ArtfulBodger.net

The Logan 8" shaper is supposed to have a clapper return spring on the tool slide. Mine didn't, when I bought it. I had a look at the original plans and made bolt and spring that are close to spec. I made one or two minor changes. This is a modification from which many shapers could probably benefit. Have a look, if you run into trouble with the clapper failing to clap when it should. More...

Here are details of a general-purpose tool and a finishing bit. The latter leaves a gorgeous finish on iron, steel, bronze, brass. In this section there are also comparisons of different kinds of chips produced by the two cutters, at various feed rates. There are more (possibly better) closeups of cutter bits in the section on cutting dovetails, below. More...

This was my first experiment in using the shaper to cut a dovetail. No question, you can make dovetails faster on a mill; but you won't get a finish this good, or not with my mill, anyway. There are some closeups of the tool itself in this section. I use the heaviest cutters I can. On a small shaper like mine, this seems to be a good idea. More...

I used the shaper to surface the casting for a new cross slide for my lathe. Results are pretty. Here are some shots of that project. By the way, I used a casting from Metal Lathe Accessories. Good casting, and a great company to deal with. I've built up a number of MLA's casting sets, and I recommend them: intelligent design, good quality, sane pricing. More...