Shopsmith Forums

You may want to consider polishing the shafts before reassembly and when reassembling oil the shafts liberally. The sheaves must be free to move smoothly on the shafts for best results.
Bill V

I'll do that.

I started putting it back together yesterday and noticed the speed control would be hard at the same spot in the revolution. Got to looking and noticed the worm control shaft was slightly bent, so waiting on that part, now. No idea how that happened. It's a pretty sturdy shaft.

Jag39,
concerning your bent shaft, THAT IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT NOT to try and turn the speed dial without the machine running, and when going from a high speed to low speed, turn it slowly, the sheaves react slower then when going from slow to fast settings.

Another reason that the part gets bent is from someone trying to force the speed control when the sheaves are sticking.
Just reinforces the need for timely lubrication. While you are waiting for the part to come in you want to clean the old oil and gunk fro the internal bores of the control and floating sheaves. After you clean the bore of the control sheave place the sheave on a workbench with the small bearing facing up and put some 3 in 1 oil on the bearing and let it soak in overnight.
The primary reason for that bearing to fail is lack of lubrication.
Bill V

Thanks guys! Learned a couple of new things today. Got to admit, my maintenance is probably lax on this machine. I'm not a big woodworker, but when I need a drill press, or to rip something on a table saw, or cut on a bandsaw, this is where I go. I did build my own house (still in it) in 1981-82, and did it with my first Shopsmith.

jag39 wrote:I did build my own house (still in it) in 1981-82, and did it with my first Shopsmith.

That might be worth a guest spot in Heath's Built With a Shopsmith blog.

Mike

Having found that bent piece, it would seem almost certain the drivetrain had something bound up somewhere. But that's good, in a way. I would always rather find a smoking gun if some sort than just finding nothing, putting things back together, and hoping for the best. Evidence will lie in some of the oddest places sometimes.

We had a plane that was riddled with several problems once. Everything pointed to a hard landing, which of course, the flight crews denied. It wasn't until I worked the nose landing gear, and extracted a bolt that was bent in the middle that they finally fessed up.

Finally got the parts. All parts were listed as in stock, so, 3 days shy of 1 month seems excessive. Anyway, been so long, hope I can figure out how to reassemble it.