Shopsmith Forums

I just upgraded to a double tilt base & a power lift assist. These were added after my PowerPro headstock upgrade. The lock knob on the double tilt pivot arm seemed tight, but when I raised the headstock to the right (into drillpress mode), the pivot arm came off the base and torqued. One corner of the pivot arm broke off. Normally the pivot arm stays on the base rail only by the right & left corners.

Question: anyone else encounter similar problems with the lock knob not tightening sufficiently? If so, has anyone else tried to epoxy the cast iron pivot arm back in place?

benchguy wrote:I just upgraded to a double tilt base & a power lift assist. These were added after my PowerPro headstock upgrade. The lock knob on the double tilt pivot arm seemed tight, but when I raised the headstock to the right (into drillpress mode), the pivot arm came off the base and torqued. One corner of the pivot arm broke off. Normally the pivot arm stays on the base rail only by the right & left corners.

Question: anyone else encounter similar problems with the lock knob not tightening sufficiently? If so, has anyone else tried to epoxy the cast iron pivot arm back in place?

Don't epoxy anything until you have talked to customer service! This is most likely a warranty issue.

After just posting my problem here, I called Shopsmith and they are sending me out a new pivot arm assembly. Problem resolved very quickly.

Sorry to hear about your problem. I am really glad to hear that Shopsmith has responded in a positive manner:)

Customer Service very quickly offered to replace the pivoy arm. No hassles. I just described what happened....end of discussion...a new piece will be sent. Kudos to Shopsmith.

My table/fence upgrade from a 500 to a 520 is due to ship in a few weeks. I'll then have my 1982 Mark V upgrade completed to a Mark 7. I have to say this new PowerPro motor is amazing.

It's nice to know that they're listening.
Or in this case, monitoring.
Good Job SS

I figured out why I had an issue with my double tilt lift upgrade "failure". The lock knob was defective. The knob was retracted in on the screw post so the post did not engage the rod on the base as well as it should have. (see photo) Although it seemed OK, when I attached the power lift and raised the rails, the pivot arm came off and torqued and snapped off the corner. The lock knob should be flush with the end of the screw post & not move.

As I mentioned in my other posting, Shopsmith promptly agreed to replace the lock knob and pivot arm. (This was before we figured out what the issue was.) Shopsmith's engineer contacted me to sort out the problem. This was an excellent experience with Shopsmith's customer service.

benchguy wrote:I just upgraded to a double tilt base & a power lift assist. These were added after my PowerPro headstock upgrade.

I just ordered the double tilt upgrade from Lowes (I plan on selling my standalone router table to free up space and help defray the cost) and was wondering how you did the upgrade. Did you remove the headstock? Turn the unit upside down? Any tricks?

No I did not remove the headstock. The instructions come with a jig that is easily constructed out of scrap. In my case I spread a moving blanket on the floor used the jig and turned the unit upside down. I was pleased at how one end is easily dismantled and reassembled with new parts, then the other end. The interesting part I noted was how well everything fit together with the base off the floor (no stress on base). I also installed the new wheel upgrade while I was at it. At another time I removed the table and replaced the posts myself. Easily a one man job for that part. The good news being I hope to upgrade my second Mark V the same way this weekend (assuming my helpers show up). In fact the OPR shorty will also get the new wheel upgrade at the same time. I can hardly wait. Jim