First Post: Inherited Rusty Mark V. Now What?

[everettdavis]

I thought you would like that to begin with.

Keep in mind, there are 29 other free ones to view as well.

There are other ways to do many things, but Jacob as he stated in that video had repaired 1000 headstocks and through the years he has developed his own preferred methods to do things. They work for him. I own all his DVD videos. Nick Engler formerly of Shopsmith has free videos on Shopsmith's site, as well as DVD libraries you can purchase. View some of the free ones and you will get an idea of what the purchased ones will be like. Practical information that you can likely use to service your equipment and keep it in top condition.

You will find many posts in these threads that may take a little different approach than Jacob or Nick based on what works for them, but the bottom line is you can likely fix whatever is wrong with a bit of knowledge, some elbow grease, and patience.

You equally can arrange for Shopsmith to do the repairs, have Jacob or some one else provide them, or do those tasks yourself. You will find a lot of helpful folks here who have been there and done that for just about any repair you encounter.

Great folks here. Glad you joined us.

[kschwarz20]

To really restore this machine you need to take it apart. This disassembly and re re-assembly is not too hard, but I reco taking some photos to help with the re-assembly.

It looks like your lower Bench Tubes are worse than your upper Way (or headstock) Tubes. Since the headstock does not ride on these, you really can leave them as is, but here are some tips for removing rust on either set of tubes:

1. Get a PVC pipe that the tube will fit in and glue a cap one end. Put the tube in there and then fill the tube with Evapo-rust. Loosely put a cap on the other end (so it won't spill) and soak for 2 to 4 days. Often this is good enough, but if you want you can lightly sand the tubes.

2. Wand the tubes using strips of sand paper. Start with courser grit (around 120) and move to finer (about 200). Go around the tubes rather than end to end for better results. End-to-end sanding tends to leave unsightly scratches on the tubes.

3. If you have a lathe, you can use a freeze plug mounted in the end of the tube and then spin the tube at low speed to do the sanding. Usually you need a jig made out of cheap casters to serve as a quasi tail stock. Some people have done similar spinning using an electric drill. I put marker lines along the tubes to be sure I sanded evenly.

4. You don't need (or want) to take all the pitting out. Just take the minimum amount of steel off to make the tubes look decent.

I used an approach like this (Evapo-rust then sanding with a lathe) when restoring my ER. You can see some photos of that effort an, results, and setup here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kschwarz2 ... 9628899564

These links also give great tips dealing with rust on these machines:
http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=3219
http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=5161

If you want to see an example of a full up restore with great step-by-step instructions that produced a masterpiece (and that has inspired many of us in our restorations), take a look at this thread:
http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?p=31634

These machines are great fun to use a restore. Good Luck!

[skou]

Greetings,

I apologise up front if I ramble on or if this isn't the right place for this OR if every one of my questions has already be answered 1,000 times before, but I am kinda in the dark as to where to start so please be gentle.

BACKGROUND: Completely out of the blue, my ex-brother-in-law dumped a rusty Mark V, serial #317956 in front of my garage. I have never used a Shopsmith. I don't know what it is or what it does. But he knows I used to make furniture so he thought it was a good idea and now he's left town so I'm stuck with it. There are some paper manuals and a parts list, most of which I don't understand. It appears to be the standard 500 unit plus the 'Jointer' accessory. It is currently in 'table-saw mode'. I switched it on and the motor does run but I have no idea if it's even safe to use so I haven't taken it any further than that.

I called the Shopsmith support line and the nice lady said she couldn't go into too much detail so she'd have someone call me back. It's been 2 days and that hasn't happened so I figured I'd post here and try to get the ball rolling.

The website says it's circa 1956 which gives me pause. Plus it's missing some items from the piccies in the brochure, eg. the plastic table saw guard and the casters.

So, broadly speaking, how do I determine if it's worth saving?

