Shopsmith Forums

I have one 5/8" saw blade arbor with a 40 tooth blade mounted. I am unable to loosen the collar nut in order to exchange for a rip blade. I have tried penetrating oil, but no loosening after 30 minute wait. I am concerned that the edges of the collar nut will round over and that blade will be non-removable. It has been mounted for several years with infrequent usage and stored in a dry location. Just as a reminder, please confirm that the loosening maneuver is clockwise facing the nut i.e. similar to the Shopsmith 1" mounts.

Gerald B

Problem solved, no reply requested. I mounted the collar nut in a vise and used a crescent wrench on the longer mounting column, then loosened in a counter clockwise direction with slow sustained pressure. The mount to the Shopsmith drive arbor allows a safer removal as it is thicker than the collar nut.

gwg wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 11:31 am Problem solved, no reply requested. I mounted the collar nut in a vise and used a crescent wrench on the longer mounting column, then loosened in a counter clockwise direction with slow sustained pressure.

That's exactly how to do it.

Better yet, just pick up some extra arbors. One for each blade you use. They show op on eBay all the time. Makes blade changes a snap.

jsburger wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:06 pm Better yet, just pick up some extra arbors. One for each blade you use. They show op on eBay all the time. Makes blade changes a snap.

Agreed. I'm just highlighting that if you need to loosen a stubborn arbor nut then mounting it on a bench vise or some other fixture is a safer approach than juggling a pair of wrenches.

edma194 wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:11 pm

jsburger wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:06 pm Better yet, just pick up some extra arbors. One for each blade you use. They show op on eBay all the time. Makes blade changes a snap.

Agreed. I'm just highlighting that if you need to loosen a stubborn arbor nut then mounting it on a bench vise or some other fixture is a safer approach than juggling a pair of wrenches.

Absolutely, I totally agree with that. I have arbors for all my blades, but for you guys that don't. Why not loosen the nut with the arbor and blade still mounted on the SS? Would that not work just as well?

jsburger wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 5:17 pm

edma194 wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:11 pm

jsburger wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:06 pm Better yet, just pick up some extra arbors. One for each blade you use. They show op on eBay all the time. Makes blade changes a snap.

Agreed. I'm just highlighting that if you need to loosen a stubborn arbor nut then mounting it on a bench vise or some other fixture is a safer approach than juggling a pair of wrenches.

Absolutely, I totally agree with that. I have arbors for all my blades, but for you guys that don't. Why not loosen the nut with the arbor and blade still mounted on the SS? Would that not work just as well?

I have arbors for all my blades. But I also have two Shopsmith arbor wrenches. One came with the machine and I bought a second wrench. These work very well and I have never had an issue loosening a saw arbor nut with the arbor/blade mounted on the machine using a pair of Shopsmith arbor wrenches and because the Shopsmith arbor wrench is "right-sized" there's no monkeying around with a monkey wrench to get the right size.

A box end wrench works best on the nut.

JPG wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 10:57 pm A box end wrench works best on the nut.

I agree! Except that somewhere along the line our sponsor abandoned six-sided arbor nuts for saw arbors in favor of nuts with only two flats. Even the current version (510/520, at least) 1-1/4" arbor is made this way now. The design even interferes with a quality open-end wrench to some degree.

- David

Bummer! A quality open end wrench is still preferable to those stamped 'arbor wrenches'.