Shopsmith Forums

rjent wrote:

JPG wrote:

jsburger wrote:

The ONLY similarity between 1 1/2" galvanized EMT conduit and SS tubes is the outside diameter.

Exactly! (+- /.010)

Thin? Absolutely.

Shorty length, likely 'adequate'.

Clamps will crush them if not 'plugged'.

Bench tubes are likely in tension while horizontal.

In vertical, it does not matter.

I am not suggesting it is a suitable 'replacement', but rather a worst case alternative.

For way tubes, forget it, Although I have seen a 10ER with them. The source of my knowing they may work for bench tubes.

But the question oh grand poopaa, is what is the source of the Mark V/7 way tubes ..... These things aren't grown out of the ground, someone makes them ....

There are many, many specialized process required in order to manufactured a reasonably complex product. Nowadays, very few (if any) manufacturers do all those processes in-house. I suspect that Shopsmith does little more than final assembly.

The SS tubes begin life as DOM (drawn over mandrel) tubing. Google "DOM tubing"' and you will find plenty of manufacturers and distributors of the stuff. Next, they are centerless ground, to get a high-precision O.D. and a nice surface finish. Google "centerless grinding", and you will find a job shop that can do it for you almost anywhere. (Well, Ok, maybe not where YOU live! ). Likewise, if you want it plated, there are plenty of vendors who will do that for you. Very few companies do plating in-house, because of the specialized processes required for dealing with the heavy-metal-laden toxic chemicals. And that's about it. Shopsmith may well have a grinding vendor that will, for a modest markup, manage the ordering of the DOM tubing, and also send the ground tubes out for plating before delivering them to Shopsmith.

So it ain't rocket surgery, but it could get quite expensive unless you order in decent-sized batches. Setup charges will eat you up otherwise.

JPG wrote:

jsburger wrote:

The ONLY similarity between 1 1/2" galvanized EMT conduit and SS tubes is the outside diameter.

Exactly! (+- /.010)

Thin? Absolutely.

Shorty length, likely 'adequate'.

Clamps will crush them if not 'plugged'.

Bench tubes are likely in tension while horizontal.

In vertical, it does not matter.

I am not suggesting it is a suitable 'replacement', but rather a worst case alternative.

For way tubes, forget it, Although I have seen a 10ER with them. The source of my knowing they may work for bench tubes.

No way. I can't even conceive of why I would even consider that.

Worst case alternative? As desperate as could be with money I would not do that. It would make the machine un-usable. If you have enough money to buy a SS then you should be able to buy a set of tubes on eBay if you need them.

1 3/3 EMT, get serious!!! Dusty, argh.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:

jsburger wrote:

The ONLY similarity between 1 1/2" galvanized EMT conduit and SS tubes is the outside diameter.

Exactly! (+- /.010)

Thin? Absolutely.

Shorty length, likely 'adequate'.

Clamps will crush them if not 'plugged'.

Bench tubes are likely in tension while horizontal.

In vertical, it does not matter.

I am not suggesting it is a suitable 'replacement', but rather a worst case alternative.

For way tubes, forget it, Although I have seen a 10ER with them. The source of my knowing they may work for bench tubes.

But the question oh grand poopaa, is what is the source of the Mark V/7 way tubes ..... These things aren't grown out of the ground, someone makes them .... [/quote]

There are many, many specialized process required in order to manufactured a reasonably complex product. Nowadays, very few (if any) manufacturers do all those processes in-house. I suspect that Shopsmith does little more than final assembly.

The SS tubes begin life as DOM (drawn over mandrel) tubing. Google "DOM tubing"' and you will find plenty of manufacturers and distributors of the stuff. Next, they are centerless ground, to get a high-precision O.D. and a nice surface finish. Google "centerless grinding", and you will find a job shop that can do it for you almost anywhere. (Well, Ok, maybe not where YOU live! ). Likewise, if you want it plated, there are plenty of vendors who will do that for you. Very few companies do plating in-house, because of the specialized processes required for dealing with the heavy-metal-laden toxic chemicals. And that's about it. Shopsmith may well have a grinding vendor that will, for a modest markup, manage the ordering of the DOM tubing, and also send the ground tubes out for plating before delivering them to Shopsmith.

So it ain't rocket surgery, but it could get quite expensive unless you order in decent-sized batches. Setup charges will eat you up otherwise.[/quote]

Absolutely.Most people don't understand what it takes to produce some of the quality things we use.

When I was overhauling T-38 generators for the Air Force (we did it on all generators) we would have rotor shaft bearing journals that were undersized. The tolerance was 5 to 7 thou. We had a shop on base that could flame spray metal on the shaft and the machine shop could chuck it up and grind it to specs.

Was it expensive, yes. However a whole lot cheaper than having Sundstrand building a new rotor.

We did that many times on other generators.

Everything is relative. You pay for what you get and if you pay too much for crap that is your fault.

Sorry I screwed up the post. My reply is in italic.

Yes many folks do make centerless ground tubing, but, they are not interested in onesey twoseys. A Google search reveals many 'vendors', but not much 'consumer' targeted info.

I inquired at a local 'source', but would need to purchase in 20'+ lengths with only 17' guaranteed to be 'straight'. I would be piggybacked on one of their orders. Cost IIRC was decent.

I was interested in 1" tubing.

YMMV!

I did not want to cut my tubes on my Mark 5, something just did not sit right with me doing that but I did need/want a dedicated drill press. After a very long thought process I decided to mount the SS to the wall studs without cutting anything. My main goal was to not alter anything on the Mark 5 so I could always remove it from the wall and reassemble it back to its original form. With not cutting the tubes I have full range if I have a need to lower the headstock or move the carriage up or down. I could not be happier as to the way it turned out. See pictures if I did it right.

Love the wall mounted drill press. Do you never find a need to move it away from the wall? My original concern is if the table support tubed would go beyond the wall mount, however I just checked and with the table in that orientation it would be perfect. Now my only concern is how much will I need to anchor it to the wall to feel safe.

stew wrote:I did not want to cut my tubes on my Mark 5, something just did not sit right with me doing that but I did need/want a dedicated drill press. After a very long thought process I decided to mount the SS to the wall studs without cutting anything. My main goal was to not alter anything on the Mark 5 so I could always remove it from the wall and reassemble it back to its original form. With not cutting the tubes I have full range if I have a need to lower the headstock or move the carriage up or down. I could not be happier as to the way it turned out. See pictures if I did it right.

DSCF6017 (590x800) (2).jpg

DSCF6018 (600x800) (2).jpg

IMHO u dun reel gud!!!!

Gained a spot to store the other Mark V's rip fence and aux table!

Like the L brackets!