Shopsmith Forums

Two days ago I had my SS in upright position doing some drilling and drum sanding. When I finished, I was cleaning the floor and noticed a small screw on the floor in the area under the headstock. Yesterday, I spent an hour checking my SS trying to find where it came from. No luck. I then went to the SS website and looked at the exploded parts views. Nothing matched on the table, carriage or fence. The screw appears to be a #8-32 with an overall length of 1/2". It is a flat head style and takes a 3/32" allen wrench. Any idea where this came from? My machine is a 1979 Mark V with the 520 table upgrade and a Power Pro headstock.

Good luck. I find hardware on the floor frequently. Frequently, I am unable to find where it came from. An empty Planter's Peanuts can is a good place to keep it until you discover where it is needed.

There are some screws that go through the legs into the caster assemblies' control rods. See if one is missing.

The only thing I know that has a 3/32" hex head is the set screw for the speed control handle on a Mark V. Since I see you upgraded to PowerPro and you said it's a flat head it can't be that. Are you sure it's not from another machine and just happened to wind up there?

Edit: Just noticed this is my 20th post here! I'm now a "Gold Member" (imagine the "Let's get ready to rumble" guy saying it). I think I'll have (another) cold Budweiser to celebrate!

Finding setscrews is something rare in my shop. Most I loose to the 8th dimension or somewhere. I think I must have at least 20 missing ones.

In your case I might take a look at the miter gauge, there are some smaller setscrews used as stops that might be that size.

Most external set screws have the 5/32 heads so you should be safe on that account.

Dusty has a chart he has posted but I don't recall if any on his list are the smaller sizes????

Ed

Can you post a picture of the screw so I can better visualize it?

Just a wild guess here, but I seem to remember that the 6 screws that held the new PowerPro motor onto it's mount were Flat head bolts and required an allen wrench to tighten. Take a peek inside your unit and see if any are missing if they can even be seen.

I just replayed my PP install DVD and I think your screw looks like one of the 6 that hold the PP motor to the power head housing. You need to remove the lower pan to see the screw heads. But, I don't see how they could fall out since the lower housing seems to hold them in place. Probable not one of these.

The only screw I could think of that is similar to what I envision this screw to be (on a non-PP machine, since that's all I know) are the screws that hold the blades in place on the jointer...since you were using the drill dress and not a jointer, I doubt that is it but that's what popped into my head when I read the description...

Check your miter bar, see if the washer is still on (that rides in the miter slot)

Check the side of the lower saw guard. It sounds like it may be the screw that is used for adjusting the spacing of the guard and the riving knife.
Bill V