10ER rebuild

[badtheba]

As promised, I'll show the progress of my rebuild here, and only put things related to this rebuild in their own separate thread(s) if I think they are specific procedures the community would benefit from.

Until 2 weeks ago I had never heard of a Shopsmith. In the past I've worked in construction for about 10 years, 6 of that being mainly finish carpentry and cabinet construction and installation. However, I was never one to browse catalogs or things like that. I am a DIYer now and do all my own home repairs, so I decided it was time to buy a table saw as that was one thing I haven't invested in yet. I started browsing CL for a used belt driven saw in the $100-150 range. After seeing a Smithy Supershop listed and becoming intrigued (though $1300 wasn't in my price range), then seeing a rusted dust covered Shopsmith in a shed corner for $125, I talked to my old cabinet shop boss about them. He cautioned me that although they can do a lot of things decently, because they aren't dedicated purpose machines they don't perform all their functions "really well"

Even with his caution, the bug had bit me, and I was so intrigued that I did as much research as I possibly could in 2 days. I offered $100 for the rusted antique, seeing a lot of promise in the pics, and drove 1 1/2 hrs to pick it up.

[badtheba]

Here it is as found. These are the CL listing pics, except for the trailer one:

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[badtheba]

And here is how it sits in my garage now, with some mild initial cleanup. I've moved everything on the way tubes as little as possible until I get some Evapo-rust I ordered at my wife's work (a True Value hardware store). But I have been disassembling things a bit at a time mainly for inspection, but also to correct any small issues I find.

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As you might pick out from these pics, I had to bend one of the leg supports straight and put new longer lag bolts in all the way around to stabilize the thing. It was wobbly and rocking around and the wheels on one end wouldn't lift high enough to roll it. I was considering just making a new bench or turning it into a dedicated drill press with a small square base. I found out it was because the leg on one end was bent in from the brackets being bent and disconnected, so now it is fairly rigid and I think I will end up keeping the bench, or at least the legs and making a new slab to similar dimensions.

[badtheba]

One of the first things I found out was that the power cord was shorted before the switch. The insulation was all cracked off and the wires were twisted together. After unscrewing the dust cap on the motor, I found the short wire was in the same condition. I ended up using some scavenged parts to make a new cord and ground the machine but still make it serviceable for future changes. Then I started thinking about using a treadmill motor, so now that's in the back of my mind too. I used to work at a bike/fitness shop and at times they have decent treadmills heading for the dumpster, with 2-3HP larger motors in them. I'll keep hanging around that shop until something shows up.

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[badtheba]

After I got the thing running and could listen to the motor and bearings (everything spun fine by hand with no play, but I know enough to know that doesn't mean it will be quiet), I moved on a little at a time, trying to figure out what I had. I looked up the jointer attachment and found from other posts here that the headrest I have is supposedly rare. So now I am being a lot more careful around it. I might not have tied a strap around that part while on the trailer had I known. Then after finding out what drove the jointer, I deduced that the pulley setup I have may not be what came from the factory, but could be part of the jointer kit, with the triple pulley being replaced. Others may know more about how this would have originally come, but you can see from this pic that there are two step down bushings to get down to the motor shaft size.

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I took the jointer cutter head out for inspection, as it was full of cobwebs and I couldn't really clean anything out while in the unit. The jointer and its table is by far in the worst shape of any of the parts.

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Here's after wire wheel treatment, and having a neighbor with a grinding business sharpen the blades.

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It will probably be a bit before I get the jointer back together, as I'm making a list of all the bearings I'll need to pick up. I tried repacking these but I can feel a small hitch in the outer one, so that made up my mind to just go all new everywhere and not bother repacking any more. One good thing, there is a really good bearing supplier near me that I just contacted today, and they said they stock or can get any Fafnir bearing I want, so I should be able to save on shipping. BTW, my neighbor only charged me $8 for sharpening. As there were nicks in each blade in the same spot, I didn't want to bother sharpening them myself the first time.

[badtheba]

The first real damage I've found is this broken tab on the headstock. There appears to be a small tool mark above it, and almost looks like a hint of paint over the break, so my first thought was it was intentionally removed. However that doesn't make much sense because it's not in the way of anything. At any rate, it didn't seem to affect the grip of the return spring housing locking in place much. I only took it apart this far because the spring was sort of packed with sawdust.

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I documented how I figured I would rewind the spring and place it back into the housing here: http://shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maintenan ... 20957.html

[badtheba]

I worked the tables ever so slightly with a ROS at my old boss's shop, but can't really do much about the deep scratches.

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However I was able to adequately correct one issue that bugged me, the fact that the insert mine came with was humped up in the middle. I placed the ends over two boards, placed a long narrow piece of plywood over the whole thing, then tapped with a light hammer until it was close. Now it fits perfectly flush.

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[rpd]

I worked the tables ever so slightly with a ROS at my old boss's shop, but can't really do much about the deep scratches.

Nice work so far.

I cleaned one of my tables with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It got the dirt out of the scratches and lightened it up a few shades. Use it damp, I did it dry and it made a lot of fine dust , I guess the saw table wore it down faster than most household surfaces.

I notice you are posting photos that are hosted on Photobucket. It is better if you download them to this site, as we have had problems in the past with photos hosted on other sites going away when the service was shut down or the terms of service were changed. This thread will be a valuable resource for years to come and it would be a shame if the photos went away.

[badtheba]

I notice you are posting photos that are hosted on Photobucket. It is better if you download them to this site, as we have had problems in the past with photos hosted on other sites going away when the service was shut down or the terms of service were changed. This thread will be a valuable resource for years to come and it would be a shame if the photos went away.

I guess I have had that happen before, when Google shut down Picasa web. How long am I able to edit posts for, because I'm nowhere near the computer I posted from now. I guess I did it this way so I wouldn't have to worry about file size limits, etc. I guess I could do a bulk resize in Irfan View if needed

[badtheba]

Another thing I found and corrected was that one of the saw table support rods was only inserted to half of the set screw, so the end of the screw could easily have popped off the top of the rod.

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One thing I found amazing, knowing literally nothing about these machines, is that they are one of the easiest things I have ever come across to work on. These things were made to be worked on with the simplest tools. I'm glad I have access to a bearing press, but other than that I've had to use no specially tools. I'm sure that's not news to all here, but it's surprised me!