Shopsmith Forums

Lubed it all up last night and things are working much better. I put zoom spout on the sheaves, the speed dial was difficult to turn so I put some zoom spout on that. It's still difficult to turn dialing it back down but way better speeding it up. Johnson's wax on the way tubes and table tubes. It was a real effort to get the carriage and the head to move back and forth on the way tubes. The turning of the table issue from 0 degrees to 45 degrees I used some zoom spout on as well. That really took care of that issue. Never did break out the bees wax and now after reading Reible's post I'm glad I didn't. I live in Minnesota. It gets so cold here it will even freeze RV antifreeze.

Are there any other spots I should consider lubing? Unless they are obviously sticky...

Thinking about that speed dial and how hard it is so turn I wonder does the worm screw on that need to be lubed at all? I lubed the Sheave which help a lot but it's still not smooth and easy.

I lube my worm drive with graphite powder, which keeps the operation nice and smooth. Unlike oil, it won't attract sawdust and gum up over time.

Adjusting the speed control knob towards slow will always be stiffer than going towards fast. You are squeezing the motor belt and the floating sheave must react to alieveiate the squeeze. The most critical lubing is the floating sheave on the motor shaft. It is so darn difficult to do effectively. Do not be stingy with the oil there.

I hadn't thought about that JPG but that's a good point.