Old Delta 1hp shaper?

[Joseph Montroy]

Hi folks,
I've been looking for a decent shaper to make some moulding and thick window sills. I'm going to look at one tomorrow morning that is an older Delta 1hp. It was his father in laws so he essentially only knows how to turn it on. Since it's an older machine is the 1hp going to be able to swing a decent sized bit? At the risk of being sniped, anyone know anything about this machine?
https://buffalo.craigslist.org/wto/5354857056.html

Thanks for any help you can give me!
JC

[Mike Cutler]

Joseph

You would need the exact model number to find out more info, but that shaper came in varying configurations, motors, spindles, etc, through the years. The cabinet is pretty much the same throughout the models. Getting any spare parts for it is not difficult. There are many listed on eBay daily.
Just guessing, from the pic's and motor size,it would appear that it's running 1/2" cutter heads, which are still readily available.
As for "swinging a decent sized bit"?. It will run just about any profile, joint, or cope and stick set, that fits the spindle, within reason. It won't do it in a production environment, but in a home shop application it should be fine.
They're nice machines and are for sale all the time. If this one doesn't suit you, there are more.

[Joseph Montroy]

Thanks Mike. I went and looked at it. It was missing both doors but had both 1/2"& 3/4" spindles. Unfortunately, at some point the original motor had been replaced with a 115v newer one (with a wooden adapter plate). So thank you for the info, it'll be useful as my search continues.

[Matt Day]

It likely saw some decent use or even abuse if the motor was replaced. But you could use that knowledge to barter on price. If you want plug and play, probably best you passed.

[Mike Cutler]

Thanks Mike. I went and looked at it. It was missing both doors but had both 1/2"& 3/4" spindles. Unfortunately, at some point the original motor had been replaced with a 115v newer one (with a wooden adapter plate). So thank you for the info, it'll be useful as my search continues.

Joseph

I had been looking for one on and off for quite a few years, and finally bought one from a fellow 'Creeker here on the forum. It had all of the parts, worked, and was complete, including a box full of cutters. I jumped on it, quick.
The wooden motor mount adapter would definitely be a pass for me. Getting the spindle to run true, perpendicular, to the work surface, takes a little finessing. Having a piece of wood in there would make it quite a bit harder to keep it true.
They're out there. I've seen many of the 43-375 models, 3HP, priced at $500.00.

As an aside; In your looking should you run across one with either an original , OEM router bit adapter, or an OEM, 1" spindle cartridge assembly, think seriously about buying it. Those two parts can be worth as much as a complete working shaper, minus either of them, on their own. ;)

[Jared Sankovich]

I bought a 43-375 3hp version this past summer as a upgrade to my router table. They are decent machines that are great alternatives to router tables for a home shop. Buying that first shaper led me to research its capabilities. Ive since upgraded to a 5hp 1.25" tilting spindle machine (mostly because it was cheap and had a feeder)

The deltas are great with smaller (relatively speaking) up to 3.5-4" cutters. If you want to spin 7-9" panel rasing heads or a 5" tall 4" diameter corrigated head for some crown molding you would want a larger machine