1. What missing parts are NECESSARY? And what are the costs?
a. Saw guard?
b. Casters?
c. Anything else I don't know I don't know?

2. How do I determine if it's worth saving? And if it's -not- worth saving are there organisations that -would- want it for refurbishment?

3. How do I determine if it's safe?

4. If it's not safe, how do I get it to where it -is- safe?

5. How do I clean it and lubricate it?

6. How do I determine if the motor is OK? Belts? Other gizmos? Can I adjust/replace these myself?

7. What's the simplest way to learn about 'alignment'?

8. I'm in the Seattle-ish area. Are there owners or clubs or dealers in the area that might be able to help?

9. I think I figured out what most of the parts are, but what are these things in the red plastic holder (see image).

Again, sorry for gassing on. I promise to be more brief in the future. I'm as much organising my thoughts about this as anything else. If I were 30 years younger I'm sure I could figure it all out from the web site, but frankly I don't have =time= to go through all this stuff. Also, (get out the tiny violins) I'm on disability so I don't have much money. In short: if it works with minimal cost? GREAT! I'd love to have a lathe. If it's going to be a 'restoration project'? I'd rather not deal with it. Anyhoo,ANY help kickstarting this process would be most welcome.

I attached 2 files. One is a sideview. The other is a red plastic holder I can't identify.

TIA,

---JC

Suntower, you just might have friends close to you.

If, only we knew where you're at.

Post your location, and see if there are Forum
members nearby.

A live body in your shop, is LOTS better than
the Internet!

steve

[Beave2012]

.

A live body in your shop, is LOTS better than
the Internet!

steve

Unless it's like me and you just say sandpaper, oil, and wax... Now get scrubbing.

[rpd]

Greetings,

I apologise up front if I ramble on or if this isn't the right place for this OR if every one of my questions has already be answered 1,000 times before, but I am kinda in the dark as to where to start so please be gentle.

BACKGROUND: Completely out of the blue, my ex-brother-in-law dumped a rusty Mark V, serial #317956 in front of my garage. I have never used a Shopsmith. I don't know what it is or what it does. But he knows I used to make furniture so he thought it was a good idea and now he's left town so I'm stuck with it. There are some paper manuals and a parts list, most of which I don't understand. It appears to be the standard 500 unit plus the 'Jointer' accessory. It is currently in 'table-saw mode'. I switched it on and the motor does run but I have no idea if it's even safe to use so I haven't taken it any further than that.

I called the Shopsmith support line and the nice lady said she couldn't go into too much detail so she'd have someone call me back. It's been 2 days and that hasn't happened so I figured I'd post here and try to get the ball rolling.

The website says it's circa 1956 which gives me pause. Plus it's missing some items from the piccies in the brochure, eg. the plastic table saw guard and the casters.

So, broadly speaking, how do I determine if it's worth saving?

1. What missing parts are NECESSARY? And what are the costs?
a. Saw guard?
b. Casters?
c. Anything else I don't know I don't know?

2. How do I determine if it's worth saving? And if it's -not- worth saving are there organisations that -would- want it for refurbishment?

3. How do I determine if it's safe?

4. If it's not safe, how do I get it to where it -is- safe?

5. How do I clean it and lubricate it?

6. How do I determine if the motor is OK? Belts? Other gizmos? Can I adjust/replace these myself?

7. What's the simplest way to learn about 'alignment'?

8. I'm in the Seattle-ish area. Are there owners or clubs or dealers in the area that might be able to help?

9. I think I figured out what most of the parts are, but what are these things in the red plastic holder (see image).

Again, sorry for gassing on. I promise to be more brief in the future. I'm as much organising my thoughts about this as anything else. If I were 30 years younger I'm sure I could figure it all out from the web site, but frankly I don't have =time= to go through all this stuff. Also, (get out the tiny violins) I'm on disability so I don't have much money. In short: if it works with minimal cost? GREAT! I'd love to have a lathe. If it's going to be a 'restoration project'? I'd rather not deal with it. Anyhoo,ANY help kickstarting this process would be most welcome.

