Shopsmith Forums

Hello!

I am 18 years old and this is my dad's account. I don't know much about wood working, but I am interested in learning more so I have been using the shop smith lathe for a little bit now to make bowls. A few days ago, I was trying to round a bowl that was unevenly weighted, and ended up turning the speed control too far. I didn't know that you weren't supposed to turn it past a certain point, so the speed control is jammed at the slow end, and the indicator is slower than "slow."

Here is what I notice happening when the machine is turned on:

It turns and makes noise.
seems to be under a high load.
popped the circuit breaker once.
While it's on and turning, the speed control won't move to a faster position.

Thanks for your time, any help would be greatly appreciated!

bcone1381 wrote:Hello!

I am 18 years old and this is my dad's account. I don't know much about wood working, but I am interested in learning more so I have been using the shop smith lathe for a little bit now to make bowls. A few days ago, I was trying to round a bowl that was unevenly weighted, and ended up turning the speed control too far. I didn't know that you weren't supposed to turn it past a certain point, so the speed control is jammed at the slow end, and the indicator is slower than "slow."

Here is what I notice happening when the machine is turned on:

It turns and makes noise.
seems to be under a high load.
popped the circuit breaker once.
While it's on and turning, the speed control won't move to a faster position.

Thanks for your time, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Time to pop open the access hole and take some pictures.

You may have pushed the quadrant gear arm into the control sheave and caused it to become jammed.

A word of caution. If something that is supposed to move does not, do not push harder than normal.

The motor belt has worn to where it is stuck under the sheave vanes. A new motor belt is needed to fix this problem. The speed control assembly looks good. Do a really good lubrication of the control sheave and the motor floating sheave. A zoom spout oiler work well for this.

billmayo wrote:The motor belt has worn to where it is stuck under the sheave vanes. A new motor belt is needed to fix this problem. The speed control assembly looks good. Do a really good lubrication of the control sheave and the motor floating sheave. A zoom spout oiler work well for this.

Bill, how do you suggest freeing the motor belt so that the system can be lubricated and the new motor belt installed.

dusty wrote:

billmayo wrote:The motor belt has worn to where it is stuck under the sheave vanes. A new motor belt is needed to fix this problem. The speed control assembly looks good. Do a really good lubrication of the control sheave and the motor floating sheave. A zoom spout oiler work well for this.

Bill, how do you suggest freeing the motor belt so that the system can be lubricated and the new motor belt installed.

How about cutting it with tin snips or a utility knife or or or whatever... Apparently a new belt is required so who cares about the old one???

What could/can be worse at 18, smashing up dads care or his ShopSmith???
I thought the same on the belt from the pic.

Maybe a good father/son weekend on a belt change or two, lube up and getting inside a ShopSmith. With you all heres support would be a snap

Thanks for all the help and advice! I will get right on it and will post an update when things develop further!

dusty wrote:

billmayo wrote:The motor belt has worn to where it is stuck under the sheave vanes. A new motor belt is needed to fix this problem. The speed control assembly looks good. Do a really good lubrication of the control sheave and the motor floating sheave. A zoom spout oiler work well for this.

Bill, how do you suggest freeing the motor belt so that the system can be lubricated and the new motor belt installed.

It can be difficult to get the motor belt from under the sheave vanes. I normally have to remove the belt from the motor sheaves and then pulling and tugging the belt I can get it above the tip of the vanes. I normally just cut the belt. I stay at least 3 letters away from FAST and SLOW positions when using a worn belt after unsticking it until I can replace the belt.