Shopsmith Forums

I am the owner of a 1955 Greenie, that I have dis-assembled and overhauled. I have become interested in wood turning of bowls, and after using the Tennessee Association of Woodturner's club lathes I decided to try to use the Shopsmith. I had a good sized half log of hackberry that's been drying and anchor sealed for about 6 months. I mounted it on the lathe with a drive spur and a live center, but the piece could not be engaged safely, so I mounted to a face plate. When I started it up (on the same center) and it was horribly off balance. The speed was way too fast, so I stopped and won't try that again. Also I went to a much smaller piece of hackberry and discovered the inadequacies of the tool rest design. The Universal Tool Rest would be a welcome addition if I could find one cheaply. And a speed reducer would also be needed for safety. The larger blank weighed about 10 lbs., and was roughly hexagon shaped, so it was fairly roughed in. What do you experienced bowl turners do? Do you use a Shopsmith for large turnings.

mgdesigns wrote:Also I went to a much smaller piece of hackberry and discovered the inadequacies of the tool rest design. The Universal Tool Rest would be a welcome addition if I could find one cheaply. And a speed reducer would also be needed for safety. The larger blank weighed about 10 lbs., and was roughly hexagon shaped, so it was fairly roughed in. What do you experienced bowl turners do? Do you use a Shopsmith for large turnings.

Yes, I turn on my Shopsmith very often, to round large off balance I used the Shopsmith Speed Reducer until I got my PowerPro. Just before I got the PowerPro my adult son and his girlfriend learned a valuable lesson about turning off balance work too fast as a 5" log came flying off the chuck (both of them now have small scars to remind them of the incident).

We made two mistakes

1. Not checking the speed before starting, the Shopsmith was set to Saw (3450 RPM)
2. Not tightening the chuck after the wood had dried.

I have used both the standard Shopsmith banjo and the Universal Banjo and both work. What I don't use are the Shopsmith tool rests, I find them too soft for my high-end turning tools and I just end up digging into them.

I have a very complete set of modular tool resets with both a 3/4" post and 1" post so I can mount them in a variety of ways on both banjo's.

paulmcohen wrote:Yes, I turn on my Shopsmith very often, to round large off balance I used the Shopsmith Speed Reducer until I got my PowerPro. Just before I got the PowerPro my adult son and his girlfriend learned a valuable lesson about turning off balance work too fast as a 5" log came flying off the chuck (both of them now have small scars to remind them of the incident).

We made two mistakes

1. Not checking the speed before starting, the Shopsmith was set to Saw (3450 RPM)
2. Not tightening the chuck after the wood had dried.

I have used both the standard Shopsmith banjo and the Universal Banjo and both work. What I don't use are the Shopsmith tool rests, I find them too soft for my high-end turning tools and I just end up digging into them.

I have a very complete set of modular tool resets with both a 3/4" post and 1" post so I can mount them in a variety of ways on both banjo's.

some questions:

1) how have you handled the fact that the adjustment handle for the banjo can interfere with the workpiece? Are you turning small enough stuff that it doesn't matter? Are you using an extension for the tailstock? No tailstock at all?
2) do you have a link to the toolrests that you are using?
3) are you using any sandbags or similar for additional weight?

As for my situation:
1) I had speed set to the slowest possible (700 rpm-ish) - which is way too fat for a non cylindrical un-preformed rough bowl.
2) I use the standard issue tool rest that I got with Greenie, that attaches to the outboard side table saw post hole.
3) I use the RH side Lathe Center holder adjusted to correct height, with a Woodcraft MT-2 taper conical live center.

If anyone has a lead on a Shopsmith Universal Tool Rest for sale I might be interested. Also is there anyway to reduce the speed to 100 rpm (maybe electrically) without having to purchase the Speed Reducer? That speed is too scary when trying to hog down a chunk like this one was (and this is much smaller than the bowls I've already turned one One Ways or Jets or Powermatics). If I have to spend any more $$$ to turn bowls, I'll wait until I can have dedicated space and buy a serious lathe.

Hi,

Not a big turner but I'd say you need to get the balance better before attempting any turning.

I have the speed reducer, that is a major help for turning and for drilling with larger bits. I use it more for drilling then lathe work and even if I did no lathe work at all I'd still want the lower speeds for other things. For those who want the capacity for lathe work I'd think this is a must. The new power-pro headstock has a low speed of 250 rpm, that is another option.

The extra weight of the universal tool rest is certainly a plus. You also get a lot of flexibility of positioning the tool rest, sometimes it seems more then I need and I waste time trying a few positions before I can decide on what I like best. I guess if you do more of it and more often it could become second nature.

Now I don't know if you have a bandsaw but that can be helpful in getting the raw stock more "round" then a square, hex, or octagon.

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The limit would be the height, you have about 6" to start with so the bowl has to be less then that. The width can exceed the diameter that the lathe can turn so that is not an issue.

I'd also say that you will want to look in to a good chuck. I have the teknatool G3, which might be about right for getting you started. The nice part about most of the chucks is that they have adapters so if in the future you do get a stand-a-lone lathe you simply buy just the adapter and the chuck works on the new lathe.

Yes I know you can work with the screw center or just a faceplates but even for the limited things I do I went ahead and got some of this fancy equipment, it's really worth it.

I think you mentioned having an older shopsmith, I also recall some posting of late that mentioned Bill Mayo having some two bearing quills coming out for some of these older ones soon. That would also help a lot.

I could go on but I'm sure you will get more then enough information from others.

Ed

Yes, I have a band saw & the same Nova G3 chuck. The tool rest seems to be the biggest problem, and the inability to really clamp tightly with the drill quill pressure against the live center. Once I have the tenon cut for the chuck the live center is only for guidance and added stability. The only way I could turn a small bowl was to create a tenon on each end and flip to finish.

Again I wish there was a simpler way to get this Greenie to be a better lathe for the bowls I want to make. If some one can throw me a lead to a cheap universal tool rest, I'd appreciate it. I will try to cut a more balanced blank on the band saw next time.

A friend in turning club has offered to let me rough out on his lathe, and then I can finish on mine. Mighty nice of him, but I hate to inconvenience him.

Take a look at Sawdust Session #7 for some ideas on what the Shopsmith is capable of turning, along with some guidance on technique. While Nick uses the speed reducer in this demonstration to begin turning a burl, he also gives some insight on mounting the bowl blank and using the live center for support that you might find helpful and give you some ideas for successful turning.

Hi Gang
If you have a speed reducer and the PP headstock the lowest speed is about 35 RPM. Should be slow enough to balance out most turnings.
Bill V