Shopsmith Forums

Hi I just got another Shopsmith, I could not pass it up. It started life as a gold model but the original owner upgraded to a new headstock and table in 1995 and the original gold parts need a make over. I have 2 additional Shopsmiths now [ I cant help myself ] and they are both from the mid 1980s. I noticed that the bench tubes on the goldie appear to have a finish on them. I plan on cleaning them up do I need to refinish them with some kind of coating or just treat them like the ones on my mid 80s models. Thats to say shine them up and put some wax on them. Is there any difference in the type of steel they are made of? Thanks in advance for any help

There should be no difference. Remove the paint from them. Start with 120 or finer sandpaper and work your way up to 400 maybe 600 or 800. Switch to rubbing compound, then polishing. They should then gleam.

I think there is a difference, but I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just the final coating. But the bench tubes seem to rust a lot easier than the way tubes, so there has to be some kind of difference.

heathicus wrote:I think there is a difference, but I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just the final coating. But the bench tubes seem to rust a lot easier than the way tubes, so there has to be some kind of difference.

I think a lot of it is that even guys that don't do a a lot of upkeep work on them wax or oil the way tubes so things will slide. Other than appearances the bench tubes being rusty isn't that much of a problem. I have yet to see one rusted through.
Shopsmith didn't call that coating on those like that paint. If I recall they called them "glazed".
I had one that I had painted the bench tubes silver some time ago but it is an empty frame right now.


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Whole lotta truth in what Francis just said, but AIUI the steel is different.

My Goldie manual states the bench tubes are lacquer coated.

I intend to refurb mine with Rustoleum silver hammered(maybe satin).

I did some research on this site [ Im still kind of new here ] some are saying that the way tube is nickel plated and the bench tube has a finish or coating on it. Thanks again for the input.

stephan wrote:I did some research on this site [ Im still kind of new here ] some are saying that the way tube is nickel plated and the bench tube has a finish or coating on it. Thanks again for the input.

Do keep in mind there are different versions. Earlier models had both different way tubes and different bench tubes.

Also there were two versions of the Goldie!

I see the issue now. My 53 has way tubes that are obviously coated and the bench tubes are not. Bench tubes rust. That said, I would still polish them up the same way I mentioned earlier...but after 60 years the 53 doesn't ever need it on the way tubes.

I just got done re-habbing my late 62 Goldie (1-1/8 HP AOSmith and 1-3/4" way tubes). It had some nicks/dings/chips on the bench tubes so I spun them like my way tubes to smooth them out. When done with that, I wiped them down with lacquer thinner, which removed some silver/gray paint/finish. Since I didn't want to worry about maintaining them, I primed them and sprayed them with Rustoleum Aluminum, which matched the original finish exactly(both sheen and color).

I think I saw a similar thread referring to that color elsewhere here...

As it turned out I just cleaned and shined them up and coated them with some Boeshield T-9. I use that stuff on my cast iron table top [Unisaw] and it seems to keep it from rusting. if it becomes a problem Ill remove the bench tubes and paint them. I also stripped down all the parts and painted them gray to match the headstock.