Shopsmith Forums

Hello all,

First time posting. I recently picked up a loghtly used model Mark V to supplement my old cast iron one with the greenie motor. In the process of going through it, I found the housing was cracked right where one of the screw holes for the speed control unit attaches. The missing piece did not come with the unit, so I’m considering the following three options: 1) Do nothing. It seems to move ok with just the two that are in there now; 2) drill and thread a new hole nearby; 3) weld and grind a patch of some sort. Full disclosure - I’m not great at this, so it would be ugly. If I go this route, does anyone have any idea what kind of metal I’m working with. It seems light like aluminum, but it can’t be, right?

Thanks for any help or insight!

It is aluminum. It can be welded or brazed although I'm not sure that's a good idea on the headstock. If you have clearance I'd rivet, bolt, or glue in a backer piece to hold whatever else is needed to work. Not sure if there's much room for that.

JustTinkering,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum.

You are not the first person to have this problem. The simplest solution is to put a washer and nut on the screw from the inside of the Headstock. This will clamp the Speed Control Assembly in place at that point. You may need to get a longer screw to replace the original to have enough length for the additional washer and nut.