Shopsmith Forums

I just purchased a 1981 Shopsmith Mk V 500 this past weekend. This is my 3rd Shopsmith. I have had another MK V 500 and a Mk V 510. Both have been sold.

I replaced the single bearing quill with a two bearing quill today. Also replaced the upper poly ribbed belt. (PO replaced the v-belt). In the process I cleaned and lubricated all working parts on the head stock.

I still have a stiff speed control dial. The previous owner replaced the speed control arm quadrant about a month ago. It looks in good shape.

I recall my other Mark V 500 had a similar problem, but the 510 dial was easier to turn.

Any suggestions? Or are my expectations too high? The speed dial also rattles a little too much. I see in the owners manual it shows a nylon clip inside the head stock attached to one of the speed dial screws. This is missing. Could this be causing my problem?

Thanks

gac5ss wrote:I just purchased a 1981 Shopsmith Mk V 500 this past weekend. This is my 3rd Shopsmith. I have had another MK V 500 and a Mk V 510. Both have been sold.

I replaced the single bearing quill with a two bearing quill today. Also replaced the upper poly ribbed belt. (PO replaced the v-belt). In the process I cleaned and lubricated all working parts on the head stock.

I still have a stiff speed control dial. The previous owner replaced the speed control arm quadrant about a month ago. It looks in good shape.

I recall my other Mark V 500 had a similar problem, but the 510 dial was easier to turn.

Any suggestions? Or are my expectations too high? The speed dial also rattles a little too much. I see in the owners manual it shows a nylon clip inside the head stock attached to one of the speed dial screws. This is missing. Could this be causing my problem?

Thanks

If the PO replaced the quadrant without insuring the arms that support it are not bent out of position causing the worm gear to mesh incorrectly, the new one will be stiff, and be self destructing.

I will look for a thread that describes this and post a link here unless someone beats me to it.

Here's one! http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... post113113

See post #2!

JPG40504 wrote:If the PO replaced the quadrant without insuring the arms that support it are not bent out of position causing the worm gear to mesh incorrectly, the new one will be stiff, and be self destructing.

I will look for a thread that describes this and post a link here unless someone beats me to it.

Here's one! http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... post113113

See post #2!

I recently did this repair which Bill Mayo invented and I can't recommend it enough! I didn't think mine was that bad but after putting in the parts supplied by Bill Mayo (thanks again, Bill!), my speed dial feels rock solid whether going from low to high speed or back down. I think Shopsmith should consider sending them from the factory this way (instead of with the roll pin). Of course, they'd sell a lot fewer replacement pork chops! The only difficulty I had was getting that darn roll pin out. Persistence and brute force eventually ruled the day! Good luck.

Al

JPG40504 wrote:If the PO replaced the quadrant without insuring the arms that support it are not bent out of position causing the worm gear to mesh incorrectly, the new one will be stiff, and be self destructing.

I will look for a thread that describes this and post a link here unless someone beats me to it.

Here's one! http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... post113113

See post #2!

Thanks for the information. I did notice some deforming on the teeth on the quadrant. I will pull it back out and inspect it closer for alignment. The dial is stiff through all travel, but double stiff as the lower speed is reached.

I'm not clear as to the modification, but would like to find out how it is done, and what parts I need to do the modification.

Thanks

gac5ss wrote:Thanks for the information. I did notice some deforming on the teeth on the quadrant. I will pull it back out and inspect it closer for alignment. The dial is stiff through all travel, but double stiff as the lower speed is reached.

I'm not clear as to the modification, but would like to find out how it is done, and what parts I need to do the modification.

Thanks

The easiest thing is to PM Bill Mayo and he'll send the parts and the instructions. If you search for porkchop or quadrant and mayo, you'll find several posts with the information. If the teeth aren't too bad, you can file them back into shape.