Shopsmith Newbie

jbillups · Post by **jbillups** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:03 am

Greetings All, I am Joshua Billups from Manteca, California.. soon to be Sandy Oregon (I Hope). I am a 30-year old union bricklayer and have been working with wood since I was 10 years old. It started a bit here and there with my father, then @ the local Boys & Girls club Woodshop where we mostly where only allowed to sand and glue. Then in JR High I started taken woodshop and contiuned to do so until I finished high school.

I had never actually seen or even heard of a SS until about 2-months ago... and when I asked my father about them he was a bit stand offish. Before mom & dad moved up north, dad decided he wanted to replace some of his tools he had for 40+ years. He gave me a Boice-Crane 2500 10-Inch Tiliting Arbor Saw and a Atlas Press Co. 912 12-Inch Bandsaw. The two sat in my brothers garage for about 4-years then I picked them both up this year.

I began to polish the tools my father had gave me and discovered the owwm fourms. I have since aquired a RAS, a Jointer and a Radial Drill Press. Now my shop is nearly ready and soon I will be wood working again. Its been about 12 years since I have really done anything with wood.

Last weekend my fiance' and I drove about 80 miles towards the coast to pick up a basket case SS 500. I had been looking for a lathe and could only find over prices machines I could not afford. Here is this best part... this one was a freebie off Craigs List, but needs alot of work. Once its restored I will be using it only for a lathe. When I picked it up the disc sander was stuck on the jointer side where it says not to put anything but the jointer. I would like to put it back there so I can run it and the lathe at the same time... is this a major no no? if so why?

RobertTaylor · Post by **RobertTaylor** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:43 am

first off let me welcome you to the forum. you will find lots of help and/or info here. few if any other companies offer this kind of support. the reason that the sanding disk should not be mounted on the aux. shaft is speed. that shaft turns much too fast to do sanding or sharpening. you would just burn everything you try. however it is quite common to mount the sanding disk on the upper shaft on the left side of the headstock. a most useful accessory for your new shopsmith would be a copy of the owners manual and a copy of Power Tool Woodworking For Everyone. hope this info helps, Bob

Renowned author and woodworker extrordinare(?) Nick Engler is starting a project much like yours in Shopsmith's Sawdust Sessions this week. be sure to check it out

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Sawdust_Sessions.htm

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:12 am

As Betty44720 said there should be two shafts on the left side of the head stock. The lower one, the one where the warning you pictured is placed is a high speed shaft. It turns to fast for practical sanding.

However the upper shaft is controlled like the quill on the right side of the headstock and its speed can be turned down to make disk sanding practical and very useful.

I often use my disk sander on this shaft to sand projects and to sharpen tools.

Looks like you got a real project here with your "new" machine. You should be aware that Nick the Shopsmith instructor as part of the Sawdust Sessions he does about twice a month has just started a restoration project on an old machine that looks a lot like yours. You can watch last week's video to catch up and then watch each new episode live when they are scheduled. Check out http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Sawdust_Sessions.htm

Good luck with your restoration and welcome to the forum
Ed

jbillups · Post by **jbillups** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:31 pm

Thanks for the advice guys, I will check it out. I want to buy new tubes, I got some of the rust off one of them but it was still pitted. Other than that the rest is cosmetic. I'm torn between trying match its orginal color and just buying the SS gray paint. I wish SS sold the greenie paint lol.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:18 pm

"Nick Engler is starting a project much like yours..."

But not quite that challenging.

"I'm torn between trying match its orginal color and just buying the SS gray paint."

Why would you want to change? I've always been a big fan of Captain America.

With all good wishes,

jbillups · Post by **jbillups** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:27 pm

HAHAHA I was thinking it was more of a hippie thing lol...
The very nice man that gave this to me lived near the coast and his shop
had a open back wall, so the salt in the air wreaked havok.

I love the fact that this is a first year production, so other than the tubes I plan to restore everything else. I like my chrome shinny

Nick wrote:"Nick Engler is starting a project much like yours..."

But not quite that challenging.

"I'm torn between trying match its orginal color and just buying the SS gray paint."

Why would you want to change? I've always been a big fan of Captain America.

With all good wishes,

jbillups · Post by **jbillups** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:26 pm

Does anyone know where I can get an exploded view, I'm taking it apart right now and am wondering if the pin at the piviot point is actually suppost to come out.

I am going to try the the potatoe rust removal trick. I tested a small section of the tube and was able to sand out the pitting with out damaging the tubes.

since it takes two weeks I will be forced to do an extra good job on the rest lol

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:52 pm

jbillups wrote:Does anyone know where I can get an exploded view, I'm taking it apart right now and am wondering if the pin at the piviot point is actually suppost to come out.

I am going to try the the potatoe rust removal trick. I tested a small section of the tube and was able to sand out the pitting with out damaging the tubes.

since it takes two weeks I will be forced to do an extra good job on the rest lol

I don't know that the exploded views in the PDF catalog will give you what you want but it might be worth a look.

On the ownersite, toward the bottom of the page you will find a prompt to the PDF Father's Day Catalog. Click on Inside Pages and browse.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/

What I think you might be looking for is about page 49 or 50.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:48 pm

"I am going to try the the potatoe rust removal trick."

When you uncork the brew, do it outside and down wind of your domicile. Have a garden hose ready to rinse off the tubes inside and out before you bring them in the house. Adhering to this advice strictly will help keep your marriage intact. Deviate from it and you can remove your spouse as well as the rust. Kind of a two-fer.

With all good wishes,

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:03 pm

jbillups wrote: I'm taking it apart right now and am wondering if the pin at the piviot point is actually suppost to come out.

Yes, but first you have to drive the roll pin out of the pin. Based on your comments, you also migt want have some penetrating oil and some emory cloth. After the roll pin is out, oil, sand and drive with a wooden dowel. Has worked for me every time. It's a great machine.