light duty shaper Delta WWII to about 1980

Hi:

I am considering buying a second hand Delta shaper with a 1/2 inch spindle. This looks to be a very solid semi table top type machine.

How large a spindle can I put on this machine if I am careful and are there larger spindles available for this machine?

Thanks, FRED

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that shaper is a real find...built like a battle ship.....you can reduce 3/4" bore shaper cutters to 1/2" to fit your 1/2"spindle...be careful with large raised panel cutters and you should be fine.....I would not go any larger. Happy woodworking Mike from American Sycamore

Reply to
aswr

Don't multipost--answered in alt.woodworking...

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Fred if you are in the Atlanta area I have one which needs work that you can have for free......

Reply to
mike hide

The largest spindle available for the Delta light-duty shaper is 1/2".

I have a 3/4" spindle for mine, but it's one I made myself. The Delta uses a two-piece spindle - a hollow outer spindle that runs in the bearings with a taper ground in the end, and the interchangeable working spindles that fit into the outer spindle. I made up a solid spindle which replaces both pieces, but requires more work to change.

I feel better running large cutters - such as slip collars with raised panel knives - with the 3/4" spindle, but there are lots of people who run large cutters on the 1/2" spindles.

John Martin

Reply to
John Martin

I have one. I use 3/4" cutters with bushings to fit the 1/2" spindle. I have not found a stub spindle, which I would like to have. Mine is a Rockwell and it is a solid machine. It will raise panels and make doors all day long. :-)

Reply to
Lowell Holmes

I too looked for a long time for a stub spindle .By the time I found one I had found ways around it .

Reply to
mike hide

And pray tell, what would that be? :-) How about traditional sash making as shown in the Delta book "Getting the most out of your Shaper"?

I have used hand tools to make the m&t joints, but the flat top to the spindle would sure make the task easier.

Reply to
Lowell Holmes

Last I knew the stub spindle was still available from Delta. Unfortunately, they no longer make the 1/2" cutters to use w/ it and to date I've found no one else making the undercutter for making the full length tenon.

DAGS and it looks like it too, has been discontinued....looks like no new accessories for the LD shaper are available any longer. I don't know what would happen if needed repair parts...

I had talked briefly w/ one of the custom shaper cutter vendors about making matching sash undercutters for 1/2" spindle to go w/ somebody's existing sash set but never followed up. If there were several here interested, we could probably get a few made for not too bad a cost/unit by amortizing the setup costs across say six or so...

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

...

How about some more on how/what you did, John? Sounds interesting. I had thought about turning a replacement 3/4" to fit the existing, but seemed too flimsy at the base to feel comfortable...

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Mine has a 3/4 listed as an option, but it's no longer available, of course.

Reply to
George

I never saw a 3/4 as an option for the LD shaper going back to about '78 when I bought the first of three...

That would seem way too much for the way they were designed unless as apparently did John, the whole thing were replaced.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

You'll note the taper on your 1/2 is 3/4, I'm sure. Pretty much the same strength if you don't shank it down.

Reply to
George

Don't follow you---there is no taper on the LD shaper replaceable spindles--they're turned down to a small diameter to fit into the fixed portion--don't have it handy but that portion is probably only 3/8". Even though it's held, it just seems too small to me to hang a 3/4" shaft off of...

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Actually, there is a taper there. But it's a locating taper, not a holding one. It's around 45 degrees per side, and very short. The spindles are held more by the short stub, 1/2" diameter or so, that fits inside the hollow spindle. Ignore my measurements - they're guesses from memory.

You're right in that the small holding area of the spindle would make the 3/4" diameter somewhat useless.

For the solid spindle I made, I started with a piece of axle from the junkyard. Annealed it in the fireplace. Removed the hollow spindle from the shaper (large nut under pulley, then pulley and round key). On one end of the axle I duplicated the hollow spindle - shoulder, turned to fit the bearings, threaded for the nut, milled slot for the round key. The other end I turned to 3/4", threaded for locknuts, milled flats at the top for a wrench. I did not bother with a groove at the top for an internally keyed lock washer as Delta uses for the

1/2" spindle, so I use an extra nut as a jam nut at the top. All in all it's a pretty easy metal lathe job, with the only tough part being getting the bearing fits right. I didn't heat treat afterward, but feel that in it's annealed condition it's stronger than the heat treated 1/2" spindle. Turned a bunch of spacers to fit.

I've also made up spindles to fit the hollow spindle - a 5/16" to take the small cutters, and 1/4" and 1/2" chucks to take router bits. Those chucks are simply bored spindles with set screws to hold the bits. They don't hold quite as true as a collet in a router would, but they work well.

John Martin

Reply to
John Martin

Mine has a stud and a tapered nut to lock down the upper taper which is, as I said 3/4. Must be some break point in the 70's where they changed that?

Reply to
George

I don't think so on the LD...the same stub shaft that was on Amazon yesterday (as unavailable and it wasn't there today when I went to reference it so I guess my hitting an unavailable part triggered their update robot) is the one that fits my circa '75 machines.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Nice idea...I had never actually looked at how the hollow spindle was attached.

The locating groove on mine aren't tapers either, there is just a milled hollow to align and prevent rotation against the small balls on the inner surface of the hollow shaft....

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Just dawned on me...you're talking about the base of the spindle above where it's turned down to the small diameter...that part is of very little consequence other than for providing a base for the cutters to ride on and a shelf for the tensioning rod to tighten against--it doesn't proved any rotational strength which is limited by the turned down lower shaft---that's what concerns me about using larger cutters on the LD shaper.

I was mistaking your comment to be refering to the lower end and that it was a tapered fit, sorry...

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

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