Shopsmith Forums

I found these dado washers today at a flea market and thought they were too interesting to pass up for a dollar. I have a wobble and a stack dado so I seriously doubt I'll ever use these, but thought I'd share. Anyone have or use these?
Mike -

So they just turn a saw blade into a wobble dado???

Yes, apparently so. Impressively made really.
Mike -

That was an Awesome find.

I have yet to study the dado blades that I have with my recent Shopsmith purchase.

I noticed in your signature that you have an Atlas Shaper.

I have one in my artillery also.

GetterDone wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:51 pm I noticed in your signature that you have an Atlas Shaper.

I have one in my artillery also.

Yes, well, that makes two people left in the world with a metal shaper! Just kidding of course. A bit of an obsolete machine, but still very useful. I use mine a lot.

Mike -

Any one who has not been near a shaper while it is working is due for an exciting revelation. They were created prior to OSHA and I doubt they would have been allowed to exist if OSHA was around at their inception. At least not without a fence/safety barrier around it.

JPG wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:35 pm Any one who has not been near a shaper while it is working is due for an exciting revelation. They were created prior to OSHA and I doubt they would have been allowed to exist if OSHA was around at their inception. At least not without a fence/safety barrier around it.

Why do you say that? It is no different than any other metal working machine of that era like a horizontal mill or a vertical mill. What makes the shaper different?

miken wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2024 2:52 pm

GetterDone wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:51 pm I noticed in your signature that you have an Atlas Shaper.

I have one in my artillery also.

Yes, well, that makes two people left in the world with a metal shaper! Just kidding of course. A bit of an obsolete machine, but still very useful. I use mine a lot.

Mike -

A 30 year Machinist asked me, Why you want to buy that shaper when you got a Mill/drill already?

I said, Cause I can.

I have made gears on in with a Dividing head set up on the table.

A milling machine is a rotary device with a limited range of horizontal motion.

A shaper is a ram like tool that moves a large distance in a horizontal direction.

It is driven by a powerful force so as to scrape off a part of the target material. It knows nothing regarding any body parts in it's path. It has considerable inertia when 'stroking'.

Think battering ram.

GetterDone wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2024 11:02 pm I have made gears on in with a Dividing head set up on the table.

I know this is off-topic, but the dado washers didn't really impress anyone anyway, LOL.

If you have pics of that gear making setup on your shaper I would love to see them, and know what dividing head you have to fit the small shaper table? I have watched video's on YouTube of this, and in reality using the shaper is a far more accurate method of creating the involute gear tooth profile than a milling cutter, but getting the linkage properly setup to drive the dividing head at the correct ratio looks challenging.

It's interesting this came up, as I have been in the process of making a "direct" indexing tool for this exact purpose modeled after the Atlas MFC horizontal mill accessory that is upwards of $800+ on ebay. I would never make enough gears to justify that purchase and paid less than that for the entire mill. I reused the spindle and tailstock castings from a scrapped Rockwell wood lathe. See pic.

As for OSHA and safety, my machines are dangerous. They were made when pulley guards and safety features were sold as an "option" and many people simply didn't want the extra expense. As with everything Atlas on ebay, original guards for my machines are ridiculously priced, but I do have making some on my list.