Shopsmith Forums

Hey everyone,

My wife has given me her blessing to set up a woodworking shop so I can build her a scrapbooking center. When I told my old man, who is a woodworker, about the project he said that I could have his 1983 Shopsmith that has been sitting idle in the storage side of the shop since the mid 90's.



It's in fairly good condition (no rust, just dust) and he has lots and lots of attachments/arbors/tooling for it.

After spending a week reading the operators manual, digging around these forums and viewing the last four sawdust session videos, I started the process of cleaning it up, tearing it down and bringing it home yesterday. I hit it with the air compressor, wiped the outside down with mineral spirits, pulled it apart and fit it in the back of my Ford Focus.



I manged to fit in the headstock, way tubes, legs, table, rip fence, miter in the back of the hatchback and still had room for my daughter's car seat. I also took a box with the safety stuff, blades, arbors, drill chuck, sanding disc and the old literature.

I got it home last night, put the base assembly back together and took a quick peek in the headstock.



When I took off the belt cover I noticed that the floating sheave was all the way out and the drive belt looked to be in pretty good condition (measured .512" wide with no cracks). When I took off the access logo, I noticed that the retaining loop was missing from the pork chop (quadrant assembly).



I placed the following order with Shopsmith last night:
[INDENT]504187 - Retaining Loop
513734 - Rollpin
515287 - DC3300 Fan Assembly (dust collector fan was cracked)
513418 - Handle Shaft (table crank handle was missing)
513417 - Crank Handle[/INDENT]

I figured that order would get me going until I get further into the head. There's a lot of this caked on sawdust/grease mixture everywhere in the headstock and the quill and speed control aren't moving very smoothly so I'm going to tear down, clean up, and rebuild the whole head. I'll probably watch each sawdust session at least 3 more times before I'm finished with it.

A couple of questions:

• Did I order the right stuff for the retaining loop?
• How does the roll-pin attach? I can't find any detailed view of how it attaches to the pork chop. Does it act as a clevis pin?
• What kind of oil do you use for lubricating sheaves? Will 3-in-1 work?

I plan to take this very slowly and carefully. I have very little experience in woodworking but my first step is to get the SS in perfect condition, then I'll build a couple of small projects to get my feet wet (I need a shop stool), then move on to the bigger scrapbooking center project.

If anyone has any words of advice on the SS rebuild or woodworking in general, I'd love to hear it.

huffheinz wrote:Hey everyone,

My wife has given me her blessing to set up a woodworking shop so I can build her a scrapbooking center. When I told my old man, who is a woodworker, about the project he said that I could have his 1983 Shopsmith that has been sitting idle in the storage side of the shop since the mid 90's.



It's in fairly good condition (no rust, just dust) and he has lots and lots of attachments/arbors/tooling for it.

After spending a week reading the operators manual, digging around these forums and viewing the last four sawdust session videos, I started the process of cleaning it up, tearing it down and bringing it home yesterday. I hit it with the air compressor, wiped the outside down with mineral spirits, pulled it apart and fit it in the back of my Ford Focus.



I manged to fit in the headstock, way tubes, legs, table, rip fence, miter in the back of the hatchback and still had room for my daughter's car seat. I also took a box with the safety stuff, blades, arbors, drill chuck, sanding disc and the old literature.

I got it home last night, put the base assembly back together and took a quick peek in the headstock.



When I took off the belt cover I noticed that the floating sheave was all the way out and the drive belt looked to be in pretty good condition (measured .512" wide with no cracks). When I took off the access logo, I noticed that the retaining loop was missing from the pork chop (quadrant assembly).



I placed the following order with Shopsmith last night:
[INDENT]504187 - Retaining Loop
513734 - Rollpin
515287 - DC3300 Fan Assembly (dust collector fan was cracked)
513418 - Handle Shaft (table crank handle was missing)
513417 - Crank Handle[/INDENT]

I figured that order would get me going until I get further into the head. There's a lot of this caked on sawdust/grease mixture everywhere in the headstock and the quill and speed control aren't moving very smoothly so I'm going to tear down, clean up, and rebuild the whole head. I'll probably watch each sawdust session at least 3 more times before I'm finished with it.

A couple of questions:

• Did I order the right stuff for the retaining loop?
• How does the roll-pin attach? I can't find any detailed view of how it attaches to the pork chop. Does it act as a clevis pin?
• What kind of oil do you use for lubricating sheaves? Will 3-in-1 work?

I plan to take this very slowly and carefully. I have very little experience in woodworking but my first step is to get the SS in perfect condition, then I'll build a couple of small projects to get my feet wet (I need a shop stool), then move on to the bigger scrapbooking center project.

If anyone has any words of advice on the SS rebuild or woodworking in general, I'd love to hear it.

Pictures are worth a thousand words and really helps to determine what needs to be done. Thanks. The reason the retaining loop is missing (it is in the motor pan) is that the bearing in the end of the Control Sheave has seized or the Control Sheave has seized on the Idler Shaft (lack of lubrication). Try rotating the Control Sheave button with your fingers and if the Control Sheave will move on the Idler Shaft just to make sure. It appears that Control Sheave button was rotating on the quadrant leaf plate so you may need to replace the quadrant. I find that any replacement Control Sheave may not fit or could be too loose on the Idler Shaft so I recommend having the bearing replaced in your Control Sheave if needed.

Contact me at annbill.mayo@comcast.net for any unavailable parts and any services or information you may require.

