Shopsmith Forums

The bolt, washers and nut help hold it in place vertically. You can remove it to use the Belt Sander in horizontal position. Ed mentioned another hole to put the bolt, washers and nut for use horizontally. They are the holes indicated by the arrows below on that 1989 Belt Sander.

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That is the 1989 Belt Sander I restored which, as you can see, does not have the bolt, washers and nut. I don't have them on my Belt Sander I use either. I find the lock set up sufficient when properly adjusted. Not having it also save time when going from vertical to horizontal or vice versa. Use of the extra lock bolt, washers and nut is up to you.

Thank you both. Elbert

One of the things I enjoy about the Shopsmith Forum is learning new things about the Shopsmith Tools. Not only do I learn from the other members here, but I am also challenged to find more information on any given subject. Now that being said I have looked more into the Belt Sander that last couple days. In a previous post here I said,

I have less direct, hands on, knowledge when it come to the Belt Sander than other Shopsmith Tools. I have a 1977 Belt Sander which is the one I use and upgraded the Dust Chute. It works great so as the saying goes if it ain't broke don't fix it. I have only restored (completely disassembled) 1 Belt Sander, a 1989, so far. With it I learned about the Idler Drum function since it had been dropped at some point and the Drum was bent. It had to be replaced. I have 2 waiting (a 1960 & a 1998) to be restored that I recently acquired and haven't really even touched yet to find out what each may need.

So having all but the 1989 Belt Sander still I looked at them and discovered that the 1998 does have the extra lock bolt, washers and nut. The picture I last posted shows the 1989 having the holes for the extra lock bolt as does my other two Belt Sanders I currently have. Looking at pictures of other Belt Sanders including an early Greenie it appears the Belt Sander has always had the holes for the extra lock bolt. What I find interesting is I have not found mention of using the extra lock bolt in early Owner's Guides. It doesn't show up in the parts diagram or parts list either.

So why have the holes been there all along but no mention of using the extra lock bolt until much later in the Belt Sander's history? Is this one of those unsolved mysteries related to Shopsmith Tools? I am curious so if anyone knows the answer please post it here.

First I heard of the bolt it was called the 'safety bolt'. Here's a post from 2009 mentioning it: viewtopic.php?p=45517#p45517

Bill Mayo comments on it further down in the thread, says it was intended to be only for shipping. I like it on there in vertical mode, seems to be a little more stable that way. If you switch often between vertical and horizontal mode I can see it getting annoying but I rarely use the sander in horizontal mode.

Thanks for that info, Ed. It sounds like one of those things that users either like to use it or don't.

In the 1989 manual I have it is mentioned on page 10 in Setup item 4 which says

Remove the extra bolt at the back of the belt sander, below the drive shaft. (Keep this bolt for later use.)

I haven't found why it says "Keep this bolt for later use" except some references to the extra bolt in the Troubleshooting Guide. I guess I need to read through the manual more thoroughly.

Finally got the manual scanned but once again too large. Send me a PM with an email address if you'd like a copy. No idea why this is unavailable for a hard copy or downloading from Shopsmith.

I was able to find the belt sander manual in pdf form on Vintage Machinery website.
http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=6083

This appears to be a 1989 manual as the footer says "PL-5231 Rev. 1/89".

stubs,

The manual in your link is the same PDF copy I referred to in earlier posts having a Date Code of 122892 for the Belt Sander it came with. I don't know if there has been a newer Manual made for the Belt Sander since that one. Its parts look current and other than some minor changes to the Belt Sander, like the Dust Chute, the use and care would be pretty much the same for all Belt Sanders going back to their introduction in the mid 1950's.

Your link is a good reference for anyone needing a Manual for the 6" Belt Sander since it is currently not available from Shopsmith for purchase or as a PDF.

Page 18 in the manual from Vintage Machinery has this note about the "trunnion lock" we discussed above:

"If you adjust the trunnion lock so
that you can quickly change positions,
use the extra bolt that came with your
machine to help stabilize the belt sander
on its base. (You may want to invest in
a wing nut for this bolt, making it easier
to install and remove.) If you use the
trunnion lock to lock the sander in position, this bolt is optional."

The different manuals aren't entirely consistent on this point. My 505642 manual suggests always using the locking bolt if the sander is set to an angle between the horizontal and vertical positions and suggests using a wing nut like above for easy changes. I put a bolt with a knob on mine. IIRC, the bolt does have to be removed and replaced for the full range of motion in the trunnion. Nice to have these different manuals for comparison.

Ed,

You said,

Nice to have these different manuals for comparison.

and I agree.

Many times, it is the manuals that give the best indication of when and what changes have occurred with the Shopsmith Tools. If you have enough Manuals or even just the parts lists and drawings for the Belt Sander you could narrow down when the Drive Drum crowning was discontinued, when the change was made to the Dust Chute or how many washers were used for spacing behind the Backup Plate at different times over the years.

With storage being less of an issue for PDF copies of the Manuals it is much easier to have many versions released over the years.

Over the years, since 3 of the SPT's and the Mark 5 itself were introduced in the 1950's, many changes have been made to them. Some changes also affected how the tools were used after changes but also a lot of new information has been added to the Manuals over the years. You may notice I said only 3 SPT's since the Air Compressor and later the Jig Saw both introduced in the 1950's have since been discontinued.

In reading over this post before submitting it I noticed I used "over the years" possibly too many times but I left it that way.