Shopsmith Forums

I have seen Nick turn his arbor many time in the various sawdust sessions very easily. As far as I know everything on my Shopsmith works perfectly but it is almost impossible to manually turn the shaft backward and very, very difficult to turn if forward. Until the discussions of running the Shopsmith in reverse I always thought you could only turn in one way by design but that was obviously wrong.

Can anyone turn the shaft by hand easily? I was thinking of mounting an extra faceplate to the rear instead of the hub to making hand turning easier but I remember something about the hubs being used as a heat-sink and did not know if this is a good idea. Any thoughts?

I have noticed it is harder to turn the hub by hand if the machine had not been run recently and much easier if the machine has just been run.

I don't think I was ever tempted to turn it backwards so can't comment on that.

John

I don't know what you mean by 'easy', but I can turn mine by hand with just the hubs on the auxilliary spindle, forward and backward. I bought mine in '84 new and the belts have never been changed. In fact, lubrication is pretty much the only thing besides upgrades that I have done to the machine.

Mine is hard to turn by hand. And I have to agree it is easier after the machine has been run for some time. I guess Nick is stronger;) lol.

paulmcohen wrote:............. I was thinking of mounting an extra faceplate to the rear instead of the hub to making hand turning easier but I remember something about the hubs being used as a heat-sink and did not know if this is a good idea. Any thoughts?

Hi Paul,
My thoughts on the heat-sink: A lathe faceplate, being larger then the hub, should make an even better heat-sink then the hub. I see no problem exchanging the hub for a faceplate.

I've got a 3" faceplate (with a rounded chunk of wood attached) mounted on the auxiliary spindle pretty much all the time unless I'm using a SPT. It's easier to grab, at least, than the hub itself.

I can turn mine fairly easily, both backwards and forwards, but it's much easier at fast speed settings than slow.

Gary

The face plate is perfect replacement for the hub - you only need to use the hub when you require it for SPT. I learned that from a traveling academy in Rochester NY. I don't have a chunk of wood mounted on mine, but I did run a file on it edge using the slowest speed setting (what letter is that?;) ). With the faceplate mounted turning the spindle is like turning a sewing machine.
This is simple thing but it really is sweet.

paulmcohen wrote:I have seen Nick turn his arbor many time in the various sawdust sessions very easily. As far as I know everything on my Shopsmith works perfectly but it is almost impossible to manually turn the shaft backward and very, very difficult to turn if forward. Until the discussions of running the Shopsmith in reverse I always thought you could only turn in one way by design but that was obviously wrong.

Can anyone turn the shaft by hand easily? I was thinking of mounting an extra faceplate to the rear instead of the hub to making hand turning easier but I remember something about the hubs being used as a heat-sink and did not know if this is a good idea. Any thoughts?

Hi Paul! You certainly got some excellent input re: your requests for thoughts.

Just needed to add, there is no reason I can think of why the Mark V should not turn backwards by hand. Mine turns either way with equal resistance. It is stiff in the mornings, at 50 degrees or less, but still turns. When cold, if I rotate the hub just a little, it will return toward where it was. This works going either way. After running about 20 seconds, the hub is a lot easier to turn and stays in place.

This is funny....

I'll bet Nick does not have the speed cranked down to "Slow". If you all remember that when you crank it to "Fast" as part of the alignment taught at a TA, it turns like silk.

I'll now let the "Alphabet Gang" argue what the best setting would be.....

Nick may now have to kill me.....

Doc

Thought I'd mention one of the uses of turning the shaft/saw backwards. When matching the length of an existing board, or cut, I hand turn the saw blade backwards by turning the aux. hub - listen to the sound made by the teeth touching the old board. (Practice will teach what the sound and feel should be.) Then the new board will be the same as the old one.

This works for tenon shoulders and shorter boards that fit between the rip fence (with spacer) and the blade.