Shopsmith Forums

Buy the new Shopsmith Speed Reducer if it is available. Used ones on Ebay normally sell for close to the original price and you would be dealing with used equipment.

You could always get the ultimate Shopsmith speed reducer...the Power Pro. And you will get a speed "increaser" too.

JPG40504 wrote:Another item for the todo list. Good timing! About to rehab the one I got last month. I am looking forward to digging into it as my 'other' one was obtained from e-bay and it was not as it left 'the factory'.

Be sure to check out the motor when you have the Power Station apart. The shaft on mine felt a little tight and rough when turning it by hand. I believe that the SS manual said no is lubrication required, but the motor ratings plate said to lube every 5 years for light duty operation.
The front bearing took the 50 drops of oil OK, but the back bearing wouldn't take any. So I took the motor apart, and found that the back end, including the oil reservoir around the sleeve bearing, was absolutely packed with oily sawdust. I cleaned all that out, cleared the oil inlet, and reassembled. Lubing went fine this time. After running the motor for a couple of minutes, the bearings felt as good as new.
The motor has a fan that blows air over the rotor and then out the back of the motor, so I've gotta believe that some sawdust accumulation in there is inevitable.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Be sure to check out the motor when you have the Power Station apart. The shaft on mine felt a little tight and rough when turning it by hand. I believe that the SS manual said no is lubrication required, but the motor ratings plate said to lube every 5 years for light duty operation.
The front bearing took the 50 drops of oil OK, but the back bearing wouldn't take any. So I took the motor apart, and found that the back end, including the oil reservoir around the sleeve bearing, was absolutely packed with oily sawdust. I cleaned all that out, cleared the oil inlet, and reassembled. Lubing went fine this time. After running the motor for a couple of minutes, the bearings felt as good as new.
The motor has a fan that blows air over the rotor and then out the back of the motor, so I've gotta believe that some sawdust accumulation in there is inevitable.

Been there, done that!;)

No ball bearings! Sleeve bushings.

Clue being oil holes/plugs.

Sure it was all sawdust?

Did you 'find' the oil holes offset 90 degrees(one up, one out)?

[quote="JPG40504"]Been there, done that!]
At first I thought it might be some sort of packing to retain oil, but eventually decided it was just sawdust. I'm not 100% sure, though. There was nothing similar around the front bearing.

I was surprised at the sleeve bearings too, but they seem to be holding up fine. My oil holes were also offset 90 degrees. When I reassembled the motor, I oriented both upward. Am hoping that I can now relube someday without pulling the motor.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:At first I thought it might be some sort of packing to retain oil, but eventually decided it was just sawdust. I'm not 100% sure, though. There was nothing similar around the front bearing.

I was surprised at the sleeve bearings too, but they seem to be holding up fine. My oil holes were also offset 90 degrees. When I reassembled the motor, I oriented both upward. Am hoping that I can now relube someday without pulling the motor.

Ditto!

I replaced all the wadding that was 'salvagable' and filled with cotton.

Great job Dennis. I'm hoping you can sell me a stiffener kit like the one you made for yourself?

tomsalwasser wrote:Great job Dennis. I'm hoping you can sell me a stiffener kit like the one you made for yourself?

I think that I have a rough dimensioned sketch of the brackets around here somewhere. I'll see if I can find it. I'm working on learning basic Sketchup skills, so perhaps I could produce a decent drawing -- it would be good Sketchup practice in any case.

I don't have the right equipment to make the brackets efficiently, so it was pretty time-consuming. But it would be child's play for a fabrication house. They'd use CNC machinery cut the bracket outlines out of heavy sheet metal, and also to put in the holes. Then they'd form a 90 degree bend. I'd estimate the cost per bracket at less than $5, but only after paying several hundred dollars in setup charges.

This could me a money-making opportunity for the Mother Ship. Improve the product at low cost, and also sell stiffener upgrade kits to the installed base. The exact same business model as their planer dust-collector upgrade, with which I was very pleased.

So anyhow, I'll try to get a decent drawing and hardware list posted here, and then maybe someone can make another prototype or two. If the results are as good as mine were, perhaps someone will want to make them for resale.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:I think that I have a rough dimensioned sketch of the brackets around here somewhere. I'll see if I can find it. I'm working on learning basic Sketchup skills, so perhaps I could produce a decent drawing -- it would be good Sketchup practice in any case.

I don't have the right equipment to make the brackets efficiently, so it was pretty time-consuming. But it would be child's play for a fabrication house. They'd use CNC machinery cut the bracket outlines out of heavy sheet metal, and also to put in the holes. Then they'd form a 90 degree bend. I'd estimate the cost per bracket at less than $5, but only after paying several hundred dollars in setup charges.

This could me a money-making opportunity for the Mother Ship. Improve the product at low cost, and also sell stiffener upgrade kits to the installed base. The exact same business model as their planer dust-collector upgrade, with which I was very pleased.

So anyhow, I'll try to get a decent drawing and hardware list posted here, and then maybe someone can make another prototype or two. If the results are as good as mine were, perhaps someone will want to make them for resale.

I'd start with angle iron.



As did thee!:D

Outstanding fix Dennis! I have a power station that makes the racket. It seemed to be a resonance thing but never investigated. I wonder if aluminum angle purchased at the box would work? Not nearly as heavy duty but if changing the resonance point is all that is needed it seems the aluminum angle would also do that and could be machined a little better.

If you can workup a Sketchup drawing with dimensions I will give the aluminum a go. Will give me the opportunity to lube my motor as well.

Thanks
Jack