ShopSmith Lathe Mods?

[Adagosto]

Not sure if this is the forum place for this post. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Question to the Shopsmith woodturners.

Other than the Universal Tool Rest (UTR) upgrade, has anyone "modded" the SS to accommodate wood turning better? What have you done?

I have found UTR to be both very good and a real pain at the same time. It's a real pain having the throw three levers to do what a traditional lathe can don in just one, but....we have the Shopsmith for a reason, don't we?

I also find the tail stock to be a bit weak and would prefer a more robust design with less play. One other complaint is the tail stock height adjust....when adjusted to be center-to-center head stock to tail stock, THEN switch the tail stock to the drill chuck, I have found the axis is not an exact match. This is a real problem as I did not discover this until boring and inch into my material. Little late at that point.

So, do anyone have any suggestions for other upgrades and or mods to the SS to make turning better?

Many thanks!

Adam

[JPG]

Not sure if this is the forum place for this post. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Question to the Shopsmith woodturners.

Other than the Universal Tool Rest (UTR) upgrade, has anyone "modded" the SS to accommodate wood turning better? What have you done?

I have found UTR to be both very good and a real pain at the same time. It's a real pain having the throw three levers to do what a traditional lathe can don in just one, but....we have the Shopsmith for a reason, don't we?

I also find the tail stock to be a bit weak and would prefer a more robust design with less play. One other complaint is the tail stock height adjust....when adjusted to be center-to-center head stock to tail stock, THEN switch the tail stock to the drill chuck, I have found the axis is not an exact match. This is a real problem as I did not discover this until boring and inch into my material. Little late at that point.

So, do anyone have any suggestions for other upgrades and or mods to the SS to make turning better?

Many thanks!

Adam

With a tapered mount, that should not be the case??? Drill bit bent??

Question regarding the 'loose' tailstock - is the knurled 'handle' centered between the casting(ends of the handle clears on both ends)? If not, only one tube is being clamped. It is 'adjustable'.(sorta, but correctable)

[masonsailor2]

I have found the SS tail stock inadequate for several projects so I obtained a stripped down headstock and installed just the quill and mount it on the SS and use it as a tail stock which makes an excellent live center tailstock which is totally rigid. You do lose a lot of space between centers but it has worked well. I figure I will buy some longer tubes if I have a project come up that requires more space between centers. The other lathe attachments I use a lot is the Nova G3 chuck ,UTR, and speed reducer. I do not have the SS speed reducer I have a shop built speed reducer I made.
Paul

[damagi]

I haven't done it myself, but http://shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic ... ock#p93243 has some pictures of a delta tailstock adapted to a shopsmith

[oldiron]

Well, Mine pertains to the 10E/ER. I have several so I replaced the Headrest with a second base plate. Slid the tubes 8" beyond the original base plate so I can use a second carriage and tool rest for bowl turning.

I also built a "shim stack" for each base plate using 5 pieces of 3/4" plywood.

Much more comfortable turning bowls with the added height...

Mike