PowerPro review - the whole thing

[greitz]

He did say he was waiting for the right project to give the Mark 7 a good workout. I'm hoping he'll do a project involving all 7 functions, with lots of pictures, and the appropriate thought process up front to minimize changeovers....

Gary

[fjimp]

I keep reading additions to this story and asking myself how badly I desire turning my 520 power pro into the Mark 7. Over recent weeks we (my bride and myself) have built a very special sewing machine cabinet for her. The power pro has been put to nearly every imaginable test I can find. It really shines as is. Admittedly my band saw, belt sander, joiner and planers are all now stand alone shopsmith tools. All have performed remarkably with this project. The power pro advantages truly shine every time I power it up. Try as I may I am still not convinced of the need to complete the transition to the Mark 7. Perhaps if you folks continue offering ideas I will succumb to spending those dollars. Oh before someone asks, pictures of the cabinet are a week or two away. Given current physical limitations I suspect the finish portion of the project will take another week. Then I will await the kids coming by to help move it to the sewing room. Hey a special gift should be photographed in its natural habitat. Fjimp

[charlese]

Recently, since it has been cooler in my shop during morning hours (about 60 deg. F) I couldn't help but notice any over reving at lower speeds had disappeared. Only after the headstock had warmed up did the over reving re-occur. The only reason for this variance, I could figure, was purely mechanical, not electronic. Stiff drive belts in the cooler temps was the solution I came up with.

So I tightened up the motor drive belt by lowering the motor, and re-adjusted the eccentric. The result is no more over reving during most normal use. Today, I tested that solution. Since I had many holes to drill and sanding to do, I ran the PowerPro at 900 to 1350 RPM for a solid 6 hours. Only shut it down to change from drill press position to level when connecting to the strip sander. Didn't even shut it down when coming in to eat lunch.

After the 6 hours I found over reving did happen at 250 RPM, but only up to 320 to 350. The speed quickly slowed back to 250 with a slight touch to the spinning drill chuck.

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P.S. Also should mention two more things -
There is now a sudden stop when turning off at any speed, except have not tried at 9500 RPM. The tightness of the belts now causes a sudden stop from 1350 or below. This is a different answer than given earlier. Guess it still coasts, but the tight belts don't coast very much.

Also, I noticed a rattle or small repeating metallic noise when running at around 1200 to 1400 RPM. Checked the bearings and they all just hummed. Sounded like the noise was comming from the motor. Since the motor mount set screws had loosened and almost worked all the way out, I thought maybe the motor pulley had also loosened. After checking the exploded diagram - found there is a set screw holding the motor pulley onto the motor shaft. Determined that set screw is a 2.5mm hex. Tightened it (very small turn) and the rattle disappeared.

[michaeltoc]

Also, I noticed a rattle or small repeating metallic noise when running at around 1200 to 1400 RPM. Checked the bearings and they all just hummed. Sounded like the noise was comming from the motor. Since the motor mount set screws had loosened and almost worked all the way out, I thought maybe the motor pulley had also loosened. After checking the exploded diagram - found there is a set screw holding the motor pulley onto the motor shaft. Determined that set screw is a 2.5mm hex. Tightened it (very small turn) and the rattle disappeared.

Same thing happened to me, but I found the set screw in the bottom of the motor pan. Tightened it, only to have it come loose again. I used loctite - so far so good. I suspect that it is related to the jerking and banging noises that many have experienced with the bandsaw and disc sander. I've had drive hubs come loose from this, so it makes sense that the motor pulley set screw would vibrate loose as well.

[dusty]

There have been a number of issues reported by Power Pro owners. Issues like vibration while using the band saw, setscrews working loose, belt tension on new units incorrect and programming issues.

Most all of these have, in my opinion, been issues that are to be expected this early in a new production run BUT they all warrant corrective action.

I am wondering if Shopsmith has presented any sort of Summary Report to detail (for the benefit of new owners) the findings as they incorporate these corrective actions. A report of this type would be very helpful to all users of the Power Pro.

I would not expect open distribution of this report but would think that all registered owners would be so informed.

