Shopsmith Forums

[quote="JPG40504"]Do pay heed to what Charlese and Terrydowning said.

Dusty, try that 'test' with a steel sanding disk attached.]

Been there, done that, wrecked an idler bearing and watched in terror as the sheave sets pumped in and out!!!

charlese wrote:This warning could be a safety issue. You don't want to get a surprise next time you power up. You don't want the headstock to power up to high RPM when you have a lower speed accessory attached. Let's say the lathe or the band saw. Therefore the caution to run the speed down to slow before turning off the power switch.

Exactly! This is why I had to order a new set of band saw tires...

charlese wrote:This warning could be a safety issue. You don't want to get a surprise next time you power up. You don't want the headstock to power up to high RPM when you have a lower speed accessory attached. Let's say the lathe or the band saw.

Been there done that, the scars on my son and his girlfriend are proof.

I turned on the lathe after someone used the table saw and did not lower the speed. Since I did not know they changed the speed and I also used to lower it before shutting the machine off it was a surprise to everyone. Shortly after I got the PowerPro and it is no longer an issue. I have also had dedicated power so my lights never dimmed.

videobear wrote:Exactly! This is why I had to order a new set of band saw tires...

You don't want to start up at high speed with the belt sander attached either or the jig saw or the scroll saw.

It is fine to develop the habit of turning the speed down before you turn off the machine but it is not essential that that be done.

Some people have been led to believe it "needs to be turned down" every time power is removed. That is just not true.

Not being one who is in the habit of 'turning it down' before turning it off, I agree, but I have been using a 230v SS for a half century.

I do however at least look at the speed dial if I have just installed an SPT and have not run the SS recently.

Rather than blind adherence to a 'turn it down rule', IMHO tis far more prudent to always think before doing something.

No, sadly I do not always do that.


I had occasion to use the 115V 510 outdoors with the thickness planer at the end of a 50' extension cord(#16), and there was a considerable startup delay under those conditions. I kept start/stop cycling to a minimum!








Neither do I 'watch in horror' after doing something wrong.
Immediate corrective action is more appropriate.

While Cris is in the UK with a different power source, here in the US in a "standard" suburbian home neighborhood with homes from maybe 1985 and up, I have usually found 1 outlet as a dedicated outlet in each garage. The electricians used to call them the "freezer" outlets when I was out in the field on construction sites regularly. I don't know if its that way all over the country but there should be 1 outlet in your garage already set up to be dedicated and I have found if I run a nice extension cord to that outlet to run my SS stuff, there is never a problem. If I use any other outlets in the garage, power dims and the breaker trips if anything else is going on. (I actually have my frig on this circuit because my dedicated outlet was not in a good frig location)

I agree with others here. The habit of turning it down when you're wrapping up is a good idea, and when powering up, SS first-DC second-Planer last.

mrhart wrote:While Cris is in the UK with a different power source, here in the US in a "standard" suburbian home neighborhood with homes from maybe 1985 and up, I have usually found 1 outlet as a dedicated outlet in each garage. The electricians used to call them the "freezer" outlets when I was out in the field on construction sites regularly. I don't know if its that way all over the country but there should be 1 outlet in your garage already set up to be dedicated and I have found if I run a nice extension cord to that outlet to run my SS stuff, there is never a problem. If I use any other outlets in the garage, power dims and the breaker trips if anything else is going on. (I actually have my frig on this circuit because my dedicated outlet was not in a good frig location)

I agree with others here. The habit of turning it down when you're wrapping up is a good idea, and when powering up, SS first-DC second-Planer last.

Planer last?

I can see the obvious safety logic to leaving the SS set at low speed so the next start up will not overspeed the SPT's, the situation I was envisioning was between cuts with a high speed tool such as the saw or router where you may want to switch off between the cuts.

When I was browsing the forums looking at maintenance etc there seemed to be lots of dire warnings to always turn down the speed, or if you did switch of at high speed, to then turn over the machine by hand whilst winding the speed control back to slow hence the initial enquiry.

But isn't it great the way these threads develop with all sorts of useful information and advice! Great forum!!

Chris

I especially like the thoughtfulness regarding the safety of fellow woodworkers. Most of us have the wits scared out out of us and sadly some have been harmed. But I don't think anyone here has experienced every possible scenario, so sharing the safety information is great!

I do woodworking for enjoyment and it's darn hard to enjoy when you injure yourself or worse someone else.

Keep the safety tips coming guys on this thread or any other thread.

Since my Shopsmith was new to me and before I installed my PowerPro, I always powered up the unit before attaching anything to it and let it warm up for a minute or two. When I first got it I was blowing my 15 amp. circuit breaker when it was cool in the garage and I had the dust collector already going and tried to power up the SS with a saw blade or disk sander attached. This procedure also ensured that the speed was dialed down before attaching anything.