Shopsmith Forums

Do not spent any time trying to straightening any bent quill shaft. I tried many times without any success even with several jigs & presses to assist me. I recommend buying the latest Shopsmith 2 bearing quill as it has larger bearings and better placement of the bearings on the shaft. Therefore I do not recommend buying any used 2 bearing quill.

billmayo wrote:Do not spent any time trying to straightening any bent quill shaft. I tried many times without any success even with several jigs & presses to assist me. I recommend buying the latest Shopsmith 2 bearing quill as it has larger bearings and better placement of the bearings on the shaft. Therefore I do not recommend buying any used 2 bearing quill.

Great info Bill. Thanks!

I agree with Bill. I have bent two or three over the years and I think they were all while turning large bowls. Two of them were large burls that flew apart and the imbalance was more than the shaft could handle. This is the one Achilles heel or the SS in lathe mode. In every case I have just replaced the entire quill unit. At this point I have one new in the box on the shelf just in case. I think they are about $100 and good insurance to have around. Cuts the down time to about 10 min instead of waiting for the part.
Paul

masonsailor2 wrote:I agree with Bill. I have bent two or three over the years and I think they were all while turning large bowls. Two of them were large burls that flew apart and the imbalance was more than the shaft could handle. This is the one Achilles heel or the SS in lathe mode. In every case I have just replaced the entire quill unit. At this point I have one new in the box on the shelf just in case. I think they are about $100 and good insurance to have around. Cuts the down time to about 10 min instead of waiting for the part.
Paul

Well, they are $169 now but that is not too bad since you can't get them any where else. Besides, you get OEM quality and not some Chinese junk like we see in replacement bearings.

Another reason to buy the assembly is the white plastic connector which you definitely want to replace. That piece will tighten up the quill and make the tolerances much better.
Paul

Thanks. A new quill assembly was already looking like my only choice. As easy as the shaft is to replace, it would be nice if that was an option. We shouldn't have to replace the quill for a bent shaft. That's a lot of good parts that are unusable, just because the shaft inside is damaged.

Thanks again for all the replies.