Advice on 510 purchase

[mattmeek]

Hey guys, I wanted to give an update. After alot of scrubbing, cussing and online research, I've gotten the shopsmith back together and made successful trials of the table saw, jointer, horizontal drill press and lathe. I'm having trouble with the band saw as the wheels are way out of alignment compared to what I saw on my growth rings youtube vid. I will post separately on this.

Thanks for your advice on my purchase and the information given out on other threads on this site which was very helpful. I also watched and rewatched Jacob Anderson's videos and purchased his feature-length versions.

The fan sheave spring almost got me twice: when taking off the homemade compression board the first time and when I was bench testing the unit. The outer snap ring had gotten bent and wasn't properly seated. The spring shot off like a bullet when I cranked the motor down to low speed. Good thing I wasn't in the way. It was a small miracle I was able to find the washer and snap ring 10 ft away behind a tool bag.

I was able to borrow my friend's custom made bearing press to replace the drive sleeve bearings. I ordered replacements for the quill bearings but stopped short of replacing them as they seemed ok and I was having trouble getting the pin out of the quill shaft. Basically, I didn't want to risk damaging it and having to find a replacement pin. I can always go back later if necessary now that I know how.

It was good to get everything cleaned up and mostly rust free. I also sanded and repainted the inside of the motor pan and front belt cover as the inside was rusty. Color didn't matter as it was internal but hammered gray Rustoleum looks to be a good match.

I had noticed the miter gauge had been cut twice. Now I see what the guy did. Surprised he made the same mistake twice.

Last questions on the headstock reassembly:
1) I had a springy washer and a small flat washer left over when that I failed to reinstall and couldn't remember where they went. See picture below: any ideas on where these are supposed to go? I think the larger one is from the quill or drive sleeve. The smaller may be from the speed control dial or the eccentric bushing.
This is a 1991 headstock with the removable red safety switch.
2) I reset the slowest speed setting on the speed dial per J Anderson's short video. I think I've got the slowest speed correct as the drive belt was at the outside edge of the idler / speed control sheaves. Does these pics look correct? I felt I could have turned the speed control more. Should I have turned the speed down until I hit solid resistance?

[chapmanruss]

The springy washer is reference #75 on the exploded parts diagram here on the website. It goes behind the quill lock on the front of the headstock. Looking at the pictures it appears the speed control dial is not positioned correctly if the speed is set at slow for the pictures. This can be corrected by removing the speed control handle and loosening the screws on the speed control disengaging the gear from the dial. Rotate the dial so slow is at the arrow above the speed control and reassemble.

It is looking great, good work. As for painting it if more is needed for touchups there is paint available in the online catalog. Just make sure to get the correct gray paint for the year your Shopsmith was made. Unless the paint has faded it is a perfect match and you can simply touch up areas needing it rather than painting entire parts. Great for bench leg paint scratches.

[mattmeek]

The springy washer is reference #75 on the exploded parts diagram here on the website. It goes behind the quill lock on the front of the headstock. Looking at the pictures it appears the speed control dial is not positioned correctly if the speed is set at slow for the pictures. This can be corrected by removing the speed control handle and loosening the screws on the speed control disengaging the gear from the dial. Rotate the dial so slow is at the arrow above the speed control and reassemble.

It is looking great, good work. As for painting it if more is needed for touchups there is paint available in the online catalog. Just make sure to get the correct gray paint for the year your Shopsmith was made. Unless the paint has faded it is a perfect match and you can simply touch up areas needing it rather than painting entire parts. Great for bench leg paint scratches.

Thanks Russ. In the picture, I hadn't yet removed the speed control handle and rotated the dial to line up "slow" with the arrow.

[DLB]

The V-Belt position looks 'slower than slow' meaning riding higher in the idler sheaves than normal for the slowest position. Possible that this is caused by a slightly oversize V-Belt. IIRC Jacob A sells a slightly different V-belt, so it might be fine if this is his version. For a standard belt that is very close to 1/2" wide at the wide part, the belt would normally ride about 1/8" from the outside of the idler sheaves at Slow and 1/8" from the outside of the motor sheaves at Fast.

To me, and its not the best photo angle, the Poly-V belt might be off by one groove to the left. Counting grooves is one method, I primarily look for the belt to be perpendicular to both shafts.

The small flat washer might go under the small screw that goes into the eccentric bushing. That's if it is really small, I think size #6 or #8. (Not the screw that goes above the eccentric.)

Your machine is looking nice, I think you got a great buy. Hopefully the bandsaw issue is minor.

- David

[JPG]

Perform a high speed stop adjustment. That should take care of limits(hard stop) and dial calibration.

