Alba 1A shaper – my new little lady

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Thanks for the info John. I have never used such an ancient tool before – I guess it must date to the first half of the last century – so I had no idea that it was not entirely appropriate for use on a shaper. I'll give it a go anyway!

Rik

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

Rik

May not be such an "ancient" tool – very similar holders are still available new from places like Cromwell tools today.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I use J&S tool holders, left, right, and straight, bought them when I bought my lathe, they are for 1/4" HSS tooling which I find the most economical.

Ian S C

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

If you do find that the tool tends to try to dig in or chatter, you can always grind the tip a little to reduce the built in rake. They are handy even if not quite ideal, since they bring the tool out away from the slide a bit, which can help in getting into corners and so on. I use my left and right hand ones with long narrow angle bits when I do dovetails.

You will notice that most of the tools shown in my picture have an offset to put the cutting edge behind the mounting surface. The theory behind this is that when the tool flexes (as it will) the flex will tend to reduce the depth of cut. If the cutting edge is in front of the mounting surface, flex will tend to increase the depth of cut, tending to cause digging in or chatter. However, if things are rigid enough and the cuts not excessive, you will get away with it.

John

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