Fireball Tool Fixture Plate Part 1

[@afpienaar4604]

Thanks Adam. It is impossible not to enjoy shaper work . But then I enjoy wheelwrights making wagon wheels . So it is perhaps just me who feels older technologies should be respected and preserved

[@lerkzor]

This video is too short by about 3 hours. Now I have to wait until part 2 gets uploaded! You're looking pretty good too, Adam. I'm glad that you are seeing positive results from your efforts.

[@Marcywm42]

It continues to amaze me how versatile the shaper is. I love shaper projects. Thanks Adam.

[@FredMiller]

Who among us does not like watching the hypnotic movements of a shaper!!! I enjoyed seeing the "old school" techniques of sandpaper on the vice and honing the tool in place.

[@fredygump5578]

The internet needs more content like this!

[@elliotwitkowski6098]

Wish I would have discovered machining like 15 years ago. Love watching these videos and wishing I could do it. Love your videos, love learning new things. Thanks for this. Should make an ASMR video of all the sounds for the machinist nerds out here (myself included). Love the scraping, squeals and clangs of it all. Keep up the good work, you are a master at your trade. A teacher once told me that you know you’ve mastered something if you are able to teach it to others who have never done it. This my friend, is you.

[@danielwerger5641]

Adam, keep the shaper vids coming... Your the only one showing the techniques (tool grinds, etc.) from the past, and to me, that's very important... Thank you...!

[@PhilsProjects]

great video Adam, machining castings always presents challenges. finding simple and creative solutions isn't always easy. Cheers

[@Godshole]

My old Dad, much missed, had a saying. I recall one Christmas dinner where I had brought my lady friend of the moment to the family do and as my step mum, his new wife, laid out all the delicious food, heaped up our plates and we set to demolishing the feast she asked him what he thought of the meal. Chewing his food slowly with a thoughtful far away look he pondered for a moment, swallowed, and said in his gruff Yorkshire way, " It's a bit rough but it 'll do. " The look on my partners face was priceless ;) So, taken as intended, I compliment your work too with our old family saying, " It's a bit rough but it 'll do. " :)

[@ferrumitzal4584]

Glad to see you're enjoying those Fireball Tools so much. Jason is a great guy and really knocked it out of the ballpark with his inventions!

[@DudleyToolwright]

The close up of you watching the shaper work is like watching you watch a tennis match. It made me smile.

[@TomokosEnterprize]

Working castings can be a real chore. This one appears to be sand free and that is a real blessing for sure. My plan would have been to shape the one side and then surface grind the opposing face on the magnetic table. Just a thought. At any rate this is another fine and accurate job by you.Love the paper and rod idea. Magic my friend. You may be re-living shaper use in a job shop. Books are soooo valuable for us eh.

[@stephenwagar2663]

That Cool Trick With The Oil Stone on The Machine Is Fantastic !!! Of Course , It Makes Perfect Sense !!! Almost Fell Out Of My Chair !!! Big Thumbs Up !!!!!

[@FireballTool]

Lots of great machining tips, I really like the sandpaper on the vise jaws trick Im going to have to use it for sure! I can't wait to see the finished plate with that cool looking shaper pattern. Jason

[@Abom79]

Glad you enjoyed Jason! This has been a fun project and I'm learning how to finish cast iron on the shaper.

[@theharbinger2573]

I like the shaper footage. I like watching any craftsman work using the methods and tools of the past. Machinists, Shipwrights, Woodworkers, Jewelry makers, knife makers - its all fascinating to me. Thankyou Adam for your channel, I enjoy it.

[@Tadesan]

Because we don't have machines or ships or furniture or jewelery or knives anymore!!!

[@rosswaring2835]

Really great work Adam...so nice to hear the happiness in your voice about the results as you experiment your way through and the get to the quality of the machining patterns on the plate that you wanted. Very satisfying ... thanks for sharing your journey with us so we can learn and admire too.

[@amphilex]

Pretty much exactly what I wanted to say.....

[@wymershandymanservice9965]

Once again another great video your learning of new things is passing on so much knowledge to others. Thanks for your efforts 👍

[@jamesstanlake4064]

I have seen that exact same pattern on older woodworking machines. Surfaces with that style of grind seems to make wood slide with less effort. While my trade may be different I love the shaper work and it shows different ways to achieve essentially the same results. Thanks for sharing!

