Shopsmith Forums

I was getting the carriage mixed up with the powerplant/headstock.

The caution to not tighten the carriage locks too much brings up a couply questions. First, how much is too much? I can't find instruction on how to judge the proper adjustment (torque?) of the carriage lock nut. The user's manual doesn't mention or indicate special procedures to prevent slipping (that I can find).

Second, since the carriage wedge locks are the same as the headstock wedgies, why would overtightening one do damage and not the other? Or a better way to put that might be if one can be over tightened in trying to prevent slippage, why not the other?
I've experienced the carriage slippage problem in both vertical and horizontal boring modes, which seems to indicate that the headstock locks are far tighter than the carriage locks.

I suspect I am missing something on this, since so many people have gone to such lengths to fashion supporting structures for the table, although I can see the advantage of having a fine-tuning device for table height in Drill Press mode.

Hm, I'm going to have to go back to the Sawdust Sessions and review Nick's bottle jack biness.

keakap wrote:The caution to not tighten the carriage locks too much brings up a couply questions. First, how much is too much? I can't find instruction on how to judge the proper adjustment (torque?) of the carriage lock nut. The user's manual doesn't mention or indicate special procedures to prevent slipping (that I can find).

Second, since the carriage wedge locks are the same as the headstock wedgies, why would overtightening one do damage and not the other? Or a better way to put that might be if one can be over tightened in trying to prevent slippage, why not the other?
I've experienced the carriage slippage problem in both vertical and horizontal boring modes, which seems to indicate that the headstock locks are far tighter than the carriage locks.

I suspect I am missing something on this, since so many people have gone to such lengths to fashion supporting structures for the table, although I can see the advantage of having a fine-tuning device for table height in Drill Press mode.
Hm, I'm going to have to go back to the Sawdust Sessions and review Nick's bottle jack biness.

1) Tight enough to hold.

2) The Mark V version of the carriage lock is different from the older Mark 5 version which is essentially identical to the headstock lock.

3) Not having this problem with an older Mark 5, I cannot help but wonder if it is BECAUSE of the newer short turn design. It has internal assemblies which I can see would determine the force applied to the clamp. I have NOT discovered any reference to this in the maintenance/repair section of a 510 manual.

The end of the lock shaft has a nut. Anybody tried to adjust one?

JPG40504 wrote:1) Tight enough to hold.

2) The Mark V version of the carriage lock is different from the older Mark 5 version which is essentially identical to the headstock lock.

3) Not having this problem with an older Mark 5, I cannot help but wonder if it is BECAUSE of the newer short turn design. It has internal assemblies which I can see would determine the force applied to the clamp. I have NOT discovered any reference to this in the maintenance/repair section of a 510 manual.

The end of the lock shaft has a nut. Anybody tried to adjust one?

1) the manual seems to confirm this (I just found it in the Troubleshooting guide). Symptom: carriage shifts on way tubes after being locked in position.
Possible cause: carriage lock handle improperly adjusted. (510 only)
Solution: Tighten nut on back of carriage handle lock shaft.
That and the other directions are telling me that the carriage is Not supposed to shift when locked.
2 & 3) The wedgies are different (part number) but appear to be similar in shape & size, which is what concerned me. The big difference seems to be the cam on the 510 system.

The lock shaft nut- yes. Mine carriage was "shifting" so drastically I did tighten the nut a bit. The feel of the lock action is more firm, but I haven't yet tested to see if I now have a shiftless carriage.

This is interesting. I certainly don't want to take a chance on damaging the way tubes (the only damage caution in the book re carriage locks), but with the pictures of Joe the Driller blithely making big holes in stuff while the carriage is elevated on the tubes, and the admonition to essentially tighten the lock until it does the job (as you said "tight enough to hold") it is difficult not to simply tighten the lock until there's no shiftyness.

I need to go look at it again. A direction on locks in general is to go "snug" then 1/4 turn-- no more!-- tighter. Since the carriage lock lever has but a half turn of rotation, would that tell us the lock should start to have effect when the handle is at 12 o'clock, and the remaining 1/4 turn should lock that sucker down but good?