Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.
wa2crk wrote:I did have a problem with my factory assembled headstock when it was new. The quill did not retract the same as yours. Try removing the quill and if you can blow out the spring housing to remove any debris that may be trapped. I replaced the bearings in my original quill with high speed bearings and that quill assembly is still in my headstock.
Bill V
Bill: Thanks. I've had the quill out several times at the request of Shopsmith but never thought about trying to blow out debris. Good idea! Unfortunately it's all packed up and waiting for FedEx right now. I guess I could unpack it and give it a shot.
That could cause retraction problem, but not the vibration.
Doubt a new headstock would have debris problems. I am assuming a 'new' headstock has ALL new parts.
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Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
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I had other problems with the newer pinion shaft in that if the setscrew was tightened on the housing that is next to the depth stop, the quill was difficult to move either up or down. The quill would bind up after about 20 holes when doing a production run. I was never able to determine if the spring housing was flexing when the setscrew was tightened or not but the tightness of the setscrew did make a big difference. One of these days I will pull both assemblies and try to figure it all out. If I can find it I will post a pic of the gouge in the spring housing that was caused when I had the problem. Right now the PP quill is in the PP headstock but the pinion shaft is from my original 1983 headstock.
Bill V
wa2crk wrote:I did have a problem with my factory assembled headstock when it was new. The quill did not retract the same as yours. Try removing the quill and if you can blow out the spring housing to remove any debris that may be trapped. I replaced the bearings in my original quill with high speed bearings and that quill assembly is still in my headstock.
Bill V
Bill: Thanks. I've had the quill out several times at the request of Shopsmith but never thought about trying to blow out debris. Good idea! Unfortunately it's all packed up and waiting for FedEx right now. I guess I could unpack it and give it a shot.
At $2000, you should not have to.... I'm sure that Shopsmith will make it right.
wa2crk wrote:I did have a problem with my factory assembled headstock when it was new. The quill did not retract the same as yours. Try removing the quill and if you can blow out the spring housing to remove any debris that may be trapped. I replaced the bearings in my original quill with high speed bearings and that quill assembly is still in my headstock.
Bill V
Bill: Thanks. I've had the quill out several times at the request of Shopsmith but never thought about trying to blow out debris. Good idea! Unfortunately it's all packed up and waiting for FedEx right now. I guess I could unpack it and give it a shot.
At $2000, you should not have to.... I'm sure that Shopsmith will make it right.
Agreed, however the lady in Tech Support (Gail) has been very good about returning my calls and trying to get things fixed. So that part of SS is working, it just seems like QA department could use some work.
OK I'm back
I found the pic of the original pinion shaft from the PP. The original position of the setscrew is at the left in the pic and the gouge is where the spring housing rotated in the shell.
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The brighter set screw mark is where I tried to tighten it in place and I got a lot of binding after. The older pinion shaft worked a lot better. There was a lot of metal filings in the spring housing and I cleaned it out using WD40 and compressed air. I left the situation where it now stands due to a conflict with D*** who had a very condescending attitude. After switching parts my PP works OK so now I will have to pull out my old headstock and put it through it's paces. It needs a lube job anyhow.
Bill V
Just talked to Shopsmith and they did receive my headstock on December 1 but it might be up to 4 weeks before they can take a look at it! And no estimate on when I might get it back! This is unacceptable!!!
Plus the person I talked to acted like I was just ruining her day by asking about my warranty return!
Now I'm wondering if there is any way to get my money back and just find an old headstock to use?
I guess the issue could be the time of the year. Back when I worked a lot of people saved up vacation time for the end of the year. With the holidays and some forethought 2 weeks of vacation can get nice and long. I personally like to come in that time of year and doing things that I did not have time for the rest of the year like clean up my desk, do some reading and the like. With so few people around it was like on the job vacation. We even called it that.
In this case I would think they might not have a spare powerpro to ship out but they sure should have a regular one that they could loan you.
Some years back I began thinking hey my head stock is 25 years old. Just how long can this thing keep going without some major fault. Now what would I do while I was waiting on parts or worse yet had to send it in for repairs???? That is when I started looking for a second one so if that happened I could just keep going. I found a basket case 510 and had to spend some additional cash to get it back to good condition but it was the piece of mind of having it that mattered the most.
Then came the years when we were worried that shopsmith might one day close up and all parts would have to be gotten off ebay or other means. I stocked piled a couple of extra shopsmiths and some parts so ever that happened I would be able to keep going for a good long time. Of course that didn't happen then but I found I had more uses for the extra machines so they didn't go to waste.
This did keep me from buying a powerpro for a couple of years, the uncertainty of there business still worries me as they would be a major problem if they went away with so few powerpros sold. I over came this issue this past summer when I got a second powerpro. It took 3 months to get here but it seems to be working fine and I'm activating using both machines.
I now have the old head stock intact as a spare as I got the necessary base head stock from Bill Mayo to put the kit in.
I've been very very good to shopsmith over the years, staring with a new machine in 1976. I have a lot of money invested in there products and really hope they survive so when I pass my machines on to my kids they too can get a lot of use and enjoyment out of them.
Given the facts we have been presented here shopsmith needs to setup and take care of this issue for you. So call the boss man and see what happens.
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
Thanks for the great idea, Ed. Now does anyone have the big guys number?
I guess squeaky wheel gets greased in this case. Just got an email from ShopSmith saying my headstock had shipped and would be here on Monday. So much for internal communications at ShopSmith.
And no estimate on when I might get it back! This is unacceptable!!! 
