switch that looks even closer to original, I'll graciously accept that information.  I believe the original switches had a fairly fat pole with a bit of a ball at the end.

[Dave Otto]

Not sure where you live, but Ace Hardware here in Boise ID has a selection of slotted set screws. Not sure about the 1/4-28 though.

Dave