Shopsmith Forums

My mid-80's Shopsmith recently started making quite a bit of noise while running. I've done all of the normal lubrication which seems to help for a short while. When it starts getting real noisy, I can minimize the noise with a slight adjustment in speed, but after a couple of minutes the noise comes back. There are a couple of worn areas in the quadrant where it touches the shaft, and the retaining clip is missing. Any suggestions to help isolate where my noise is coming from? Thanks.....BB

bondoboat wrote:My mid-80's Shopsmith recently started making quite a bit of noise while running. I've done all of the normal lubrication which seems to help for a short while. When it starts getting real noisy, I can minimize the noise with a slight adjustment in speed, but after a couple of minutes the noise comes back. There are a couple of worn areas in the quadrant where it touches the shaft, and the retaining clip is missing. Any suggestions to help isolate where my noise is coming from? Thanks.....BB

The missing retaining clip to which you refer, are you talking about the one shown in the attached photo image?

[ATTACH]9130[/ATTACH]

Most likely the bearing in your control sheave is failing. My '83 vintage headstock needed this repair after about 10 years of use. This is a shielded bearing and when you put a few drops of oil in the small hole in the control sheave you are also lubricating this bearing. It may be that the original recommendation of a couple of drops of oil was not enough. This bearing is crimped in place and replacement would be difficult. The best remedy is a new control sheave assembly (515556).

I now have my '03 headstock torn down for repairs. Just for the heck of it I removed the control sheave and have noticed a slight amount of roughness in the bearing so I will replace it even tho it might run fine for several more years.

After replacement of the control sheave make it a habit to oil this part on a regular basis.

Yes, that is the missing clip.
BB

bondoboat wrote:Yes, that is the missing clip.
BB

With the clip missing, do you have speed control; i.e can you decrease and increase speed? I would expect the speed dial to function but I would not expect the speed to actually be changed!

Speed control works.

OKAY. Now I have slipped into the learning mode.

With the clip missing, how does the control sheave get moved into the slow position. I can see that it might just get pushed by the quadrant from slow speed to high speed....BUT....what moves it back from high speed to low speed with the clip removed.

Is it just the belt tension between the two sides of the sheave that pushes them apart????

If the answer is yes - then what is the real function of the spring clip????

dusty wrote:OKAY. Now I have slipped into the learning mode.

With the clip missing, how does the control sheave get moved into the slow position. I can see that it might just get pushed by the quadrant from slow speed to high speed....BUT....what moves it back from high speed to low speed with the clip removed.

Is it just the belt tension between the two sides of the sheave that pushes them apart????The force of the spring on the MOTOR pulley will cause the motor belt to move out towards the periphery of the pulley, this will in turn pull the motor belt deeper into the idler shaft pulley, thus pushing the control sheave towards the quadrant arm.

If the answer is yes - then what is the real function of the spring clip????The clip is a direct force to open up the idler pulley by pulling the control sheave. This has got to happen quicker than that described above.

Capisce??????

JPG40504 wrote:Capisce??????

So you are saying that the speed control will SORTA work without the clip being installed but that the clip is there to pull on the control sheave while moving from high speed to low speed.

Now is bondoboat can just find his Retaining Loop.

If it is no where to be found - the part number is 504187 (Retaining Loop) and it costs a whopping $1.62. If I was buying that, I would also purchase 513734, Roll Pin which adds only $.80 to the order.

Shipping will be several dollars more than the parts so I guess it might be time to browse the catalog.

dusty wrote:OKAY. Now I have slipped into the learning mode.

With the clip missing, how does the control sheave get moved into the slow position. I can see that it might just get pushed by the quadrant from slow speed to high speed....BUT....what moves it back from high speed to low speed with the clip removed.

Is it just the belt tension between the two sides of the sheave that pushes them apart????

If the answer is yes - then what is the real function of the spring clip????

Yes, it is the motor spring pushing on the floating sheave that controls the motor belt tension. As long as the motor floating sheave and control sheave are lubricated and slide easily, the spring clip does very little when going from SLOW to FAST. It keeps the control sheave button from spinning againest the quadrant and wearing a ridge in the flat metal part when going from FAST to SLOW. I find a few of headstocks operating without the retaining clip. The motor spring will always try to keep the motor belt tight when moving the quadrant. I find a couple headstocks where the control sheave bearing and button was pulled from the control sheave and the quadrant rides againest the end of the control sheave. This makes noise but the user ignored it as the speed still changed.