Shopsmith Forums

Thanks to everyone for your inputs; especially Bill Mayo as always for your technical expertise and advice. I had set the idler shaft further forward so the belt was about 1/16" away from touching on the drive sleeve pulley shoulder, but I was concerned then about the variable speed pulley alignment. The Gilmer belt ended up where shown when I loosened the eccentric bushing clamp (with the v-belt in place) and let the pulleys self-align by turning the spindle. Following your advice Bill, I will move it forward again to get more clearance. By the way, I did the new access hole with a sabre saw, small sanding drum, and hand files. Worked good, just took a little time.

Judaspre1982, thanks for the link to Bill's post on way-tube lengths. I remember reading that awhile back but couldn't find it. I will probably go with 18" shorter version. I vote with Farmer about the rusty legs being caused by condensate from damp (or outside) storage.

JPG40504, thanks for asking about the Gilmer belt positioning. And yes, the bench tubes are 1 7/8" dia.

Once more, thanks to all for sharing. What a great forum!
John McCrossen

And THANK YOU for an educational thread. Your last post which sums up your experience is much appreciated by me. I assume the others you thanked are also so inclined. So many times a question/problem is raised(often as post #1) and we never find out if our answers are right or wrong for that instance.

[quote="johnmccrossen"]Thanks to everyone for your inputs]

Yes, moving the idler shaft into the headstock casing does effect the maximum RPM of the headstock. I found that I can get the Mark V top speed up to around 6000 RPM before the control sheave hits the speed control bracket with the idler shaft bearing flush with the back of the casing and body washer I use. Since I adjust the high speed adjustment to around 5200 RPM, I have found moving the idler shaft inward still gives me room for the maximum 5200 RPM.

Just be very careful when doing the high speed adjustment as I have repaired/replaced several speed control assemblies where the customer backed the high speed adjusting screw back out without the motor operating and turned the speed control handle to FAST quickly with the motor operating.