Shopsmith Forums

Hey guy,

Ok, so im new here and new to the ss world. i got a ss for christmas this year and im not sure the year the badges are to faded however the machine came with a jigsaw which i hav read they stopped making in 87. my problem is with the quill fully retracted and locked in place, there is still a 1/4-3/8 of in and out play in it. so this makes setting up precise cuts with saw hard because i dont know if i should line it up with the slop out or in. any help would be great.

Welcome to the forum! This is definitely the place to come for answers.
I'm a little fuzzy on how you could have play if it's locked down, but I'd suggest that if the machine is very old you consider a complete teardown and maintenance. These things are built rock solid and fairly simple and you'll learn a ton about them which will probably help with any future problems. I figure if I can do it, anyone can!! Here's a thread to my first rebuild:
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=5449
I was totally intimidated, but have torn into two more since then. It's actually kinda fun in a very "guy" way. Also, you should look at
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=7092
which is a thread for new owners that covers a lot of basics and has great links to the Sawdust videos, etc.
Have fun!

yea its odd to me but if the quill is locked down a can still grab the end with my finger and pull it in and out. like there is some kind of play? the silver collar does it need to be set to a certain gap to get this play out of it?

so with your advise to dive in and one sawdust video, I removed the quill and quickly noticed its not the whole quill assembly that moving, its just the inner shaft. I looked down the shaft and noticed my bearings are sliding back and forth in the quill tube as i will call it. so my next question. should i replace the 2 bearing quill i have, or is there a way to repair this? any help would be great.

jrochester wrote:so with your advise to dive in and one sawdust video, I removed the quill and quickly noticed its not the whole quill assembly that moving, its just the inner shaft. I looked down the shaft and noticed my bearings are sliding back and forth in the quill tube as i will call it. so my next question. should i replace the 2 bearing quill i have, or is there a way to repair this? any help would be great.

There is no retaining ring between the front bearing and the end of the quill???????? Should be!

The older single bearing quill used the 'silver collar' to eliminate in/out play.

Hey Red, how can we figure out what year he has if the sticker has faded? I know a picture of the headstock would be helpful. Maybe the motor plate info?
I'm in agreement, sounds like the retainer is gone, which would indicate that maybe someone has replaced the bearings (and lost the retainer). This will be interesting to see how it plays out.

fiatben wrote:Hey Red, how can we figure out what year he has if the sticker has faded? I know a picture of the headstock would be helpful. Maybe the motor plate info?
I'm in agreement, sounds like the retainer is gone, which would indicate that maybe someone has replaced the bearings (and lost the retainer). This will be interesting to see how it plays out.

If he has a faded 'sticker', then it is a MV. If it is a 2 bearing quill, then it is probably late 80's or later.

JPG40504 wrote:If he has a faded 'sticker', then it is a MV. If it is a 2 bearing quill, then it is probably late 80's or later.

Or the quill was upgraded.

beeg wrote:Or the quill was upgraded.

Possible, but I think the 'stickers' started after the 2 bearing quill.

Ok, so i'll post pictures. The only sticker is the warning sticker, but i'll post pictures of the head stock and the piece i'm having the issue with. If i look down the quill from the backside i can see the inner bearing and that's the one that's sliding back and forth with that main center shaft. If my terminology is off I apologize.