Shopsmith Forums

I don't own an oscillating spindle sander, or even a Shopsmith drum sander, but when a recent thread came up about the quality of the Shopsmith oscillating spindle sander it occurred to me that for occasional use the Shopsmith could be turned into an oscillating spindle sander using the principle of a spring pole lathe wherein the quill advance lever and the quill return spring serve as the "spring pole."

The attached photos are "proof of concept." I don't have the drum sander so there's nothing attached to the quill, but you get the idea.

This photo shows my fancy "pedal" made out of a scrap of plywood and an old leather moccasin lace I had laying around. As I found out, a longer cord would be better if you want to operate in vertical mode.
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The next two photos shows the pedal "installed" (I had to leave the Mark V in horizontal mode because the moccasin lace was too short).
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This photo shows the view from the operator's perspective with a foot resting on the pedal but not applying any downwardpressure. Note the spindle is fully retracted.
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The final photo [SEE NEXT ENTRY FOR PHOTO] shows the view from the operator's perspective with the foot pedal depressed. Note the spindle has advanced about 3/4 of an inch. When foot pressure is released, the spindle retracts via the quill spring.

I turned on the Mark V to test whether the pedal would cause the spindle to oscillate when the machine was running and it does. The quill advances and retracts.

If you can chew gum and walk at the same time (or at least keep time with your foot while manipulating the stock, you should be able to make this work.

It is important to have the quill feed advance lever in a near horizontal orientation in order to make this work.

[ATTACH]15647[/ATTACH]Oops here's the final photo for the previous post showing the quill being advanced by applying foot pressure to the pedal.

Many many years ago I made a pedal assembly like that (a little shorter) but mine was used to rock a baby cradle when our kids were very young.
Have you found which rhythmic songs work best at keeping your foot going?


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robinson46176 wrote: Have you found which rhythmic songs work best at keeping your foot going?


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It obviously depends on the thickness of the stock. I'd use a waltz (3/4 timing) for 3/4 stock and rock 'n roll (4/4 timing) for inch stock.

Very inventive my hat is off to you. Now that I have my oscillating drum sander working properly it does the entire job. The drum turns continuously will the oscillating motions enhances the sanding operation and all I need to track is where the wood is. For this ole guy that's enough to concentrate on. Good luck with your system I truly do admire your inventiveness. Jim

An old bass drum pedal comes to mind as a nice option here as well. I really like this idea. There have been a number of times when I would have preferred to have both hands on the workpiece for drilling operations. Having a foot pedal for that would be great. hmm

If you go back to the thread about the real oscillating spindle sander, I mentioned a bass drum pedal as a potential solution (post #13 here http://shopsmith.net/forums/showthread. ... post105695 ). But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I didn't really need anything more than a piece of wood and some string to take advantage of the "spring pole" formed by the quill return lever and quill spring. There's no question that the mechanism works in principle and if spring pole lathe operators can handle lathe tools and produce delicate contours on a spring pole lathe all while pumping on one of these with a foot, using a drum sander while pumping the foot on the pedal should be child's play.

algale wrote:If you go back to the thread about the real oscillating spindle sander, I mentioned a bass drum pedal as a potential solution (post #13 here http://shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?p=105695#post105695 ). But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I didn't really need anything more than a piece of wood and some string to take advantage of the "spring pole" formed by the quill return lever and quill spring. There's no question that the mechanism works in principle and if spring pole lathe operators can handle lathe tools and produce delicate contours on a spring pole lathe all while pumping on one of these with a foot, using a drum sander while pumping the foot on the pedal should be child's play.

To say nothing of the street vendor who reverses the procedure. Operating the bow (string) with arm, and hold/control chisel with his foot!:D

JPG40504 wrote:To say nothing of the street vendor who reverses the procedure. Operating the bow (string) with arm, and hold/control chisel with his foot!:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnv0DAR_ ... ata_player

I like it Alan. Simple common sense solution... the best kind.

Paul M