Shopsmith Forums

This is my first post. I am the proud owner of a used MV. I purchased it for the intention of drilling out the bottoms of liquor bottles. Ive got my headstock,speed reducer,1/2 drill chuck,water swivel, 5"long diamond core bit. And on the other end I have Tail stock W/arbor,6" 3 jaw wood chuck. And here is the funny part. I'm left with about 8" for the bottle.
ITS ALL TOOL !!!:D Every time a part arrived it just got smaller and smaller,quiet comical really!!
With that all being said, now will need to extend the working bed by 18-24". So my question is: Does anybody know the specifc make up of the orginal tubes? What kind of metal,wall thickness so on and so forth. OR does anybody know where I should start my search for a thicker walled longer length seamless 1 3/4" OD stock material that would be strong enough to safely support the additional length.
Thanks in advance
Rob

Welcome to the forum. There's been a few discussions from time to time about extending the way tubes and bench tubes to get more length. You can use the search function to find those threads.

Drilling liquor bottles? That's a first here. What do you use them form after drilling them?

Welcome to the forum. Some pictures would be nice.

Agale:
Thanks for the search tip. Looks as if my options are: The barn wall idea,which is'nt a bad idea since I'm dealing with water and the further away from the SS it is the better. OR I get a shorty and reverse the tale stock setup. Ahhhh America land of choices. Hey at least I have a few more options. But I'm liking the wall. Thanks again.

So to answer your question. I SELL EM for around $ 20 a pop as hurricane lanterns or pendant lights,man cave items. Not bad for a $9.99 bottle of Bacardi!! I currently use a hand drill in a portable drill press thing and then have to grind out the ID on a seprate machine and then polish. It takes 1 1/2 hr per bottle. And I'm still not that happy with the fit and finish. But they sell!! So my idea with the SS is to drill (On the horizontal with a small tire to divert the water) then use a cylinder hone (special stones) to grind out a perfectly round hole size of my choosing then polish w/the hand drill. All while never removing the bottle from the chuck. saving 1 hr, At least thats the plan anyway but the fit and finish will definitely be better than what I have been churning out and that's what ultimately counts to me. Always Improve!!

Joedw00: I'll try and have some pics up soon.

It's a bit to ponder but I'll keep you posted on the progress.
Rob

onetvjak wrote:Agale:
Thanks for the search tip. Looks as if my options are: The barn wall idea,which is'nt a bad idea since I'm dealing with water and the further away from the SS it is the better. OR I get a shorty and reverse the tale stock setup. Ahhhh America land of choices. Hey at least I have a few more options. But I'm liking the wall. Thanks again.

So to answer your question. I SELL EM for around $ 20 a pop as hurricane lanterns or pendant lights,man cave items. Not bad for a $9.99 bottle of Bacardi!! I currently use a hand drill in a portable drill press thing and then have to grind out the ID on a seprate machine and then polish. It takes 1 1/2 hr per bottle. And I'm still not that happy with the fit and finish. But they sell!! So my idea with the SS is to drill (On the horizontal with a small tire to divert the water) then use a cylinder hone (special stones) to grind out a perfectly round hole size of my choosing then polish w/the hand drill. All while never removing the bottle from the chuck. saving 1 hr, At least thats the plan anyway but the fit and finish will definitely be better than what I have been churning out and that's what ultimately counts to me. Always Improve!!

Joedw00: I'll try and have some pics up soon.

It's a bit to ponder but I'll keep you posted on the progress.
Rob

Sounds like a good business and fun, too, particularly if you procure the bottle full and empty it yourself.

You can easily get longer tubes. One of the guys on the 10ER forum has. He uses 1.75" DOM tubing with a .250" wall thickness. The tubes on the 10ER have .220" walls. The Mark V tubing is about only half as thick as the 10ER.

Look for DOM tubing and you'll have the cat's meow in terms of length and minimal to no flex which won't bankrupt you.

There will be a cost to pay in weight and not being able to go vertical on your Mark V as 8 foot tubes, for example, would be challenge to lift and most likely hit the ceiling.

There was a guy in Madison, WI who was selling a 'double wide" Mark V. He used it to cork baseball bats. He used the OEM Mark V tubes and stated this set up could be used for rifle barrels which seems far fetched.

Could you mount your tailstock on the wall, and anchor your Shopsmith to the floor, similar to what this guy is doing?

It might be easier for everyone to help if there were a couple pics of how you do it now, then maybe someone will come up with a slightly different method without you changing your tubes.

So, after you kill the liquor bottle, don't you feel just a little sorrow? I can't be the only one sad here right now.

I had dozens of 18" way and bench tubes left over from the many SHORTY Shopsmiths I was selling. I machined four 8" plugs (my metal lathe) that I drove into the regular and the 18" extension tubes. I did not find the flex was was any greater than the normal Shopsmith. However I was only able to sell 2 complete sets to customers who were pleased with the results but no additional owneras were interested and I had no need for myself at that time.