Newbie - order of operations

[EastWoodTurner]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this... A friend of mine was given a Mark V 500 by one of his neighbors who had upgraded their shop. My friend was cleaning his garage and didn't want or need it so he asked if I wanted it. I had no clue what it was when he mentioned it, so I did a little research and accepted his offer. I've pieced together that I have the headstock, table (miter gauge/safety guard) and extension table, carriage, bench, and the hex key wrench... I have always wanted to get a lathe and start turning and figured from a financial stand point the price of free couldn't be beat... however I know that nothing is free so the catch is the machine doesn't currently run. I haven't gotten into the mechanical side of it yet, but my friend said he used it once and it ran, the second time he fired it up it didn't start. From the very quick research I've done online, mainly on this forum, it sounds like it could be something as simple as a new switch/bad wires or more costly like a new motor. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and since it currently doesn't run anyways I figured tear it down and rebuild it...

I've read up on the teardown procedure and will most likely start on that tomorrow, unless I hear a unanimous response to get the thing running before doing so, but I'm not sure how long it's been sitting or what condition the belts/etc are in. My main question: in what order should I check things out? Is there a comprehensive list that is either based on pricing (low to high), or ease of installation (I come from the automotive background thinking that if you are going to be replacing a radiator, might as well do the water pump well in there) I've looked over the newowner information thread and a couple of the restoration threads for ideas, but they all seem to be problem specific and not a general overview if that makes sense. Anyways any help or input is appreciated and I hope to get some photos to document the process along the way.

-EWT

[edma194]

Don't start tearing things apart right away, there could be very little wrong with that machine.
First, get the serial number of the nameplate on the beltcover, that's the sheet metal housing on the back of the headstock. From the serial number the age of the machine can be found. Then remove the name plate on the far side of the head stock, opposite the speed dial and on/off switch. Now you can shine a light inside and see if you have a lot of old sawdust or rodent nests to clean out. You should also be able to work out what kind of motor you have and likely problems associated with it. Then you can start looking for other problems and see if there's a need to tear it down.

[EastWoodTurner]

From the serial number the age of the machine can be found. Then remove the name plate on the far side of the head stock, opposite the speed dial and on/off switch. Now you can shine a light inside and see if you have a lot of old sawdust or rodent nests to clean out.

Serial Number is 39709 (1979?), I'll look in the nameplate tomorrow...

[JPG]

What color is it? Got an ohmmeter?

[EastWoodTurner]

What color is it? Got an ohmmeter?

Grey. I do, but it can be fickle.

[JPG]

Gray = later model. Ohmmeter helps diagnose motor problem.

[chapmanruss]

EastWoodTurner,

First off welcome to the Shopsmith Forum. Serial Number SS 39709 was made in July 1979 and should have the painted on SS prefix with the stamped serial number. It is a Mark 5 as stated on the Vent/Serial Number plate unless it has been upgraded with one of the newer table systems. A Mark V 500 is the same but the 500 was given to the original table system when the Mark V 510 and 505 were introduced in 1985. Enough history for now.

Ed suggested looking inside through the inspection hole but take an additional step in that process and remove the 2 screws that hold on the belt cover. This will require removing any drive hubs installed on the drive sleeve or aux. shafts first. With the cover loose and slid away from the headstock you can get a good look at the belts. You have said it currently doesn't run but gave no indication of what happens when it is turned on. This can help diagnose what is wrong with the motor and/or switch plus the wiring. Does nothing happen? Does it hum when switched on? These would indicate different possible problems.

A word of caution: NEVER TURN THE SPEED DIAL WITHOUT THE MOTOR RUNNING unless turning the spindle and therefor the belt and related parts by hand. Turning the Speed Dial without the other parts moving will damage it.

If you do not have one already I do recommend getting an Owner's Manual.

As for what should come with it your Mark 5 would have come from the factory with everything shown in the picture below except the lathe chisels and retractable casters which are extra. The push stick, block and fence straddler may not have been included yet in 1979.

_

1982 Mark V with the original table system

1982 Mark V.jpg (131.04 KiB) Viewed 1246 times

[edma194]

Ed suggested looking inside through the inspection hole but take an additional step in that process and remove the 2 screws that hold on the belt cover. This will require removing any drive hubs installed on the drive sleeve or aux. shafts first. With the cover loose and slid away from the headstock you can get a good look at the belts.

Thanks for catching that, I meant to say remove the belt cover after describing it for the nameplate. I guess it was getting late.

And good point about the speed dial. Hopefully it's set pretty low to start.

[EastWoodTurner]

Ed suggested looking inside through the inspection hole but take an additional step in that process and remove the 2 screws that hold on the belt cover. This will require removing any drive hubs installed on the drive sleeve or aux. shafts first. With the cover loose and slid away from the headstock you can get a good look at the belts. You have said it currently doesn't run but gave no indication of what happens when it is turned on. This can help diagnose what is wrong with the motor and/or switch plus the wiring. Does nothing happen? Does it hum when switched on? These would indicate different possible problems.

A word of caution: NEVER TURN THE SPEED DIAL WITHOUT THE MOTOR RUNNING unless turning the spindle and therefor the belt and related parts by hand. Turning the Speed Dial without the other parts moving will damage it.

If you do not have one already I do recommend getting an Owner's Manual.

As for what should come with it your Mark 5 would have come from the factory with everything shown in the picture below except the lathe chisels and retractable casters which are extra. The push stick, block and fence straddler may not have been included yet in 1979.

Sounds good... my plan in saying I was going to do a tear down was more just to open up the headstock and see where things were at... I’m sure belts are old, bearings need oiled, etc. As soon as I get home I’ll start looking into this and post some pictures.

As far as what happens when turning it on, I have no clue... I haven’t even plugged it in yet, I’m just going off what my friend described in his words... again I’ll be sure to report back my findings when I get home.

Not turning the speed dial when off was made very clear to me so I’m hoping that he followed his own direction as well as the previous owner.

I can guarantee I do not have most that stuff in the photo... probably not even 1/3 of it... I was looking into the parts I would need to get the lathe operational... apart from shopsmith, Craigslist, and eBay are there other vendors making parts? I’m in Ohio if that helps.

[edma194]

Do you have the 12" sanding disk? That will be helpful in a lot of ways. You can use it to rotate the spindle, and it's helpful in alignment, not to mention that to me at least, it is an indispensable tool. A drill chuck is fairly indispensable also. See of you can look around your friend's garage for parts that neither of you recognized before.

If that headstock is fairly clean then there's a good chance you will need to do very little. That motor may even run already, and even though it's old, if it hasn't been used that much, even the belts will still be good enough. Coming cleaning and lubrication may be all you need to get running. Hopefully any motor problem is just a loose wire or something that simple. Whatever it is, the folks in this forum will help you through it. You can count on it.