Shopsmith Forums

dusty wrote:If the vibration is caused by a bent shaft in the quill - would removing the quill and operating the Mark V at that same speed (or through the range for that matter) prove anything.

In other words - if the quill is causing the vibration, removing the quill should eliminate the vibration.

Can the headstock be run under power with the quill removed??

Cannot think of any reason it cannot. The quill does not hold anything secure. The nylon coupling should probably be removed as it is held on only by a spring/groove.

Good idea! Isolates it to the quill, or somewhere else. Does not identify if bearing or bent shaft though. While the quill IS out, you could examine it more closely for any cause

About how many hours of operation does the Shopsmith have on it? I'm assuming you bought the saw new. I'm guessing the bearings have loosened up some from the bowl turning. I'd suggest you replace the quill bearings with some Fafnir brand bearings (accept no substitute!). Fafnir bearings are one of the few brands that all other bearings are judged against.

Hey, thanks for all the responses! It's going to be a few days until I can
take another look at my machine. I will let you know what I find after making
a few checks on the things you all mentioned. Probably will be after the long weekend.

Everyone have a good one!!

Figured out the problem. I removed the quill and found that the inner bearing was bad. Sent it down to Bill Mayo and he fixed it for me at a very reasonable cost and sent it back to me right away. Great guy to deal with.

bergdahl wrote:Figured out the problem. I removed the quill and found that the inner bearing was bad. Sent it down to Bill Mayo and he fixed it for me at a very reasonable cost and sent it back to me right away. Great guy to deal with.

GREAT! So where near Tampa are you?? It would be helpful if we all knew WHERE you are. You can enter it in your 'user Cp'.

bergdahl wrote:Figured out the problem. I removed the quill and found that the inner bearing was bad. Sent it down to Bill Mayo and he fixed it for me at a very reasonable cost and sent it back to me right away. Great guy to deal with.

Shopsmith has been changing the bearing sizes on their double bearing quills. This was the third different set of bearing sizes I have found being used. Since these bearings were much larger in diameter than the 2 previous different sizes of double bearing quill bearings I have, it appears to me that Shopsmith is trying to improve the load capability of their double bearing quills. However, they are still using normal C3 motor grade bearings in this new designed quill. The quill housing is a thinner material due to the larger bearings. The quill shafts with the double bearings are not interchangable for the 3 different designs I have seen so far.

Therefore, anyone needing to replace the bearing(s) on the double bearing quill needs to remove the quill shaft and measure each bearing for the correct replacement. The different size bearings used may the same part number on the bearing so they need to be measured or taken to a bearing store/shop for replacement.

I am still testing a few higher quality (ABEC3-ABEC7) steel and ceramic ball bearings as replacement for the quill bearing(s).