Shopsmith Forums

joshh wrote:Skou

I couldn't agree more. I am lucky enough to live about 5 miles from Skip @ MKC Tools and have seen those DC motor ER's first hand. The quality and fit are flawless! When I get an ER, that's one of the first things I'm going to do

I think I scored on mine. His motors used to have end-bell mounts, as well as the standard 56 mounts. He had one with 2 broken-off ears on the end-bell mounts, (which are not used on an ER) so I got it at a discount.

http://www.mkctools.com

steve

skou wrote:Heath, I wouldn't run the speedchanger with any belts, except the ones that Skip sells. Anything else, and they'll slip, or just suck up too much power.

Skip isn't the only ones selling them, but look for a cut belt, not a fabric wrapped belt, and they will have "teeth" on the inner surface. They are not toothed belts, but those teeth help the belt bend to the small pulleys.

steve

My belts came from Skip. I'll tinker with it again one day and figure out what I did wrong.

heathicus wrote:My belts came from Skip. I'll tinker with it again one day and figure out what I did wrong.

Heath,

My belts were slipping until I tightened the lower belt with the speed changer adjusted half way. If I could turn that 15 inch beast above without it slipping I must have finally gotten it adjusted properly. Don't give up on it just yet. I would let the full weight of the motor take the slack out of the lower belt and give it another try. You also might try adjusting the pulleys closer together, your belt might be bottoming out and contacting the shaft rather than the sides of the movable pulleys.

Fred

Heath, rule of thumb, loosen tension until you get belt slippage, then tighten just a wee bit. If you've got belts from Skip, you should be able to squeeze a belt, so both sides touch, or almost.

Don't EVER let the motor hang by the belts. You'll wear out headstock and motor bearings.

Were you getting slippage, or just weak power? Have you cleaned and lubed the speedchanger?

steve

I don't want to turn Fred's beautiful bowl turning thread into troubleshooting of my speed changer. When I can focus on it again, I'll start a new thread if I have trouble.

Turning the inside of the bowl before swapping ends is proving to be the way to go. I do have to hold the tool with my left hand but that seems to be no problem. I get no vibration by turning as much of the interior as I can using this method before switching it around.

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This is the 12th bowl from my new batch of logs. I have found these larger bowls are taking longer to complete. I'm only turning one a day now and I skip a day or two between bowls. I'm pacing myself so I won't get burned out.

Here is another bowl where I'm turning the interior before swapping ends.

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This one I went 2/3's the way into the interior before turning it around to finish.

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This one I turned the interior all the way to the bottom before swapping ends to remove the center stalk.

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Can you see where I had another breakout and repaired with ca glue I was trying to make just one more pass to thin out the wall of the bowl before bagging it up to dry out. I was able to complete the turning and sanding after leaving it to dry overnight and it seems to be holding up well. I was so upset after spending 5 hours turning this large bowl that I forgot to take a picture of the damage before gluing the piece back in.

Fred, you know how refreshing it is to see, that an antique cast iron Shopsmith out-performs your Power Pro?

And, to think, I let one with a speedchanger get away this week, for only 60 dollars!

(What can a guy in a 650 SF apartment do with more than 2 ERs?)

steve

Fred: I have read this thread before, but it's been a while. Do you turn to rough dimension leaving 10% wall, then let it dry, and finish turning?

mgdesigns wrote:Fred: I have read this thread before, but it's been a while. Do you turn to rough dimension leaving 10% wall, then let it dry, and finish turning?

I try to turn to final dimensions before bagging up since it will warp somewhat when dry which makes final turning harder. All I do when it's dry is sand smooth, and remove the tenon, then apply wood sealer and polish to taste. I started out turning to rough finish but found the wood tended to crack when the walls were thicker while drying. Not sure if this is the correct way but it's my way:D

Fred