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Yes, they really do. You can easily put the Mark V into drill press mode with one hand. In fact, if the headstock is close to the pivot point, the lift assist will work without any help from you. If fact, be careful - it could hurt you.ChrisNeilan wrote:Well, i'm going on 58 now, and while that may seem like a puppy to some of you, i have a lot of miles on my back. I could lift anything i put my mind to. In my occupation we do a lot of heavy, awkward lifting, and i know how to postition myself to avoid getting hurt, but sometimes i have no choice in how to lift. Ever wonder who carried your 375 pound neighbor down a couple flights of stairs? Well that would be me.... Well i spent three days on a walker this month due to a back issue that has been getting worse every year. I had a MRI done and found that L2 thru L5 are herniated alond with a bunch of stenosis and "desication" whatever that is.
Bottom line, a lift assist for the Shopsmith may be the future for me. Do they really help that much or is it one more thing to adjust before you use the machine?
I'm feeling much better now and am cautiously getting back into mild lifting in the shop (cleaning), but i know once i feel better, stupidity will return. I am afterall, the person who was turning pens last summer three days after rotator cuff surgery!
All valid points Ed. Other than that it works as advertised. FWIW, I have never had to remove mine. Mine sits on the tubes exactly as you say. What reason have you had to remove it?reible wrote:One or two other things if you are looking at the lift assist. One is that with it on there are a few things that can be issues. The depth of cut for things like 45 deg table tilt work piece length can have issues. The table sits back farther from the end and the work piece can hit the end casting.
The other is the lift assist does take up room on the tubes so "short" lathe issues can come into play. On my machine there is about a 1/4" of exposed tube then the bracket so you loose about 2-1/2".
Since I find I do have to remove it from time to time I made some PVC pipe spacers so I can relocate it to where it goes rather then have to figure it out each time.
Ed
Where did you acquire a lift kit for a '10'?ERLover wrote:If you really want a work out, have and ER to put in DP mode, I got the lift kit for it, but do to mom will not be putting it back together for a few weeks and add the lift assist.
