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Shaper vise - How big is too big?

Xyphota

Xyphota

Ultra Member
So in a moment of drowsy uncertainty at 2:00am last night, I submitted an offer to purchase this absolute unit of a shaper vise on ebay, as the seller only had it listed for $250 CAD, and the seller happens to be in Canada, in Scarborough, ON. The seller is now working on an estimate for freight for me which I expect to be in the $4-500 range.

Every forum post I've read about shapers in the last two weeks discussing whether or not someone should buy a shaper all said that if it doesn't come with a vise, one should pass as the vices are impossible to find. This did not worry me too much as I figured a mill vise would suffice for most of my needs. However, after seeing this large shaper vise come up on ebay at 2 in the morning, I thought that what are the chances I find a shaper vise the day I bring home a shaper?? LOL. I immediately submitted an offer and went to sleep to dream about making chips.

However, this morning, the reality has set in, and I think this vise might actually be too big LOL. The jaws are 14.5" wide, the mounting face is a 13" square, the bolt mounting spacing is a 10" square, and the vise weighs 300 lb. My shaper's table has t-slot spacing of 7.5", and the whole table is only 12" wide by 16" long. What do you guys think? Is this vise too big???

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I think I could modify the swivel plate without too much effort to fit the 7.5" spacing, but this thing will essentially be the size of my entire table LOL.

MicrosoftTeams-image (14).jpg
 
My shaper is one size smaller at 13" swing and the shaper vise is no heavier duty than standard 6" milling vise. Heck, I would be quite sure a Kurt would be much stronger vise than actual shaper vise.

I would go for 8" jaws or maybe 10" but 14" seem like overkill. This is just me - I am not a shaper expert. Also if the price is 250+400 you are spending a boat load of $$$.
 
Xyphota said:
So in a moment of drowsy uncertainty at 2:00am last night, I submitted an offer to purchase this absolute unit of a shaper vise on ebay, as the seller only had it listed for $250 CAD, and the seller happens to be in Canada, in Scarborough, ON. The seller is now working on an estimate for freight for me which I expect to be in the $4-500 range.

Every forum post I've read about shapers in the last two weeks discussing whether or not someone should buy a shaper all said that if it doesn't come with a vise, one should pass as the vices are impossible to find. This did not worry me too much as I figured a mill vise would suffice for most of my needs. However, after seeing this large shaper vise come up on ebay at 2 in the morning, I thought that what are the chances I find a shaper vise the day I bring home a shaper?? LOL. I immediately submitted an offer and went to sleep to dream about making chips.

However, this morning, the reality has set in, and I think this vise might actually be too big LOL. The jaws are 14.5" wide, the mounting face is a 13" square, the bolt mounting spacing is a 10" square, and the vise weighs 300 lb. My shaper's table has t-slot spacing of 7.5", and the whole table is only 12" wide by 16" long. What do you guys think? Is this vise too big???

View attachment 34341
View attachment 34342

I think I could modify the swivel plate without too much effort to fit the 7.5" spacing, but this thing will essentially be the size of my entire table LOL.
Click to expand...

So can you back out of this deal?

If it would save you money and you wanted to arrange your own shipping I could help out with crating and delivery to a shipper.
 
I think the only way to resolve this is to buy a bigger shaper.

I have a similar sized shaper (prema 13), and can take a pic of my vice later tonight. But I can tell you it's smaller than that one, and I wouldn't want it any bigger or smaller. Small work envelope machine and vise sizing is a bit of a goldilocks problem.
 
Dan Dubeau said:
I think the only way to resolve this is to buy a bigger shaper.

I have a similar sized shaper (prema 13), and can take a pic of my vice later tonight. But I can tell you it's smaller than that one, and I wouldn't want it any bigger or smaller. Small work envelope machine and vise sizing is a bit of a goldilocks problem.
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Yeah that is what I have.

