Another new SS owner

jm51 · Post by **jm51** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:50 pm

Hi, first post.

I go to pick up my SS 500 and bandsaw on Tuesday, will be a full day traveling but hey ho, only needs to be done once. (I hope.)

The first 2 projects for it aren't even wood, need to drill and tap 4 holes in an aluminium plate for my Zenbot, then resaw some small pieces of 1/2" Corian.

As I have a Festool TS55 saw and guide rails, am I correct in thinking that the 500/510/520 table saw differences don't mean much to me as I'll only be working small pieces on the SS table saw? The Festool is great for sheet goods but the smaller the piece, the more finicky and tedious the setup imo.

Great forum btw.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 3:19 pm

WELCOME to the forum and the world of ShopSmith. After ya get it home. Clean it up and wax/lube it. Then do an adjustment on it. Are ya get all of the normal stuff with it?

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:04 pm

jm51 wrote:Hi, first post.

I go to pick up my SS 500 and bandsaw on Tuesday, will be a full day traveling but hey ho, only needs to be done once. (I hope.)

The first 2 projects for it aren't even wood, need to drill and tap 4 holes in an aluminium plate for my Zenbot, then resaw some small pieces of 1/2" Corian.

As I have a Festool TS55 saw and guide rails, am I correct in thinking that the 500/510/520 table saw differences don't mean much to me as I'll only be working small pieces on the SS table saw? The Festool is great for sheet goods but the smaller the piece, the more finicky and tedious the setup imo.

Great forum btw.

Welcome and congratulations on your new acquisition. As beeg said, take some time to clean, lube and align once you get it home. After that your 500 should do a fine job for cutting the smaller pieces. I too have a track system that I use on larger pieces. For smaller pieces I turn to either my Shopsmith or my table saw. The 500 will do fine in the other "modes". Have fun with it and be safe!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:51 pm

beeg wrote:WELCOME to the forum and the world of ShopSmith. After ya get it home. Clean it up and wax/lube it. Then do an adjustment on it. Are ya get all of the normal stuff with it?

This will help you do what Beeg suggested and maybe prevent inadvertant damage!:)
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=7092

jm51 · Post by **jm51** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:00 pm

ya get all of the normal stuff with it?

I think/hope so. In the pic I can see the 12" sanding disc, under table vacuum doo-da, chuck, tailstock, mitre gauge and rip fence, safety guard and bandsaw plus a box of whatever smaller stuff. Enough to be playing with for a while.

Can't see me ever needing a jointer or belt sander so just a reassuringly expensive Festool shopvac to replace the NuMatic Henry and I'm about done ...for now...

I've still got to make room for it, the scrap pile needs to be culled.

Are these worth having?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

jimthej · Post by **jimthej** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:25 am

jm51 wrote:ya get all of the normal stuff with it?

Are these worth having?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

I got them. Run well. Take some maintenance, reshaping every couple of years. Essential if you plan on running blades under 1/4 inch.

Welcome to the forum.

jm51 · Post by **jm51** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:04 pm

Thanks for the welcome.

Well it's here after a 400 mile round trip. Serial No. 10-4-95 so less than 20 years old, still a baby.

Bad news:

No arbors or saw blades, a couple of spots of rust on way tubes. The lathe tool rest is complete but rusty.
I can push both belts much more than the quoted 1/8" max. Speed control is stiff and the headstock takes its own sweet time to rev up. Was only a quick test to make sure it wasn't doa, I'll go through the correct procedures before running it again.

Good news:
Sounds QUIET, my main reason for wanting a SS was the lower noise compared to conventional power tools, I've owned vacuum cleaners 3 or 4 times noisier.

The bandsaw has extension table, fence and circle cutter. New in packet 1/8" blade (sticker says rrp £6.75 ) a pack of coolblocks plus an unused 73"

Screwfix blade.

A no name chuck which seems good quality, 2 six inch circular dado blades, 3 dado knives and over a dozen 12" sanding papers, 1 of which is black.

Has upper saw guard/riving knife and 2 bits of lower saw guard, not sure if that's the complete lower guard.

Nearly forgot, has a sharpening guide.

The manual has the self study course plus stuff for the bandsaw, sharpening guide and circle cutter.

So far so good.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:24 pm

jm51 wrote:Thanks for the welcome.

Well it's here after a 400 mile round trip. Serial No. 10-4-95 so less than 20 years old, still a baby.

Bad news:

No arbors or saw blades, a couple of spots of rust on way tubes. The lathe tool rest is complete but rusty.
I can push both belts much more than the quoted 1/8" max. Speed control is stiff and the headstock takes its own sweet time to rev up. Was only a quick test to make sure it wasn't doa, I'll go through the correct procedures before running it again.

Good news:
Sounds QUIET, my main reason for wanting a SS was the lower noise compared to conventional power tools, I've owned vacuum cleaners 3 or 4 times noisier.

The bandsaw has extension table, fence and circle cutter. New in packet 1/8" blade (sticker says rrp £6.75 ) a pack of coolblocks plus an unused 73" Screwfix blade.

A no name chuck which seems good quality, 2 six inch circular dado blades, 3 dado knives and over a dozen 12" sanding papers, 1 of which is black.

Has upper saw guard/riving knife and 2 bits of lower saw guard, not sure if that's the complete lower guard.

Nearly forgot, has a sharpening guide.

The manual has the self study course plus stuff for the bandsaw, sharpening guide and circle cutter.

So far so good.

The sluggish response is caused by a crudded up floating sheave(motor shaft). So cleaning and lubing should eliminate the sluggishness.

jm51 · Post by **jm51** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:27 pm

A couple of drops of oil on the sheaves and it's fine.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:15 pm

jm51 wrote:A couple of drops of oil on the sheaves and it's fine.

Cleaning it up will make it finer longer!:)