Miter gauge taper screw

pmetz · Post by **pmetz** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 11:57 am

I have owned my Shopsmith for many years but only rarely used the screw to hold the miter gauge in place in place for horizontal boring. It has always seemed tight, tough to turn that screw. Well I guess it was too tight. I've striped the inside of the screw and it is locked down tight in the slot. Any suggestion on how I can fix this?

BTW I've owned my SS since the late 70s. I have lurked on this forum for a while but only registered today. Merry Christmas

Paul

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:17 pm

pmetz wrote:I have owned my Shopsmith for many years but only rarely used the screw to hold the miter gauge in place in place for horizontal boring. It has always seemed tight, tough to turn that screw. Well I guess it was too tight. I've striped the inside of the screw and it is locked down tight in the slot. Any suggestion on how I can fix this?

BTW I've owned my SS since the late 70s. I have lurked on this forum for a while but only registered today. Merry Christmas

Paul

You are not the first to have this problem. Based on experience, I believe your only chance of recovery is to drill out the insert. The risk is that while doing this you may destroy the threads in the miter bar, relieving you of that locking feature all together.

I was fortunate. I managed to remove the tapered screw without damaging the threads in the miter bar. I started small so that I could get centered and then increased the drill size. By dong this, I was able to get to a point where I could pick out the remaining residue.

Shopsmith sells the tapered screw. I have not been able to find one elsewhere.

Good luck.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:28 pm

dusty wrote:You are not the first to have this problem. Based on experience, I believe your only chance of recovery is to drill out the insert. The risk is that while doing this you may destroy the threads in the miter bar, relieving you of that locking feature all together.

I was fortunate. I managed to remove the tapered screw without damaging the threads in the miter bar. I started small so that I could get centered and then increased the drill size. By dong this, I was able to get to a point where I could pick out the remaining residue.

Shopsmith sells the tapered screw. I have not been able to find one elsewhere.

Good luck.

Try a brand new 5/32" hex wrench.

File a taper(6) on a larger hex wrench and drive it into the hole.

Either way use penetrating oil, and make sure you are backing it out the top.

This is another thing to lube often(grease).

Good Luck!:)

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:13 pm

Not had this problem specifically, but had many studs break off in engines, We used a hardened steel tool called Gra-bit (or something similar). We drilled a small pilot hole near the center then firmly placed the bit in the hole to back out the threaded stud.
Not certain if this is what you are looking to do, but sounds similar.

Be well,
Ben

mountainbreeze · Post by **mountainbreeze** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:08 pm

Google “easy out". An appropriate sized one of those and penetrating oil should do the trick.

pmetz · Post by **pmetz** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:45 pm

Guys - wanted to follow up on my original post. Thank you for the replies and suggestions to fix the stripped set screw in my miter gauge. I tired most of them, but my success came from the Shopsmith CS suggestion of using the penetrating oil and tapping the bar out with a piece of wood. I did it reluctantly, but it worked.

I will be very cautious about using that feature in the future. Any ideas of alternatives to setting up a way to hold down items in the horizontal boring position?

Happy New Year

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:32 pm

pmetz wrote:Guys - wanted to follow up on my original post. Thank you for the replies and suggestions to fix the stripped set screw in my miter gauge. I tired most of them, but my success came from the Shopsmith CS suggestion of using the penetrating oil and tapping the bar out with a piece of wood. I did it reluctantly, but it worked.

I will be very cautious about using that feature in the future. Any ideas of alternatives to setting up a way to hold down items in the horizontal boring position?

Happy New Year

I think we have been discussing different screws.

'We' have been considering removal of the tapered set screw that secures the miter gauge bar in the miter gauge slot to prevent it sliding in the slot.

I now believe CS told you how to remove a stuck set screw that secures the hold down to the actuator on the safety grip.

Needless to say, i'se cornfuzed!

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:17 pm

I too am confused but that is OKAY. At least the problem has been resolved.

I thought that the problem was the tapered screw that is used to secure the miter bar in the miter track.

It sounds as though CS assisted in removing the miter bar from the miter track by driving it out with a piece of wood. That might be good but if the tapered screw is what brought that about and it was subsequently stripped - it seems there is still a problem. The stripped out tapered screw that needs to be removed from the miter bar.

Oh well. I have already admitted that I was confused.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:55 pm

dusty wrote:I too am confused but that is OKAY. At least the problem has been resolved.

I thought that the problem was the tapered screw that is used to secure the miter bar in the miter track.

It sounds as though CS assisted in removing the miter bar from the miter track by driving it out with a piece of wood. That might be good but if the tapered screw is what brought that about and it was subsequently stripped - it seems there is still a problem. The stripped out tapered screw that needs to be removed from the miter bar.

Oh well. I have already admitted that I was confused.

That makes more sense than what I was thinking!:o

pmetz · Post by **pmetz** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:33 am

Dusty was right - The set screw that held the miter bar in the track.

The hexagon inside of the set screw was stripped. I was able to get the screw out once the bar was released from the track.