Shopsmith Forums

Hi All,

I am new to the forum AND SS in general. I've always been fascinated with them but never had both the time and $$ at the same time to get one.... Until about three weeks ago. I was perusing CL like any tool junkie might (while at work, hehe) and came across what looked to be photos of a Greenie in really good shape, save for the rust and 60 years of built up gunk. Thanks to a bad capacitor, the 3/4hp motor wouldn't do anything but hum a tune when you flipped the switch. (The fact that the wires coming from the switch had lost the bulk of their coating at it's entryway into the headstock didn't help either.) Armed with that knowledge and the fact that it was 60 years old, the gentleman was willing to accept $100 for the Mark V Serial # 295387, the Dado Precision Blade, the Scroll Saw, original 3/8" and 1/4" mortise chisel and bits and all the collars etc (STILL IN THE BOX!) and quite a few random extras. Of course, I left work, went home, grabbed my trailer and drove out to meet this nice gentleman. After loading up, he decided to throw in a 1973 1/4hp Craftsman Table Saw for free, which still worked.Anyway.... to my question/problem.

I have taken the headstock off and begun cleaning, de-rusting and removing the paint because none of it is salvageable with the rust spots (no pitting anywhere, fortunately). I replaced the start capacitor and have the engine purring again and I am ready to paint the headstock. Problem is, I CAN'T get the stinking Headstock Lock handle off the threaded rod that holds the wedges in their places. The roll pin in this thing will not BUDGE. I've tried penetrating oil, multiple center punches, miniture screwdrivers, sweet talking it and even threatening to cut it off. IT WILL NOT BUDGE! Of course, anyone who's been inside the headstock knows that the center of the threaded rod is smooth (as I'm typing this, I'm thinking about breaking out a die and cutting the threads through in order to spin the problem wedge off, but I'd rather not risk damaging this as I'm trying to keep it as stock as possible.)

So... Thanks in advance for any advise you experienced gentlemen might offer!

PS: I also joined the SSUG forum and there will be a copy and paste of this post so if you see this again, it's not De' Ja Vu.

kustomphreak wrote:Hi All,

I am new to the forum AND SS in general. I've always been fascinated with them but never had both the time and $$ at the same time to get one.... Until about three weeks ago. I was perusing CL like any tool junkie might (while at work, hehe) and came across what looked to be photos of a Greenie in really good shape, save for the rust and 60 years of built up gunk. Thanks to a bad capacitor, the 3/4hp motor wouldn't do anything but hum a tune when you flipped the switch. (The fact that the wires coming from the switch had lost the bulk of their coating at it's entryway into the headstock didn't help either.) Armed with that knowledge and the fact that it was 60 years old, the gentleman was willing to accept $100 for the Mark V Serial # 295387, the Dado Precision Blade, the Scroll Saw, original 3/8" and 1/4" mortise chisel and bits and all the collars etc (STILL IN THE BOX!) and quite a few random extras. Of course, I left work, went home, grabbed my trailer and drove out to meet this nice gentleman. After loading up, he decided to throw in a 1973 1/4hp Craftsman Table Saw for free, which still worked.Anyway.... to my question/problem.

I have taken the headstock off and begun cleaning, de-rusting and removing the paint because none of it is salvageable with the rust spots (no pitting anywhere, fortunately). I replaced the start capacitor and have the engine purring again and I am ready to paint the headstock. Problem is, I CAN'T get the stinking Headstock Lock handle off the threaded rod that holds the wedges in their places. The roll pin in this thing will not BUDGE. I've tried penetrating oil, multiple center punches, miniture screwdrivers, sweet talking it and even threatening to cut it off. IT WILL NOT BUDGE! Of course, anyone who's been inside the headstock knows that the center of the threaded rod is smooth (as I'm typing this, I'm thinking about breaking out a die and cutting the threads through in order to spin the problem wedge off, but I'd rather not risk damaging this as I'm trying to keep it as stock as possible.)

So... Thanks in advance for any advise you experienced gentlemen might offer!

PS: I also joined the SSUG forum and there will be a copy and paste of this post so if you see this again, it's not De' Ja Vu.

Welcome! Did you really use a center punch or is that a typo? You need a properly sized pin punch (1/8th inch I believe). With mine it showed no sign that it was loosening with the first several whacks and then, whack, it was half way out.

You gots a left hand thread die? Wouldn't work anyway.

In addition to the PIN punch, backing up the knob with an immovable object helps.

&quot wrote:You gots a left hand thread die? Wouldn't work anyway.

In addition to the PIN punch, backing up the knob with an immovable object helps.

This has always worked for me. Sometimes, I have to switch sides on the roll pin to drive it out if the roll pin end has mushroomed that someone was driven on. You must use a good pin punch for removal of this roll pin. No success with using a cut off nail. The roll pin is case harden so none of my drill bits will touch it. I use a 2X4 on end with the end rasped out to fit the handle and a hole drilled for the roll pin to be driven into.

Kustom,
Welcome to the disease!!! How about a heat wrench??

How about turning it in the correct direction. IIRC the handle is a left hand thread. So after the pin is removed things are backwards. Also you could drill the pin out and drill a slightly larger hole and put in the next size roll pin.
Bill V

wa2crk wrote:How about turning it in the correct direction. IIRC the handle is a left hand thread. So after the pin is removed things are backwards. Also you could drill the pin out and drill a slightly larger hole and put in the next size roll pin.
Bill V

Those HF punches may be a mite short, but will get the pin moving.

Those pins are pretty hard and do not like to cooperate(the hard pin sends the bit off into the softer aluminum). I would drill only as a last resort and slightly smaller than the pin od(hole id). If the drill bit breaks it loose(spins) it should then be easier to push out. Holding all that while still attached to the headstock would be tricky.

P.S. It ain't gonna turn either direction as long as that pin is still in thar.

Welcome!
I had trouble too. What worked for me was putting a scrap of wood that I had that happened to have just the right angle on one side and was just the right size (quite a coincidence, actually) under the handle so I could bash the punch really well. It came out. However, by the time I used the block of wood I'd already tried without it and slightly bent the rod. It still works fine but it is annoying - you should make the effort to really support the handle when you bash away. I drilled a hole for the pin to fall into in the supporting block of wood. If that doesn't make sense I'll post a photo.


I did have one pin somewhere that got funky on me - the pin punch was hitting the rim of the piece being held in place (would be the rod in this case, though I don't recall what it was - wasn't the rod). The pin started to mushroom and took some real effort to get out. Learned to check alignment better! The pin was already knocked out of the near section and was just in the inner piece and the far section of the outer part.

A center punch has a point. It seems it would act to force the pin to expand and grab more. The punches I used are straight and flat ended.

You will find amazingly helpful people here. You'll also find the machine is really great to take apart and work on because it is well designed and made. Sure, there are oddities and things to improve, but I enjoyed working on something not made as cheaply as possible and intended to break so you buy another.

+1 on the right sized pin punch. I too tried everything I had laying around but finally ran to my neighborhood junk vendor and I bought some old craftsman punches. There is no substitute for a "suitable drift" as they say in the manuals. HF is expedient for tools but I've had a sad time of it trying to get this low quality stuff to perform as intended.