Bench Tubes

jimjulien · Post by **jimjulien** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:35 am

I took the way and bench tubes off for a good cleaning and painting of the shopsmith. Any suggestions on how to get the bench tubes aligned again.

Jim

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:49 am

'Aligned' to what?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:48 am

jimjulien wrote:I took the way and bench tubes off for a good cleaning and painting of the shopsmith. Any suggestions on how to get the bench tubes aligned again.

Jim

Start by making certain that both Way Tubes are exactly the same length and that both Bench Tubes are exactly the same length. The Bench Tubes should be 3/4" longer than the Way Tubes.

When I assemble, I do it on top of my work bench because I know it is flat. I install the bench tubes into the Headrest (13) and Base (1) first. Secure the Tube Lock Bars (16). Position the assemble where you can see that the tubes have been properly positioned in the Headrest and Base. With this assembly sitting on the bench top (flat surface), the Base and Headrest should sit solid and should not rock corner to corner. If not solid, loosen the lock bars and reposition so that it is and retighten. I believe this is an important step in the assembly process. If the Bench Tubes are not planar at this point, the foundation for this entire assembly is skewed.

When you set the way tubes into the Base Arm (24) make certain they go in all the way and then tighten the set screws.

When you later attach the Way Tube Tie Bar (25) make certain it sets all the way onto the way tubes and then tighten the set screws.

After you have mounted the Carriage and Headstock on the Way tubes, if they do not slide easily, loosen the set screws in the Tie Bar and slide the Headstock back and forth on the Way Tubes. This tends to position the tubes so that they are planar. Lock the Carriage and Headstock to the Way tubes. Tighten the sets screws.

camerio · Post by **camerio** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:59 am

In your description Dusty, there are numbers, what do they refer to ?

jimjulien · Post by **jimjulien** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:30 am

dusty wrote:Start by making certain that both Way Tubes are exactly the same length and that both Bench Tubes are exactly the same length. The Bench Tubes should be 3/4" longer than the Way Tubes.

When I assemble, I do it on top of my work bench because I know it is flat. I install the bench tubes into the Headrest (13) and Base (1) first. Secure the Tube Lock Bars (16). Position the assemble where you can see that the tubes have been properly positioned in the Headrest and Base. With this assembly sitting on the bench top (flat surface), the Base and Headrest should sit solid and should not rock corner to corner. If not solid, loosen the lock bars and reposition so that it is and retighten. I believe this is an important step in the assembly process. If the Bench Tubes are not planar at this point, the foundation for this entire assembly is skewed.

When you set the way tubes into the Base Arm (24) make certain they go in all the way and then tighten the set screws.

When you later attach the Way Tube Tie Bar (25) make certain it sets all the way onto the way tubes and then tighten the set screws.

After you have mounted the Carriage and Headstock on the Way tubes, if they do not slide easily, loosen the set screws in the Tie Bar and slide the Headstock back and forth on the Way Tubes. This tends to position the tubes so that they are planar. Lock the Carriage and Headstock to the Way tubes. Tighten the sets screws.

Do you put something under one end so that both ends are sitting at the same height. I did do a distance measurement before I took them apart from one end to the other. I'm assuming I should put them back together with using same measurement?

Thanks Jim

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:40 am

camerio wrote:In your description Dusty, there are numbers, what do they refer to ?

The numbers in parenthesis are the item numbers of the specific item in the Shopsmith Detailed Parts Explosion.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:44 am

jimjulien wrote:Do you put something under one end so that both ends are sitting at the same height. I did do a distance measurement before I took them apart from one end to the other. I'm assuming I should put them back together with using same measurement?

Thanks Jim

When I do this, Jim, I typically do not have the legs attached. Without the legs, the Base and the Headrest are resting on my benchtop and that is the starting height.

If this does not answer your question, please give me another chance to respond.

jimjulien · Post by **jimjulien** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:48 am

dusty wrote:When I do this, Jim, I typically do not have the legs attached. Without the legs, the Base and the Headrest are resting on my benchtop and that is the starting height.

If this does not answer your question, please give me another chance to respond.

It looks like when the two ends with out the legs are upside down that one end will be sitting higher than the other will that matter when attaching the legs.

Thanks
Jim

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:01 am

jimjulien wrote:It looks like when the two ends with out the legs are upside down that one end will be sitting higher than the other will that matter when attaching the legs.

Thanks
Jim

No, it won't matter but if you are concerned about the Headrest and Base being level - rest the unit on the Way Tubes when it is upside down. This would disengage the Base and Headrest from whatever surface is supporting the Mark V.

For what ever it is worth, when fully assembled, the top of the Headrest and the top of the Base Arm are NOT at exactly the same elevation with respect to the bottom of the legs. This revelation surprised me when I checked. I will recheck. If I find different information, I will post accordingly.

PS: I have a Base Arm Assembly and a Headrest that are spare parts. I set them up on the bench using the tube cutoffs from when I made the shorty. When assembled in this fashion, the top of the Headrest measures 10 1/4" above the bench top while the Base Arm Assembly measures 10".

However, on my original Mark V the two measurements are 31" and 31 1/4" on the legs. The Base Arm is 1/4" shorter.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:48 am

camerio wrote:In your description Dusty, there are numbers, what do they refer to ?

Here's the part number listing.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/part ... sembly.htm