Lift Assist Issues

[sreilly24590]

Back in Feb 2015 I bought a new SS7 and have used it very lightly. I bought some of the usual attachments/accessories and one such was the lift assist. I haven't tried until recently to use the SS in Shaper mode and found that trying to loosen the large knurled handle bolts for locking the system down rather hard to get to and turn. I had installed the LA as instructed which severely restricted getting a good grip on the aforementioned bolt. It took a fair amount of looking in the manual and then a Google search to finally get the info on raising the SS into the proper position for shaping and that the LA strut needed to be released from the arm so it could raise in the proper direction. That checked and done I attempted to raise the unit in the proper direction only to have the whole unit shift onto the rails. This was raising it to get the LA in the extended position as if I were setting up to use as a drill press. This is the second time this has happened and the 1st time back in Aug 2016 I ended up at the ER for stitches and a broken strut.

So carefully I was checking everything twice and still have this issue. Apparently the knurled handled bolts that are suppose to lock the pivot points under the axle aren't fully engaging? The fact they don't go further under the axle seems odd to me but maybe I'm the only one with this issue. I watch videos of people raising their units to both positions without issue and it appears the knobs are easy to turn but not at all on mine and I'm hardly a wimp. It all but takes a pair of channel locks to sometimes get them fully closed and then several turns again to start to loosen. And of course the LA gets in the way of one of those as well.

I've become very leery of my unit because of this. Suggestions? Questions? Anything to get a handle on this please.

I did move the LA down about an inch from the end of the unit, squared everything up and tested hoping to get a bit more room to get to the knob but it only slightly helped and that was also reversing the angled bracket on the assembly. In some ways it felt maybe the same or more restrictive to tighten/loosen.

Thanks,

Steve

[jsburger]

Back in Feb 2015 I bought a new SS7 and have used it very lightly. I bought some of the usual attachments/accessories and one such was the lift assist. I haven't tried until recently to use the SS in Shaper mode and found that trying to loosen the large knurled handle bolts for locking the system down rather hard to get to and turn. I had installed the LA as instructed which severely restricted getting a good grip on the aforementioned bolt. It took a fair amount of looking in the manual and then a Google search to finally get the info on raising the SS into the proper position for shaping and that the LA strut needed to be released from the arm so it could raise in the proper direction. That checked and done I attempted to raise the unit in the proper direction only to have the whole unit shift onto the rails. This was raising it to get the LA in the extended position as if I were setting up to use as a drill press. This is the second time this has happened and the 1st time back in Aug 2016 I ended up at the ER for stitches and a broken strut.

So carefully I was checking everything twice and still have this issue. Apparently the knurled handled bolts that are suppose to lock the pivot points under the axle aren't fully engaging? The fact they don't go further under the axle seems odd to me but maybe I'm the only one with this issue. I watch videos of people raising their units to both positions without issue and it appears the knobs are easy to turn but not at all on mine and I'm hardly a wimp. It all but takes a pair of channel locks to sometimes get them fully closed and then several turns again to start to loosen. And of course the LA gets in the way of one of those as well.

I've become very leery of my unit because of this. Suggestions? Questions? Anything to get a handle on this please.

I did move the LA down about an inch from the end of the unit, squared everything up and tested hoping to get a bit more room to get to the knob but it only slightly helped and that was also reversing the angled bracket on the assembly. In some ways it felt maybe the same or more restrictive to tighten/loosen.

Thanks,

Steve

The head stock and table locks must be locked when raising to vertical position (either direction) or they will slide/fall.

What is "fully engaging"? The end of the threaded rod is tapered. It goes up against the pivot rod. It is only supposed to be finger tight. Channel locks, NO.

Yes the knob at the right end where the lift assist is mounted is tight but again the knob should only be finger tight so it is no problem.

[sreilly24590]

I wish mine were loose enough to be able to rotate with just finger pressure. The videos I've seen look like little effort is used. Maybe mine are cross threaded but these don't come all the way out so it's hard to believe. I'll give SS a call tomorrow. Thanks for the reply.

[jsburger]

I wish mine were loose enough to be able to rotate with just finger pressure. The videos I've seen look like little effort is used. Maybe mine are cross threaded but these don't come all the way out so it's hard to believe. I'll give SS a call tomorrow. Thanks for the reply.

Please call SS. Are you saying both knobs are hard to turn? That is hard to believe. Parts are not mated after manufacturing. They will unscrew all the way out. Something is definitely wrong.

[sreilly24590]

Yes, both need a very firm grip and sometimes both hands. I did put some WD40 on them it helped just a bit. I'll call SS tomorrow for sure.

[reible]

In the past I recall a user with a problem with the knob in question. In that case the thread was coming out the flat side and thus not screwing in far enough to engage the rod. Does your knob look like the one pictured in this thread?

Those knobs should turn pretty easy, never ever needing any tools to turn them. They also don't need to be all that tight to work, just snug.

I'll see if I can find the old thread to refresh my memory and let you have a look at that issue.

Ed

[reible]

Well that didn't take long. Here is the link:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maint ... 10583.html

There is a picture of the knob down in a few posts. If yours looks like that then it is defective.

Ed

[sreilly24590]

No, my knobs are nothing like that. It's one of two issues, either the threading on the cross arm is a mess or the base arm knob has thread issues. WD40 made little to no difference. From what I can see of the threads they look fine, clean and threaded cleanly. Everything is very tight, always has been and probably the reason for the mishap last August and the near mishap last night.

Called just a few minutes ago and don't have a warm fuzzy feeling that the problem was understood well at all but probably won't hear from an engineer until tomorrow morning. That said, I'm basing on how easy every video I've seen shows the knobs being turned without any real effort. Checking the arm lock knob and that turns almost without effort. My biggest concern is making it right for safety sake and if there was a live demo anywhere nearby I'd drive and hour or two just to verify this but all are way too far that I've seen listed. And no-one I know locally has a unit either.

[sreilly24590]

While this page doesn't do a thing for showing how stiff these knobs are it does show them full in/out where they stop being less stiff, if that makes sense. Not easy to turn but doable. See http://www.astral-imaging.com/shopsmith.htm
Mouse click on the image for the largest size and use your back button to go back to the main page. I know, the whole site needs work.

Steve

[dusty]

While this page doesn't do a thing for showing how stiff these knobs are it does show them full in/out where they stop being less stiff, if that makes sense. Not easy to turn but doable. See http://www.astral-imaging.com/shopsmith.htm
Mouse click on the image for the largest size and use your back button to go back to the main page. I know, the whole site needs work.

Steve

I don't have my lift assist installed right now so I can not do a valid check but from your pictures it does seem as though the lift assist is too close to the knob. Not much help, I know. But hang in there, this will get resolved.

Which end of the Mark 7 do you have the list assist mounted on?