Shopsmith "referb"

[fiatben]

Post pics all the time. Trust me, they will be looked at. I really enjoy seeing what someone else acquires (before) and what they are able to do with it (after). Looks like you got a good deal with all the STPs coming with it. And it looks like you are on top of the game in refurbishing it. I just got a 510 and tore into it and decide against replacing all the bearings since none of them indicated having any problems. Besides, I figure if something goes wrong and I need to replace one, it's really not a big deal to tear a headstock down. And it would be an opportunity to get inside it again and see what else is starting to wear that was OK on the first rebuild. But, as with most things on this forum, that is just MY opinion.

[robinson46176]

I have spent much of my life doing things differently than everybody else.
Below is the meat of a post of mine on another thread about bearing service.
=================
I have been relubing sealed ball bearing assemblies both for myself and professionally since around 1972. Thousands and thousands of them. Often 50 to 100 a week. We operated a very busy vac shop for over 20 years as part of our businesses until we retired. Many vac bearings are around the size of the SS quill bearings and reach quite high RPM's (router speeds). They run in dirty environments, often for long periods at a time in commercial applications. We had special equipment for pressure lubing many of them and simple procedures for others like very small ones or odd sizes in the smallish ones. All of the larger ones will fit in a pressure lube unit. I also relubed hundreds of sealed ball bearings used in farm equipment and before anyone says farm equipment bearings are not the same, some are not but some are super critical.
Any relube must be done properly and relubing does NOT tighten up a worn bearing. It might quiet it down but it is still worn.
For the average woodworker (or handyman) the simplest procedure is using heat. Buy a can of electric motor grease. Then you clean the bearing outside until it is spotless. Place it on a common light bulb until it is pretty much too hot to hold for any time then poke it down in the grease and be sure it is covered completely. As the hot bearing cools it will suck the heat softened grease around the bearing in past the seals and you are done. It should spin well by hand (not freely though) and should turn smoothly.
My wife actually got quite good at most of them that didn't need opening up. I have opened up many of them by removing the side shields and cleaning the inside, lubing them and reinstalling the seals. It isn't all that hard on most but can be really tedious in little tiny bearings. It generally isn't something that most without experience will want to try. I do NOT recommend that most people use a torch to heat the bearing as the flame can burn the seals. You can however heat a heavy metal plate with the torch and lay the bearing on the hot steel plate to warm it.
Again, a worn bearing is still a worn bearing and I wouldn't waste my time putting a worn relubed bearing in a Shopsmith quill. If however the bearings are just dry it will cure them as well as a new bearing. It can also maybe keep you working until you can buy new bearings if you are in a production situation. Maybe you have dry bearings on other equipment.
I currently am saving (I save a lot of stuff) any Shopsmith drive sleeve bearings I change out because they will fit the quill spindles on my King Kutter 5' finish mower and it does not care if they are a little loose.
Drive sleeve bearings are a little more forgiving of a minor amount of wear than quill bearings as long as they have plenty of lube in them.
I assume that most guys making a full restoration are just going to order a full set of new bearings and install them and that is fine but don't discard the old ones if not badly worn. Clean them, lube them, put them in a clean bag and label them well. Someday you might be very glad to have one when a bearing comes apart right in the middle of something. Most bearings fail on the weekends you know...
BTW, my initial training on relubing bearings was by the Hoover Company.

[gat_76]

Dang Robinson, thanks for that!

[wannabewoodworker]

I have spent much of my life doing things differently than everybody else.
Below is the meat of a post of mine on another thread about bearing service.
=================
I have been relubing sealed ball bearing assemblies both for myself and professionally since around 1972. Thousands and thousands of them. Often 50 to 100 a week. We operated a very busy vac shop for over 20 years as part of our businesses until we retired. Many vac bearings are around the size of the SS quill bearings and reach quite high RPM's (router speeds). They run in dirty environments, often for long periods at a time in commercial applications. We had special equipment for pressure lubing many of them and simple procedures for others like very small ones or odd sizes in the smallish ones. All of the larger ones will fit in a pressure lube unit. I also relubed hundreds of sealed ball bearings used in farm equipment and before anyone says farm equipment bearings are not the same, some are not but some are super critical.
Any relube must be done properly and relubing does NOT tighten up a worn bearing. It might quiet it down but it is still worn.
For the average woodworker (or handyman) the simplest procedure is using heat. Buy a can of electric motor grease. Then you clean the bearing outside until it is spotless. Place it on a common light bulb until it is pretty much too hot to hold for any time then poke it down in the grease and be sure it is covered completely. As the hot bearing cools it will suck the heat softened grease around the bearing in past the seals and you are done. It should spin well by hand (not freely though) and should turn smoothly.
My wife actually got quite good at most of them that didn't need opening up. I have opened up many of them by removing the side shields and cleaning the inside, lubing them and reinstalling the seals. It isn't all that hard on most but can be really tedious in little tiny bearings. It generally isn't something that most without experience will want to try. I do NOT recommend that most people use a torch to heat the bearing as the flame can burn the seals. You can however heat a heavy metal plate with the torch and lay the bearing on the hot steel plate to warm it.
Again, a worn bearing is still a worn bearing and I wouldn't waste my time putting a worn relubed bearing in a Shopsmith quill. If however the bearings are just dry it will cure them as well as a new bearing. It can also maybe keep you working until you can buy new bearings if you are in a production situation. Maybe you have dry bearings on other equipment.
I currently am saving (I save a lot of stuff) any Shopsmith drive sleeve bearings I change out because they will fit the quill spindles on my King Kutter 5' finish mower and it does not care if they are a little loose.
Drive sleeve bearings are a little more forgiving of a minor amount of wear than quill bearings as long as they have plenty of lube in them.
I assume that most guys making a full restoration are just going to order a full set of new bearings and install them and that is fine but don't discard the old ones if not badly worn. Clean them, lube them, put them in a clean bag and label them well. Someday you might be very glad to have one when a bearing comes apart right in the middle of something. Most bearings fail on the weekends you know...
BTW, my initial training on relubing bearings was by the Hoover Company.

