Used Fellows Gear Shaper Co Machines We Buy

Fellows Gear Shaper Co. of Springfield, Vermont built the gear shapers many gear shops still depend on, from the 10-4 to the heavy 36-6. We purchase used Fellows shapers outright at Machine Tool Exchange, original, retrofitted or fully remanufactured. Read on for who made them, who supports them today and what moves the price, then browse the Fellows inventory further down.

Get an offer for your FellowsCall 517-514-5190
  • 171Fellows units indexed
  • 24–48hQuote turnaround
  • Since 2012Buying machines
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A manufacturing plant floor with machinery, seen from above
Quote in 24–48 hrsFrom the buyer, not a broker
Buying since 2012Outright purchases only

How Selling Your Fellows Works

  1. Tell us which Fellows it is

    Send the shaper's details through the form or by phone: the size from the plate (a 10-4, a 20-4, a 36-6 or an FS-series machine, for example), the serial number, whether the stroke is mechanical or Hydrostroke, and whether it has had a CNC retrofit. Photos of the cutter spindle and the guides help, but they are optional.

  2. Your cash offer in 24-48 hours

    We price your shaper against what Fellows machines are bringing now and put a cash offer in front of you, most often inside 24 to 48 hours. If the figure does not suit you, you can simply walk away.

  3. Rigging and pickup, arranged

    Once you accept, we can arrange the rigging, crating, freight and pickup, from a compact shaper on a toolroom floor to a heavy 36-6 in a gear shop.

Get an offer for your FellowsCall 517-514-5190

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Who Built Fellows Gear Shapers

Fellows gear shapers come from the Fellows Gear Shaper Company of Springfield, Vermont. Wikipedia's biography of Edwin R. Fellows says he designed and built a new type of gear shaper in 1896, and that Springfield backers including James Hartness and William D. Woolson founded the company on July 13, 1896. Its first 6-Type production machine followed in 1897.

The business grew with the automobile. Wikipedia reports that by 1924 Fellows employed seven hundred men and could produce one hundred gear shapers a month, and that during World War II the plant reached a peak work force of 3,300.

Fellows Since 2002: Bourn & Koch in Rockford

Fellows still has an owner that builds and supports the machines. Bourn & Koch says it acquired Fellows in 2002 and moved all of the Fellows prints and documents to its facility in Rockford, Illinois, and that two of its most experienced engineers are originally from Fellows. It calls itself the OEM source for Fellows replacement parts and remanufactures classic machines such as the 10-4, 20-4, 36-6 and 50-8, in mechanical or Hydrostroke stroking form.

Bourn & Koch says its new Fellows lines shape gears to AGMA class 10 without grinding. For older machines it offers a CNC retrofit package built on a Fanuc 35i control with a PC front end and Fellows gear shaping software, which puts the shaping operation under 4-axis CNC control.

Pricing a Used Fellows Gear Shaper

A Fellows shaper cuts internal and external spur and helical gears, and much of its value sits in the stroking head, the guides and the cutter spindle. Tell us whether yours is mechanical or Hydrostroke, whether it keeps its original controls or has had a CNC retrofit or a full remanufacture, and how the helical guides and cutter spindle have held up. Those are the same parts Bourn & Koch names for Fellows rebuilds: helical guide rebuilds, CNC control retrofits and cutter spindle reconditioning.

Extra helical guides, shaper cutters and the machine's manual all help the offer, because a buyer who gets them does not have to source them.

Fellows Sizes That Come Through Most Often

The Fellows shapers listed here run from the 4A and the Fellows Z through the 10-4 and 20-4 to the 36-6 and the 50-8, with FS-series CNC shapers among them. Several carry a remanufactured or CNC tag in the listing name, so ask us to check yours against its rebuild records. Bourn & Koch says the 10-4 set the standard for mechanical gear shaping throughout the previous century, and it still turns up often among the shapers offered to us.

Fellows Parts and Rebuilds, or Selling Outright

If you plan to keep a Fellows cutting, Bourn & Koch stocks many common replacement parts, can make any part to OEM specifications, offers manuals and schematics, and has field technicians located throughout the United States. If the shaper has outlived its work in your shop, we buy it as it stands, and paperwork from a Bourn & Koch rebuild or retrofit is worth sending along with the model and serial number.