[@OperaBass3]

19:50 excellent. That's exactly what finish cuts on shapers and planers should look like in cast iron and many other materials. Like so many gray satin ribbons laid edge to edge. I was taught these same techniques my second tour through heavy tool by Jack Neimi and Bert Price. That was in 1963. Good to know the old skills are being transmitted. We called it "broadnosing." Carried to refinement the results are essentially scraping cuts where the work experiences negligible heating and the surface geometry duplicates the machine axes. On a good properly aligned planer, machine tool casting way bearing surfaces may be machined to finishes and accuracy such that precision hand scraping is needed only to develop bearing. The beauty of the tools and technique you used are not only the finish and precision but the speed. Your feed rate (step-over) was an eighth inch. Eight strokes one inch. Your surface looked 8 inches wide - 8 minutes. How long would it take at a fine feed rate? Cast iron is a bit abrasive; would the cutting edge hold up for 400+ strokes? Feed rates for broad nose tools were commonly 3/4 the width of the cutting edge. Figure a 3/4" wide tool (common on even small planers and large shapers like yours) and you could re-finish a nine inch wide Bridgeport table in 20 strokes per cut. 9 strokes per minute = a little over two minutes. The setup and checking in this case greatly exceeds the actual cutting time. Way to go, Adam. Very well demonstrated and explained.

[@Abom79]

Great response! Thank you!

[@johnapel2856]

Another good shaper video. As always, love the sound of the shaper working. Good tip on the honing technique. Looking forward to the rest of the project videos. Thanks.

[@lodgecav490]

Great job Adam, that shaper seems to be actually relaxing as opposed to milling, I can see you genuinely enjoying the process of learning and bringing new life to the G&E, please keep it going! Thank you.

[@mortcs]

Cool trick on honing the cutting tool. On the close up shot near the end you really see the cutter bouncing over chips on the back stroke. I wonder if a vacuum or small blower mounted to the tool head to evacuate chips would help keep chips from dinging up honed edge of the cutter.

[@DRrandomman22]

i just looked up the price and that is a amazing price for such a big casting and made in america. you could lap three of them together and for like 300 bucks after all said and done to have 3 really nice cast iron plats that is a smoking deal

[@brosselot1]

Adam I think you missed your calling. You are a great teacher. If Mr Pete is the God Father of KZbin shop teachers. You my friend are the KZbin Master Machinest. Awesome thanks for sharing. Also your looking good. Ive enrolled my self in a trial to help me with my weight. Always a pleasure watching your videos.

[@GearheadOutlaw]

Watching you do your thing is therapeutic. Keep it up with these projects.

[@SportsKid006-milbert]

I'm EXCITED for this series!!

[@timkucharski]

Thanks Adam! This was really fun to watch. I love the feeling of satisfaction when you learn a technique or a new tweak on a method from a book and then it works out beautifully with your own hands. I'm eager to see the rest of this project!

[@stxrynn]

I love the Mid Week Fix. Thanks for keeping this going. Good luck with the new wheels...

[@monkfry]

Nice thing about a shaper, an old friend/boss taught me, is if you have a large piece of work to do, you can set it up and get on machining another job while it works for you. Plus. . . they just look so damn cool.

[@frankherring6253]

I hadn’t thought of honing the bit while in the machine. Great info, thanks Adam!

[@johntompkins147]

Thanks Adam, I love the shaper!!!

[@wlogue]

I dig the shaper action Adam, thanks, Will

[@bostedtap8399]

Excellent technique Adam, always learning from your good self. Best regards from the UK.

[@practac]

I can't get enough of these shaper videos.

[@dougrobison1156]

Hey Adam, I've got a 1925 Boice-Crane "Snowflake" 14" bandsaw that I have had since 1969. The table has finished toolmarking just like what you have on the plate! I had always wondered how those tool marks were made. You and the other KZbin shaper enthusiasts (Richards, Rucker, Summers etc.) have answered my wonderings! As always love your work ... :-)

[@Joel-st5uw]

Oh man, another fantastic series!! I just want to save them all up so I can sit down and binge watch the whole thing!

[@johnlanham9057]

I dig the shaper. Since I’ve watched it from delivery thru referb and use I’m totally invested! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@adambacon8874]

YAY! More shaper videos! Man you did a hell of a job tuning and cleaning that shaper up too such a difference.

