Shopsmith Forums

Good morning everyone, my name is Lucas. My dad and I are restoring an old 10er that his grandfather had given him. The way tubes have been cleaned of rust but there is serious pitting. Im not really mechanically inclined (electrician here) but is machining a few thousandth of an inch off a bad idea? I've seen threads on here where people use sand paper to remove pitting, but wont that leave uneven thickness? Pardon my ignorance, this isnt my area of expertise. Thanks for you help.

LucasP wrote:Good morning everyone, my name is Lucas. My dad and I are restoring an old 10er that his grandfather had given him. The way tubes have been cleaned of rust but there is serious pitting. Im not really mechanically inclined (electrician here) but is machining a few thousandth of an inch off a bad idea? I've seen threads on here where people use sand paper to remove pitting, but wont that leave uneven thickness? Pardon my ignorance, this isnt my area of expertise. Thanks for you help.

I would not be concerned by pits unless it was very severe(and therefore not practical to 'fix'). There is considerable bearing surface on the castings that should bridge most pits.

I would clean the tubes without significant material removal, treat with penetrol(to seal the pits)(let it dry thoroughly) and then wax and move on.

I use sandpaper when cleaning up the way tubes. It is very fine sandpaper (600 or higher) to polish the tubes and not remove the surface. Pitting will not affect the use of the way tubes as much as

machining a few thousandth of an inch off

per your suggestion.

The fit on the parts to the way tubes have very close tolerances and some pitting would have less of an effect than changing those tolerances.

I am of a different school of tolerance on these tubes. First a few thousands of an inch is not going to affect the operation of this machine one way or another. The tubes themselves don't have that kind of accuracy (I have checked all 5 of my 10ER's tube thickness's and they all vary, some by as much as ten thousands. Second, the tubes create a reference plane. The headstock and the table reference each other from that plane, and thirdly, the Morse taper is adjustable for a reason. My rebuild threads show my methods. My tubes are like mirrors (or chrome like the new ones) and the machines work perfect. Are pits bad? Of course not, and they also hold wax LOL. I wouldn't be too concerned about "taking too much" material off as long as you try to take the same amount off each (again a few thousands difference between tubes is not going to make a difference). Everything is adjustable to the change(s)

As always JMHO.