Shopsmith Forums

Howdy folks,

Where do folks use the non-adjustable stop collars? I recall seeing one on Rick's machine during a TA session, but my mind got on a horse and galloped off, so I forgot.

Happy trails,
mike

Hi friscomike,

They may have other uses, but I think the most common is to hold the lathe tailstock in it's correct position repeatably.

friscomike,
I use them on the Eccentric Mounting Tubes of all the accessory tools that I can to help align the tools to the headstock drive. Like most all of the Shopsmith odds and ends you will find them quite handy when you need them.
ldh

Repeatability is the key. I have my some of my accessories set with them for ease of attaching to the headstock. They can also be used on the main table if you are going to be going back to a previous setting.

ldh wrote:friscomike,
I use them on the Eccentric Mounting Tubes of all the accessory tools that I can to help align the tools to the headstock drive. Like most all of the Shopsmith odds and ends you will find them quite handy when you need them.
ldh

Gampa wrote:Repeatability is the key. I have my some of my accessories set with them for ease of attaching to the headstock. They can also be used on the main table if you are going to be going back to a previous setting.

This could be a good use, but I don't use them there; I adjust my SPT's to their respective eccentric tubes per the installation instructions and have never had a problem that required the stop collars.

Gampa wrote:Repeatability is the key.................. They can also be used on the main table if you are going to be going back to a previous setting.

I like the adjustable stop collar here.

a1gutterman wrote:Hi friscomike,

They may have other uses, but I think the most common is to hold the lathe tailstock in it's correct position repeatably.

You could use the adjustable there too. The point is that either stop collar can be used on any of the SPT to allow installing that SPT without having to adjust height to get power coupler alignment.

I use non adjustables on all removable SPT. My removeable SPT = bandsaw, belt sander, jointer. I have adjustables for the main table and the extension table and on the tail stock. I also have two spares just in case I need them somewhere; must have been flush with cash when I bought these.

I have three adjustable stop collars installed on the Shopsmith (main table and both extension tables). This allows me to rapidly return to the setup configuration that I use most often.

However, if I change stop collar locations, it also takes longer to get back into that "standard" configuration.

The most valuable non-adjustable stop collars are those I have on the jointer. I move the jointer from a storage location to either the left end of the Shopsmith or the Power Station frequently. Without stop collars, I'd have to deal with the weight of the jointer each time (to align the power coupler). With stop collars installed, no sweat.

I also have non-adjustables on the band saw and the belt sander. These are not as critical (much less weight) but they are still useful and convenient.

Stop collars on the extension tables are probably over kill but Nick did a good job of marketing them so now I use then. All the others I consider essential add-ons.

Thanks folks, good ideas. I love this forum!

~mike

dusty wrote:I have three adjustable stop collars installed on the Shopsmith (main table and both extension tables). This allows me to rapidly return to the setup configuration that I use most often.

However, if I change stop collar locations, it also takes longer to get back into that "standard" configuration.

The most valuable non-adjustable stop collars are those I have on the jointer. I move the jointer from a storage location to either the left end of the Shopsmith or the Power Station frequently. Without stop collars, I'd have to deal with the weight of the jointer each time (to align the power coupler). With stop collars installed, no sweat.

I also have non-adjustables on the band saw and the belt sander. These are not as critical (much less weight) but they are still useful and convenient.

Stop collars on the extension tables are probably over kill but Nick did a good job of marketing them so now I use then. All the others I consider essential add-ons.

What about adjusting the tubes within the tool to make them the correct height?