Shopsmith Forums

OK fellas, I could really use a little help. I've looked on the whole forum and can't seem to find what I need. I have a 1951 SS 10ER. Like many of them, the wiring is crumbling. It was working fine until someone (me) caught their foot up in the wires and yanked them apart. I can't figure out how they went. From the plug there are two wires, a black and a light colored one. that's not important really because the previous owner replaced the plug with one from a medical device of some sort. Anyway, there are two wires coming from the switch area in between the head stock (where the switch is) and the motor. There is also a black wire coming from the motor itself. It was spliced somehow so that there was three wire nuts in all. Can anyone tell me or show me what the right combination or arrangement that the wires need to be spliced together??? I have probably made this sound more complex than it is so if I need to put pictures up I can try...Thanks guys

Pics would help. I don't want to assume green to green, black to black etc..

Two wires from the cord(now would be a good time to replace the cord with a three wire cord and plug).

Two wires from the switch.

Two wires from the motor.(if you only have one, look for the 'other'.

Wire nut #1 Black cord wire to one of the switch wires.

Wire nut #2 Black motor wire to other switch wire.

Wire nut #3 White cord wire to the hiding motor wire.


The motor probably needs to be connected with new wires.(connect directly to an internal terminal board under the cover).

Pix would be helpful, eliminates 'assuming'.

In simple terms - you have two wires from the power cord to the motor. One of those wires is interrupted by the switch which either makes or breaks the circuit. So your power cord would go into the headstock, one of the wires would go through the switch, then they would go down to the motor.

That's it in simple terms, but it overlooks a lot of important details. There's a fairly detailed discussion of the power cord in MickyD's 10ER Restoration thread: https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=3503

And, as suggested, post some photos. They always help. There's no telling what the previous owner might have done.

If you update your location in your profile, there may be someone near you that can help in person if you get stuck.

Ok I managed to get her going... Thanks to all of you for the advise, it really helped out. And I will update my location, thanks, I hadn't even considered that I might find someone here in San Angelo...Thanks again