Shopsmith Forums

jamiethesquid wrote:So the pile of Shop Smith parts have been sitting in my workshop taunting me for months now. I have been very busy at work and at home and have had little to no time to work on her. But alas it is fall in New England and the outdoor activities are quickly coming to an end so I might get some quality time this week in the workshop. I need advice and opinions and YOU folks on the forum are sure to have plenty of both, and for that I thank you immensely in advance.

First off my machine is a 1954 greenie with a newer 1 1/8 motor and not much else. I have stripped down the sheet metal and the aluminum castings of their many layers of paint.

Here is my first conundrum. I am a fan of the raw, industrial look of things. Kinda how the tool gods intended them in the first place. I have spent many hours trying to decide whether or not to paint the old girl her origional hammered green or to update her with another color like gloss black or silver. So I am down in the shop a while back taking a wire wheel to one of the aluminum castings, removing the last of the paint. Which I followed up with a lite sanding with a well worn flap disc in a 4.5 in grinder to break some of the sharp edges and blend in some of the sand casting marks. There before me sat a quite attractive shined up and metalworked hunk of aluminum, we'll say it was the one piece casting that is on the opposite end from the pivot for the sake of argument. So the thought pops in to my head, "why paint it at all?". I have used Sharkhide metal protectant in the past with great results in extreme marine applications and happen to have the better part of a quart on hand. If I were to continue, buffing and smoothing and brushing and sanding all of the castings to a "satisfactory" finish whatever that may be and apply a wipe on coat or two of Sharkhide , in a shop environment, this would protect the castings from oxidation for many years to come. Might be interesting no? Sharkhide also will protect the sheet steel parts in the same way. I could work them over with my random orbital sander and progressively finer grits of paper until I got the perfect result. The control levers and locks will be polished to a mirror shine possibly. So there it is settled. Thanks

I am also interested in upgrading the older Gilmer belt internals to a modern poly v setup and changing the single bearing quill to a two bearing quill setup and would love to have a list of require upgrade parts.

Lastly. I am an engineer by trade and by obsession. While doing this upgrade, even though it is in it's infancy, I have dreamed of many projects around the house and off location that would benefit from the versitility of the Shop Smith. However the SS seems to be lacking in portability. It would be great if the legs folded and the whole machine could be transported to a remote job site. I start looking around the workshop and soon have an epiphany of seismic proportions.

Worked into a lather I run up the stair from the basement taking the stairs two at a time, to describe it to my wife my revelation in great detail. The glazed over look she had at the end was priceless to say the least.

I just happen to have an aluminum work platform I purchased for painting around the house that is the exact height of the stock sheet metal legs. The width of the platform matches the exact, and I mean exact like it was meant for it width of the castings that were attached to the origional legs. The legs fold and lock in the open position. The only modification is to stretch the length. Which I have done by cutting it I half and welding in rectangular aluminum tubing. I have fitted the platform with a removable axle and a set of pneumatic tire salvaged off of a unused dolly that I had in the shed.

Because by basement/workshop/patio floor is anything but level I require a set of 4 improved 3" polyurethane casters to move the SS around and outboard leveling feet that are equipped with rubber chair feet that will eliminate any movement when cranked down so they are in firm contact with the floor.

So long story short. I have designed and prototyped a mobile base for the shopsmith that will allow me to freely move it around the workshop, and when the need arises. Lift one end, with the padded handles, fold the leg in and drop it to the ground on to removable pneumatic tires, walk around to the head, fold in the raining leg and stand it up into a dolly type configuration, take it up my basement stairs, slide it into the back of a pickup or my Subaru station wagon and take it to the next project. It just seems like a natural progression of things to come.

Please let me know if any or all of my above post, Strikes a cord of interest with you. Your help, advice, and opinions are, as alway welcome and encouraged. Thanks again for being such a great forum.