Have you ever ran a Shaper?

[JD Wilk]

I ran a few different shapers as a Tool and Die maker. Both hydraulic and mechanical. Mostly for contouring to a scribed line
to match the outline of the part. You can adjust the cross feed and get a pretty smooth surface when doing a flat surface.
As for cutting gears and helical ones a gear hobb. a slotter, or a gear mill with an automatic indexing feed would be a faster and less
laborious choice. Remember they only cut in one direction so time is lost on the return stroke. I was offered one for my shop but they take up a lot of room so I declined it.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I ran a few different shapers as a Tool and Die maker. Both hydraulic and mechanical. Mostly for contouring to a scribed line
to match the outline of the part. You can adjust the cross feed and get a pretty smooth surface when doing a flat surface.
As for cutting gears and helical ones a gear hobb. a slotter, or a gear mill with an automatic indexing feed would be a faster and less
laborious choice. Remember they only cut in one direction so time is lost on the return stroke. I was offered one for my shop but they take up a lot of room so I declined it.

That's exactly how I used them. I apprenticed at a GM plant and there were eight 24 inch Cincis in constant use and kept the apprentices busy as their first machine they learned. Surfacing composite steels, making setups and grinding tool bits. I was laid off the day I completed my time and went to another large company. Managers do not like shapers or T&D people in general.