Perfecto Hand Shaper – worth keeping?

[Steve BowerParticipant @stevebower42241]

As a workshop newbie I’ve bought a job-lot collection of machinery for my workshop & included was a Perfecto hand shaper. Is this worth keeping? There is no power drive so I’d have though of limited use?

[Steve BowerParticipant @stevebower42241]

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Steve

These old hand shapers are still very popular, so I wouldn't discard it without thought. Even Editor Neil has used one!

They have been motorised, though it isn't a simple job.

Hang on to it until you've found out what it can do – mostly creating excellent flat surfaces, cutting dovetails and vees, and similar "straight-line" jobs.

Check which model you have, especially whether it has auto cross feed or not.

Edited By Robbo on 06/10/2017 08:30:05

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Keep it !!!

Mick

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

No, utterly useless, send it to me and I'll make sure no one is harmed by it. On second thoughts, you might try it, you might like it, on some jobs it beats filing hands down.

Ian S C

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Please send me a pic. I might make an offer to buy it.

[IanTParticipant @iant]

What sort of work do you do Steve – and what machinery do you already have?

Although hand and power shapers both work on the same principles – they are different in nature to my mind. I use my hand shaper for smaller jobs (instead of hand tools – like files & hacksaws etc) as it is much more accurate than my hand work and gives a better finish. But although it is possible to remove large amounts of material with the hand shaper – it is tedious to do so – and I have other machines that are better.

So for smaller work (or where you simple want to "finish" work to a good standard) the hand shaper is a very useful tool but it is generally no substitute for a powered tool (whether that be shaper, mill or lathe). It can however give very good results and is quiet in operation (so good for indoor use – with permission from Herself)

So if your work is of a larger nature (or you already have a good mill) then a hand shaper may not be very useful to you. But if you are any kind of small scale modeller, then the hand shaper can be a very useful and convenient tool. Like many things discussed here, the context is important.

Regards,

IanT

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Even if you have a mill get used to using the shaper and have it set up with some tools. Then when the mill has a set up you don't want to change you have an alternative for small jobs. Eg screw slots, spanner flats, clean up saw cuts and rough filing. If you are into clocks it can be fitted with a cutting frame to make a wheel and pinion machine.

[Steve BowerParticipant @stevebower42241]

I bought an ancient Super 7 lathe, bench drill & some other stuff (lots of accessories, bandsaw) etc from a deceased modelmaker with the intent of making up some some motorbike parts for a restoration. I'll send a pic of the shaper – tbh I didn't think it had 'finishing' applications so will have to look out some instructions. I'll attach a pic later.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

BTW when setting up the cut each stroke should aim to take just 20 square thou ie depth x sideways traverse so the forces aren't too great. Hand ones are not for gorillas and do not have the bulk metal removal capabilities some people claim for the ten ton industrial ones.

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by Bazyle on 06/10/2017 10:43:45:

BTW when setting up the cut each stroke should aim to take just 20 square thou ie depth x sideways traverse so the forces aren't too great. Hand ones are not for gorillas and do not have the bulk metal removal capabilities some people claim for the ten ton industrial ones.

The same could be said for a lot of other small machine tools too.

Edited By Michael-w on 06/10/2017 10:56:52

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I mentioned this a few weeks back – but this V Rest was machined in a couple of evenings (and took longer than it should have because I had to re-do some faces – poor set-ups). But the angled faces were easy to do on the shaper (Adept No.2) – and I would probably not have wanted to do this from a solid block (a lot more passes involved). However – one or two passes on each face was not too bad – and I did other things in-between.

But mostly (as Bazyle says) I use it for simple things like cleaning up the edges of sawn materials, which it can do in a few minutes in most cases. I can also get a really nice finish on brass with it. So useful for smaller work and where I don't want to disturb an existing set-up elsewhere…

Before….

And afterwards…

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 06/10/2017 11:52:36

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Very definitely KEEP IT!!

While the hand -powered version may seem less attractive than the powered variety, it does have the advantage of not needing space for the motor – which is a big bonus. I speak as one who has the powered version.

rgds

Bill

[Steve BowerParticipant @stevebower42241]

Here are a couple of pics:

Courtesy of Google, it might not be a perfect at all? Also is the limited lateral travel likely to be a pain?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

You can do a lot more with that than you might expect, it deserves the small space it will occupy for the day you need to do a difficult dovetail, gear or keyway.

[Clive Brown 1Participant @clivebrown1]

That doesn't look like a Perfecto machine. A feature of them was the gear quadrant and rack drive to the ram.

Unusually, the major components appear to be fabricated, still, as said by others, should be a handy deviceI don't think the limited cross-travel will be a major drawback.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

Keep it !

You can also use it to cut the lines on a machine dial with the addition of an indexing device or rotary table , cut blind keyways and splines .

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

NOT a Perfecto, but still worth hanging onto. The fixing points on the table will be very worthwhile.

rgds

Bill

[Steve BowerParticipant @stevebower42241]

Ok thanks all. One for under the bench!

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Don't do that Steve, just give it to me and make some space for a really useful item under the bench!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew.

P.S. I could watch power shapers for hours. I could watch hand shapers too, as long as someone else is doing the work.

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