Shopsmith Forums

thanks jasonsabala.

Today I used one of those cheap digital tachometers (discussed on this forum a while ago, and seems to work great) to check the dial on the speed control versus the speed on the Shopsmith main shaft, setup as seen in this photo ( you point the tach at the disk after installing a shiny reflective strip):
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Here is the speed comparison:
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I expected the control dial speeds to be different from the SS shaft speeds because the dial probably shows "no load" speeds and there are pulleys involved. I seem to have a problem with the control above 1955 rpm. Also, at zero on the dial, the SS is actually running. The higher speeds might also be a little below the control dial because the motor pulley is a little smaller than the idler shaft pulley, but that does not explain the low range speeds being higher.

I installed a 10” carbide blade and turned the dial to the top speed to try cutting a small piece of oak flooring scrap.The saw ripped the piece of hardwood ok and left a smooth cut, but I pushed the wood through relatively slowly.
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The motor appeared to be ok wrt power during the cut and the rate of moving the wood past the blade had more to do with the low rpm than power, I think.
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So, all in all, strange results. Maybe my speed control is faulty? I do intend to use this greenie to run a strip sander or bandsaw so the slow speeds will be ok for that.
I have an electrical engineer buddy, so may get him to take a look at the control box for me..........maybe I let the smoke out of some of the resisters in the control though I did not see or smell any.

Any updates on this?

Great idea, I have been thinking about using a treadmill motor the same way when the original goes out. But for $100 this would be a very affordable option. That motor looks like (aside from the flywheel and motor controller; which could be relocated) it should fit in the original shopsmith pan. Could you confirm this?

I am now using that headstock on my dedicated drill press. Motor still runs fine, though I have not put much use on it. Motor is too long to fit inside the motor pan. You can see the interference in this photo:
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I never got around to finding out more about the speed control, which works fine as a drill press.
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I just found this thread, and it intrigued me. Are you still using this motor, and if so, how is it working?

Yes, still using it but have moved it to a shortie that has my "nifty belt grinder" on it, and it works fine. The dedicated drill press got the unmolested SS headstock off the shortie and other required pieces and was sold as a Mark V for $600. I have a mill drill and a bench top drill press, so decided the SS dedicated drill press was not required any more. When using the shortie and belt grinder, it is nice being able to dial the speed to suit the job. Unfortunately the price of the industrial sewing machine motors have gone up substantially, to about $150.