Trying to learn more about an older delta shaper. I have a pic

[Sam Beagle]

But I'm clueless to how to put the pic on here. All I have is a cell pic x4. If I send them to someone, would they post them. Sam

[Sam Beagle]

Bruce. I also just seen that we have the same delta sander station. How did you get dust collection on yours. Did you also get the pics. Sam

[Sam Beagle]

Bruce. Thank you. Let me also note to everyone, these tools are complete, the tables, fences, etc. Are all included. I was just wanting to know more about the shaper, I already have a unisaw. But for the price, I will have 2, although a friend will be buying the saw from me. They both look brand new honestly, there both 220 single phase. That's all I know.

[mark kosse]

Can't see a serial number but I can tell you it's 1947/48. If you have a serial # the date could be exact. I have the same shaper. Delta recycled the 1939 unisaw feet in the late 40's. They used those feet on the unisaw only in 1939. Got the shaper they were used around 2 years.

[Sam Beagle]

Mark, Can you speak to the quality of the machine. Is it worth the 100 dollar asking price. That's just a joke of course. I love reading about people's gloats. Now I finally have 1 or 2.

[mark kosse]

The feet are worth 100.00. It is the stadard delta shaper made for many years. The fence on the earlier ones is a little lighter duty but I never found that to be a problem.

[mark kosse]

That uni is kinda rare with those feet. You may want to keep that one.

sorry, enlarging the picture shows that uni has a base and not feet. Not that rare but still nice.

[Bruce Page]

Bruce. I also just seen that we have the same delta sander station. How did you get dust collection on yours. Did you also get the pics. Sam

If your talking about the lower disk collection, I was able to purchase the sheet metal collection shroud from Delta back in 2004, they are impossible to find today.

[Sam Beagle]

Are there things I should know. I have some older delta, but nothing that old. Parts are out, correct?? Also, what spindles will it use. I'm not the best with shapers yet, but I've wanted a delta for awhile. I have a reliant right now that I got cheap. Will this delta prove to be a better option, or should I just keep the reliant.

[Sam Beagle]

Yea. That's what I meant, I love the sander we share. I just got mine, and figured it out, I cant stay away from it now. It's unreal.. Great tool. I just love the older delta stuff, I seem to like the early 80s stuff the most. Although I just dumped my delta lathe for a mustard monster. Which is unreal.

[Sam Beagle]

Seems like I'm the only person responding to my own thread. Anyway I got some more info. The guy said he believes both tools were made in the 50s. So my question, why do they say delta, and not Rockwell-delta.

[David Kumm]

Go over to owwm.org and owwm.com and look at the Delta history and pictures of machines. Delta and the later Rockwell - Delta have a huge following among the old machine crowd. I'm not much help as I prefer the bigger stuff but you will get lots of info if you research the posts on .org and read the publication reprints and wiki facts on .com. Parts are fairly easy to source as are spindles as there were lots of machines made. Dave

[Dave Cav]

It's a standard Delta HD shaper with four feet, which, as someone mentioned upthread, was only sold for a couple of years in the late 40s. Other than the feet, it's exactly like all of the other HD shapers Delta/Rockwell made until fairly recently. Spindles and bearing cartridges are available from A&E tool store, here:
http://ae-tool.com/
They're good light to medium duty shapers, perfect for a home shop or light commercial work. The most common or useful spindle size is 3/4", although I also have a 1". I don't believe 1 1/4" spindles are available for them, nor would you want to use 1 1/4" tooling on a Delta. At some point in the late 40s or early 50s the hole size in the top was increased to around 6" with a cast iron reducing ring bolted in. I can't tell if yours has the smaller or larger hole, but the smaller hole really limits your cutter size. I have two, a 40s model and one from the early 90s; the older one originally had a small hole top but I found a later top and changed it out. I milled the old small hole top flat on the underside and turned it into a router table base which we bolted on to the right side of my next door neighbor's Unisaw; it worked out very well.

[Terry Therneau]

As stated by Dave, it is a standard Delta shaper, your top has the smaller opening consistent with an earlier build date. Take a look at vintagemachinery.org for more examples. I most often use mine with the 1/2" spindle and a set of Corob cutters. These were moderately common in commercial shops for lighter work such as rail and stile, but not for beefier tasks like raising a panel or cove molding, though you can certainly do so with multiple passes. I have mine located 6" behind the unisaw, each acts as an outfieed table for the other. It's just the right height, obviously. Yours is likely a 1 HP motor but will have the effective power of a modern 2-3 HP router table, and is a lot quieter.

Terry T.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

You'll get $75 just for the little door.