Christmas shaper is under power!

John Rutter

Member
Messages
59
Location
Pacific Northwest
I spent part of today hooking up and testing my new shaper. This is a 2004 SCMI T130 Class. It will be used for all panel raising and door edging, as well as some moulding type cuts. The spindles are pneumatically locked in, so that you can pop it out and lock in a new one in seconds. It came with 10 ea. 1-1/4" spindles. This is my second Class shaper, so I can share spindles between them. There are a total of 16 spindles now, so I can keep cutters mounted and just change spindles as needed. The pictures are not in my location, but now that it is running, I don't think it is too much of a cheat to use them...

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It has a 2 axis controller (spindle and fence) that stores 99 programs for different cuts and cutters. I have just started to learn the ins and out of the controller. It is very basic and seems pretty straightforward. The rest of the switches are a fence lock, speed indicator, spindle lock, spindle release, emergency stop, program start button, reverse indicator and switch, motor start and stop, manual spindle and fence positioning, and manual/electronic selector.

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The feeder arm is mounted to the controller support, and has a digital counter for height. It is very solid and flex-free. The feeder itself is a 3-wheel, 4 speed Maggi. I will be swapping it for a 4-wheel 8-speed Maggi.

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The guts are typical T130, which indicates a 130mm diameter spindle cartridge. The white casting that the spindle rides up and down in is quite massive and is over a foot long. The big disk at the bottom is the pneumatic clamp for the ISO40 spindles. The motor is 6.6 Kw, or about 7.5 HP. The steel rod to the left of the spindle gives additional support and guidance to the motor platform. There is a bronze bushing mounted to the casting that holds the motor that rides up and down on the rod. Speed change is manual via a tension release lever and multistep sheave system.

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And of course, it has the same section table (cranks in and out on dovetail ways) and swing-away fence as the first Class shaper. The controller moves the entire fence in and out, while any offset is dialed in manually with a digital readout for repeatability. I would prefer a cast iron fence, as the aluminum is a bit flexible under heavy load. But all in all it is a precise system that makes for easy transitions from one type of cut to another.

How's that for a Christmas present?
 
Nice, Nice, Nice...........:thumb: I wondered where you had been for a while, but just thought you were busy shoveling SNOW,:rolleyes: but now I see you've just been hitting the books & playing with MORE New
Toys.:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Man, you hobbyists and your little toys. :rolleyes: John, I guess this just will have to do until you can get that router table built, huh? :D

That looks like one serious wood-eating machine. Congrats, and may it make you lots of money. :thumb:
 
Well John I guess you can put all those molding planes on the display shelf now that you in the HOV lane & don't have to creep along with the rest of us anymore. High speed peddle to the metal wind in your face whoooweee. Congratulations on the new crotch rocket uh rocket sled.... er shaper thats it shaper .:eek::doh::wave:

I've been to John's shop when he was good at napping flint & rode a stone unicycle he was even faster then now he'll have time for an afternoon siesta.:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
To clarify, this not just taking up space in my garage! I have a cabinet door business that I have been steadily improving for the last 7 years. I will be dropping from 7 dedicated shapers to 2 of these SCMI Class machines. (The other shaper is a manual version, no controller.) At this point, we have 6 different inside cope and stick profiles, 6 different panel profiles, and 6 different edge details. Managing tool changes is tricky when someone can easily drop a cutter, mess up spacing, undertighten and possibly spin weld a cutter to the arbor, etc.

Every time I think about putting together a little shop tour, I realize that it will be obsolete in 6 months! I have one more key solid wood processing component that will be showing up next month if all goes well (and you thought that this was a gloat!). Then maybe it will be safe to put together a virtual tour.

Merry Christmas everyone!
 
I've been to John's shop when he was good at napping flint & rode a stone unicycle he was even faster then now he'll have time for an afternoon siesta.:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Hi Bart - Yes, you saw the shop a few months after I moved into that building. You would still recognize the process, but it has come a long way in terms of speed and efficiency.
 
Omigosh, I thought you were saying the SCMI shaper you got for Christmas was under powered. Whew!

Congrats, and Merry Christmas, and wih the shapers, an especially happy New Year.
 
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