Shopsmith Forums

I have a unit purchased in about 1992 and not used significantly until recently. I have been using it for a variety of projects and was cutting 1.5 inch maple and had a difficult time cutting without the motor bogging down (to the point of stopping). It would cut verrryyyy sloowwwlllyyyy but I gave up after 15 minutes make 4 cuts in a 24 inch piece of maple.

Any idea if this is normal and I have reached the ability of the machine or do I need to service in some manner?

Thanks,

Moeszu

I would check the blade, your machine should have the larger motor and I can't think of what else would cause the issue. If you said the arbor is slipping not the motor is stalling I might look elsewhere.

It might be worth checking the alignment of the Shopsmith, you didn't say if you were using the rip fence or the miter gauge, but either may cause problems binding if the machine is out of alignment.

Moving the Shopsmith to a different place on an unlevel surface could cause it to rack enough to cause binding in a cut. My shop floor is not very level but I don't have problems, so you can move the Shopsmith around. Some people check the way tubes with a level to see if both ends are close to the same position they were when it was aligned.

Jim in Tucson

You didn't say if you're ripping or crosscutting. If ripping, be sure you're using a good combo or rip blade. Also, be sure you're plugged in to a 20 amp circuit and if using an extension cord make sure it is a beefy one, at least 12 gauge. Also, consider using a thin kerf blade.

Is the blade sharp????????
Or loaded with pitch??
I have done some heavy ripping with mine with no problems.

Question - Was the motor bogging down or was the saw blade slowing down?

If the motor was bogging down, your problem is most likely a dull blade or a mis-aligned blade as posted above.

If the motor was turning and the saw blade stopping (maybe also smelled hot rubber) then the poly V belt is loose enough to slip and needs to be tightened. You do this by turning the eccentric at the upper rear spindle. (The one that attaches to band saw and belt sander.)

Also I have to ask about your speed control. Is it working properly so your high speed setting gives the drive belt 1/8" to the outside of the lower sheaves? If you were running at a lower speed than "O" on the speed dial - that also may be a problem.

God luck in finding your problem. If everything is adjusted properly and the saw blade is sharp - it shouldn't happen!

Thanks for the responses. This will give me several items to check. I was ripping, it did seem like the blade (and not the moror) speed was what slowed down, the speed control seems to be working fine and I had the same problem when attempting (process was not successful) to resaw a piece of 3/4inch maple rather than plane down 3/4 stock to 1/4 (seems like a big waste of wood to plane off 1/2 inch).

Moeszu

I had experienced a similar situation as you had mentioned. I purchased my SS in 1993 and had used it very little for about 10 years or so and from it just sitting the belts apparently aged and I ended up actually having one of the pulley belts break and locked up my machine by jamming against the pulley as I was ripping some plywood. Also I originally used a 12 gauge extension cord to run power to my shop and didn’t realize I was experiencing voltage drop until I ran some 10 gauge separate circuits, of which one is exclusively for the 520, and that made a big difference in the power. I was fortunate that I had not used it much, as I could have done some serious damage to the motor.

Hi, Moeszu -
According to the manual, re-sawing on the Shopsmith table saw is an approved operation. However in order to re-saw (saw a slot, 3" deep), the saw must be aligned and sharp. Since you haven't used your SS until recently, I wondered if you have the manual that came with it. Please don't take offense, but I took this liberty to include PDFs of two of the Shopsmith maintenance manuals on line. Maybe they will help. If you don't need them - all the better!

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/prod ... e_1_10.pdf
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/prod ... cement.pdf

Moeszu - I had another thought! (that in itself can be dangerous;) ). Did you check to see if your saw blade is mounted frontwards? The teeth gotta be pointing toward the front of the table. This may sound stupid, but it has happened!

Good luck getting the thing fixed!