[@jgoody7467]

Who the hell doesnt like shapper footage. Bring it big guy!!

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

That pattern is what I see on products I buy , Looks like you nailed it Adam ! ENJOYED .. Love that shaper man

[@BiddieTube]

I work all day long in my shop, then, at home, want to relax, and for relax I watch you work in your shop! I was just looking at / working on one of my machines today and it had that cutting pattern on it. I was wondering what machine made it. My relaxing after work provided the answer.

[@Abom79]

Very cool! 👍🏻

[@inactive67]

Ok getting addicted to the shappers, really awesome machine-I hate hearing and seeing the back stroke but amazing equipment.

[@jmptaz]

I love these custom parts you make Adam and the shaper makes me happy to watch !!

[@Phantomthecat]

Love watching the shaper, love the finish you got there too. 👍

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

Fire ball makes very nice welding squares. He did a good interview on the welding podcast sounded like an excellent fellow.

[@infoanorexic]

I love it. Sometimes, a procedure that you have read up on just won't fall into place into your mind until you see it done. It's that or keep trying until you figure out the little nuance's that make it work. That trick with the oil stone is an example of those things that we need to keep an eye out for in all of those old books, and bring them out to be seen. Tricks that were discovered by those with years of experience, that were shared but didn't get a huge amount of exposure or were considered too trivial to be included in the "basic training" textbooks. I'll make sure there is a link to this in the "Metal Shapers & Planers" group.

[@outsidescrewball]

it will be a nice fixture plate....just some thoughts....your added base plate, design it so it can be bolted directly to the mill table (ears like a vice) when you don’t want to use a vice to hold, also make an aluminum top plate for the fixture for projects when you need a sacrificial base...can also mount on a mag chuck in a surface grinder along with being able to move and reset from the machine if you want to check items on a surface plate......drill and tap. the edges so you can attach a fence and/or tabs....this finished tool will give you so many options....awesome

[@outsidescrewball]

one more...add removable keys on your base plate for the mill table alignment...set it and go....

[@Abom79]

All good suggestions Chuck, are you going to let me think of any of them?

[@chieft3357]

Thanks for showing what a shaper can do. I'll watch as this continues. I get a kick out of watching you run your shaper.

[@terrycannon570]

Thanks for showing the detail on the cutting tools. I am always interested in the detail of the grinds. Adam as you must already know I am a die hard shaper fan. Again thanks Looking forward to the project.

[@randyt26]

The shaper is mesmerizing keep showing it.

[@smjones4238]

"Mocking" seems to understate what you have done. Replicate seems better, you took no shortcuts to the process. Very nice video, like to see someone using tried and true methodology in this age of throwaway and not spending any time on the work. I am just going to get started in some machining in my 'shack out back'. Newly retired, doing some of the things I always wanted to try. I have a lot of your videos to go through. Thank You for your time and excellent explanations. I subscribed after the first video I watched.

[@metalworksmachineshop]

Good deal. I ordered one . It would be a nice project for my 24" Cincinnati shaper . Im doing the bottom of a tail stock for my lathe .

[@nnittyllojkoo917]

Another great video Adam! Remember if it wasn’t for old school technology and techniques we would not have the technology today. Machines get faster and tolerances tighter mean the smallest of errors cost big. Sometimes it pays to go back to old school.😎😉

[@XavierBergeron]

A wednesday video that just made my day!

[@dasworkshop4967]

I'm wondering if lead shot poured in the central area would stifle the chatter, much like the banded weights are used to dampen brake rotors and drums while machining. As for shaper vs mill, so long as there are no time constraints I believe the shaper will always do a better job with the cheapest tooling. Hogging that cast scale with a several hundred dollar face mill might be fast as a rabbit, but you can count the dollars in tool wear in real time on your fingers... Love this channel.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Nice finish, that will be a great fixture.

[@randomdude1786]

really good work fireball tool has some interesting stuff. the machine it yourself option is cool theres all kindsa things that could be turned into. good project to show some shaper action on too

[@Rubbernecker]

I'm rejoicing!! Another great cameo on ToT! I instantly recognized the piece you were indicating (or pretending to). That may qualify me as an Abom junkie....

[@RyanWeishalla]

Looks like this will be a nice series to watch.

[@buddylineman]

Hey Adam, love the shaper work.

