Shopsmith Forums

This was a banner Xmas - I received both a free (and partially rusty) barbell weight set from my neighbors, and a shopsmith flexible shaft purchased through eBay from my wife. So to combine the two I placed the rather large wire wheel I got with my 10er and made short work of the rust on the weight set.

I stayed very close to the switch in case anything happened, with glasses and mask - but overall it was easy and I think did a marvelous job. The harder to reach crenelations and corners I got with a smaller wire brush on my hand drill. A thin wipe of 3-in-1 oil afterwards.

Overall, I'm very happy with the results. Now to go churn ice cream?



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The ice cream comment made me laugh! But I'm impressed with the rust removal capabilities!

I did not know Shopsmith ever sold a flex drive shaft. Some questions:

Did you get any Shopsmith instructions with it?
Who manufactured that shaft?
Is there a provision for lube? Grease or oil?

My experience with these type of shafts are that they are notoriously difficult to re-lubricate, can only be run in one rotary direction, and are speed limited.

Steve: Good questions - all of which are answered in John Dalton's informative post below (I'm still learning/reading up myself).

viewtopic.php?p=299201#p299201

Scott

algale wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2023 8:22 am The ice cream comment made me laugh! But I'm impressed with the rust removal capabilities!

I never forgot that Life cover you posted years ago -- wotta Rube Goldberg of pending disaster that was!

Scott,

You found a project where the Flex Shaft shines. Handy for getting places a wire wheel cannot mounted to a motor or Headstock.

As for Steve's questions you already answered most of them with the link to John's post. The Magna Flex Shaft came out around 1950 and had been preceded by a Flex Shaft Adapter. The Flex Shaft Adapter has a 5/8" bore with a 1/2" shaft to use Flex Shafts that were available from other manufacturers at the time. Similar non-Magna Flex Shaft Adapters were available around that time too. About 1950 Magna came out with their own Flex Shaft. The attachment end on theirs is different than those of other manufacturers of the day having their 5/8" reverse tapered shaft, the same as the Headstock's Spindle. Not shown in John's pictures is the hole for the oil to be added into. Sorry I don't have a picture of that either and would have to find the Flex Shafts in the shop to take one. Still sorting out things from the move. Besides the Magna Flex Shafts, I have a Craftsman Flex Shaft. It has a 1/2" bore to connect to a motor (a popular way to use them) and the other end is threaded.

If you look at the early 1954 through 1956 Owner's Guides (1st edition through 6th) it shows the Flex Shaft in use on a Mark V Greenie. Page 17 or 19 depending on which early Owner's Guide Version you check. It is also mentioned in later Model 10ER Owner's Guides.

Here are some pics of the shaft showing one of the oil holes.

So... has anyone found a flex shaft adaptor for a 5/8" spindle? I was thinking of something smaller scale like the flex shafts for hanging Dremel type tools. I'd like to use carving bits with it and attach it in drill press mode so the shaft doesn't have to bend as much like with the hanging models. There are flex shafts available, but I can't find details on the adaptors and I'm not clear how one would attach to a headstock.

Are the ends of these shafts you have found that would attach to the spindle male or female and what size?

A lot of them have an 1/8" rectangular end to the inner rotating shaft. That part usually is just a pressure fit into an opening in the end of the spindle. The outer non-rotating sheath usually has a female connector that screws onto fitting that's part of the motor. I don't know how the Shopsmith version attached to the 10ER. I have also seen units with a female coupling at the end of the inner rotating shaft. I think that's how the heavier shafts attach.