Shopsmith Forums

Found a joint matic on Craigslist. I've read a little on here about it, and I've read that there is a plastic part in the height adjustment that fails.

I can't seem to figure out what Part is plastic in the adjustment.

Here is a photo of it as well, if that helps.

Wish I could help you but don't have a clue lol
Good luck

The part that brakes is where the adjustment is.

I have a table that was repaired and has work for me for a number of years now but I did find another one to keep as a spare just in case. If yours has not yet cracked I might think about getting some epoxy and beef up that area before hand.
Ed

Thank you sir, hadn't bought it yet! I'm thinking about it, just didn't want to pick up a n unsolvable problem.

What does it do??

Holds a router horizontally instead of vertically. Looks like it would make some types of joints easier. Either way, I'm intrigued and want one lol.

I assume it also allows vertical 'feed' with the crank - hence the stress that causes cracking.

That makes sense. I wondered why raising and lowering the height would cause the platen to crack..

I think the design is prone to this due to the plastic but the problem stems from the issue of cutting with the work piece being trapped between the bit and the "fence". Combine that with climb cutting and something has to happen and I think that is when the table cracks.

It is also important to do the adjustment of that part of the assembly, if done wrong that would add to the potential.

At any rate I feel better having a spare that I can put in to service if the current repair fails.

Shopsmith did experiment with a metal table but I guess the cost was too great or perhaps to late in the build time frame, even more to the point I think they were not selling that well anyway so it all added up to be discontinued.

Ed

A shame they abandoned the dual screw design.(a cost reduction effort I presume)