Thanks for the feedback, Bill.

I know that the control sheave button was spinning freely on the end of the idler shaft. I'm pretty sure (but I'll double check when I get home) that the little nub seen in the picture is the attachment point of the quadrant leaf to the quadrant itself. Near as I can remember the quadrant assembly looked solid with only built up grime around the worm gears. I will double check tonight.

I think you are correct that the control sheave is seized up on the idler shaft due to lack of lubrication. I tried moving it with my fingers but it would not move along the the idler shaft. Is there a bearing in the control sheave or is it a bushing? I don't suppose Shopsmith sells just the control sheave bearing.

I'm a little confused at how the control sheave is supposed to move anyway. Is it always pushing itself toward the quadrant?

I'll tear it down further tonight and post some pics of what I find. Any tricks on freeing up the control sheave? I guess I'll have to pull the belt, drop the motor pan, and take off the whole idler shaft to get it out of there.

The floating sheave on the motor shaft provides the force to increase speed when the quadrant gear moves allowing the control sheave to open. When the control sheave opens, that decreases the belt tension, and the floating sheave closes thus changing the ratio(idler pulley smaller, motor pulley larger.

The quadrant gear provides the force to decease speed. The quadrant gear pushes in on the control sheave thus forcing the belt to a larger diameter. This increases the belt tension, and the motor sheave opens to restore 'equilibrium'. This is why adjusting the speed control(down) will cause damage. If the pulleys are not rotating to allow this equilibrium the squeezing of the belt by the control sheave by the quadrant will apply excessive force on the quadrant gear pivot(arms).[and bending them causing misalignment of the worm gear and subsequent malformation of the quadrant gear]

The roll pin is inserted in the hole in the button center of the bearing in the 'snout' of the control sheave. The clip is then inserted in the center of the roll pin on both ends.

The control sheave has a cast in bushing thus requiring replacing the control sheave if worn.

I think a good cleaning and lubrication will get you up and running with few(if any) other 'parts'.

3 in 1 works well, but I would recommend seeking out a 'zoom spout' oiler.

From your description of the 'interior' you are wise to do a complete tear down and 'refurb'!

Good Luck!

If you need help, we'll be here!:)

p.s. I did not check your part numbers, but am assuming you ordered the correct roll pin.

Oh! And Welcome to the funny fa...ah.....forum!:)

Thanks for the explanation JPG. I wasn't aware that the bushing was cast into the control sheave and the bearing with the button snout was pressed into that bushing.

I had a very productive evening of disassembly and clean up. I stripped everything off of the headstock except for the spring loaded quill feed assembly and the motor toggle switch.

I'm happy to report that the retaining clip and roll pin were in the bottom of the motor pan, just like billmayo said they would be.



The control sheave was stuck hard to the idler pulley and I had to remove the entire speed control assembly in order to slip out the idler shaft with both pulleys on it.



I hit it with some 3-in-1 (it's what I had), slipped it in the eccentric bushing on the outside of the headstock and worked at the sheaves with a cats paw as gently as possible to free them up. Once it was free I cleaned up the keyed idler shaft and lubed it. I also hit the sheaves with a file to make sure the belt contact surfaces were smooth (where I scratched them with the cats paw) and removed a couple of burrs where the two sheaves were not meshing together smoothly.



I lubed up the fan and floating sheaves on the motor shaft but I don't have any retaining ring pliers, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow on that one.

I went ahead and removed the drive sleeve assembly in order to clean it all up.



I also removed the quill housing assembly.



But I left the spring mechanism in the headstock and just cleaned the quill drive screw as best I could with my nylon brush. (When wound springs aint broke, I don't try to fix them.)



All in all it was a productive evening, I'll get the floating sheave freed up tomorrow and begin re-assembly.



I'm just documenting what I'm doing here in hopes that it will help others on down the line. I am also hoping that if someone sees me doing something wrong, they can catch me before I make a big mistake.

The quill pinion gear/shaft can be removed without unleashing the spring monster! By allowing the shaft to reach a non-tensioned point(go no farther) and a retaining clip pliers will enable the shaft removal. Also one set screw. Just keep track of the 'domed washer'.

P.S. I (and others) like to 'prime coat' the inside of the headstock(and other castings) with a 'self etching primer'. Rustoleum brand found at auto parts stores.

PPS Speaking of 'wound' springs, you do know the spring on the motor shaft is 'compressed'. You won't believe how long it is 'relaxed'!(nor how far the retaining clip flies when 'expanded' with the spring 'unrestrained')!

PPPS The clip shown in the motor pan does not have the roll pin. The clip is open on the roll pin end. Your pix shows the closed end of the clip that slips over the quadrant gear(sorta like a spring wound on the clip).

Huff;
Now that you have the machine dis-assembled check the condition of the wiring between the on/off switch and the motor. The GE motors have been known to have the insulation on that link degrade and flake off and can result in no or intermittent operation. See my thread on a headstock rebuild on this forum for a pic of a failed wire.
Bill V

[quote="wa2crk"]Huff] https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=70620&postcount=1

[quote="wa2crk"]Huff]Thanks for the heads up. I remember thinking it odd that I lost about 1/4" of insulation on one of the wires when I removed the connector from the toggle switch with some needle nose pliers. I was planning on shrink wrapping it before putting it back in service, but I'll be sure to inspect it really closely before buttoning it back up.