Shopsmith Forums

Hello all. I am a longtime Shopsmith owner(model 510)and forum lurker, but new here on the forum.

I just purchased a used jointer, and I have a question about it. The drive hub and the power coupler get quite warm on the jointer side of things, and I was wondering if this is normal? I was wondering if this might be a sign of bad bearings? However, it does not make any noise like they are bad, and the cutter head turns smoothly by hand.

Looking forward to the replies.

Bill

I have a Greenie jointer that I just had to clean up the cast iron and the original blades, no heat build up. Is the coupler aligned with in a 1/16" both vertical and horizontally with the head stock? I also only use it for a minute or so at a time. Are your blades sharp?

'Turns smoothly'.

Does it turn very easily?

The bearings may be dried out.

I cant speak for your jointer if the bearings went dry, but very easy rebuild/redo. Ask hear for all info advice, many experts here!!!!

Ill back up, what is warm? The Head Stock, or the jointer? HS do run a bit warm, but that is relative to experience and what is normal for a particular piece of machinery. If you cant leave your hand on it for about 5 seconds, that is hot, warm is like toast, you can leave your hand on it.
How long are you running it under load/jointing?
We love to help ya, but need this info to determine what is up.

hhill wrote:Hello all. I am a longtime Shopsmith owner(model 510)and forum lurker, but new here on the forum.

I just purchased a used jointer, and I have a question about it. The drive hub and the power coupler get quite warm on the jointer side of things, and I was wondering if this is normal? I was wondering if this might be a sign of bad bearings? However, it does not make any noise like they are bad, and the cutter head turns smoothly by hand.

Looking forward to the replies.

Bill

I read this to mean that the heat is being generated by the jointer.

Unless you are doing some very heavy cutting, the cutter heat should not be warm. The cutter head is one huge heat sink. If it is getting even warm under these conditions the bearings on the jointer head are likely the source. I'd change them.

Before doing that, make certain that the bearing housing are secure, The bearing housings self align when installed and secured but if not secure, the bearings could be under stress.

Thanks all for the quick response.

Just to be clear the jointer is a greenie(Magna model 620 sw/n:34094). i disassembled the jointer and removed some rust from the tables, knives, and head. I then waxed everything and honed and aligned the knives.

To answer the questions that were posted. Yes coupler aligned with in a 1/16" both vertical and horizontally; however there is really no adjustment in the horizontal plane unless I am missing something. All the heat is on the jointer coupler. The cutter head is cold/cool. I would also have to say that it is hot not warm. You do not want to keep your hand on it for more than 5-6 seconds. I was only doing some test cuts on some pine that I have on hand. The cuts were 1/32-1/16" and the shavings were good. The cuts were smooth.

As a test before this reply, I ran the jointer for 2-3 minutes without making any cuts. The coupler got hot on the jointer side. On the headstock side, the coupler was cool. So I am going to guess that the bearings are bad or going bad. That being the case, how hard is it to replace the bearings? I know that shopsmith says it is a factory job. Also, do you recommend getting the bearings from shopsmith or other source.

Thanks for your help.

Sure sounds like the bearings. Cant help ya on the replacement, I never had to do it, some here will chime in that has.

hhill wrote:Thanks all for the quick response.

Just to be clear the jointer is a greenie(Magna model 620 sw/n:34094). i disassembled the jointer and removed some rust from the tables, knives, and head. I then waxed everything and honed and aligned the knives.

To answer the questions that were posted. Yes coupler aligned with in a 1/16" both vertical and horizontally; however there is really no adjustment in the horizontal plane unless I am missing something. All the heat is on the jointer coupler. The cutter head is cold/cool. I would also have to say that it is hot not warm. You do not want to keep your hand on it for more than 5-6 seconds. I was only doing some test cuts on some pine that I have on hand. The cuts were 1/32-1/16" and the shavings were good. The cuts were smooth.

As a test before this reply, I ran the jointer for 2-3 minutes without making any cuts. The coupler got hot on the jointer side. On the headstock side, the coupler was cool. So I am going to guess that the bearings are bad or going bad. That being the case, how hard is it to replace the bearings? I know that shopsmith says it is a factory job. Also, do you recommend getting the bearings from shopsmith or other source.

Thanks for your help.

If the cutter head is cool I doubt it is a bearing problem. You said the problem is in the drive hub and the power coupler on the jointer side of things. If the heat is localized to the drive hub and the end of the power coupler then the problem is right there. Take a look at the splines on the inside of the power coupler on the jointer end. Are they worn enough to allow the coupler to slip on the drive hub? If the coupler is slipping slightly the friction will cause localized heating.

Good point John, BUT he said he ran it 2-3 minutes with out cutting and it got hot. I would think with no load on it it would not be slipping. That would also depend on how worn the splines are. If worn that much, you/I would think with a cutting load the cutter head would bog down and not cut.
Without us there and JPG to anylize that,it is a hard call to make.