Would a Sheldon 12 inch shaper with broken stroke arm for $800.00 be a reasonable deal? The machine was a high school shop tool. The price does not include shipping costs to be incurred. What do you think? What considerations should enter my assessment of this opportunity? How much do you think this baby weighs? It does have a vise. Any input would be appreciated.
Nope, not broken. I'd pay no more than $150.
GWE
Agreed. With shapers, the bigger they are the cheaper they are on the used market.
John Martin
I third that...far over priced...even if it wasn't broken. The only other thing to consider is the vice. Figure that's worth more than half the cost of the rest of the shaper. No vice or bad vice, shaper value goes way down. Good vice and it may have value as a seperate item, even if the rest of the machine is a boat anchor.
Koz
I don't get it. What's so special about a shaper vise? How is it different from a good milling vise?
Force between the jaws is carried in tension on a shaper vise - no problem with the screw buckling.
Not all. However, they also sit low for their width, useful on a shaper. Plus there's just the scarcity factor. Everyone with a shaper needs workholding, and there's nothing as handy as a vise designed specifically for your shaper. Some small shapers don't have T slots, and so benefit from a vise which already fits their bolt hole pattern.
Pete Keillor
IRRC..that arm is cast iron. So a new one would likely need to be fabricated from scratch. Which is no easy task and getting a chunk of suitable steel big enough to machine into shape is not going to be cheap.
Gunner
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