Shopsmith Forums

I have been disappointed with both the rip fences that came with my used Greenie and Gray that I got last month. The knobs on both fences were difficult to turn, and I was never sure if the fence was securely mounted to the table.

Last night I sprayed the hidden parts good with WD 40 and let them sit for an hour or two. Then I took them apart, cleaned off any rust, put on some wax, and put them back together.

I could not believe the difference. Now they tighten easily with just a thumb and finger, and it is easy to tell they are securely on the table. If you bought a used machine, or if you are struggling with your rip fence, maybe you just need to give it a good cleaning.

Jerry Floren
St. Peter, MN

One thing that I have learned about the SS is that lots of problems can be avoided with good mainatence and keeping it clean and waxed.

What did you wax?

nllaeder wrote:What did you wax?

The unthreaded part of the tightening 'bolt'????? The spring??? The exterior??

I polished and waxed the exterior, the tightening rod, and the threads on the rod. I did not wax the spring or the tube that slides into the fence. That tube surprised the heck out of me; I did not know where it came from. I took out the rod, and almost by magic there was a cylinder (tube) on the rod.

If you unscrew the rod there are three washers, a spring, and that cylinder that ends up on the rod when you pull it out of the fence. Putting it back together is pretty easy, which is not often the case when springs are involved. Just put the tube back on the rod and slide it just into the fence and through a washer (before the fence latch). Then put second washer on the rod just as it passes the latch. Next is the spring. Slightly compress the spring so you can thread on the final washer.

I had to compress the back latch (and I did not take this area apart) to get the threads on the rod started in the hole on the back of the fence. The rod goes through the end of the fence when it is fully assembled.

The rod on my 1955 Greenie was bare metal and had some rust that polished up fine. My 1980 Gray had a black coated rod and tube and did not need polishing.

Jerry Floren
St. Peter, MN

[quote="bluekayak"]I polished and waxed the exterior, the tightening rod, and the threads on the rod. I did not wax the spring or the tube that slides into the fence. That tube surprised the heck out of me]

fwiw that 'black coating' is black oxide. It will rust. Wax it also.

Thanks for the reminder JPG. I did wax the black rod, but it was in much better shape than the bare metal rod, which I had to polish first to remove the rust. I did not see any rust on the black rod. That fence with the black rod is from my Gray, and it is 25 years newer. The Gray also had very little use.

Jerry Floren
St. Peter, MN