The vise is not any heavier duty that standard 6" vise. His shaper is a bit bigger so I suggested 8" jaws. If he was in Calgary I have a vise with wide jaws for him.
 
Well the other appealing aspect of this comically large vise is that it would potentially allow the shaper to provide me with some extra utility over my bridgeport. My bridgeport only has a 32in wide table, and because the saddle is 20" wide, that only leaves 12in of available x-axis travel. This shaper has a 18" stroke and 20" of longitudinal traverse. It would probably take a couple days, but I could face up to a 20" x 16" part with this vise ;).

I have Kurt DX6 vise on my bridgeport which has a 9in opening capacity, so between the dinky 4-5" inch vise sitting on the pallet seen in the photo and my Kurt, I think I'd live with moving those two around and wait for another smaller shaper vise to come up if I ultimately do not get this one

@Dan Dubeau I'd love to see a pic of your shaper + vise! Can you elaborate on why you would not want it larger?

@TorontoBuilder that is very generous of you! I'll wait to hear back with the seller's shipping quote and if it is outrageous I might call around Scarborough area for some alternate quotes and get back to you.
 
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com

8 inch shaper vice $100

I asked him this morning and he hasn't received the money order yet...... I will let you know as soon as I can that clearance has been given. :) Thanks again.
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
 
Xyphota said:
@Dan Dubeau I'd love to see a pic of your shaper + vise! Can you elaborate on why you would not want it larger?
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Here's the vise on my 13" Prema. As for why I wouldn't want it bigger, I feel it's big enough to handle any larger workpieces, but not too big itself that it takes away machine capacity. Anything bigger would just eat up more real estate that is already squeezed.
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That's 6" to the top of jaw, and 4.25" to the bed. On a machine with 13" travels, that's giving up a lot just for workholding.

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Hope that helps a bit.
 
I've posted this before, there are third party shipping services that allow you to shop the best shipping prices at their huge discounts.

I did this regularly for international
shipments and Canadian shipments when required, currently I get great UPS international shipments, but still use these services for Canadian shipments.

Don't believe ask @David_R8 how I saved him a ton of money.

You can do it yourself, look at Shiptime.com
 
Thanks for your input, the loss of vertical space makes a lot of sense as to why one wouldn't want a taller vise. This 14" vise looks to be about 7.5" to the top of the jaws with the swivel.

@Degen thanks for the tip. I'm getting a quick quote of $200 CAD via Fedex Freight, which seems to good to be true. Whats the catch ;)
 
How low would you expect you could get for a 300 lb vise? lol

EDIT: Quotes are back up to $400-ish
 
Call Manitoulin for a quote. Estimate size of small skid. 'We' have shipped similar weight things to/from the west for less than your quotes.
 
Manitoulin quoted $220 for me, which is the best price I've got an invoice for so far. That seems reasonable to me? Do you think you would get it much cheaper than that? LOL.

EDIT: $220 is the quote if I pick the vise up from their shipping depot (which I requested for the above quote), it would be about $350 to get it to my door. I will be picking it up from the depot lol.
 
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Just bought an electric motor. That's what eMotors wanted to ship it to me. I complained but they would not budge. So I'd say you got a fantastic deal! I'd imagine that time will not be of the essence though.....
 
Xyphota said:
Manitoulin quoted $220 for me, which is the best price I've got an invoice for so far. That seems reasonable to me? Do you think you would get it much cheaper than that? LOL.
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seems reasonable. I'm not sure what Manitoulin's tiers are, but a 7" shaper / J&L Optical comparator to/from Ontario/'the west' was in that ball park.
 
Seems like a good price, at that weight it needs to be on a skid so you're kind of paying that for the skid, even though its only 300 and not very tall.

Note for posterity....always get a quote. Once they missed the fact that they'd quoted and sent an invoice thinking it was shipped without a quote. The bill was almost 4x the quote. A phone call straightened it out, but I guess figure if there is no quote, they've got you.
 
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