Alba 1A shaper – my new little lady

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

I mentioned on one of my other posts that I had recently acquired an old shaper. Like most of my kit this also came from a car boot sale. I paid the bloke a small deposit and it was delivered some weeks later when I was ready for it. My Alba 1A – born in 1959 – arrived dressed in the grime of fifty odd years and really looking like the mucky little trollop she was:

In between relocating workshops and over a couple of months I have fixed her worn bits, sluiced her down with white spirit, filled and sanded her paint cracks and finally applied her "makeup" in the original colours. I like her lots now!

Her graduated scales are in millimetres and for an English lady from that era I think that makes her a little unusual.

Rik

[Roger Williams 2Participant @rogerwilliams2]

Rik, she looks perfect now !

[john kennedy 1Participant @johnkennedy1]

She looks gorgeous,could take her anywhere.

[Stephen FullerParticipant @stephenfuller]

Absolutely superb, you have made a lovely job of her. be nice to see some pics of her in action

[alan-lloydParticipant @alan-lloyd]

Well done a lovely job

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

Nice job now get cutting some chips!

Paul

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

Posted by Rik Shaw on 28/01/2015 18:07:47:

arrived dressed in the grime of fifty odd years and really looking like the mucky little trollop she was:

Rik

Sounds like you have somehow aquired one of my ex's .

Nick

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I tend to just grease and oil them up because I expect to work them hard over the next 30 years

Once they are knackered and useless, then I'll push in some filler, tart them up… and give 'em to a museum

For me there's nothing sadder than seeing a perfectly capable machine put on display and not allowed to be used for its intended purpose

The skills these machines can unleash can change a persons life

Edited By Ady1 on 29/01/2015 01:20:53

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Rik If it is a metric machine it seems odd that the feed per stroke on the label is in inches

Roy

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Roy – maybe not so odd.

I would suggest that if a customer back in '59 had ordered a metric version it would probably have been deemed a "special" and by simply swapping the two graduated imperial collars on an already completed imperial machine for metric collars it would have met the customers requirements.

In my opinion, the fact that the existing label indicates the feed in imperial is neither here nor there and is not operation critical as it would have been if we were talking lathe lead screws.

If any one was in any doubt about the label, the penny (or pfennig), would surely drop after reading what it says on both sides of the machine in large letters "MADE IN ENGLAND".

Rik

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Rik It would not be a metric version just by swapping the grduated collars If it still has imperial lead screws the metric collars would make the machine very interesting to use

Roy

[Anonymous]

Posted by roy entwistle on 29/01/2015 15:38:07:

Rik It would not be a metric version just by swapping the grduated collars If it still has imperial lead screws the metric collars would make the machine very interesting to use

Roy

Sorry but I don't understand that, on a shaper does it not matter what thread it is as long as the collar graduations are "synched" to whatever screw pitch is being used ?

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Roy – I have been a little misleading, my apologies. I have just been back up the shop to double check stuff. First, the machine has three not two graduated collars. The tool slide collar is metric and is clearly marked m/m.

I made my assumption that this was a metric machine on that collar alone. I have just clocked the movement of the cross slide and the vertical slide using one rev of their respective graduated collars both of which are missing the m/m engraving but which show graduations thus: 0-.25-.50-.75-1 and back to zero again, 125 in total. Applying the DTI I get a reading per one rev of the collars of exactly ".125. The lead screws ARE imperial. Thank you for your observations.

Is my lovely lady now an hermaphrodite?

Rik

PS I should have checked the ACTUAL movement on the toolslide against the metric collar while I was at it but forgot – manyana

Edited By Rik Shaw on 29/01/2015 18:06:51

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Rik,

Very nice job with your shaper. Below is my small 7" shaper which I refurbed earlier in the year.

It is now sat on a mobile bench elsewhere in the garage. This was an Ebay purchase. I replaced the motor and mounting bracket fitted by the previous owner and it now is a lot more like original and is around 4 " shorter overall. I believe this is a Corbetts XL 7" machine having looked at lathes.co.uk

Colin

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Yes a nice refurb Colin, well done. Will you use it or move it on?

