old cast iron - metal shaper - what to look for upon initial inspection?

[metalmagpie]

A guy sort of near my house (1/4 state away) has a medium-sized shaper he wants to sell me. He is a currently-working young machinist and he says it all works and is complete, but it's sat for a few years. Cosmetics are medium to medium-rough.

On a lathe or mill I pretty much know what to look for. What should I look for on a shaper?

thanks

[jhe.1973]

I feel that the first thing to look at is the slide ways of the ram. Run it manually all the way out the front and back and look for scoring on the top & bottom surfaces. This is where they first show signs of abuse/lack of lube.

Almost forgot! A shaper is one of the most under estimated machines as far as weight goes. They are almost always heavier than a person thinks.

[dp]

Cracks in the table, head, or ram, a broken cross-feed screw where the table has had a collision with the ratchet, missing vise, worn clapper pin, worn ways with grease-clogged oilers, worn bearings on the drive gear, bull gear, and scotch yoke. Missing pieces like clapper lantern, and table drive components.

[_Paul_]

How old is it? some older machines like my 1940's Alba have no graduations and 6 TPI screws which makes precision work difficult.

Worn Phosphor bronze bearings in the drive train can be difficult to rectify.