Universal Lathe Tool Rest Banjo?

[charlese]

Hi, ericwil76! We would like to see a photo of that Shopsmith when you get it built.

[paulrussell]

Adding to an old thread rather than starting anew.

My Universal Tool Rest arrived today, and is now on the Shopsmith. The round plate has five holes. One is for mounting the arm. Per the instructions the two closest to the center are for mounting the entire assembly to the carriage. All well and good. But me being me, I have to wonder what the two remaining holes are for! Any clues?

Also, reading this thread about adding weight/stability to the Shopsmith for turning. I'm curious if this solution has been tried:

Build a solid (brick? iron?) rack that is the width of exposed bottom tubes, and is at the height of the tube's bottom when the SS is UP on the casters. Shopsmith is positioned over rack, lowered, and bottom tubes bolted/strapped to the rack. This takes the stamped metal legs out of the equation, adds mass, and does not require modification of the Shopsmith. Just a mental exercise, and nothing I have planned in the near future.

[Mike907]

I have to wonder what the two remaining holes are for! Any clues?

500 vs 510 carriage?

[paulrussell]

The supplied tie-bar only fits the two closer holes, and the manual makes no mention of alternate mount scenarios. Also, I have the 520, which if I remember correctly, is the wider of the two.

[paulrussell]

As others have noted before me, the Lift Assist not only limits the travel of the carriage, its mounting bolts interfere with the Universal Tool Rest (UTR). Further examination shows it is only one screw on each upper tube mount. I briefly considered just removing the two bolts, but decided against it.

Instead I put a .2" sheet of plywood between the UTR and the carriage before bolting it down. (.2" is the thickness of locally available 1/4" ply!)

This _almost_ did the job. Filing the raised lettering off the top of the two interfering bolts gave just enough clearance to let the UTR clear.

Almost forgot. Because of the way the Lift Assist bolts on, the two plates on top of the way tubes can be tilted just slightly forward or back. I adjusted the bolts so that they were level. I could have gotten even a bit more clearance by canting them toward center, but that was not necessary.

I like this solution because the ply also serves to protect the painted surface of the carriage, as well as a bit of a leveling buffer since the UTR can cause the carriage to bind.

[Burlhunter]

My plan is to replace the way tubes with solid round metal stock which will add a good amount of extra weight to my SS plus adding the UTR. I hope these two additions will making turning smoother without all the vibration and racket.

lots of us will be very interested if you find a good source for precision ground round rods the correct size.

please keep us posted.

Ivan

This thread is 50 11 kindsa old, but, any and all metal suppliers have what you would be looking for for that purpose. You just have to know what to ask for, so if you want, let's say, 2 inch bar stock thats slick and shiny, you ask for 2 inch TGP in X length. And they'll bring you a length of nice shiny "turned ground and polished" bar stock. It's costly, but thats what you or anyone else looking for something to use as solid way tubes is looking for without just buying regular cold roll and polishing for half a lifetime lol. Having said that, if someone has already said that later in this thread then oopsy, mu bad!! But, I answer as I read instead of reading all and going back. I don't go back because its counter productive to going forward