Shopsmith Forums

Any of you who own more then one Shopsmith headstock ever notice a difference in them?

As far as smooth speed control up and down that is.

Currently I have 3 complete headstocks.. Two are the newer style with newer type switch and one is an older style from the 80’s. Could it be me or is there really a difference in the smoothness of operations between years?

I have kept them all maintained routinely and checked belt tension… and they all look alike on the insides but the old 80’s model just seems to out perform the newer style. Smoother transitions from slow to fast and back to slow. Even at high speed the older headstock sounds smoother.

I have been looking and fine tuning everything on the newer headstocks to try and match things up but just can’t seem to achieve the same results

One more little interesting thing.. The 80’s headstock is 11 ounces heavier… Must be the different paint and the all metal switch.

In summary, just wondering if anyone else has noticed any difference between older 80’s models through current productions..

I was told be SS that the old Greenie headstock was even heavier.

beeg wrote:I don't have a newer one, but has the pork chops on the newer ones been lube lately.

You know, I did compare the differences between the geared porkchop thingie and the worm gear and found that the older headstock has a better fit finish. It's casted the same as the newer ones but has been perfected for a better fit finish. Guess I'll be cleaning up the newer porkchops..

Recent production increases has somewhat relaxed quality control I would guess.

The speed control on my old greenie has always been easier to turn than the newer poly V that I bought.
I always chaulked it up to the fact that the old guy that had it for all those years maintained it well. i bought a new speed control to keep on hand just in case the newer one fails me but maintenance seems to have it working well these days.

doug45601 wrote:You know, I did compare the differences between the geared porkchop thingie and the worm gear and found that the older headstock has a better fit finish. It's casted the same as the newer ones but has been perfected for a better fit finish. Guess I'll be cleaning up the newer porkchops..

Recent production increases has somewhat relaxed quality control I would guess.

Ahh! Another user noticing 'finish' difference between new/old.

Hi,

I always tinker more than necessary. And I've had my newer headstock fully apart and back together already in these past 2 years. Anyway -- something interesting found today:

The newer headstock would have a bit of idler-bearing "knock" right after shutting off the power and everything spooled-down. In fact you can hear Nick's machine(s) do this on the Sawdust Sessions, so I assumed it was normal. But the older headstock was quieter in these conditions. What got me looking further was more Poly-V belt-squeal in the newer unit, even when turning the spindles by hand.

Today I used my own judgment on where the newer-headstock Poly V belt should register in the drive-sleeve-assembly grooves (Belt service instructions give specific different grooves for older and newer headstock designs). On the type C newer headstock, I moved one groove over from instructions and it made the Poly V belt clearly more vertical in orientation. And -- it made the squeal go away. And -- it made the spool-down idler-bearing "knock" go away.

So I'm thinking both units are *very* smooth now. And bearing temperatures are more consistent (cooler) now.

nuhobby wrote:Hi,

I always tinker more than necessary. And I've had my newer headstock fully apart and back together already in these past 2 years. Anyway -- something interesting found today:

The newer headstock would have a bit of idler-bearing "knock" right after shutting off the power and everything spooled-down. In fact you can hear Nick's machine(s) do this on the Sawdust Sessions, so I assumed it was normal. But the older headstock was quieter in these conditions. What got me looking further was more Poly-V belt-squeal in the newer unit, even when turning the spindles by hand.

Today I used my own judgment on where the newer-headstock Poly V belt should register in the drive-sleeve-assembly grooves (Belt service instructions give specific different grooves for older and newer headstock designs). On the type C newer headstock, I moved one groove over from instructions and it made the Poly V belt clearly more vertical in orientation. And -- it made the squeal go away. And -- it made the spool-down idler-bearing "knock" go away.

So I'm thinking both units are *very* smooth now. And bearing temperatures are more consistent (cooler) now.

Which groove are you now operating in? Which direction did you move?

A photo would be neat.

Hi dusty,

I think SWMBO will kill me if I open those headstocks again in the next 3 weeks, so no photos just now.... Anyway, the belt instructions said to start the Poly-V in the 2nd groove away from the switch/quill side for a "C" headstock, and in the 3rd groove away on the older headstocks. With my "C" unit I could look down and see that the Poly-V belt barely wasn't "flat" as it wrapped the idler shaft. Very subtle such that I thought it could be a belt trimming problem or something. But then I tried re-registering the belt to the 3rd groove of the drive-sleeve, and the situation improved in all regards, as noted.

What is different in a 'C' headstock to require different poly-v belt alignment to the upper/output shaft pulley????