Good morning all...
I have held my tongue long enough. There things that many of you do not seem to understand the purpose of this Shopsmith Forum. I want to clear up a couple of items about the Forum and then I will address the concerns regarding the posting "Danger!" about the PowerPro Headstock.
1. The Shopsmith Forum is intended for the exchange of information between, and entertainment of, users of Shopsmith tools and equipment. This information comes from users with differing experience levels, education and expertise so the information may or may not be correct.
2. This Forum is NOT a direct line to Shopsmith Customer Service or Shopsmith Engineering. Do NOT expect a response from Shopsmith Customer Service or Shopsmith Engineering from a posting on this Forum. Shopsmith associates do NOT monitor it on a regular schedule. If you wait weeks for a response after posting here you deserve what you get.
3. This Forum is NOT the proper way to inform Shopsmith of a problem with any one of their produces or products. See #1 above.
To contact Shopsmith Customer Service call 800-543-7586 or by e-mail at
customerservice@shopsmith.com. Shopsmith Customer Service responds to EVERY e-mail and EVERY phone call they receive. I help them respond to too many of them to believe otherwise.
With that said, I want to comment on the recent thread about noise (growling or rattling) posted under "Danger!" while using the Bandsaw on the Mark-V with the PowerPro Headstock. I am the Engineer that worked on the PowerPro. I am also a 45+year woodworker who has worked on Shopsmith equipment since June 4th 1979. I am not just blowing smoke when I discuss the topic of either woodworking or the PowerPro. The answers below are from my personal woodworking experiences and in-depth knowledge of how the PowerPro works.
This noise when running the Bandsaw is always caused by either loose setscrews hubs that secure the hubs to their shafts, a loose or worn coupler, a loose setscrew on the accessory on the quill or a loose setscrew on the motor pulley.
The noise/vibration is caused by the electronics that control the motor in the Headstock reacting to the slightest vibration caused by the loose setscrew. The speed and torque of the motor are sensed, measured and reacted to many, many times a second. When vibration that is not normal is sensed, the electronics send a pulse (either positive or negative) to the motor at the speed of light. This pulse is intended to correct for the condition that was sensed and correct for it. This sounds like a growling noise. The PowerPro "Knows" normal vibrations like the cutting of wood with the Bandsaw blade, Table Saw or Lathe chisels are reacted to in a smooth manner.
A few setscrew tightening tips...
- Tighten all setscrews by wiggling them as you tighten them with the Allen wrench. This helps you find the bottom dead center of the flat.
- In addition to this, Hold the long end of the Allen wrench and securely tighten each setscrew.
- The shaft on the Bandsaw (and other major accessories) is soft and the setscrew in the Hub digs into it. If there is a trench in this shaft caused by the setscrew, and the setscrew is tightened in this trench, the PowerPro motor and electronics will not be happy because this is not a secure attachment and will loosen.
- Yes, you can use blue LOCTITE on the motor pulley setscrew and hub setscrews. I would not recommend using any LOCTITE on the saw arbors or other accessories that are mounted and removed from the quill spindle
- The comment to tighten the setscrew until it clicks is not good procedure either. It sounds like the "click" is the Allen wrench stripping out the setscrew or the wrench.
Additionally: The program that runs the PowerPro motor in your new Headstock is designed around NORMAL, SAFE woodworking operations. The program senses the weight, starting inertia and torque and speed required to run these accessories. If any one of these criteria are different from "NORMAL" the motor will not run well. "NORMAL" is defined by operations and combinations of accessories shown in Shopsmith manuals and the POWER TOOL WOODOORKING FOR EVERYONE text book along with the SPEED CHART programmed in the PowerPro Headstock memory. For example, "NORMAL" to the PowerPro program is the disc sander or even the drum sander being run with the Bandsaw at recommended speeds of the internal SPEED CHART. "NORMAL" is NOT the 10" saw blade run with the Bandsaw, no matter if it is guarded or not. "NORMAL" is NOT running the sanding disc at 3450 rpm. Both of these situations will cause the PowerPro Headstock to run loud and perform poorly. If you have any questions if a set-up you are planning is "NORMAL" consult these sources.
Regarding the "Saw blade coming loose". I have never known a setscrew to fail in a saw arbor. I have seen worn threads over decades of use, but never stripped threads on either the arbor or the setscrew. In my experience, one of two things has happened. First, and least likely considering the source, the setscrew in the arbor was not tightened on the flat. Second, the nut on the arbor was not tightened sufficiently. Regarding the second... The arbor nut tightens against the blade on the arbor with the rotation of use. This prevents the nut that secures the blade to the arbor from coming loose when sawing. The PowerPro stops quicker than the conventional Headstock, especially at the slower Bandsaw speed. Because of this, if the arbor nut is not tight enough, the inertia of the stopping blade on the arbor will loosen the arbor nut, allowing the blade to free-spin on the arbor... Another reason why not to leave the saw blade mounted to the Headstock when using the Bandsaw.
By the way, if the setscrew in the saw arbor is not properly tightened and comes loose, two good things happen to prevent injury. First, the tapered flat on the quill spindle prevents the saw arbor with the blade from moving more than 1/8" on the quill. The loose setscrew simply contacts the flat at a shallower point and stops the arbor from going further. Second, if the setscrew in the saw arbor is positioned on the quill spindle, away from the flat, or not tightened at all, the blade would "free-spin" when the machine is stopped. When this happens, the blade on the arbor is contained inside the saw table insert opening and could only move 1/2" at the most. This is not near enough for the arbor to come off the spindle.
I hope I have cleared up what the Forum is used for and also have answered questions regarding the PowerPro and how it operates and why it can run noisy.
Have a GREAT day!!!
Jim