[@paulm5302]

Outstanding Work Boss... Great new series 👍

[@oleanderson3693]

Absolutely mesmerizing. Mount the go-pro on the tool so it travels and you can see a close up of the cutting action. Just found your channel. I'm mainly a woodworker, but I do have a mini-mill I picked up from KBC in Sterling Heights when I was building aluminum barefoot ski booms in my basement, 2500 of them over 15 years. But that was 15 years ago. The KBC catalog was my Sears catalog, always waiting for it in the mail.

[@denniswilliams8747]

The cast iron plate would make a good surface plate for a small shop

[@johnmccallum8512]

That is what I thought it was until Adam picked it up.

[@sethbracken]

“For those of you who don’t like shaper footage” what kind of animals are you letting in here?

[@kurtfattig9370]

Nice honing technique - definitely a time saver - more or less - honing in place - a "hone home!". Can't wait to see the rest of this. I like your idea of the plate instead of bars, too. I guess the bars would work too - and they would seem to be okay in one direction - like perpendiculars. I'm curious as to you would keep the two bars (and the plate) square and true to the fixture plate itself. I guess what really matters is the workpiece itself - but it seems that a square and true base/fixture combo would be quite helpful in alignment.

[@mr.t.807]

I have been enjoy your videos for some time now. Keep it up!!!!

[@alexmckenzie4648]

Good work for the shaper..well done.

[@shortribslongbow5312]

Really cool, great finish on the plate. Thanks for sharing.

[@billyring4]

Thanks Adam. Great video love watching the shaper work.

[@BMAWG1968]

People actually don't like the Shaper?? All of these tools are very fascinating to watch.

[@billythebake]

Reading a book about machining (Foundations Of Mechanical Accuracy), it mentions that single point cutting seems to make cast iron move a bit less than other cutting methods. As if a guy really *needed* a reason to run such a grand old darling of a shaper

[@AD4MRick]

Very nice video Adam. Excellent project. I hope you continue this series. R

[@michaelmarks1391]

Hey Adam, right about 16:20 it seems like the stepover is starting before the tool is completely clear. Isn't that a problem? Have I just not noticed before?

[@bobbeck5343]

Third generation machinist , you gotta love the big bomber. 👍

[@davegower123]

Awesome finish Adam! It would be cool to see the top finished with it rotated 45°

[@jamessonger3]

Super pumped for some more shaper vids!! Love them.

[@bcbloc02]

Would have been interesting to have tried a .001" DOC on that wide finish tool to see what that did for chatter. My book calls for finishing tools of 1-1.5" in width taking .001" cuts and .500-.750 step overs. The speed at 30-60 SFM for iron. This is on big planers but likely still applies. Their tools are sharpened at a 20deg angle to the direction of travel though so it peels the chip to the side instead of pushing it thru. That might help a lot.

[@Abom79]

The most I can step over is .180”, and the dial reads in .002” so taking just one thou is kind of tricky. But that’s why I call this learning.

[@infoanorexic]

Someone ... (can't remember who it was) ... told me that a (shaper) shear tool for cast is different than one for steel. More like a bulldozer than a road grader. No idea what makes the distinction. I've got an old "Iron Duke" engine block with a hole that you could put your fist through in the side of it. If curiosity gets the better of me, I might do some tinkering on that and see what I can find out.

[@Abom79]

Yes the shear tool is for steel, which I've showed once and will show again on the mounting plate.

[@boelwerkr]

Yes an angle is always preferable because it prevents the vibration of the tool. But the softer the material the smaller the angle has to be to prevent tearing and "smearing" of the material. Pure straight tools are only used in situations where the chip can't be pushed aside, or would ruin the finish. But 20° is to much. 2-7° is OK for a finishing tool on cast iron. With to big of an angle you start to tear the chip instead of cutting it.

[@hmw-ms3tx]

I may be stating the obvious but as far as I know the reason for the large step over on the finishing pass is to minimize tool wear. If the tool wears any appreciable amount during the finishing pass the part will be out of flat by the amount of the tool wear (assuming all other things are perfect). If we assume that tool wear is proportional to distance travelled then having a large step over reduces the overall distance the tool has to travel to finish the part. The largest shapers are capable of taking 3 foot cuts (36" Cincinnati for example) while large planers can take 30 foot cuts (or more). Therefore one would expect the step over on the planer to be 10 times what is on the shaper and this seems to check out with your (1.5" on planer) and Abom79's (.180"on the shaper) numbers. I have an American Hole Wizard radial drill and the planer marks on its base are 1-1/8" wide. This is a small radial drill (4ft arm on 9" column) and I would be interested to know if the planer marks are further apart on their larger drills.Ken

[@vansien]

Nice work Adam, will be a handy fixture when done. Interesting as always.