I attached 2 files. One is a sideview. The other is a red plastic holder I can't identify.

TIA,

---JC

Suntower, you just might have friends close to you.

If, only we knew where you're at.

Post your location, and see if there are Forum
members nearby.

A live body in your shop, is LOTS better than
the Internet!

steve

Steve. , read the original post again, paying particular attention to line #8.

[suntower]

LOCATION: I'm in Seattle/Tacoma area. Traffic here is a b-i-atch, but I'd happily travel to get some hands-on. The OPTIMAL thing would be to take my rusty machine to an experienced user. I'm sure they could help me more looking at it for 15 minutes than I can get done in a week on the Interwebs. (That said, THANKS AGAIN to all!)

THURSDAY NIGHT'S RUSTY QUESTIONS/FRUSTRATIONS
I just wanna get this thing CLEAN before anything else. I'm gettin' SICK of getting filthy every time I touch it.

1. I was not able to get the headstock to move on the Way Tube. Even when I swung it up vertically. So I waxed the tube and then in a fit of frustration started lightly smacking the headstock in what seems like the sturdiest place and it -slowly- moved a few inches. I then flipped it vertical. Nothing. So I repeated procedure 2 more times and VOILA... It slid down the Way Tube. Now it slides nicely.

BUT... the Way Tube has 42,000,000 little pits. It's chrome plated, right? So.... evapo-rust? steel wool? Or sandpaper? And then just paste wax moving forward?

2. The Quill is seriously rusty. Like brown. This is actually my biggest concern right now. Again, how do I clean it? Should I remove it to do so per Jacob's video? Maybe the good news is that the spring still seems to work. I extend it and it does retract---but slowly. It takes like 5 seconds to retract. Is it reasonable to hope that once I clean it, that will solve the issue OR does that mean I need a new spring. Or something else?

3. I turned it on for 10 seconds when I got it and left it in 'fast' speed. Should I turn it on and put it on 'slow' before doing any more work on it?

TIA,

---JC

[JPG]

1. I would 'start' with steel wool. I would then clean with mineral spirits. Then wax. I do not think they were plated back then.

2. I would do so. Steel wool again etc.. Remember to not allow the spring to unwind when the quill comes off the feed gear.

3. For now leave it there. If you need to work on the innards, it needs to be at fast to begin with.

[suntower]

Thanks. After I wrote my post, I saw other posts about cleaning and using 'evapo-rust' and so on. I used to sail a lot and I was starting to get this very annoying twinge that any boat owner knows: "This is going to cost 10xs more and take 10xs longer than I thought!" I'm feeling better now.

1. I would 'start' with steel wool. I would then clean with mineral spirits. Then wax. I do not think they were plated back then.

2. I would do so. Steel wool again etc.. Remember to not allow the spring to unwind when the quill comes off the feed gear.

3. For now leave it there. If you need to work on the innards, it needs to be at fast to begin with.

[suntower]

OK, next question for the holiday weekend...

How do I make the thing more -stable-?

The thing is kinda shaky. Not like it's gonna fall apart, but it's slightly rickety.

SPECIFICALLY: Is there any way to really -lock- the bottom tubes on the left side firmly in place?

THANKS!

---JC

[JPG]

OK, next question for the holiday weekend...

How do I make the thing more -stable-?

The thing is kinda shaky. Not like it's gonna fall apart, but it's slightly rickety.

SPECIFICALLY: Is there any way to really -lock- the bottom tubes on the left side firmly in place?

THANKS!

---JC

Under neath there are two cap screws and a clamping bar. They are likely loose. Add flat washers under the heads if it has none.

Higher up -

I assume you have the clamping hardware(handle and big flat headed screw).

The screw is adjustable. 'Tighten' it until the clamp is 'too' tight and back off slightly.