SPT build dates

[wannabewoodworker]

It will come out easy if you have the Shopsmith long 5/32" Allen tool. I and others I am sure have done it many times.

[jamiethesquid]

That is partly the issue at the moment, I don't have a long 5/32" hex key. Just your standard run of the mill "Allen Wrench". I plan to pick up a long Allen locally this weekend, I hope to avoid the wait and the shipping and not order one from SS. I did recently ordered the "Owners Manual" for the SS and a "Maintenance Supplement", to say the least, in the nicest possible way, they were not at all what I expected.

For $22.99 I purchased the SS Mark V / 500 / 510 manual. Having seen "original" manuals for sale on Ebay I was expecting either a 3 ring manual or a Soft cover book. All of these books I saw on eBay were either in excellent condition or dog eared and shop worn, and the price range, reflected the range of conditions. SS had this manual in stock, new, so I figured that it was worth the cost. By the way the maintenance supplement was another $10 bucks but was reported to show the differences between the old machines ( mine is a 1954 greenie ) and the newer poly V machines and explain the upgrade processes to the newer setups. So I ordered the recommended manuals and waited patiently for their arrival.

I inherited the SS from my deceased father in law. ( see my other posts for details ) and had to disassemble it to bring it home. I removed the way tube tie bar, the headstock, the legs, the table and Magna Bandsaw and packed it lovingly into the back of my Subaru Outback wagon with the 4" joiner and many accessories.

Once it was safely home and in my workshop I proceeded to remove the casters from the legs, they were quite rusted as the SS had been living in his basement. The legs them selves had a fair bit of rust on the lower part and after a bit of time with a wire brush chucked up in a 3/8" drill I squeeze clamped them to my saw horses and bathed them in some paint stripper. Meanwhile back at the bat cave I started to clean up the lightly pitted and very dusty way tubes. One of which had a fair bit of wiggle and came right out with a twist and pull. Having employed a similar method In a previous project I set up a polishing rig for the way tubes. This consisted of an old but very heavy duty 1/2" drill clamped in the padded jaws of my bench vise by it's side handle. The other end of the way tube rested in the V notch of my home built rifle cleaning rest. I promise to upload pictures of all of this, this weekend. So the inside diameter of the way tube is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the drill's chuck where you insert the chuck key. A couple of wraps of electrical tape made up the difference between the two and I was able to twist on the tube for a tight friction fit. The half inch drill turns at a slow RPM that I guess to be between 500 and 750 RPM. So I have in effect created a bit of a lathe with the Way Tube as my turning stock. Lock the trigger on and she turns safely and smoothly in front of me roughly 8" off the bench. I started with some fine grit emery cloth and progressed to Maroon Scotch Brite and a few grades of steel wool. The results are very satisfactory and I will post pics of the two way tubes side by side for comparison. The second way tube is still firmly held in the pivot mechanism by it's set screw. I don't have a key long enough to reach it as yet. I intend to strip all the aluminum castings of their worn black paint job over the original green. I look at the hinge pivot pin and find that there is a roll pin holding it into one end of the casting. That isn't a problem as far as I can see. Other than the fact that I don't see where the pin is going to come out once I start drifting it through the pivot pin. I will inspect this closer and figure it out.

So a few days have passed and while I am at work at the Shipyard. The wife texts me to tell me that my manuals have arrived. For the rest of the evening I look forward to getting home and tearing into my books, unlocking the secrets of operation, maintenance, disassembly, and history that the original books, surely hold. I come home kiss my wife and newborn daughter. Listen patiently as my wife recounts the details of the day... I ask, "so where is it". She points to the coffee table where a previously unnoticed plastic envelope lays. I snatch it up and tear it open. Inside are two Ziplock bags, one thicker than the other. The thicker one hold a stack of unbound photocopies and a cover letter. The label on the bag with the part number declares this to be the "owners manual". The cover letter stated that this manual is applicable to machines 1984 to present and some jibberish about the differences between the old toggle switches and the new power switches with safety keys. My machine was built 30 years before the applicability of this manual. I pull it from the Ziplock. And start paging through it. I find it to be a photo copy of the 500 users manual from the 80's in the first part followed by a photocopy of the 510 users manual in it's entirety. The photos are not more than dark over-copied blurs. At this point I am mumbling loudly things that I would not want my infant daughter to repeat. The second bag contains more of the same. A mostly incoherent mess of obscure references, lack of clarity, hand written changes in the margins. For 10 bucks. I am livid. My wife tries to calm me. I feel cheated. I go to this forum for consolation. I begin to re read posts and look at pictures to remind myself of why I want to persue this any further.

A little while later I am a bit calmer and a bit more rational. I click once again on the "new owners sticky" and re read some posts that I am sure I have already read. I see a link that I must have overlooked before and popping up before my eyes is the SSUG with downloadable copies of the 1954 owners manual and many other pieces or usefull info. I start lauging maniacally.................

So here I am. Nice to meet you. I look forward to many late evenings spent on this forum, using my restored SS and building many great woodworking projects with it for my loving family..

[dusty]

Call customer service and voice your discontent. Tell the person who answers that you what your money back and and why.

In this day an age, in my opinion, those manuals should be on-line at no cost - like this one..

or this http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/productmanuals.htm

[JPG]

FWIW The 'manuals' from(and since) the '80's' are loose leaf pages in a 3 ring binder.

I agree there is no 'excuse' for poor copies!

Consider that any manuals pre 1978 were produced by another predecessor entity, and a 50's vintage one would be 3 'entities' back. They were also 'copyrighted' so SS cannot propagate them.

