I too have a 8″ Boxford Shaper and have searched far and wide for an original (or original looking) vice with no luck even contacted Boxford themselves to see if they perhaps had any “old” stock lurking about their response was no as that they had not made the shaper in 30 yrs.

 

Hope you have better luck than I.

 

Regards

 

Paul

Hi Mark,

 

I’m probably teaching my mother to suck eggs but be careful to make sure that any vice you have has the 4 bolt mounting.  Using those with just 2 bolts, as most milling vices are, could lead to the tee slots of your shaper table being ripped out as the forces in shaping can be considerable.

 

As for your question “where are they all,” as Hansrudolf says, they are probably attached to their shaper.  Also, many of these small Boxford shapers were used in schools and the vices would be used for all sorts of things including, milling and drilling, and if you see the state of some of these after 20 or 30 years of teenagers drilling holes in them you too would have scrapped them.  Remember, there would have been no more vices than shapers.

 

Terry

Hi Guys,

 

Shapers are often missing their vices. This is due to the fact that a shaper vice  is a good substantial device, ideal for use on the milling machine that quite likely replaced the shaper. A good milling vice will do instead, although shaper vices tend to be a lower profile for a given size than a milling vice. This only matters when you need to do bigger jobs, in which case you should think about attaching it directly to the table.

 

TerryD, if you are getting substantial forces when you are shaping you are doing it wrong. This is a single point tool remember, the forces should be of about the same order of magnitude as you get on a lathe. The original vice for my 6″ Ammco shaper was held down by a single bolt in the middle, through the table. (I don’t have one, but have the castings to make two of them and a set of drawings.) The original vice for my ten inch Alba is held down by two bolts, and has a swivel which is also only secured by two bolts. It is only when we get to my 18 inch Alba that we find a vice with four bolts on both the swivel and the table mounting, but then that is a substantial bit of kit. It takes a bit of thought to get it on and off the table.

 

Where the vice needs to be substantial is that at times you will find you must cut parallel with the line of the vice jaws. This tends to move the job in the jaws, and of course the tool may pick up the end of the job, leading to mayhem. So for this situation, the job wants to be clamped really firmly, preferably with a bit of paper each side to improve the grip. This is one reason why thinking about attaching the job directly to the table is a smart thing to do. Another good plan is to see if you can provide a positive stop at the downstream end of the job. Generally if the job starts to move you will see it happen, and the machine will probably manage about three strokes before you get to the power switch. If you are lucky you will only break the tool and spoil the workpiece. Still, similar things can happen on milling machines and in lathes too.

 

The tilting table is a nice feature, but the downside is that having tilted it you now have to get it back in true again for the next job. So it is a bit like offsetting the tailstock on your lathe, or tilting the head on your mill drill. The one on my ten inch Alba will tilt, but I don’t recall ever having used the feature in over ten years. But now if I could get hold of a slotter attachment for one of my machines….

 

regards