Shopsmith Forums

As requested

P89DC wrote:As requested

Thank You! I think I forgot about those.

They do not appear on the exploded views. They are part of the entire drive sleeve assembly which is replaced as a unit.(SS does not 'think' we are capable of replacing bearings)

I am fine with replacing the bearings. It's the clutch I don't want to mess with. I had one of those apart once (and only once) and it took me a long time to get it back together and set correctly.

Shhhhhhhh! Do not tell him about the 'clutch'. Actually his may not have one.




His pix clearly shows what looks to be a 'new' poly-v drive sleeve.

I was attempting to understand just how there could be a clutch mechanism inside that assembly. And how there was some kinda clutch in my Shopsmith I never heard of. All I've every seen or used are my two and there doesn't appear to be any clutch.

What is this clutch? Does it share any traits with muffler bearings? Are you selling a pass to the secret basement pool?

P89DC wrote:I was attempting to understand just how there could be a clutch mechanism inside that assembly. And how there was some kinda clutch in my Shopsmith I never heard of. All I've every seen or used are my two and there doesn't appear to be any clutch.

What is this clutch? Does it share any traits with muffler bearings? Are you selling a pass to the secret basement pool?

The clutch is built into the drive sleeve of Mark 5's that use the Gilmer belts (except for the very first greenies) so that if the blade jammed it didn't shred the belt or damage other parts of the drive train. Once they went to the poly-V belt the clutch was no longer necessary as the belt can slip and serve that function.

You can see what the clutch looks like in this thread. https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/view ... #post32871

From 1954 with the introduction of the Mark 5 in March until the Mark 5 went out of production in 1964 there were a lot of changes made to it especially in the headstock. One of those changes was replacing the original Gilmer Drive with the Poly V Drive in 1961.

So no muffler bearings or basement pool passes here.

Is there a coloring associated with the switchover from Gilmer belt to poly-v? I want to pick up another basket case but prefer to start with a poly-v headstock. For example, do all Brownies have poly-v and some Greenies have Gilmer?

Edit: looks as if greenies have the Gilmer and brownies/goldies introduced the poly-v. The later brownies after 1962 have the upgraded 1 1/8hp motor. The brownie was made 1960 to 1963:
https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/toolhistory.htm

Edit: looks as if greenies have the Gilmer and brownies/goldies introduced the poly-v. The later brownies after 1962 have the upgraded 1 1/8hp motor. The brownie was made 1960 to 1963:

Your edit is pretty much correct.

The original Mark 5 was the greenie paint scheme. That changed in 1960 when Yuba changed it to the Goldie paint scheme which is the same colors used for their lawn & garden line of tools. The Gilmer Drive changed to the Poly "V" Drive in 1961. The motor changed from the 3/4 HP to 1-1/8 HP in 1962. If you are looking for a Greenie with the non-clutch Gilmer they were the original ones and changed to the clutch Gilmer drive by July 1954. In the original Mark 5 manual the individual parts are listed for the Gilmer Drive but in all following manuals the Gilmer Drive is listed only as an assembly. If you are going to attempt to disassemble and reassemble a clutch drive I highly recommend following the link Ron posted here for MickyD's Gilmer Drive System - Cleaning, inspecting and testing.

In my opinion this is one of those cases where If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It.