Shopsmith Forums

I am a new proud owner of an old SS5 which Shopsmith tells me, because I checked the SN, that it was built June 1954. These machines have a 3/4 hp motor. Does anyone know if this machine would properly handle the bandsaw attachment. It seems to run ok but I am sure I should clean, oil and check everything out. Thanks.

rv4golf wrote:I am a new proud owner of an old SS5 which Shopsmith tells me, because I checked the SN, that it was built June 1954. These machines have a 3/4 hp motor. Does anyone know if this machine would properly handle the bandsaw attachment. It seems to run ok but I am sure I should clean, oil and check everything out. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum. RV Camping, Golf and Woodworking - a great set of hobbies (I presume).

Yes, you can definitely utilize a bandsaw in conjunction with your older version Mark 5. The 3/4HP motor is quite capable of this.

May I request that you add some info to your personal profile. At least the general geographic area where you reside. Hey, we might be neighbors.

Thanks for the info. I have been using my old shopsmith off and on when I have time and it has worked great. Yesterday I went to use it and it would barely start turning before it poped the breaker. Sounds like a motor rebuild. I wish we were neighbors, I am up in western, Wa. just north of Olympia, cold today. Still working so no chance for that snowbird action at this time. Oh well, thats life. Now I have to tear down the SS5 and return her to her old glory. Stay warm.

rv4golf wrote:Thanks for the info. I have been using my old shopsmith off and on when I have time and it has worked great. Yesterday I went to use it and it would barely start turning before it poped the breaker. Sounds like a motor rebuild. I wish we were neighbors, I am up in western, Wa. just north of Olympia, cold today. Still working so no chance for that snowbird action at this time. Oh well, thats life. Now I have to tear down the SS5 and return her to her old glory. Stay warm.

Don't jump on a motor rebuild too quickly. A really cold Mark V may very well be slow to start. So slow, in fact, that it may trip a breaker due to excessive startup current. In the cold, the belts are stiffer as well as some lubrications.

If you use it infrequently, does it still get lubricated regularly. Probably not.

I would suggest that you clean and lubricate the machine (in a warm room) and then try a startup.

I assume you can hear the motor hum until the breaker trips.

Main question is: does it try to start up(rotate) before tripping the breaker and how long before the breaker trips.

The only reason it would not hum(prior to tripping)is if there were a short in the wiring.

And then there is the speed setting and other devices influence.

When I turned the motor on it would try to turn slowly before it would pop the breaker. I have not lubricated it so I had better read up and try that. Recently it has been cold up here so you may be on to something. Thanks.

check the easy stuff first before you decide to rebuild.
Mine did the same and it was a $5 capacitor I replaced from a local electrical supply. Shopsmith has a trouble-shooting guide on-line for this also.
Try trouble-shooting by removing the belt and diconnnecting headstock from any attached accessory, then trying to start the motor to check wether it's the motor or brgs binding. You can isolate the problem a lot of times this way.
Check your wiring, maybe a bad switch just making poor contact and causing enough resistance to pop the breaker? Older machines have fragile "hardened insulation" on the wires and start coming apart sometimes.
Check these things first before spending any money for a rebuild in case it's not needed.
Others may know and chime in on more things to check first.
it's a start.

Great feedback, I really appreciate the help. There are more moving parts to the ss than there are in a golf club.

All the above regarding checking out the simple things is great advice. I've bought a lot of Smiths and many of them were described by the former owner as having a bad, burned out, toasted, junk, etc. motor. Not a single one actually did. (This was great because they tend to sell it cheap that way)

As to the 3/4hp motor having enough power, here's where I differ in opinion from a lot of tool guys. It seems that many feel that if you don't have multiple horses pulling your power tool around the shop, you need to upgrade. (Remember Tim, the tool man, Taylor...ooh,ooh,ooh)
Many of the Smiths I have used for many projects have been 3/4hp greenies. I've ripped 1 1/2" oak, I've drilled, I've turned, I've sanded & shaped, and cannot complain at all about a lack of power.

One thing I always do before using an old machine is to thoroughly blow out the motor & install new bearings. Then I put a meter to them to check output. Most put out right around 1hp. Unlike some things today, I think they rated stuff pretty conservatively back then. Yikes, I got off on a rant...no more coffee for me.

Thank you for the continued advice, great stuff. It sounds like I had better learn how to lub, replace bearings and figure out how to read a meter. Wow, I thought making a ten foot putt was tough!