Rik

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

I concur with all the above, although, when I saw your first picture, I thought you'd got it standing on the lounge carpet!

Nice one.

John

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Rik,

I intend keeping it. Need to source some suitable tooling for it and then learn how to use it.

Rgds,

Colin

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Posted by Mick Betresford

Sorry but I don't understand that, on a shaper does it not matter what thread it is as long as the collar graduations are "synched" to whatever screw pitch is being used ?

Mick I don't think you realise that a shaper can be just as precision a machine as any lathe or mill I certainly expect the same results from my Drummond shaper as from my Myford lathe

Roy

[Anonymous]

Posted by roy entwistle on 29/01/2015 20:48:49:

Mick I don't think you realise that a shaper can be just as precision a machine as any lathe or mill I certainly expect the same results from my Drummond shaper as from my Myford lathe

I appreciate that Roy and that it's not very good to have Imperial and Metric threads and markings mixed up on a machine. But my query was though it would be bad practice I couldn't see any reason not to have metric collar markings on an imperial thread screw which would be accurate given it was done properly as it was initially thought Riks shaper was a manufactured metric/imperial one.

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

A lot of shapers never came with graduations on the dials. My own Alba 1A has a graduated dial on the downfeed, but I am not sure if that is original. My 6 inch Ammco came with a 13 tpi downfeed (Half inch Sellers thread) and a 62.5 graduation downfeed. Almost certainly not original, and not a lot of use…it now has a 10 tpi leadscrew with a more sensible dial. The only one with sensible dials and screws is the 18 inch Alba.

Metric markings on an Imperial leadscrew are never going to be completely sensible. The closest is probably if you mark a 10 tpi leadscrew as 2.5mm. Of course you will be .04mm out with every turn, which might be OK for short movements.

John

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Just a quick update re: the metric graduations on the vertical tool slide collar. I have put the DTI on the slide and can confirm that 1 rev (3mm grads) gives a reading of 3mm exactly. This means that the machine has imperial table feed screws and a metric tool slide screw.

It's odd I know but someone on here has PM'd me with the information that his Alba 1A is configured exactly the same way. It seems that my machine is not a "one off".

Rik

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

I bought a quantity of Colchester spares at an auction,among the lot was a topslide from another make of lathe probably far eastern or east europe, and it had what looked like a dual imp metric dial, I started to dismantle it to find out how it worked ,surprise ,surprise the dial with two graduated rings of imperial and metric divisions was solid i.e. one piece of steel ,one turn of the dial moved the slide 2.5mm ,of course the imp readings were not accurate but were very close as 2.5mm equals.0984 ins .A bit naughty as I expect the lathe advertising probably stated imperial/metric dials.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

I have an old American tool holder.

It needed thinning down by .080" to fit in the lantern tool post on my newly refurbed shaper. It was going to be tough going though as it was case hardened. To give you an idea how hard it was a new coarse file just skidded of the surface – glass like it was.

It seemed like a suitable first job for the Alba to tackle. With a .040" deep cut and a .006" feed it removed the necessary material in one pass from side "A".

Side "B" next and it looked like this:

**LINK**

Rik

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

That style of tool holder with the built in rake is really meant for lathe use…the ones meant for a shaper usually have the HSS tool bit set parallel to the shank. Don't let this bother you too much, they will work fine but are more likely to chatter and pull into the job than the "proper" shaper ones. This has not stopped me doing a lot of good work with a set of three Jones and Shipman ones that came with my Alba 1A. (Left, right, and straight.) But if you happen to see a shaper one going somewhere grab it.

The other trick would have been to open out the tool post slightly. I have done that on one of mine.

There are some pictures of some shaper tools in my album here:

Not counting the car keys which are just for scale. None of these are the shaper equivalent of the one you have, although I do have one somewhere. The two big ones on the right are quite good, except that you can't use short pieces of HSS in them.You can make one of this type from an old steel bicycle crank. But you can adjust the angle of the tool bit for doing corners.

John

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