Shopsmith Forums

New shopsmith owner, here.

I am a new owner of a 50s era greenie.

Question - how can I tell whether or not my unit has the original Gilmer drive?

I know my unit originally had a Gilmer drive.

How would the gilmer unit look different from any other unit?


(illustrations work better for me than descriptions

durango wrote:New shopsmith owner, here.

I am a new owner of a 50s era greenie.

Question - how can I tell whether or not my unit has the original Gilmer drive?

I know my unit originally had a Gilmer drive.

How would the gilmer unit look different from any other unit?


(illustrations work better for me than descriptions

Pull off the belt cover. You can look down from the top and see the pulley. If the pulley is cogged, it is a gilmer. If the pulley has ridges(multiple v-belt) it is a poly v.

I will post a pix of a poly-v if I can locate it!

JPG40504 wrote:Pull off the belt cover. You can look down from the top and see the pulley. If the pulley is cogged, it is a gilmer. If the pulley has ridges(multiple v-belt) it is a poly v.

I will post a pix of a poly-v if I can locate it!

This thread has pix of a poly-v pulley.

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=40968#post40968

So - judging from these responses and photos, my vintage Mark V (greenie) has been upgraded, and now houses a newer poly drive.

Would an upgrade to the 2 bearing quill work?

I hear a little rattling around (when unit is NOT under load --- quiets down when you are doing something - drilling in my case). I tracked it down to the quill. The bearings that are in place all seem fine (no grinding sounds, no wobble - just occasional knock).

I suspect the rattlling simply reflects the fact that I have a single bearing (old design).

At the same time - not really sure any upgrade is really worth it --- my machine is 55 yrs old!

PS - I'm impressed by this machine - great, timeless design!

I bought it mostly to serve me as a drill press. At $200, I really could not resist getting 5 tools for the price of one.

durango wrote:So - judging from these responses and photos, my vintage Mark V (greenie) has been upgraded, and now houses a newer poly drive.

Would an upgrade to the 2 bearing quill work?

I hear a little rattling around (when unit is NOT under load --- quiets down when you are doing something - drilling in my case). I tracked it down to the quill. The bearings that are in place all seem fine (no grinding sounds, no wobble - just occasional knock).

I suspect the rattlling simply reflects the fact that I have a single bearing (old design).

At the same time - not really sure any upgrade is really worth it --- my machine is 55 yrs old!

PS - I'm impressed by this machine - great, timeless design!

I bought it mostly to serve me as a drill press. At $200, I really could not resist getting 5 tools for the price of one.

With the ploy-v drive, a 2 bearing quill is an option(it is incompatible with the gilmer drive).

The question is, is it running true with minimal runout?

If so, the bearing is probably ok!

The single bearing quill has a loose fitting spacer internal that may be the source of the noise.(not a problem) The spacer is there mainly to ease assembly.

The other thing that may be 'rattling' is the nylon coupler between the splined quill shaft and the main shaft(not a problem unless slipping).

IMHO upgrading the quill is probably not needed unless excessive runout is apparent. FWIW, the single bearing itself can be replaced much cheaper.