Shopsmith Forums

So I inherited a shopsmith from a family friend...when I first got it I turned a bowl on a nova chuck, had a catch, and the quill immediately stopped running true...it isn’t TERRIBLY bad in lathe mode...almost imperceptible if turning small diameter things...but as soon as I put the 12” sanding disc on, it wobbles pretty bad...about .020”-.030” out at the edge of the disc....which is like .005” at the spindle itself...so yeah....

Now to order a new quill from the factory is like $200...a rebuilt 2 bearing quill is like $125 on that auction site. A rebuilt SINGLE bearing quill is like $50...I want to invest as little as possible in this machine. Honestly, I have it set up currently with the 12” disc on the right, and a spindle sander turning between centers on the left....both setups at once and I love it....but...I don’t love it enough to spend $200 or even $125 based on the amount of space it takes up....I have a whole shop full of everything else, so i’m not really harnessing the versatility of the shopsmith on a daily basis....I could replace it with a 12” sander, a spindle sander, and a 12” lathe and gain back some floor space at the same time....so yeah...

My question is, can I “downgrade” to a single bearing quill and be better than I am now with a bent 2 bearing...I honestly don’t plan on doing any turning, just want to get the disc sander running true...thoughts??

I'd say it depends on the luck of the draw.

I don't think single-bearing quills are being made new any more. So it is used or refurbished. What's the run out on a used or refurbed single-bearing quill? Ask the seller. And if it is important, make sure they warrant that amount of run out.

The run out on a new double bearing quill is supposed to be no more than 0.001 per Nick Engler (who used to work for Shopsmith and posted here occasionally).

Also, the main advantage of the double bearing is in large turnings. If that's what you want it for, consider that.

Is the quill bent or is one or both bearings shot? Possibly just need new bearings.

As Algale said, check the bearings first. But before you tear anything down, check the sanding disk. I have three, one purchased used. The used one wobbles far too much to use, the other two, perfect! I use the used one as a table surface on top of the way tubes... holds my coffee!

You have not told us anything that would convince me that you have a "bent" quill shaft.

Why have you concluded a bent shaft rather than an untrue sanding disk or bad bearings? Is this a one piece quill or a two piece quill? With the sanding disk laying flat on a "flat and level" work surface is the shaft plumb?

Well when I got the shopsmith, the sanding disc ran perfectly true.....incredibly smooth....then I set it up to turn a bowl, had a bad catch, and the wobble started....so unless the disc magically warped in the meantime just sitting there, it is definitely the quill....there is no endplay in the shaft, and the bearings are smooth....so to me it kinda points to the shaft being bent...I haven’t had the quill apart yet, but that may be my next step...although i’m not sure what that will solve if it is, in fact, the shaft being bent...

algale wrote:I'd say it depends on the luck of the draw.

I don't think single-bearing quills are being made new any more. So it is used or refurbished. What's the run out on a used or refurbed single-bearing quill? Ask the seller. And if it is important, make sure they warrant that amount of run out.

The run out on a new double bearing quill is supposed to be no more than 0.001 per Nick Engler (who used to work for Shopsmith and posted here occasionally).

Also, the main advantage of the double bearing is in large turnings. If that's what you want it for, consider that.

Is the quill bent or is one or both bearings shot? Possibly just need new bearings.

A while back I contacted a seller who had rebuilt quills, and was offering core refunds on my old quill, but he said he can’t acceot anything that is bent for credit, as he only replaces the bearings....

IIRC there are various quill to drive sleeve spline configurations over the many years. If you are going to replace the quill, the number of splines needs to match your current drive sleeve for it to fit.

You didn't say what model shopsmith you have or the possible age.

The double bearing quill is relatively new in terms of age of shopsmith in general. If you haven't had the quill out it is impossible to tell which you have. So step one is to pull the quill and decide what you have. This includes the spline count and if it does indeed have a two bearing quill.

Keep in mind used machines can have changes which are not age appropriate so going by guessing doesn't necessary work.

Smooth bearing movement is also not as easy an indicator as one might think. Yes when things are really bad it works but for less then that damage or wear well that is pretty subjective.

I've had catches over the years but so far I have yet to bend the shaft. Now it could be I've been lucky or perhaps you haven't.

A simple way to check the sanding disk is to move it to the left side. That is a shaft that is independent of the quill shaft and will eliminate the possibility that the disk is at fault. Dropping a sanding disk on an edge from much height will most likely bend it...... just saying it worth the effort to make sure of what you speak. It would be cheaper to replace that then the quill if that just happened to be the issue.

If you really wanted to keep the shopsmith but don't want to take up the space it does then another option is to make it into a shorty. You can go pretty "short" depending on what functions you want to keep. The is a matter of cutting the tubes with no additional cost. I've seen machines with disk sanding disk on each side and of course the headstock and that is about it, that's pretty short.

You can also look at the cost of getting a 12" disk sander and look at just what that cost would be, it could well cost more then replacing the quill at full price.... But none of them will have the ability to feed the sanding disk into the work piece that can be done with the quill on the shopsmith. If you haven't tried that yet then please put it on your todo list it really works slick. That alone would keep me from going to a standard disk sander.

So again if you think the quill is bent then pull it apart to see just what you have and you can verify the bent shaft after pulling the bearings, and then you will have to decide what path to follow. Either replacing the quill, or replacing the bearings(since you have it apart and if the shaft is not bent) or getting rid of the machine and buying a separate tool(s) to replace the function.

Ed

Ok, lemme re phrase....I HAVE had the quill out...I haven’t had the SHAFT out of the QUILL....but I know it is a 2 bearing quill because I can look in and see the rear bearing is where it should be...and yes it is a 14 spline shaft, one piece construction.....i swapped the disc to the rear output, and it works flawlessly....so the disc is fine...I just removed the shaft from the quill, and there are *gasp* two bearings that are both flawless, pressed on to a shaft that is *gasp* very wobbly lol...most of the runout is at the spline end....I feel like maybe i’m the first person to bend a shaft cause everyone seems so skeptical here that it is possible....

Anyway, here is the listing for the single bearing

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2515527302

And for the double bearing

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2549232549

Just wondering how much “worse” the single bearing will be for my application....

Quills (and members here) get bent out out of shape from time to time, no question. The double bearing version is an upgrade that's been standard since 1984. Plenty of people, however, make good projects with single bearing machines. So it really is a question about how much you will be bothered by the additional runout of a single bearing quill (and it is likely there will be more runout).