Shopsmith Forums

Back in October I purchased a 1953 SS V Greenie for 160 dollars. Had I known what I know now, I would have purchased a newer or should I say more complete system. That being said I've learned one heck of a lot and can say the experience, although frustrating at times has been satisfying.
Before I ask a couple of questions I want to thank many of you on this forum for you information. I've probably read some of your post 3 or 4 times. I would say that 99% of the information I've used has been very accurate.

So what I've done so far is rip the entire machine down to the ball bearings and replaced them all with Timken bearings. I had the quill and spindle machined to make it a 3 bearing quill. I kept the Gilmer system and cleaned the clutch up. I replaced idler shaft and control sheave assembly's, the electrical cord and the speed control assembly (piece by piece). I used Nuvite polish (they use it to polish up planes and air streams) to polish up the way tubes and then waxed them with Johnson's wax.

Although I'm waiting on one more piece for the speed control I have had a chance to fire it up. The 3/4 hp GE with new bearings seems powerful enough and the SS seems very quiet. I used Miltec oil to oil the motor and control sheave.

Essentially I bought the SS for the lathe. I want to make wood and cork grips for a couple of float and fly rods as well as turn balsa for floats for my first trip to Alaska this April.

After doing extensive reading I see that I should have tested the lathe to see if the centers even mated. In this case I would not have bought the lathe, because it didn't even have the right eccentric in the tail stock. It said winter on it and had a center and 4 holes cut out in a clover leaf pattern with craftsman type of morse taper attached. Probably some Grand Rapids concoction since they used to be a furniture town.

Anyways after all the work and research (and as Nick says a few choice $@%&%$&'s) I'm concerned about the points not matching up. I know you can turn the eccentric and raise or lower the tailstock, but is that how you are supposed to line things up? Also everything slides along the way tubes easily. I've also bought a nice shape used tailstock and new eccentric, new arbor and new jacobs chuck. but need something on the quill end to line things up. So is it uncommon for SS's to be out of alignment?

I'm about to order a oneway talon with conversion, oneway live center and a hf 2hp dust collector with the wynn )0.5 filter and hence I'm thinking I should check the alignment first, but just wanted to know if others ever had alignment problems . Also does anyone have any thoughts whether the hf dc system going to a dedicated tool would meet Bill Pentz's requirements for catching the small dust?

Thanks
Jim

You are correct, raise the tailstock casting and rotate the eccentric center to bring the lathe into alignment. The standard tailstock assembly should work on your "Greenie". There should be stop collars on the tailstock posts to lock the tailstock assembly at the correct height.
Bill V

I have the HF dust collector with Wynn filter, but not sure if it meets Pentz's requirements. I believe his recommendation is for a cyclone-type system, but you can check his web site for details. I run it on a 20 amp, 110 volt circuit.

I use a 5" hose from the dust collector and then neck it down at the machine with a reducer to 4" or 2 1/2" depending on which machine I'm using. I don't have dedicated piping and everything works fine.

For lathe work, you should buy or build a stand to position the hose near the work to collect the chips and sanding dust. Check places like Rockler or Penn State Industries for ideas. The latter sells 5" hose.

i use the shopsmith lathe drive center and the tailstock center for alignment. my basement floor is uneven so i check it as needed as i do not always get the shopsmith in exactly the same spot each time and the tubes will flex enough to change the alignment in different locations. the oneway chuck with the shopsmith adapter is a good choice but another option is to purchase pennstates adapter that adapts the shopsmith to a 1"x8tpi thread thus allowing you to use any standard 1"x8tpi lathe accessory on your shopsmith.

wallegator wrote:...I've probably read some of your post 3 or 4 times. I would say that 99% of the information I've used has been very accurate...

Alright, who's jacking up the error quotient here? Surely it wasn't me!:rolleyes:

wallegator wrote:...So what I've done so far is rip the entire machine down to the ball bearings and replaced them all with Timken bearings. I had the quill and spindle machined to make it a 3 bearing quill. I kept the Gilmer system and cleaned the clutch up. I replaced idler shaft and control sheave assembly's, the electrical cord and the speed control assembly (piece by piece). I used Nuvite polish (they use it to polish up planes and air streams) to polish up the way tubes and then waxed them with Johnson's wax.

Although I'm waiting on one more piece for the speed control I have had a chance to fire it up. The 3/4 hp GE with new bearings seems powerful enough and the SS seems very quiet. I used Miltec oil to oil the motor and control sheave. ...

Sounds like you've done yourself proud! Any chance we could get some pics? And thanks for sharing the products you've been using. Sounds like you've had some prior experience.

As far as alignment it sounds like you need a new tailstock. The one you have sounds modified. I have an extra so PM me if you want it. Next, once you have the new tailstock, alignment is easy. Bewteen rotating the eccentric and adjusting the stop collars you can get it dead on.

Thanks for all the great advice. I never would have thought my basement floor as being a variable for centering my lathe centers. My basement floor slopes a small amount so I will adjust the SS accordingly.

The think that I will have to look into the 5 inch tube for the DC. I think at the least I will take out the flexible hose and replace with the Pennstate hose with reducers. I had read somewhere that you had to rig a 4 to 5 inch reducer, but thanks to your post I see Pennstate has them.

Its nice to know that the SS has some adjustment for centering. I like this machine more each day!:)

I'll try to get some video of the SS running next week some time. I'll use my wife's hd camera and post it to You tube with a link. I left the Shopsmith's exterior as is to show off my SS's history and character. My vintage Shopsmith has a beautiful patina of light green that has a flaked appearance against a backdrop of dull, lightly scratched aluminum. The bench tubes are heavily rusted ,with in contrast to highly polished way tubes are extremely striking. Sad to say the antiquity of the interior or my SS, with the exception of rotted belts and lumpy dry bearings was lost to diligent maintenance practices of some long lost, yet not forgotten master artisian. At least thats what I think!;)

As to prior experience its all empirical knowledge from a bit of this or that. I'm a Neuro ICU nurse nurse by profession.

Jim