Maintenance under severe use

[scollins]

I am pretty good at keeping my Mark V oiled, waxed and blown out. I am just about finished with a project that required turning 57 replacement balusters. I have put a minimum of 38-45 hours on it over the past week and still have (2) more balusters and (87) 6" riser blocks that require a chamfer to transition to the baluster connection to turn. I have oiled it every morning before starting (lower shaft at the sheave spring hole and under the name plate cover on the top shaft. During breaks for my body to recover and a rest for the Mark V, I have found some new You tube videos that I have somehow missed that were apparently produced by former Shopsmith techs. I also have another head that suddenly developed an issue that I have not cracked the cover to investigate. A friend offered me his for a jaw dropping deal so didn't need to rush on that problem. I noticed this morning that there is a recommendation to pop the plug and oil the motor shaft. Totally missed that one and will have to check it out when I get back to the shop.

Is there anyone else that puts theirs to task as I have this week? I have a good understanding of what is going on with the SS, but watching My Growth Rings this week and spending so much time on it has really caused me to put extra thought into caring for it. Have a big custom lathe that I do all of my not spindle turning on but prefer the SS for spindles. Just can't figure out why lathe and drill press manufactures don't copy the carriage and tool rest set up. I just leave the carriage unlocked and slide it with my thigh as I am turning long spindles.

[chapmanruss]

scollins,

From what I read above you are doing a good job of maintaining your Mark V. You said

I have oiled it every morning before starting (lower shaft at the sheave spring hole and under the name plate cover on the top shaft.

Doing that and some dry lubricant on the Speed Control is the recommended lubrication maintenance. You also said

I noticed this morning that there is a recommendation to pop the plug and oil the motor shaft.

Other than having a motor that does NOT have permanently lubricated sealed bearings needing periodic oil added I am not sure what this recommendation is referring to. Most motors supplied with the Shopsmith Mark tools have permanently lubricated sealed bearing motors. The only exception I have seen is one of the motors I have for a Mark 2.

Below is the motor with the oil cover for lubricating the motor shaft and has the flip open caps on both ends.

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Oil Port.jpg (85.94 KiB) Viewed 1061 times

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Below is the same type of motor with sealed bearings.

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Sealed Bearings.jpg (81.32 KiB) Viewed 1061 times

[john_001]

The two sleeves that you lubricate on the motor and intermediate shafts only slide back and forth as you change speeds, so they shouldn't need any extra lubrication. There's no friction there when the motor is running at a constant speed. Be careful about overdoing the lube so it sprays onto the belts.

[scollins]

Don't have any oiling ports on my motor. It is a 1-1/8 hp, I believe about 1983 or '86. The "pop the motor cord plug and apply oil" is actually on the SS oil maintenance instruction page. I didn't make it to the shop yesterday before I had to go to work at Woodcraft so haven't checked. Probably will wait until I open up my other motor unit that quit on me. Too much customer work to finish. Never hurts to have another opinion.

[JPG]

"pop the plug and oil the motor shaft."

I assume that is referring to the hole plug on the M5 belt cover and the floating sheave shaft on the motor.

[chapmanruss]

I noticed this morning that there is a recommendation to pop the plug and oil the motor shaft.

JPG, That's it!

For a time there was a plug cover for the access hole in the Belt Cover between the Way Tubes for lubricating the Motor Shaft. It began in 1956 with the Greenies and can be seen in the picture below of a Goldie Belt Cover. The hole with the plug was later discontinued. That recommendation from the quote above would only be found in manuals beginning with the October 1956, the 6th edition of the Owner's Guide, covering the time the hole with the plug was in the Belt Cover. This was not a very good way of lubricating the Motor Shaft Sheave. It is better to remove the 2 screws (6 for some Greenies) holding the Belt Cover on and slide the Belt Cover out of the way to access the oil hole in the Motor Shaft sheave. With the Belt Cover out of the way this is also a good time to clean out any saw dust and debris that may have collected inside the Headstock.

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Goldie Belt Cover.jpg (136.41 KiB) Viewed 934 times