Whipp Metal Shaper

Demonstrating the relationships of all the working parts of a metal shaper. The rotating mechanism (driven by a small pinion gear) and arm moving left and right is a bull gear and adjustable Scotch yoke and drives the top most sliding part, the ram, head, clapper, and cutter.

The final sequence demonstrates the eccentric follower and ratchet that provides for the critically timed cross-feed of the table the metal block and vise are on. In this scene the imaginative viewer can, while listening to the music, envision in the reciprocating movement of iron a mare and colt at full gallop, stride for stride, into a brisk spring dawn, dashing forth purely for the joy of it - and because they can.

The cutter is on the head of the ram on a mechanism called a clapper (so named for the clapping sound it makes on the return stroke), and is shaving light finishing cuts from a block of cold rolled steel and in the process producing small tightly curled swarf. The machine is capable of removing very thick cuts such that you can hear the metal chips fall from the cutter with a distinct "tink" sound.

A 1 horsepower motor through reduction pulleys and belts drives the ram at 36 strokes per minute, keeping perfect time to the background music.

The music is the beautiful a cappella voice of Hawaiian vocalist Leokane Pryor of Hana, Maui - it really is just one person singing all the voices. His Maunahele CD is out of print and difficult to find but well worth it.

Update 2010: The Maunahele CD is now available at the iTunes store!

Find more Hawaiian music at http://Mele.com/. Malama pono!

The video was captured with a Sony DSC-H2 camera at 640x480, 25 fps, and the mixing was done on an Apple MacBook Pro laptop with Apple's iLife toolkit: iMovie and iTunes.

Mahalo nui for viewing this presentation. Aloha ka kou, a hui ho!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• metal
• shaper
• machinist
• machinery
• industrial
• american
• manufacturing

[JustWonderingHowToDo]

Does a metal shaper offer any advantages in comparison with a mill or can a mill do everything a metalshaper does.

[spudzwon]

There is some overlap in capability, but the shaper can do inside splines, dovetails, and remove massive amounts of metal with simple shop-maintained cutters. All you need are HSS blanks ground to suit the purpose. And you can cut gears, too.

If you plan well and don't fall asleep :) you can run them unattended for long job runs. They don't do much, fast.

[dumblady]

My husband loves this video.

[spudzwon]

Well thank him for me! I like it too. My wife actually prefers the music and would like me to take her to Hana, Maui to hear it live :)

[oldschoolmachinest]

Thanks for sticking up for the shaper! It's a great machine. One day I hope to be a caretaker for one. The music is great also. :)

[CurrencyMetrics]

That was some uplifting music. I feel like overdosing on some sleeping pills now!

[lexichronicle2]

I just realized their new use in life! On Kink's "Sex Machines" site, possibly with a few modifications (a seat) and some silicon involved.

More seriously, I remember reading a paper about determining the alloying content / dissolved gas in metals which involved putting some insulation around the vice and then submerging the block in LN2. The shaper could then dig through and retrieve a fresh sample without any of the more volatile or reactive components changing on the way out.

[flyingscrapyard]

Very nicely shot showing the crank mechanism and the ram in action simultaneously. It is a bit sad that the world has largely moved on from the world of shapers and planers. Even the spell check on UTube doesn't know what to do with shapers as a word. Few things show tool and metal cutting geometry better than a shaper. I find the cutting action rather therapeutic. Nice video.

[airbrushe]

Thanks for that..... Pure Art as far as I'm concerned.........

airbrush

[beetsareback]

Nice Job! Now that bring back memories.