Those are great tip s and I also thank you for sharing that farm knowledge with us all. I think most of the bearings in the SS's I have rebuilt were probably fine but some did spin quite freely. I am from a dealership background where you replaced stuff whether it needed it or not because you were already hip deep into the disassembly it made no sense to not replace wear items while you were inside the guts of a vehicle. Plus it cost the customer more money if they have to come back a short time later to have the same procedure done again because you didn't replace it the first time you were in there and the bosses didn't like it when something came back for re-repair (come back). The bearings are really quite inexpensive and I look at it as cheap insurance and peace of mind. I am although going to try your tips to revitalize some bearings the next time I have one that is not cooperating. Especially my saltwater fishing reels that always seem to have a bearing that doesn't want to spin. Like the line rollers on the bail pickup they always seem to get gummed up to the point they don't want to turn anymore I think your idea would work in this case as they usually only need some lubing.

[robinson46176]

Those are great tip s and I also thank you for sharing that farm knowledge with us all. I think most of the bearings in the SS's I have rebuilt were probably fine but some did spin quite freely. I am from a dealership background where you replaced stuff whether it needed it or not because you were already hip deep into the disassembly it made no sense to not replace wear items while you were inside the guts of a vehicle. Plus it cost the customer more money if they have to come back a short time later to have the same procedure done again because you didn't replace it the first time you were in there and the bosses didn't like it when something came back for re-repair (come back). The bearings are really quite inexpensive and I look at it as cheap insurance and peace of mind. I am although going to try your tips to revitalize some bearings the next time I have one that is not cooperating. Especially my saltwater fishing reels that always seem to have a bearing that doesn't want to spin. Like the line rollers on the bail pickup they always seem to get gummed up to the point they don't want to turn anymore I think your idea would work in this case as they usually only need some lubing.

Yep, it makes a big difference whether you are puttering in a home shop on your time or if someone is paying big labor bucks. There is never a "one size fits all" situation.
We also replaced a lot of bearings with new ones. Once in a while (not often) a new bearing would fail too.


.

[garys]

Nice job. It looks like a good working tool again.

But, I have to wonder how a Shopsmith gets into that condition in the first place. Do people actually store them outside and let them rust?

My Shopsmith is a 1981 model. My Dad bought it new and used it in his basement until 1988. Then, I got it and I used it in my garage until 2003. In 2003, I moved it into my basement and have been cutting with it there since. It has no rust on it, and the paint still looks like new. I recently put on the Model 510 upgrade, and nothing was stuck, rusted, or worn out. I simply waxed the new parts as I assembled it.

My garage was never heated or cooled summer or winter. Winter here means lots of snow and ice dragged into the garage by the cars, but that never affected the Shopsmith.

[beeg]

It has no rust on it, and the paint still looks like new.

WHAT!!!!!!!!! NO RUST???? Ya sure ya got a real SS. Or hasn't THAT CAT visited ya yet?:)


Typically a SS will have rust on the inside of the legs. We don't know why, so just figure some cat goes around and sprays em.

[gat_76]

dang, i feel proud of myself today!!!

i spent all day and now my main table is dang near a mirror. (once i get 400/600/100 Grit for my random, it will be a mirror.) for now, it makes a babies' bottom seem rough, and i think that the wood will have no problem moving across it.


before. notice all the gouges going longways of the table.


after. you can see some swirl, but you cant feel them.

[dusty]

dang, i feel proud of myself today!!!

i spent all day and now my main table is dang near a mirror. (once i get 400/600/100 Grit for my random, it will be a mirror.) for now, it makes a babies' bottom seem rough, and i think that the wood will have no problem moving across it.


before. notice all the gouges going longways of the table.
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/gat_76/?action=view&current=8c37cb09.jpg

after. you can see some swirl, but you cant feel them.
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c115/gat_76/?action=view&current=31e73944.jpg

Looks really good. Now what do you plan to do to keep it from rusting?

Will waxing do the job long term?

[gat_76]

Will waxing do the job long term?

lol, you tell me.
i am assuming that wax will do the job. actually, for the table top i was planning to use my can of topcoat and wax on way tubes....

lol, if i am missing something, do tell!