Shopsmith Forums

[quote="navycop"]Speaking about the Lathe. It is recommended that you not change speeds without the motor running. Is it okay (not saying it is right just okay) to change speeds with nothing attached to the headstock? For instance: going from TS to lathe. Take off the sawblade, turn on, power down to lathe speed, turn off. Then attach mandrel, turn on, make pen, turn off. I guess if you know you are going to change over]That is generally oakay. Be careful, especially turning it on after switching to bandsaw mode. You do knot want to start it too fast!

So long as the motor is running you can change speed at will. In fact speed can be changed with care while rotating the shaft by hand

Ray

rayjack wrote:So long as the motor is running you can change speed at will. In fact speed can be changed with care while rotating the shaft by hand

Ray

Although there may be a problem doing this with a 115v motor, I jog the motor by very briefly turning it on then off and adjusting the speed in spurts until the desired speed is set. The motor in not on long enough to get up to an excessive speed, but does rotate enough to allow lowering the speed control setting. This is only required if a lower speed is needed. No spt will be damaged by running it too SLOW.

This is only necessary if a slow speed spt is attached after FORGETTING to lower the speed b4 attaching it.

Some may say this is a switch test in disguise!:D

If I need to change speeds without turning on the machine, I put a 2" long by 1/4" dia steel dowel in the drill chuck and clamp the other end of the dowel in my cordlesss drill. Run the cordless at around 20-30 rpm in REVERSE and adjust speed. A quick and easy way to go from high speed to low speed or vise-a-versa.

Dick, I get so frustrated sometimes that I can't think of the most simple ways of doing things. It has always aggravated me to put on one of the disk and rotate it by hand to change the speed back to slow. Your idea is just plain simple and brilliant and I thank you for submitting it.

Ashbury

I think that a good 'hands on' class might be best. There should be some adult education classes at the local schools in your area, or as mentioned in previous replies, a Woodcraft store.

dicksterp wrote:If I need to change speeds without turning on the machine, I put a 2" long by 1/4" dia steel dowel in the drill chuck and clamp the other end of the dowel in my cordlesss drill. Run the cordless at around 20-30 rpm in REVERSE and adjust speed. A quick and easy way to go from high speed to low speed or vise-a-versa.

That is a FANTASTIC method!!! I hope that I will remember it when needed!

dicksterp wrote:If I need to change speeds without turning on the machine, I put a 2" long by 1/4" dia steel dowel in the drill chuck and clamp the other end of the dowel in my cordlesss drill. Run the cordless at around 20-30 rpm in REVERSE and adjust speed. A quick and easy way to go from high speed to low speed or vise-a-versa.

FWIW The sheaves do NOT care what direction they are turning!

These are all excellent suggestions. Got a couple of more. Some of the community colleges here in Southern California still have woodworking programs (or wood manufacturing technologies... sounds fancier that way). Cerritos College has an excellent program for example. A basic woodturning class or basic woodworking class goes a long way. Jim Driscoll is an excellent instructor and a professional turner. Some colleges have student clubs for woodworkers. Lots of experience and knowledge for the cost of a college course. (Around $250.00). Plus the instructor may let you sharpen your own tools. Mine did. You might want to check your local colleges.

Something that I learned from the college, was that you want your center line (spindle height) to be roughly equal with the height of your elbows when your standing. The shopsmith sits too low for me at my height (6' 2"). I use my shopsmith for turning, but I look like a hunchback when I'm on it. I have to build something to raise it up about 6 inches. The shopsmith is designed to be very generic about somethings. So it may not be a perfect fit, although it does a good job at just about everything.

I found a website with an old shopsmith manuel. The front cover had a guy smoking a pipe while cutting the wood. One thing I noticed (while flipping thru the chapters). There was picture of a grinding wheel hooked up to the main spinal. He was using it to sharpen the chisel.
My question to you veterans: Is this do able? It would save me from buying a grinder after I bought my chisels. I just didn't know if the SS went slow enough to not yank the chisel from your hand.