Shopsmith Forums

idcook wrote:The table ain’t none to pretty as it is now.

Along with this stock fix-up I’ve decided I might as well go all out and shiny up the works as well as I can.

That's how it starts. I realized a few years ago I have "expanding scope" problems and always end up doing more than planned. And doing it ad hoc so it takes twice as long.

Now I just do a full restore on most things unless I need it right away (like my daily driver).

I figure beyond the stock the rest is easy. Really nothing more than cleaning and polishing. I don’t want to mess with the color.

(Though I had at one point mused that it might be nice to paint this greenie a blazing fire engine red, then black with a Jolly Roger on the stock but I yielded to maintaining what I consider to be its classic look — Greenie!)

Took a short break to sprain my right arm cleaning up Hurricane Sandy damage in the back yard but, after receiving Anderson’s DVD instructions, was able to dismantle and clean the headstock, replace the Gilmer belt and reassemble with little trouble.

The greatest difficulty I encountered was finding the motor sheaves stuck and having to remove that doggone spring. A good thing since it required me to get past fear of tampering with the motor. Which turns out to be as simple as I remember them to be when I was a kid and would’ve thought nothing of tinkering with them.

My next foray to the interior of this machine will involve delving deeper into the motor, replacing all the bearings and cleaning up the tubes, locks and general exterior. Probably look into Mr. Bill Mayo’s threads to help me with this. (BTW— Mr. Mayo is acknowledged at the end of Anderson’s DVD.)

Anyway, thanks to all the urging and encouragement offered here (dusty and JPG in particular) and Autozone, where I may decide to take up residence in the future, and PB Blaster — the beverage of kings.

Especial thanks, of course, to Mr. Anderson himself. His repair instructions will prove invaluable to any Shopsmith newbie within the first two weeks of tampering with their newly acquired Greenie, Goldie or newer generation machine. When you break it (and you will) place your order for these discs immediately!

I’ll take a few more days off to let this sprain heal up then get back to the workbench. The pieces cut for it a month ago are waiting for me.

Thanks again guys! :-D

BTW —

Picked up a nice set of reconditioned metal casters from a former Gruman employee name of Carl who lives in Texas. An enthusiast of repairing old machines, he told me about some of the interesting projects he’s worked on.

I invited him to join this forum. Seemed like a group he’d enjoy having exchanges with and his experience and knowledge would likely be appreciated by many a newbie as well as long-timers.

The color of these casters is a little brighter than the legs but, as they’re basically underneath, they don’t disturb the overall look. Very nice work.

Best of all is it’s a relief to not have to pick up and nudge the machine around whenever I need to reposition it.

New to this particular thread and thought I'd bring it back around to the original question - if anyone here had feedback on using Jacob Anderson to rebuild a headstock. While I totally agree with the opinion of others here that the best approach is to tackle the job yourself, I found myself late last year being way too overwelmed with the rest of life and I opted to have Jacob rebuild my headstock. He did an excellent job, was very quick and thorough, communicated well, and the final cost was right in line with what he estimated on his E-Bay posting. My headstock now purrs like I can't ever remember and I'm thrilled all the way around with the service he provided. Normally this is the sort of task I would have loved to take on myself but I just didn't have the time or facilities at the time, so this proved to be a worthwhile second option.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass along my positive experience since this was the original question. I also purchased a few of his DVDs (headstock repair and bandsaw repair and adjustment), although I haven't had a chance to watch them and as a result I can't yet speak to them personally.

lv2wdwrk wrote:Take pictures as you go.

Probably one of the most important things I do before tearing something apart, cause I just do not always remember how that thingamajiggy connected to the whatcamacallit.....

Todd