New owner of an older machine.

[larryfoster]

First, thank you for providing this great resource.

From my father-in-law's estate, I negotiated his old Shopsmith.
It seems to be a Mark V-B from August 1985; Ser.# 206625.Guessing it hasn't been run in around 20 years (or more)
The property has been vacant almost that long and became quite dilapidated.
The garage/shop's roof started leaking and the roof collapsed over the Shopsmith.

Through all of that it was in surprisingly fair shape.
I've had it home for a couple days and have spent most of the time just cleaning.
Today, I decided to be a little daring and see if it would run. Everything seemed to turn by hand.
First couple tried I tripped a breaker so I got out the old 3 in 1 oil nd was liberal in using it around the sheaves.
That seemed to work and runs like a top.

The speed control turns hard so I have to work on that.

What is the best way to clean up the tables? They and the fence have some corrosion.
The bottom tubes had some rust but the tubes that the head moves on were pretty good.
I tried Dawn Power wash but not sure that's what I should have used even though it took a lot of the rust off those rails.

I put some wax with carnuba on all the rails.

Lastly, I'd like to get an Owner's Manual.
I do have the Home Workshop manual.

Look forward to learning and, maybe, helping out here.

[br549]

Welcome to the forum.

Your experience and questions are typical of a new-to-me owner, and while it is tempting to try to provide specific answers to some of your specific questions, I would recommend first delving into the vast amount of knowledge already available. At the top of this Maintenance and Repair Forum are threads that are "stickies" ... threads that always remain near the top due to their importance. Those should provide a good start.

Owner's Manuals are a slightly different story. Shopsmith offers manuals for sale of the current models (and maybe some of the more recently discontinued models.) Be wary of buying used manuals off of auction sites ... they may be bootleg copies and overpriced for what you get.

And finally, pictures would help us better understand which model you have. Posting photos is a little tricky, but help can be found in another "sticky" in the Community Forum.

[larryfoster]

Thanks for the suggestions and advice, br549.
I saw those stickies and plan to use them as I encounter each problem.

My current one is the Speed Control.
(While the motor was running) I was working the Speed Control dial and it was very stiff.
I opened up the back and sprayed some air and some Blaster.

It finally got easy at the higher ends still stiff as I went lower.
I noticed the middle pulley wasn't turning and the belt was loose.

May need some more oil on that sheave.
It seems I have to take the belt off to get at it.

[JPG]

Going towards slow will be stiff normally due to squeeze being applied to the motor belt. The control sheave MUST be free to function properly.

[larryfoster]

Thanks for all the patience.
I don't mean to be a pain in the butt but I am good at it.

I think I got the speed control working but the speed only goes up to J,K, or L on the dial
Then the pulley stops working.
It looks like the gear runs out of teeth so I assume that's all the faster mine goes?

Also, I'm having trouble with a lot of trouble of the links in the repair post at the top.
Is it me?

[chapmanruss]

Good morning larryfoster,

Your Mark V serial number 206625 was made in August 1985. It's been around a while.

Right now, patience will help in getting it running in top shape. Don't force anything and follow recommended maintenance to get it working smoothly. It may help to remove the Speed Control Assembly from the Headstock to get it cleaned up and properly lubricated. It sounds like it may be out of adjustment too.

Since you don't have the Owner's Manual for it you can download a PDF Owner's Manual for the Mark V 520S from here on the Shopsmith website at the link below. The Headstock for the Mark V 520S like all Mark V models is the same. Maintenance and Lubrication is the same and alignment is similar. Page D-8 (93 overall) has cleaning the Speed Control instructions.

https://www.shopsmith.com/_files/ugd/d5 ... 380082.pdf

If desired, you can purchase the MARK V 500 Owner's Manual and Reference Guide part number 845435 from Shopsmith for $29.99. It will be the latest version but nearly the same parts wise as your Mark V. Your Mark V started out with the original Table System the 500, according to the serial number, but could have been upgraded at some point. If so, you may want a different manual to match the Table/Fence System it has. It is the Table/Fence System that determines which model it currently is. Beyond that it is still important to know when any particular Mark was made. Changes have occurred over the year to other parts of the tool examples are the Headstock and Bench.

The topics at the top of the Maintenance and Repair section started some time ago and some links no longer work as changes were made to the website.

If you have questions, you cannot find the answers to in other topics, ask them here.

Post a picture of your Mark V and we can better help you with specific information for you Model.

[br549]

I have reported broken links before and the Administrator was able to fix them. Links to cloud based photo storage sites may not be fixable ... hence it is better to post pictures directly here, even with the size restrictions and other quirks.

[larryfoster]

Thanks, Russ and br549.
I'm trying to not rush things because of how long the machine sat idle.
I'll see if I can get some pics.

Thanks for the link to the pdf manual

[DLB]

I think I got the speed control working but the speed only goes up to J,K, or L on the dial
Then the pulley stops working.
It looks like the gear runs out of teeth so I assume that's all the faster mine goes?

When it looks like the gear (aka pork chop or speed control quadrant) runs out of teeth this is hopefully the mechanical high speed limit (a long set screw) limiting the travel of the pork chop. If the motor sheaves have closed such that the V-belt is riding 1/16" to 1/8" in from the outside of the pulley then that is all probably working correctly, you are achieving a high speed, and you just have an indicator dial error. (Should be on FAST at the stop.) Similarly, at the other end of the range, you should hit a SLOW stop (not adjustable) and the belt should be very near the outside rim of the Idler sheaves, possibly riding slightly proud of the rim of the sheaves. The indicator should be somewhere near SLOW, but yours likely isn't.

If that is all working right or close to it, you can set the high speed limit, if needed, and correct the dial indication by performing a "high speed adjustment." You should be able to find that on the forum with a search.

To protect your machine, it is imperative to get it so speed adjustment is smooth and easy. Some of the speed adjustment parts are not robust and can be damaged if you are applying a lot of force to the speed control. The key is easy movement of the Control Sheave as it slides on the Idler shaft and the Floating Sheave as it slides on the motor shaft (under spring tension). Sometimes lubrication is not sufficient and these parts need to be disassembled and cleaned before lubrication.

- David

[larryfoster]

Thank you, David.
I'm not the most mechanically adept person so I approach this with trepidation.

I've been watching a bunch of YouTube videos.