Shopsmith Forums

My belt sander is from the mid 70's with serial number SS 2535. There is significant rust from years of neglect.
Looking at the online parts list... somethings are no longer available. I think that I could spend a considerable amount in repair and not have a working belt sander.

Any suggestions from the forum?

Attach pictures.

If rust is quite severe and keys are out of production, then, probably, it will be cheaper to replace it. However if you are passionate about it or like fixing tools, then it might turn out to be a good project.

rrschlue,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum.

You are correct that many parts are listed "not available" in the repair parts section here on the Shopsmith Website. Since the 6" Belt Sander is still made parts have to be available to make them. I cannot explain why so many parts for current tools are listed "not available" in the parts catalog. It might take a call to Customer Service to get some parts.

Your Belt Sander would have to be in very poor condition, besides the rust, to make it not worthwhile to restore. A new 6" Belt Sander is $649.95 and that amount of money can buy a lot of parts. As JPG said if you can post some pictures, it would give us a better idea of what you may need to replace and what can be restored. Rust is most common on the Back-up Plate and the Table assembly. There are other places rust may be present too. If the rust has not pitted the surfaces, then the rust can be removed and the part used. Even a little pitting on a part is okay in many cases. It does depend on if you want functional or have it like new again.

Damage to parts is another issue. The Belt Sander shown below is one I refurbished that has damage to the Outer Frame and less damage to the Right-Side Frame caused by poor tracking while used by a previous owner. The Frame damage did not keep it from working properly. This Belt Sander had a bent Idler Drum which did have to be replaced.

_ .
If you find you need parts that Shopsmith cannot provide there is the used market. The Belt Sander has been around since 1955, 20 years before your Belt Sander was made. There hasn't been a lot of changes to the Belt Sander since it's introduction. One change I would recommend is upgrading the Dust Chute to the 2-1/2" Dust Chute from the original 1-1/4" Dust Chute yours would have come with when new, if it hasn't been done already. The Belt Sander above still has the 1-1/4" Dust Chute in the picture.

Hopefully you have the Owner's Guide for your Belt Sander. Unfortunately, in the manuals list here on the Shopsmith website it is listed as not available but there are PDF's of older manuals available for free if you need one.

If I can find the parts to rebuild, that would complete my restoration of the original equipment my father purchased.

There's a good video out in YouTube where Nick Engler strips and rebuilds one of these. It's not HD quality video but worth watching.

The frame itself is really a very simple thing.

I can see you are going to need a new drive drum and I suspect you will probably want a new idler drum (I rebuilt one and tried to clean and lube the idler drum and it never had the proper tension until I bought a new idler drum from Shopsmith).

If the table is missing you may be able to source one from ebay.

Table is in second pix.

Where is the "rust"?

Doesn't look that bad. May need new rollers. If the platen is rusty enough on the top would be worth replacing too.

JPG wrote: ↑Fri Nov 22, 2024 10:09 pm Table is in second pix.

Right!

JPG wrote: ↑Fri Nov 22, 2024 10:09 pm Where is the "rust"?

Drive hub. Maybe platen?

I'd hit those with Evaporust. Should be good as new.

The last picture shows that the sanding belt got off track by the end of the drive drum and ate into the cast aluminum frame a little but. This doesn't should not impact the structural integrity or operation of the belt sander. I'd probably take a file or some sand paper and smooth any sharp edges.

These belt sanders are very simple. New bearings, new idler drum, new drive drum, and the thing will be as good as new and a fair bit cheaper than new.