Sources for the Fellows facts on this page

  1. Fellows Gear Shapers by Bourn & Koch, Bourn & Koch, Inc. (current owner of the Fellows line)
  2. Fellows Gear Shaper Parts, Field Service and Rebuild, Bourn & Koch, Inc. (current owner of the Fellows line)
  3. Fellows Gear Shapers CNC Retrofit Package, Bourn & Koch, Inc. (current owner of the Fellows line)
  4. Edwin R. Fellows, Wikipedia

Ready to sell your machine? Tell us what you have and get a competitive offer in 24-48 hours. We can arrange the removal, rigging and logistics, and the truck to move it.

Machine Tool ExchangeNationwide CNC machine buyer since 2012

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Customer Reviews

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Superior Machine & Tool completed the removal of all our equipment precisely according to our timeline and specifications. Their professionalism and reliability made them a pleasure to work with, and we highly recommend their services.

MTE CustomerEquipment Seller

Closing down our facility was stressful, but these folks made selling our surplus equipment fast and easy. Their team handled payment right away and coordinated removal like pros.

MTE CustomerEquipment Seller

We had a deadline for our asset removal, and they removed everything safely and finished ahead of schedule. The whole process was seamless and stress-free.

MTE CustomerEquipment Seller

These guys made the whole process so easy. I got paid fast, and they picked up the equipment right on time.

MTE CustomerEquipment Seller

Common questions

Do you buy used Fellows gear shapers?

Yes, from 6A and 61A machines through the 10-2 and 10-4 to the large 36-6 and the 50-series shapers, and FS400 CNC shapers too. Have the stroke length and the largest pitch diameter ready, the cutter spindle adapter it takes, which guides and cutters stay with it, and the control on a CNC machine: Fanuc 0i, 18i and 32i controls all appear in our Fellows listings.

Will you buy a Fellows that was remanufactured or converted to CNC?

Yes. Several Fellows 10-4 listings we carry are remanufactured CNC machines, and a rebuilt shaper is quoted on what was done to it. Tell us who did the work and when, whether the stroking head and the guide were replaced or reground, and which control and servo package it now runs. An inspection chart from the rebuild helps.

Who owns the Fellows Gear Shaper Company now?

Bourn & Koch of Rockford, Illinois. Bourn & Koch says it acquired Fellows in 2002 and moved all of the Fellows prints and documents to Rockford, and it now supplies OEM parts, field service and rebuilds for Fellows shapers including the FS-400, 10-4, 10-2 and 36-6. Two of its most experienced engineers, it adds, came from Fellows.

When was the Fellows gear shaper invented?

In 1896. Wikipedia's biography of Edwin R. Fellows dates his new type of gear shaper to that year. The American Precision Museum says he founded his company in July 1896, and that the first Fellows gear shaper, a 36-inch capacity experimental machine, was built in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, that same year, before his small Springfield shop was even finished. That first machine was never sold.

Are Fellows gear shapers still made?

Yes, in remanufactured form. Bourn & Koch rebuilds classic Fellows models such as the 10-4 and 20-4 at its Rockford plant, adds a conversational operator interface, and says its new Fellows lines shape gears to AGMA class 10 without grinding. Many of those builds start from a used Fellows, which is part of why older machines still draw interest.

What gears can a Fellows shaper cut?

Internal and external spur and helical gears, Bourn & Koch says. Internal teeth are the classic reason to own a Fellows: the American Precision Museum notes that when gear shapers first appeared, they were the only machine that could cut internal gears at a reasonable production rate. Helical work runs through the machine's helical guide, one of the parts Bourn & Koch lists for Fellows rebuilds.

Thinking about selling Fellows Gear Shaper Co Machines?

Have a Fellows gear shaper to sell? Share the size, the serial number and a few photos, and expect a quote from us inside 24-48 hours. Mechanical or Hydrostroke, rebuilt or tired, we look at every one, and after you say yes, rigging and trucking can be set up on our side. Want to talk it over first? Call 517-514-5190.

Get an offerCall 517-514-5190
  • Fast Response
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  • Hassle-Free Process

Tell us what you’re selling

Send us the make and model and we’ll come back with a cash offer. Most sellers hear from us the same business day.

What happens next

  1. Same business dayWe confirm your details and ask anything we’re missing.
  2. Within 24–48 hoursYou receive a purchase proposal.
  3. On your timelineSigned agreement, then we can arrange rigging & pickup.

We only use your details to value your machine and get back to you. No lists, no resale.