Lift Assist

[RFGuy]

I wanted to get the lift assist for my 520 but am disappointed with the Shop Smith design. The Super Shop uses a spring in the base and works well without getting in the way. Any one have a better design? You Tube has some hack options but I would think Shop Smith could come up with a design that is professional and efficient. Larry

Larry,

I haven't seen how the Smithy Supershop does their lift assist, but it sounds like they use a torsional spring so I assume it is similar to how a garage door spring counterbalances the door. If so, it sounds like an interesting design. I don't have the Shopsmith lift assist, but it looks like a good design and well built to me. It is in the way for me as well which is why I haven't purchased it. I have the 3 red Shopsmith tool cabinets they used to sell under my Mark V. I have grown too accustomed to them underneath and would have to sacrifice at least one to use the lift assist. I have thought about ways to lift my Mark V with an add-on from the ceiling, e.g. using a small winch or come along, but these would be rather slow. If anyone has any good ideas for alternative ways to lift a Mark V, perhaps from a previous thread, please let us know.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8029

[rpd]

I wanted to get the lift assist for my 520 but am disappointed with the Shop Smith design. The Super Shop uses a spring in the base and works well without getting in the way. Any one have a better design? You Tube has some hack options but I would think Shop Smith could come up with a design that is professional and efficient. Larry

I have one of my 10ER's set up as a dedicated drill press, so I don't really need this feature, but I ran across these springs on line that are used on dump trucks for the arms of the tarp covers. They would be similar to the springs on the Supershop, and I think their pivot pin could be mounted to the back of the SS pivot base and a bracket fabricated to engage the rear way tube. The site in the link is just an example, they are widely available.
https://www.carolinatarps.com/item/9301

[RFGuy]

I wanted to get the lift assist for my 520 but am disappointed with the Shop Smith design. The Super Shop uses a spring in the base and works well without getting in the way. Any one have a better design? You Tube has some hack options but I would think Shop Smith could come up with a design that is professional and efficient. Larry

I have one of my 10ER's set up as a dedicated drill press, so I don't really need this feature, but I ran across these springs on line that are used on dump trucks for the arms of the tarp covers. They would be similar to the springs on the Supershop, and I think their pivot pin could be mounted to the back of the SS pivot base and a bracket fabricated to engage the rear way tube. The site in the link is just an example, they are widely available.
https://www.carolinatarps.com/item/9301

Thanks Ron. That's an interesting idea and I hadn't seen that pancake style torsion spring before. It might be an option for me to incorporate and still keep my 3 cabinets under my Mark V. Definitely interesting and thanks for posting it. I did go and dig up the exploded parts diagram for the Smithy Supershop and it is what I thought, i.e. a cylindrical torsion spring (similar to garage door) is mounted inside the base casting. I don't have a PowerPro headstock, so any lift assist could be worth it, i.e. it doesn't have to offset all of the headstock weight.

SmithySupershop.jpg (74.7 KiB) Viewed 1608 times

[dusty]

I wanted to get the lift assist for my 520 but am disappointed with the Shop Smith design. The Super Shop uses a spring in the base and works well without getting in the way. Any one have a better design? You Tube has some hack options but I would think Shop Smith could come up with a design that is professional and efficient. Larry

I have one of my 10ER's set up as a dedicated drill press, so I don't really need this feature, but I ran across these springs on line that are used on dump trucks for the arms of the tarp covers. They would be similar to the springs on the Supershop, and I think their pivot pin could be mounted to the back of the SS pivot base and a bracket fabricated to engage the rear way tube. The site in the link is just an example, they are widely available.
https://www.carolinatarps.com/item/9301

Thanks Ron. That's an interesting idea and I hadn't seen that pancake style torsion spring before. It might be an option for me to incorporate and still keep my 3 cabinets under my Mark V. Definitely interesting and thanks for posting it. I did go and dig up the exploded parts diagram for the Smithy Supershop and it is what I thought, i.e. a cylindrical torsion spring (similar to garage door) is mounted inside the base casting. I don't have a PowerPro headstock, so any lift assist could be worth it, i.e. it doesn't have to offset all of the headstock weight.
SmithySupershop.jpg

Thanks for that drawing. I was not able to envision how a garage door spring would work. I also can not imagine how you would incorporate such a spring without redesigning the Base Arm casting. Not a DIY job.

[RFGuy]

Thanks for that drawing. I was not able to envision how a garage door spring would work. I also can not imagine how you would incorporate such a spring without redesigning the Base Arm casting. Not a DIY job.

Dusty,

Yeah, the garage door type spring wouldn't work on a Mark V without a major re-design of the base castings, etc. This may not work, but the idea that I have is to use 1 or 2 of the spiral torsion springs like Ron posted a link for. Idea would be to mount it outside the base casting, e.g. in front or back or both. I have been meaning to build some mounts that hang the 3 red Shopsmith cabinets under my Mark V so that they are always there and move with it when I need to roll it around. I may be able to incorporate these spiral torsion springs in some manner with this mount and attach the other side to the bench tubes. If this would work, I would probably need some way to lock it when down so that the spring tension doesn't inadvertently affect my Mark V alignment.

[dusty]

There could be a multitude of issues arise if you was to attempt something like this without the facilities to rebuild whatever And then a long list of problems that you might not consider. Like "how much lift must you provide" in order to elevate a 50 pound dead wait at the end of a 3'-4' lever.

[RFGuy]

Yeah, I know it probably won't work. Getting the mount just right for the spring to work well with the pivot is a concern amongst many others. It is only $10 for one spring so I might buy one and just do some experimenting with it. Probably best solution for me is to just put some pulleys on the ceiling and hang a counterbalance weight in the corner of my shop. When I want to lift to drill press mode I would just attach it to the end of the Mark V and release the safety on the weight. This would work in my shop because my Mark V lives in the center and doesn't move around much unless I need to rotate it 90°for planing/jointing long boards.

P.S. I found the design formulas for these kinds of coil springs. Now, I just need to remember what I was taught from Statics and Dynamics class...

spiral-torsion-springs.pdf

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