[@stephencshindeldecker8322]

for some reason,I really dig the shaper machine.

[@THEIRONWORKER]

Hey Adam I have used this cutter on cast iron and I put a small radius on the two outside corners so the cutter does not dig in to the work

[@ericdouglas9804]

Nice shaper work. It’s just like cooking BBQ; low and slow with great results 👍👍

[@BentTreeFarmPa]

Love it Adam, keep me coming!

[@richardhead8264]

Using your half-inch-wide full-radius cutter, changing your step-over from 0.020" to 0.050" in the middle of the operation, resulted in your surface peaks going from 0.0002" to 0.0013" in height. Naturally this resulted in the part face no longer comprising a level surface. Therefore your finish pass was absolutely essential for reestablishing planarity.

[@AnthonyJanflone]

Really like the shaper videos. Saw it when you had it in transit. Appreciate your honesty and great work!

[@555_Kochi_STi]

Alright! Another shaper project sounds good.

[@davidbarnhart6228]

More shaper vids, please! Can't have too many shaper vids. Peace!

[@hilltopmachineworks2131]

Yep. Like to she the ole girl in action.

[@iancoupe20v43]

looking forward to part 2 keep up the good work love your videos

[@hateforall4012]

Love the shaper videos

[@MaturePatriot]

We think a lot alike, on the clamping plate. - I love the shaper, but then I'm an old guy who has operated one, a long time ago during HS Shop! - The second tool width, and feed rate seems to be close to perfect. - Great shaper work my friend! 'Til next time.

[@JustMe-bu8pu]

Love the Shaper videos Adam. Keep them coming. Just wondering how it would look if you Fly cut Jason's Logo on the bottom. Might make it "Pop" a little more.

[@ShainAndrews]

Great... another shaper video.... promptly stops video Grabs a beverage, some grub, and resumes to enjoy the next 23 minutes of the day.

[@denniswilliams8747]

Fireballs price for an unfinished plate does not seem too bad. What would you charge to skin the bottom and top, No holes. I think I would like a plate like that for a surface plate for my very small home shop. Thanks for the vids. Always interesting and I learn a lot from you.

[@65BAJA]

Just started machining mine today. My darn square column mill only has 8" Y travel so I have to rotate for each edge. I used the first edge as the reference. I hope that works. I'm re-watching this series if your vids before I finish the rest of the machining.

[@boelwerkr]

i have some leather bags with lead grains in it. These are really good for dampening vibrations. A bag filled with earth or sand will do the same but with less style. ;-) Also the tool vibrates because the cutting edge is in a right angle to the cutting direction, and material you are cutting is brittle. Even a small additional angle will dampen the vibration.

[@RobertKohut]

Nice!! Lovin' the shaper content!!

[@gh778jk]

YAYAYAY! More shaper stuff! Hugs Paddy

[@jerrycoleman2610]

Adam, great video enjoyed every minute your sure keeping me anxious to see your next video on this project thanks for sharing hope your doing great.!.!.!.

[@nbrowser]

Sweeeeet some G&E metal removal! That thing is just a work of art and power.

[@a24396]

@Abom79 Dude you're awesome! And, I love your asides to everyone. (e.g. For the people in the comments wondering why I'm not using a particular tool... Well... I don't have that tool, so that why I have to do it this way.) It's too bad they can't just watch a master at work... I'm bummed because you're not using a milling machine, but I'm beginning to appreciate the shaper more as I watch what you can do with it. Thanks so much for posting!

[@Crewsy]

I am curious to see how much material has to be removed from the top vs the amount removed from the bottom here. As it appears the one side seems to have been a lot taller but is it the casting or how it was clamped up in the shaper. I am sure there will all kinds of ideas for fixture plates to be made from Fireball Tool’s raw castings.

[@ColtaineCrows]

Raw castings are all kinds of crooked and out of square and stuff like that.