Shopsmith Forums

Spencerb wrote:Chris:

I thought my problems were over but I have a feeling that when I have to deal with Shopsmith it will always be a problem. I did discover that it is the bearing at the end of the shaft and its failure has reamed out the hole that the clip goes through. Fortunately, that was all the damage I ordered the part from Shopsmith and never heard from them and did not get an email of pending delivery. Just called Shopsmith and the order is not produced, back ordered. I guess they did not feel it was important to notify me of this issue. Their phones don't work, they suggest you look at shopsmith.com/order to check status and the only status I got was a 404 error "not found", meaning websites not there or page not there. I don't understand. I bought the unit used and used it for fives days and it failed. I am sorry I purchased it. I would have hoped that dealing with Shopsmith would have been easier. Tried to get the part from Jacobs and he is closed until August 15th. I guess wood working takes a holiday in August. You mentioned eBay for the bearing what about the piece that sticks out, it must be pressed in the bearing?

Spencer

Take it from an old fart that has overcome the lack of patience and lack of sufficiently getting familiar with something new(especially if it is used) a long time ago that caused me considerable consternation.

The 'problem' that caused the 'noise' is caused by improper use of the tool and/or lack of proper maintenance.

My own experience was it took a half century for inadequate lubrication to create that problem. I did however know to not turn the dial unless the pulleys were rotating. It appears your previous owner was not so 'fortunate'.

Now if you are dissatisfied with CS, do think back to what everyone did/said. We have become accustomed to high tech processing of ordering, but SS is not of that genre. SS also has parts for 60 year old machines. Do realize that many of those parts are 'out of production' so the lead time can be very significant, but at least they CAN be obtained.

If you want to experience real exasperation, buy a rigid saw less than 5 years old that someone used to saw aluminum with a stripped drive gear. Oh they are hi-tech fer sure. All the stuff is on-line with parts lists and exploded views etc.. Trouble is, the part needed is "N/A".

JPG wrote:

Spencerb wrote:Chris:

I thought my problems were over but I have a feeling that when I have to deal with Shopsmith it will always be a problem. I did discover that it is the bearing at the end of the shaft and its failure has reamed out the hole that the clip goes through. Fortunately, that was all the damage I ordered the part from Shopsmith and never heard from them and did not get an email of pending delivery. Just called Shopsmith and the order is not produced, back ordered. I guess they did not feel it was important to notify me of this issue. Their phones don't work, they suggest you look at shopsmith.com/order to check status and the only status I got was a 404 error "not found", meaning websites not there or page not there. I don't understand. I bought the unit used and used it for fives days and it failed. I am sorry I purchased it. I would have hoped that dealing with Shopsmith would have been easier. Tried to get the part from Jacobs and he is closed until August 15th. I guess wood working takes a holiday in August. You mentioned eBay for the bearing what about the piece that sticks out, it must be pressed in the bearing?

Spencer

Take it from an old fart that has overcome the lack of patience and lack of sufficiently getting familiar with something new(especially if it is used) a long time ago that caused me considerable consternation.

The 'problem' that caused the 'noise' is caused by improper use of the tool and/or lack of proper maintenance.

My own experience was it took a half century for inadequate lubrication to create that problem. I did however know to not turn the dial unless the pulleys were rotating. It appears your previous owner was not so 'fortunate'.

Now if you are dissatisfied with CS, do think back to what everyone did/said. We have become accustomed to high tech processing of ordering, but SS is not of that genre. SS also has parts for 60 year old machines. Do realize that many of those parts are 'out of production' so the lead time can be very significant, but at least they CAN be obtained.

If you want to experience real exasperation, buy a rigid saw less than 5 years old that someone used to saw aluminum with a stripped drive gear. Oh they are hi-tech fer sure. All the stuff is on-line with parts lists and exploded views etc.. Trouble is, the part needed is "N/A".

Very good, you would think at 61 I would be more patient. I have owned my own business for 30 plus years. Maybe it is me but it seems that it is more and more difficult to get simple matters taken care of. Thanks for the great response it put a smile on my face.

Spencer

Having also owned 'my own business' for over a quarter century, I understand where you are coming from. Being a 'get er done' person makes us impatient with 'whatever' attitudes.

I'm new to this site but I have an '85 mark 5. Using the lathe and she started much the same thing but the source sounded like 'up higher '. I found a ball bearing and probably the dust cover from a bearing, probably an upper quill bearing. She's coming apart this weekend, I'll report what I find.