I also agree with Dusty re online availability.

[nuhobby]

I start lauging maniacally.................

You definitely will be at home on this forum.

[michaeltoc]

It will come out easy if you have the Shopsmith long 5/32" Allen tool. I and others I am sure have done it many times.

In one of the videos, Nick recommends using a ball-end hex wrench, but I have done it with the standard long wrench as well.

You need to get one of these (preferably a t-handle) as this is the most used tool when attaching blades, accessories, guards, etc.

[JPG]

In one of the videos, Nick recommends using a ball-end hex wrench, but I have done it with the standard long wrench as well.

You need to get one of these (preferably a t-handle) as this is the most used tool when attaching blades, accessories, guards, etc.

For this task I find a t-handled to be too springy. I prefer the L-shaped. It doesn't rotate until the screw does.

[jamiethesquid]

Drifted the roll pin out of the Hinge pivot pin. Drove out the pivot pin. Removed the set screw with a 5/32" bit in a screwdriver handle. Removed the bench tubes. Now I have a "Pile of Shopsmith", aluminum castings in one pile ready for paint stripper, Way tubes getting polished.
I started to dismantle the Headstock, Was pleasantly surprised to find that the motor had been updated to the 1 1/8 hp model sometime in the past. My magna bandsaw has a ser# 44347 which appears to be June of 1981, It has a cast iron top, not the larger Aluminum top, does that jive?. The 4" Magna Jointer has a Ser# 16803 which could be either May of 54' or May of 80' (any ideas on how to narrow it down) My greenie is June of 1954 built. Thanks again, pics coming as soon as the weather here in Maine gets a little nicer, the pics I took inside did not come out well. Thanks

[ddvann79]

What color is the jointer (original paint)?

[jamiethesquid]

So the pile of Shop Smith parts have been sitting in my workshop taunting me for months now. I have been very busy at work and at home and have had little to no time to work on her. But alas it is fall in New England and the outdoor activities are quickly coming to an end so I might get some quality time this week in the workshop. I need advice and opinions and YOU folks on the forum are sure to have plenty of both, and for that I thank you immensely in advance.

First off my machine is a 1954 greenie with a newer 1 1/8 motor and not much else. I have stripped down the sheet metal and the aluminum castings of their many layers of paint.

Here is my first conundrum. I am a fan of the raw, industrial look of things. Kinda how the tool gods intended them in the first place. I have spent many hours trying to decide whether or not to paint the old girl her origional hammered green or to update her with another color like gloss black or silver. So I am down in the shop a while back taking a wire wheel to one of the aluminum castings, removing the last of the paint. Which I followed up with a lite sanding with a well worn flap disc in a 4.5 in grinder to break some of the sharp edges and blend in some of the sand casting marks. There before me sat a quite attractive shined up and metalworked hunk of aluminum, we'll say it was the one piece casting that is on the opposite end from the pivot for the sake of argument. So the thought pops in to my head, "why paint it at all?". I have used Sharkhide metal protectant in the past with great results in extreme marine applications and happen to have the better part of a quart on hand. If I were to continue, buffing and smoothing and brushing and sanding all of the castings to a "satisfactory" finish whatever that may be and apply a wipe on coat or two of Sharkhide , in a shop environment, this would protect the castings from oxidation for many years to come. Might be interesting no? Sharkhide also will protect the sheet steel parts in the same way. I could work them over with my random orbital sander and progressively finer grits of paper until I got the perfect result. The control levers and locks will be polished to a mirror shine possibly. So there it is settled. Thanks

I am also interested in upgrading the older Gilmer belt internals to a modern poly v setup and changing the single bearing quill to a two bearing quill setup and would love to have a list of require upgrade parts.

Lastly. I am an engineer by trade and by obsession. While doing this upgrade, even though it is in it's infancy, I have dreamed of many projects around the house and off location that would benefit from the versitility of the Shop Smith. However the SS seems to be lacking in portability. It would be great if the legs folded and the whole machine could be transported to a remote job site. I start looking around the workshop and soon have an epiphany of seismic proportions.

Worked into a lather I run up the stair from the basement taking the stairs two at a time, to describe it to my wife my revelation in great detail. The glazed over look she had at the end was priceless to say the least.

I just happen to have an aluminum work platform I purchased for painting around the house that is the exact height of the stock sheet metal legs. The width of the platform matches the exact, and I mean exact like it was meant for it width of the castings that were attached to the origional legs. The legs fold and lock in the open position. The only modification is to stretch the length. Which I have done by cutting it I half and welding in rectangular aluminum tubing. I have fitted the platform with a removable axle and a set of pneumatic tire salvaged off of a unused dolly that I had in the shed.

Because by basement/workshop/patio floor is anything but level I require a set of 4 improved 3" polyurethane casters to move the SS around and outboard leveling feet that are equipped with rubber chair feet that will eliminate any movement when cranked down so they are in firm contact with the floor.

So long story short. I have designed and prototyped a mobile base for the shopsmith that will allow me to freely move it around the workshop, and when the need arises. Lift one end, with the padded handles, fold the leg in and drop it to the ground on to removable pneumatic tires, walk around to the head, fold in the raining leg and stand it up into a dolly type configuration, take it up my basement stairs, slide it into the back of a pickup or my Subaru station wagon and take it to the next project. It just seems like a natural progression of things to come.

Please let me know if any or all of my above post, Strikes a cord of interest with you. Your help, advice, and opinions are, as alway welcome and encouraged. Thanks again for being such a great forum.