speed control retaining clip

[epodietz]

Thanks again, David. I did look at Jacob's videos, and it seems that in order to remove the control sheave in order to replace the button bearing that I will need to do about 2/3 of an entire teardown. Any shortcuts come to mind? Not that refamilarizing myself with teardown is a bad thing..

Also - is seizing of the button bearing necessarily a result of insufficient lubrication of the sheave mechanism, or is just bound to happen eventally b/c owing to regular old wear and tear on the small bearing? I think I've been a bit tardy on following Shopsmith's recommendation of lubricating control sheaves for every 5 hours of operation, but maybe I'm learning a lesson here..

I checked out Bill Mayo's article, and while I haven't absorbed it entirely, one thing that stood out to me where he seemed to disagree with Jacob Anderson: Bill seemed to be stressing the importance of the control screw tracking in the center of the worm gear while Jacob seemed to say that it was OK if it tracked a bit to the left. Perhaps I have interpreted both of them incorrectly...any thoughts on the subject?

[DLB]

Thanks again, David. I did look at Jacob's videos, and it seems that in order to remove the control sheave in order to replace the button bearing that I will need to do about 2/3 of an entire teardown. Any shortcuts come to mind? Not that refamilarizing myself with teardown is a bad thing..

You already have the speed control out. Make sure the machine is unplugged. You might get away with leaving the electrical connections on the motor, but you'll need to separate the motor with housing from the headstock. If you have to remove the electrical note/photograph wiring connections and harness routing for re-assembly.

Also - is seizing of the button bearing necessarily a result of insufficient lubrication of the sheave mechanism, or is just bound to happen eventally b/c owing to regular old wear and tear on the small bearing? I think I've been a bit tardy on following Shopsmith's recommendation of lubricating control sheaves for every 5 hours of operation, but maybe I'm learning a lesson here..

IMO, bearing failure is not closely related to sheave lubrication. Shopsmith considers all ball bearings in the headstock to be permanently lubricated. And I think that is consistent with the ball bearing companies for both shielded and sealed bearings. They all lose lubrication at some point and should be replaced. But of all the bearings in the headstock this one seems the most likely to seize. Bound to happen eventually is a good description. Catching it soon after failure is good.

I checked out Bill Mayo's article, and while I haven't absorbed it entirely, one thing that stood out to me where he seemed to disagree with Jacob Anderson: Bill seemed to be stressing the importance of the control screw tracking in the center of the worm gear while Jacob seemed to say that it was OK if it tracked a bit to the left. Perhaps I have interpreted both of them incorrectly...any thoughts on the subject?
The BIll Mayo improvement, IMO, yields a better than new speed control. The two legs are tied together by a screw, so they can't splay and it takes way more force to bend them. It also eliminates the roll pin used as a hinge pin which, over time, seems to enlarge the holes in the legs. I haven't looked at Jacob's closely. Bill's method solves both of the problems I've ever had with speed controls and seems to last.

- David

[epodietz]

Things are going better than expected so far. Removing the control sheave was much easier than I thought it was going to be. The control sheave is very clean looking. The bad button bearing popped right out and the new one went in but wouldn't stay in even after I squeezed hard with channel locks. Some thread lock and more squeezing seemed to do the trick, not sure which made the difference. Now onto filing the worm gear and smoothing out the metal on the quadrant.

[JPG]

The worm gear should NOT require filing. The quadrant is much softer and It is what is deformed.

[epodietz]

Right! That's what I meant but not what I said. Thanks JPG

[epodietz]

I filed the quadrant and smoothed out the dents created by the seized button bearing. Put everything back together and it is working great!

Now that I am more familiar with the speed control I can see the wisdom of Bill Mayo's improvements. I know he used to provide the parts - has anyone else taken on this role?

Thanks again to JPG and David and DLB and Jacob Anderson's videos for helping me through this. I think a pro could have done it all in an hour or so. Not the case for me...I am still on the steep side of the learning curve.

Eric

[DLB]

That is good to hear! I think we are on our own for parts now. I deviated from Bill's design when I did my speed control because the holes worn in the legs were so big I wanted to use an oversize bolt/hinge. I chose to thread one of the leg holes, probably overkill, and use a jam nut. I had noted that Bill had tried a couple of different ways to get the nuts and washers to stay put and this was my version of a solution. I had to drill out the quadrant, I was concerned about it but it worked fine. IIRC I used a 1/4" bolt, the holes were worn too large to thread any smaller. That was marginal for getting it in/out of the headstock because of the bolt head, so I don't recommend it with the standard hex head I used. If I tried the threaded hole again I would try size 12. Though none of it is hard, the threaded hole in the leg is definitely more work than Bill's approach. When you are done, the quadrant swings straight and true with virtually no wear or play in any direction. It's very satisfying. More than a repair, it is as Bill described it: an improvement.

- David

[epodietz]

Thanks for the additional tips, Dave. Sounds good for a future maintenance interval. Now I've got to get back to finishing the bowls that are due for delivery by Thanksgiving.

Eric