[8iowa]

With the DIY pkg I have now installed two Power Pros (by myself) and have participated in the installation of two others for my son and son-in-law. These were among the earliest units and our only performance "problem" was in using the 12" disk sander. Calls to Wes @ Shopsmith quickly resolved this issue. We have had zero problems since and are now approaching one year of use.

My son-in-law has turned some heavy stock on both his Power Pro and on one of mine at 250 rpm. My son has used his with the bandsaw, and I have used the jointer (on both Power Pro machines) and I have also run hundreds of feet of baseboard and window trim in shaper mode at 9500 rpm. All of our Power Pros run much smoother and quieter than the standard headstocks. I can put a mug of coffee on the table and there is nary a ripple at 9500 rpm.

In Jim McCann's video, included with the DIY kit, he mentions that the belts must be very taught in order to transmit full torque at lower speeds. In this video he clearly shows how to adjust the motor mounts to adjust this tension. I suspect that careful attention here will eliminate many problems others have experienced.

[charlese]

....
In Jim McCann's video, included with the DIY kit, he mentions that the belts must be very taught in order to transmit full torque at lower speeds. In this video he clearly shows how to adjust the motor mounts to adjust this tension. I suspect that careful attention here will eliminate many problems others have experienced.

I suspect that your suspicion is right-on!

[jimthej]

I hadn't seen this here, did a cursory search but did not find any information, so I will post this.
Needed to plane some stock this morning, mounted the planer on the LEFT side like normal, called up the chart on the PowerPro to get the correct setting.
It said: "General Planing, 4000 rpm, REVERSE". I was wide awake at that point, thinking: that puts the cutters turning the same direction as the feed rollers.
Checked my short manual that came with the headstock, no mention.
Called Shopsmith, got right through, the recording was less than half way when they picked up.
After some checking with other folks in the office, she said to mount the planer on the RIGHT side between the carriage and the headstock, and to PLUG the headstock and the planer feed motor into SEPARATE outlets, not daisy-chained like with the Mark V/5.
Of course, being the lazybones I am, I moved the plugs to separate outlets and set the headstock to 4000 RPM, FORWARD and did the job. Next time I'll mount it right and be able to plane from the normal feed point.

[JPG]

I hadn't seen this here, did a cursory search but did not find any information, so I will post this.
Needed to plane some stock this morning, mounted the planer on the LEFT side like normal, called up the chart on the PowerPro to get the correct setting.
It said: "General Planing, 4000 rpm, REVERSE". I was wide awake at that point, thinking: that puts the cutters turning the same direction as the feed rollers.
Checked my short manual that came with the headstock, no mention.
Called Shopsmith, got right through, the recording was less than half way when they picked up.
After some checking with other folks in the office, she said to mount the planer on the RIGHT side between the carriage and the headstock, and to PLUG the headstock and the planer feed motor into SEPARATE outlets, not daisy-chained like with the Mark V/5.
Of course, being the lazybones I am, I moved the plugs to separate outlets and set the headstock to 4000 RPM, FORWARD and did the job. Next time I'll mount it right and be able to plane from the normal feed point.

Over on the other thread(texting while driving law creates increased accident rates) the subject of 'unforeseen circumstances' was raised.

Harumph! Another band saw upgrade incident!:rolleyes:

SS should have seen this one coming also!

Although I agree that mounting the planer to the right has many things going for it(the gross inconvenience of re programming the pp if stopped by the planer feed through (safety) switch for one), the pp should include specific new instructions for the planer's use with the pp! JMHO!:)

[jimthej]

OK, Friday I almost twisted an SPT Connector in two pieces. I was using the bandsaw to resaw turning blanks from some Elm branches from my uncle's place.
Stopped immediately and started checking alignment. Off by almost an eighth on an inch.
Took almost an hour to dial it in. Ran a lot smoother. I thought I had aligned all the SPTs after replacing the headstock, but now I get to try them all.
Vertical was easy, long flat lever to the tie bar. Horizontal was difficult.
Has anyone designed a tool to rotate the eccentric mounting tubes?