Trying to oil an old "greenie"

solicitr · Post by **solicitr** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:22 pm

I also found out that the three screws which mount the speed control mechanism use internal "speed nuts", when they dropped into the motor pan :-)

Sounds like a previous owner was at work: from the factory the speed control mounting holes are tapped- no nuts. In fact, it may well be that the PO did the access-hole and oil-hole mods Bill discussed.

I'm not sure that speed nuts even existed in the Fifties.

johnm · Post by **johnm** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:11 pm

solicitr wrote:I also found out that the three screws which mount the speed control mechanism use internal "speed nuts", when they dropped into the motor pan :-)

Sounds like a previous owner was at work: from the factory the speed control mounting holes are tapped- no nuts. In fact, it may well be that the PO did the access-hole and oil-hole mods Bill discussed.

I'm not sure that speed nuts even existed in the Fifties.

The access hole has tabs on it to hold the SS cover plate, so it was not an aftermarket mod. One of the SS factory memos I downloaded mentioned that access holes were added in 1955; it's just that they didn't modify the cover plate design to take advantage of it. The oil holes in the sheaves look factory too; maybe they were replacements. The "speed nuts" (flat stock with punched and deformed "holes") look stock too, and I didn't see any evidence of the original holes being tapped. The motor cover screws used those U-shaped speed nuts, and they look OEM too.

I did notice that the back of the speed dial has a "detent area" once you go past a certain speed ("R" ???). Is that SS's way of making it hard to get up to the highest speeds (safety issue?)?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:46 pm

The detent is for the allen that holds the speed dial on. I think this procedure might answer some questions:

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... ight=speed

You can increase speed beyond "R" without doing any harm. Do the speed dial setting while you are testing that.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:41 pm

johnm wrote:...I did notice that the back of the speed dial has a "detent area" once you go past a certain speed ("R" ???). Is that S's way of making it hard to get up to the highest speeds (safety issue?)?

Actually, the purpose of that detent is unclear. It just fits the small coil spring that is mounted horizontally behind the speed dial. I know the purpose of that spring is to keep the speed dial from vibrating. Why the need for the detent? I don't know. When turning the speed control handle slowly you can actually feel that spring drop into the detent. However there should be no hindrance of adjusting speed.

johnm · Post by **johnm** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:20 am

charlese wrote:Actually, the purpose of that detent is unclear. It just fits the small coil spring that is mounted horizontally behind the speed dial. I know the purpose of that spring is to keep the speed dial from vibrating. Why the need for the detent? I don't know. When turning the speed control handle slowly you can actually feel that spring drop into the detent. However there should be no hindrance of adjusting speed.

You can certainly feel the spring riding up on the detent when you rotate just the speed indicator dial. It seems to increase spring pressure when you get to higher speeds. Anyhow, I'll investigate further while waiting on a new speed control handle (stripped teeth on the old one).