Slotter or broach driver.

[WmRMeyers]

You may be a devotee of shapers but that is somewhat of an exageration. How would a shaper help me do this, which is typical my milling needs?

or this



That is another reason that I have no desire for a shaper. I have nothing against shapers but they just offer nothing to be of interest to me.

It wouldn't, and I didn't say it would do everything a mill would, just most things. Even in mills, there are two basic types, both of which have advantages and disadvantages. Horizontal mills will do some things vertical mills can't do, and the reverse is true, also. That would be one reason why I have one of each. Horizontal mills require pretty specialized & expensive tooling to do some of the things that vertical mills can't do. Vertical mill tooling is also more expensive than shaper tooling. But mills are generally much faster than shapers.

Shaper tooling can be dead cheap, but shapers are really slow. You use the tool that best suits what you need. You needed a shaper, and made one. Slotter/Shaper. Major difference is that one is horizontal, one vertical. Yours is a slotter. They are of limited use. But downright useful, too. And there isn't anything wrong with not being interested in shapers or slotters. As long as you don't need one.

There are some folks who own manual shapers. Their arm powers the shaper. That's a bit much even for me, but it's just right for some folks. If you didn't have the air cylinder would you have possibly powered your device manually? It would have worked, just been much slower, and not nearly as much fun. Though some folks find it fun and relaxing.

You had other things to do, and that is just fine, and perfectly sensible. I'm playing with the stuff I play with because it is play. I'm doing it for fun. I'm sure you enjoy doing what you're doing, but it's obviously not just for fun for you. Nothing wrong with that, either. And if shapers are in short supply in your area, that's a perfectly fine reason all by itself. From the video, I'd say you're a grownup. You don't need my permission for anything, and I enjoyed your video because it showed a way to get around a problem that I might never have run into. Though I bet you could take that thing off your mill, and bolt it to a bench with a vise and make it work, too. And IIRC, you didn't make any permanent modifications to the lathe parts you used for the slide, so you could put it on a lathe when you need to. Excellent ingenuity. I'm almost jealous.

Bill