Exact Dimension of the upper rails

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:52 am

Does anyone have a SketchUp plan or exact dimensions for the Shopsmith upper rails and rail spacing. I want to machine something that will ride on the upper rails and I want it to be precise.

The tubes seem to be 1 5/8" in diameter but I can't be sure and I am even less sure of the spacing between the rails and a ruler is not doing it for me.

What I would really like is the spacing between the centers of the rails so I can drill two precision holes and not have to do any math.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:39 am

paulmcohen wrote:Does anyone have a SketchUp plan or exact dimensions for the Shopsmith upper rails and rail spacing. I want to machine something that will ride on the upper rails and I want it to be precise.

The tubes seem to be 1 5/8" in diameter but I can't be sure and I am even less sure of the spacing between the rails and a ruler is not doing it for me.

What I would really like is the spacing between the centers of the rails so I can drill two precision holes and not have to do any math.

Here is what I can provide but I got this using a square a couple straight edges and a good ruler. You could do the same.

BTW These measurements were taken at the left end of a 510 and confirmed to be consistent at the other end. However, measurements vary as you move along the tubes ( I think dependent upon where the headstock and carriage are. Even without the headstock and carriage, the tubes are located inconsistently with respect to one another.

It will be interesting and I hope encouraging to hear how these checkout against a Mark 7 PowerPro.

Good luck.

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robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:52 am

dusty wrote:Here is what I can provide but I got this using a square a couple straight edges and a good ruler. You could do the same.

Already resting comfortably in my Shopsmith folder on my hard-drive.

Thanks... I'm sure this effort will be much appreciated across this forum.

.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:24 am

Dusty, I'm not disagreeing with or questioning your measurements, but it seems a bit curious that some of the measurements end up with an odd 1/64".

If you look at the bench tubes (lower tubes), the two are on 8 1/2" centers. With a tube diameter of 1 3/4", the measurement to the outside of the tubes should be 10 1/4", not 10 17/64". A similar difference occurs in the vertical measurements, with an expected 9 1/4" vs. 9 17/64".

I'd guess we have some manufacturing tolerances at play here.

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:21 pm

dusty wrote:Here is what I can provide but I got this using a square a couple straight edges and a good ruler. You could do the same.

First thing I noticed is the diameter of the tubes is 1 3/4" not the 1 5/8" I measured. With that and the distance between centers I should be able to get done what I need today.

Thanks

In case anyone is curious I am building an adapter that will allow me to connect several Jet mini-lathe accessories to my PowerPro the most important is the new coffee cup holder just introduced by Rockler and Woodcraft. Followed by a Lathe Steady Rest by Ron Mostel that supports long turning at 4 points using in-line skate wheels.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:39 pm

Paul, regarding those skate wheels, I don't know what size they are or the cost but Lee Valley has wheels made for scooters at $2.25 each. These are polyurethane wheels that have two bearings each and are 3 7/8" in diameter. Look here -- http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... at=1,43455 -- These are very nice wheels, especially for the money and I believe the bearings are the same as those used on the Shopsmith bandsaw.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:46 pm

paulmcohen wrote:First thing I noticed is the diameter of the tubes is 1 3/4" not the 1 5/8" I measured. With that and the distance between centers I should be able to get done what I need today.

Thanks

In case anyone is curious I am building an adapter that will allow me to connect several Jet mini-lathe accessories to my PowerPro the most important is the new coffee cup holder just introduced by Rockler and Woodcraft. Followed by a Lathe Steady Rest by Ron Mostel that supports long turning at 4 points using in-line skate wheels.

I guess I should have made the disclaimer much more obvious.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:50 pm

pennview wrote:Dusty, I'm not disagreeing with or questioning your measurements, but it seems a bit curious that some of the measurements end up with an odd 1/64".

If you look at the bench tubes (lower tubes), the two are on 8 1/2" centers. With a tube diameter of 1 3/4", the measurement to the outside of the tubes should be 10 1/4", not 10 17/64". A similar difference occurs in the vertical measurements, with an expected 9 1/4" vs. 9 17/64".

I'd guess we have some manufacturing tolerances at play here.

You definitely have assembly differences. Have you taken a real close look at the mechanism that secures the tubes. These tubes do sorta take their own location wherever they are most comfortable.

I think that if you rounded those numbers to what you have stated is logical - you are probably not far off from the design drawing.

algale · Post by **algale** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:25 pm

paulmcohen wrote: In case anyone is curious I am building an adapter that will allow me to connect several Jet mini-lathe accessories to my PowerPro the most important is the new coffee cup holder just introduced by Rockler and Woodcraft.

Is this serious or a joke? If serious, and if your lathe work is anything like mine, I hope you like coffee with cream, sugar, sawdust and wood chips....

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:38 pm

algale wrote:Is this serious or a joke? If serious, and if your lathe work is anything like mine, I hope you like coffee with cream, sugar, sawdust and wood chips....

Completely serious, I had a good laugh when I first saw it advertised then I purchased the Rockler one.

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It swivels out of the way and holds 12 lathe tools (one shown), normally I will use a covered travel mug and I have a big dust collector behind the cutting area.