Shopsmith Forums

I'll try to keep this short. Thanks JPG for helping me out on the other '55 restoration thread by Mike and encouraging me to start my own thread to document this project.

1. Bought my first Shopsmith last week. I was actually looking for a drill press, but it was such a good deal that I thought, "This is a drill press and MORE!" Paid $150 for it.
2. Serial number is 290310 and the plate says Magna and 3/4hp. It does not have an inspection port. JPG helped me identify it as an "A" sand cast headstock. I'm assuming it's and early '55.
3. The headstock and bench tubes have been painted at some point.
4. Previous owner knew little to nothing about its history other than being able to tell me that it has been sitting in his shop unused for several years.
5. Both the carriage and base have cracks.

I was so excited to get started on the restoration that I didn't take pictures of it all together. I started to disassemble everything, opened the headstock, and found a GE 1 1/8 hp motor. At some point, somebody really made an investment in this SS. I'm even more excited about the restoration now. The belts are both in bad shape, but the speed control and sheaves look to be in excellent shape.

For the restoration, I will start with mechanical (cleaning and new bearings) and then work on cosmetics. At this point, I have the following questions/concerns.

1. Has anybody cut an inspection hole in an "A" sand casting? What is the diameter of the inspection hole on later Mark 5 headstocks?
2. I'll probably try to replace the base and carriage with used parts from eBay. Are all of them going to be compatible with my machine? Anything I should be looking for specifically?
3. I am 100% open to feedback. Y'all know so much more than I do and I'm excited to learn. If I say anything wrong or you see something in the photos I need to be paying attention to, please let me know!

Please forgive the photos. I'll make sure to add better ones as the project continues.

Pix of 'cracks'?

Yes an inspection hole has been done. Hopefully Bill Mayo will enlighten us on what he has done. He has posted that before.

Yes any carriage(Mark 5 or Mark V 500) will fit.

What 'base' is cracked. If an end casting, anyone will fit(assuming the correct end). One caveat though. If your greenie has 1 7/8" bench tubes(likely for a '55') you will need end casting specifically made for them(larger holes and different 'stop').

Well JPG beat me to some of your questions, and has far more knowledge then me, I found my 3/4 hp greenie and my nephews at high speeds are far more pleasant to the ears then a 1 1/8hp and for turning, are enough. Band saw and jointer have not seen any difference. I bought him a Menards clone jointer, 6" but has a 4 blade cutter head, compared the the SS 4" 3 blade cutter head and does just fine. I do not use a SS for a table saw or routeing/shaping.
I just love them for the machine they are, what you can modify them into, and still get parts for the old work horses they are. Not mention the price in my local you an get them for, 2-300$

Great feedback on the 1-7/8" bench tubes. I confirmed with some calipers and they are 1-7/8".

The cracked base is the one on the bottom when in drill press configuration.

I'll see if I can find Bill's post on the inspection hole. Thanks!

Here are some photos of the cracks. The one on the carriage has some signs of a pretty rough repair/grinding job.

I think the carriage is salvagable. I assume you do not have the stud that screws into that hole that caused the 'damage'. A 3/8" ring between the carriage and the headstock was a goldie 'improvement' and does better anyway.

The hinge may also be salvagable assuming you have access to a competent aluminum welder.

Check MickyD's greenie thread for his effort to 'fix' the carriage.

Bills hole - http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewt ... 26#p202126

Thanks for the link to the inspection port instructions from Bill. That is on my list for improvements.

I do not have the stud screw JPG mentioned. What is its purpose on the carriage?

As far as repairing them, MickyD's skills are VASTLY more advanced than mine. I will most likely shop for some used parts to replace them.

I got a little deeper into the tear-down today and have two questions.

1. I took apart the quill and the bearing is seated between two flat sections on the shaft. Being my first tear-down, I don't know exactly what it's supposed to look like, but it would make more sense to me if the bearing was seated past on the shaft near the diameter increase. I took two pictures to show what it looked like when I pulled it out of the quill. Thoughts? When I replace this bearing, does it go here or does it go all the way on the shaft where it goes from silver to black?

Thinking about this, as I type, it's actually possible that it was seated correctly in the machine and I unseated it when I was removing it from the machine, forcing it to move down the quill shaft. Very possible, actually. And now I see how clean the shaft is where the bearing probably was.
2. I have tried to really keep track of parts and label everything, but I just found this square nut and have NO recollection of taking it off or where it might have come from.

That square nut is probably from disassembling the legs. Part #120372

Thanks for the feedback and schematic clip! It was inside the headstock. I haven't taken the bases off of the legs yet.

Work has definitely been done inside this SS, so it might not be original.

Though it's not listed as a square nut in the parts list (it's now listed as Part #102634 Hex Nut 5/16"-18) , I've also seen a square nut used on the "ears" that keep the eccentric bushing in.

Is this it? See the '57 green arrow.
Ed

OH looks like it has already been posted but since I've already done the work and liked the look of my '57 green shopsmith color arrow I'll post anyway.

Ed