John Rutter
Member
- Messages
- 59
- Location
- Pacific Northwest
Well it's not a Martin, but I am in the process of installing the next best thing. I got it to consolidate several dedicated shapers into a single station for my cab door production. I figure that if I am going to survive the downturn in the housing market, I need to invest in equipment that will let me do more with less. This is the most basic Class shaper that SCM offers. They also make a version with CNC control of everything.
It is fun to do a little show and tell, so here goes:
The control panel has a reversing switch with indicator light of clockwise rotation, the motor on/off, a speed controller and display for the inverter drive (this shaper can run all the way down to 1000 rpm for sanding), a spindle release switch, and one of 3 emergency stops.
There is a mechanical digital readout for spindle height adjustment.
I currently have 2 other heavy duty SCMI shapers and 2 lighter Powermatics that will be replaced by this machine. It has several key features that make this possible. The fence has two wheel adjusters with digital indicators. The left moves the whole fence forwards and backwards, the right moves the infeed side only. I got lucky in that SCM was running a clearance on their aluminum fence plates with bar inserts that can easily be placed across the opening for things like panel and door edges to travel along and never leave a support. Another quick changeover feature is a section table instead of table inserts. You crank the table in and out and the phenolic insert runs up tight to the cutter for good support. The entire fence swings away on a pivot and indexes back in place with a locking pin.
The spindles are set up with ISO 40 tapers, like some CNC routers. There is a pneumatic system that clamps and unclamps the entire spindle in seconds. The idea is to mount cutters to various spindles and swap the entire assembly rather than mount and unmount from a fixed spindle. Less wear on the spindle and cutter bore, and much faster.
The spindles are stored on a cart along with any other tools you need.
The spindle assembly is very robust, and the precision bearings are widely spaced. The assembly that slides up and down inside the cast column is about 20 inches long and close to 5" in diameter. The motor is roughly 7.5 HP.
The inverter has a big honkin' heat sink around the back, and the electric panel is a bit daunting!
Hopefully, we'll be making shavings with this next week!
It is fun to do a little show and tell, so here goes:
The control panel has a reversing switch with indicator light of clockwise rotation, the motor on/off, a speed controller and display for the inverter drive (this shaper can run all the way down to 1000 rpm for sanding), a spindle release switch, and one of 3 emergency stops.
There is a mechanical digital readout for spindle height adjustment.
I currently have 2 other heavy duty SCMI shapers and 2 lighter Powermatics that will be replaced by this machine. It has several key features that make this possible. The fence has two wheel adjusters with digital indicators. The left moves the whole fence forwards and backwards, the right moves the infeed side only. I got lucky in that SCM was running a clearance on their aluminum fence plates with bar inserts that can easily be placed across the opening for things like panel and door edges to travel along and never leave a support. Another quick changeover feature is a section table instead of table inserts. You crank the table in and out and the phenolic insert runs up tight to the cutter for good support. The entire fence swings away on a pivot and indexes back in place with a locking pin.
The spindles are set up with ISO 40 tapers, like some CNC routers. There is a pneumatic system that clamps and unclamps the entire spindle in seconds. The idea is to mount cutters to various spindles and swap the entire assembly rather than mount and unmount from a fixed spindle. Less wear on the spindle and cutter bore, and much faster.
The spindles are stored on a cart along with any other tools you need.
The spindle assembly is very robust, and the precision bearings are widely spaced. The assembly that slides up and down inside the cast column is about 20 inches long and close to 5" in diameter. The motor is roughly 7.5 HP.
The inverter has a big honkin' heat sink around the back, and the electric panel is a bit daunting!
Hopefully, we'll be making shavings with this next week!