Shopsmith Forums

Greetings,

Can anyone help me out here, I do not have a manual and need to know the speed settings on the lathe. I am getting ready to turn a face plate bowl, I have sawn off the square edges and now need to round the work, but not sure what speed to start at.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Kenny

Generally when rounding a bowl you want to turn very slowly. There are charts that recommend specific speeds but they are only guidelines. When I do bowls larger than 6" I use the Shopsmith speed reducer. I found the following on various Internet sites.

Adjust your Turning Speed for the Stock Size: As a general rule, the larger the piece of stock, the slower the speed that the lathe motor should spin. Turning a very thin piece of stock for a pen can be rotated much faster than an eight-inch piece of stock for turning a bowl. Remember to set the speed of the lathe before turning on the lathe motor. Failure to adhere to this rule can result in a rather large projectile.

The actual speed of the lathe depends on type of wood, a diameter of stock, nature of work being done and type of tool used.

I've attached a pdf file that will give you the information you need for all the modes of operation. Also, if you don't have it already, there is a decal available from SS that shows the lathe speeds. It goes on the front of the headstock.

Thank you for the PDF file

Kenny

One page charts of the Shopsmith speeds I found in an old catalog. One is just the Shopsmith and the other has the Shopsmith and the speed reducer. I printed them out on card stock and put them up on the wall of my shop.

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Jim in Tucson