[mattmeek]

I'm having trouble with the bandsaw. While waiting on parts for the headstock, I cleaned it up which included removing and cleaning the table, upper and lower guide blocks. When I hooked it up to the headstock, the blade came off of the tire on the lower wheel and rode on the inside of the wheel. I reinstalled the blade and tried again with the same result.

After some research, I came back with a straight edge laid against the rim of the lower wheel. The straight edge looks too far from the bottom of the upper wheel and more from the top of the upper wheel. I tried tensioning the blade but this didn't help the misalignment.

Scott Markwoods mygrowthrings youtube video on wheel alignment. My machine seems to be much further out of alignment than what was presented as normal. Markwood physically pulled on the top of the upper wheel while pushing on the bottom of the same wheel to bend it back. However, I felt there must be a different issue with mine.

Finally, when I was putting the cover back on, I noticed the cover making contact with the lower wheel. Something ain't right.

I believe the problem could be:
1) that the bandsaw was stored with the blade in tension for 25+ years. Upon further investigation, I see that the blade itself is bent so that it couldn't run in a straight line even if the machine was aligned.
2) Either I or the previous owner, changed or adjusted something incorrectly.

Please take a look at the pics below. Any advice on what steps to take next are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Matthew

[DLB]

One more - That's a remarkable level of damage on the miter gauge. It looks like one of the nylon slides is probably gone.

[JPG]

. . .

After some research, I came back with a straight edge laid against the rim of the lower wheel. The straight edge looks too far from the bottom of the upper wheel and more from the top of the upper wheel. I tried tensioning the blade but this didn't help the misalignment.

. . .

Finally, when I was putting the cover back on, I noticed the cover making contact with the lower wheel. Something ain't right.
. . .

1) The upper wheel SHOULD be canted as shown! I.E the top leans 'in'.

2) The lower wheel is NOT installed correctly. It does stick out too far. That is causing the blade falling off the inner edge. The blade is NOT contacting the lower guide bearing that controls the positioning of the blade upon entry to the wheel(same function as the upper/rear blade guide bearing).

The back/spine of the blade SHOULD ride about 1/4" from the back/inner rim of both wheels.

You need to determine WHY the lower wheel is proud of the base casting. Is the retaining clip/bracket correct? I think that will clear up everything else.

Forget you ever knew ANYTHING about blade tracking on non-SS bandsaws. This beast IS different!!!

[mattmeek]

The V-Belt position looks 'slower than slow' meaning riding higher in the idler sheaves than normal for the slowest position. Possible that this is caused by a slightly oversize V-Belt. IIRC Jacob A sells a slightly different V-belt, so it might be fine if this is his version. For a standard belt that is very close to 1/2" wide at the wide part, the belt would normally ride about 1/8" from the outside of the idler sheaves at Slow and 1/8" from the outside of the motor sheaves at Fast.

To me, and its not the best photo angle, the Poly-V belt might be off by one groove to the left. Counting grooves is one method, I primarily look for the belt to be perpendicular to both shafts.

The small flat washer might go under the small screw that goes into the eccentric bushing. That's if it is really small, I think size #6 or #8. (Not the screw that goes above the eccentric.)

Your machine is looking nice, I think you got a great buy. Hopefully the bandsaw issue is minor.

- David

I purchased the belt from Bandsaw Tire Warehouse in NJ (https://www.ebay.com/itm/SHOPSMITH-MARK ... SwQupXXLN5).

Sounds like I may need to recalibrate the speed setting as my V belt was basically flush with the edge of the idler sheaves and you're saying it should be 1/8" below the edge of the sheave or inside of the sheave.

See below for pics showing my poly-V belt alignment

[mattmeek]

1) The upper wheel SHOULD be canted as shown! I.E the top leans 'in'.

2) The lower wheel is NOT installed correctly. It does stick out too far. That is causing the blade falling off the inner edge. The blade is NOT contacting the lower guide bearing that controls the positioning of the blade upon entry to the wheel(same function as the upper/rear blade guide bearing).

The back/spine of the blade SHOULD ride about 1/4" from the back/inner rim of both wheels.

You need to determine WHY the lower wheel is proud of the base casting. Is the retaining clip/bracket correct? I think that will clear up everything else.

Forget you ever knew ANYTHING about blade tracking on non-SS bandsaws. This beast IS different!!!

Thanks JPG. I don't know much about bandsaws period, shopsmith or otherwise. When I noticed the lower wheel touching the cover, I thought it may be sticking out too far so I did the obvious and smacked the center with a rubber mallet a few times. No luck. It's fixed on there quite snugly.

Does this picture show anything useful? IS there a spacer between the base casting?