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Double Tilt Upgrade
Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:11 pm
by damagi
Just thought I would share my progress on the double tilt upgrade. Order took about 1 week to get to me from order to door.
Two main parts - double tilt ends and replacement trunion tubes.
Trunion Tubes - No big surprise on the on the trunion tubes. They have the rack on both sides. For those wondering, the pins that hold the tubes to the trunion are tapered, so you have to remove by pounding them out with a pin punch from the inside. A ball peen hammer would work better than the standard claw style that I used, but i made it work (tight fit getting enough momentum to get the pins moving). Installation was simple - remove pins, remove tubes, insert new tubes, wax pins, insert pins, wax new tubes.
Note #1: If you have a machine shop that won't charge you an arm and a leg, it should not be terribly difficult to get the old tubes machined with the appropriate rack on the opposite side.
Note #2: With the waxed trunions the table moves up and down crazy smooth. A good reminder to keep the parts waxed. I will be waxing all the other tubes this weekend
New Ends - Will install those tonight or tomorrow. The installation procedure seems surprisingly complex for those of us who have broken down shopsmiths before. I imagine that it largely has to do with avoiding lifting the powerpro off of the ways, for those lucky enough to have one. The procedure talks about rolling the shopsmith upside down onto the table (with a piece of wood on the headstock to even out the load), using some supports to keep the bench tubes roughly in place.
Will post photos later this weekend.
Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:14 pm
by jayp413
Thanks for the report! Looking forward to the pics!
Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 9:34 pm
by damagi
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:00 am
by wa2crk
OK accuse me of being a bit overly cautious here, BUT, is the knob with the pointed screw the only method of securing the end casting to the pivot rod? What safety method is employed to automatically reset the knob and pin when the machine is lowered to sawing position?
If I tilt the machine upright to the right (conventional drill press mode by releasing the pin on the left end) and then lower it and I forget to tighten the knob and I come out to the shop the next day and tilt the machine up to the left without the pin being tightened against the rod will the machine be able to disconnect from the pivot rod and fall to the floor?
What is there on the machine to prevent this or am I missing something that is not obvious?
Bill V
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 11:13 am
by JPG
wa2crk wrote:OK accuse me of being a bit overly cautious here, BUT, is the knob with the pointed screw the only method of securing the end casting to the pivot rod? What safety method is employed to automatically reset the knob and pin when the machine is lowered to sawing position?
If I tilt the machine upright to the right (conventional drill press mode by releasing the pin on the left end) and then lower it and I forget to tighten the knob and I come out to the shop the next day and tilt the machine up to the left without the pin being tightened against the rod will the machine be able to disconnect from the pivot rod and fall to the floor?
What is there on the machine to prevent this or am I missing something that is not obvious?
Bill V
Gravity. The pointy screw prevents the way tubes etc. from 'Raising'. If both screws are retracted, one
could pick up the way tubes with headstock and carriage attached, but you better eat your wheaties. All that weight will keep the 'lower' end firmly on the pin when the other end is raised.
Now I do not have a good understanding of whether the lower end would have a tendency to slide in that slot out away from the center when near vertical position is reached.
Think of the retaining screw the same as the headstock lock when 'raising to vertical'!:D
TTWISI.
progress
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 1:43 pm
by damagi
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Interesting things to note:
1) I didn't find an additional pivot locking screw, which seems wierd - is shopsmith expecting me to move the screw from one end to the other? were they expecting me to buy an additional one? is this a mistake? Hopefully this is a mistake, because it seems a little petty if its not.
2) they are expecting you to use your existing SPT locking assemblies and the existing base tube tie bars/bolts.
3) they now use phillips head bolts and keeper nuts rather than countersunk screws, star washers and square nuts.
4) they engineered the base to work with both 1 3/4" tubes as well as 1 7/8" tubes. Good move. Makes me wonder if I should switch to some decent 1 7/8" tubes that I have...better rigidity perhaps? Thoughts?
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 3:07 pm
by damagi
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Complete!
After somewhat following shopsmiths instructions, I actually think they went about the process in a much more difficult way than needed. I think that they should have suggested the
sawhorse method for flipping the unit over. It was much simpler to decouple the bases from their pivots rather than trying to do everything together. Maybe there is some special alignment magic that you get by doing it their way...but so far so good.
Now to decide what to try doing with the left tilt first
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 3:27 pm
by wa2crk
JPG
That is my point. The latch handle can be left unlatched with no consequence other than a slight increase in vibration and the pivoting casting on a conventional Mark5. The pivot pin is never disengaged from it's casting.
On a new Mk7 it looks like from the photos that if an operator forgets to tighten the knob and pointed screw on the lower end, can that end vibrate and fall off the pivot rod while the machine is in use in the upright position. If it can, it strikes me as being inherently unsafe.
I would have preferred to see some type of spring loaded latch that relocked when the machine was lowered. Somewhat similar to a doorknob and latch where the sliding bolt would latch the casting down to the pivot knob.
Bill V
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:00 pm
by SDSSmith
damagi wrote:[ATTACH]13187[/ATTACH]
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damagi wrote:
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Interesting things to note:
1) I didn't find an additional pivot locking screw, which seems wierd - is shopsmith expecting me to move the screw from one end to the other? were they expecting me to buy an additional one? is this a mistake? Hopefully this is a mistake, because it seems a little petty if its not.
2) they are expecting you to use your existing SPT locking assemblies and the existing base tube tie bars/bolts.
damagi wrote:
3) they now use phillips head bolts and keeper nuts rather than countersunk screws, star washers and square nuts.
4) they engineered the base to work with both 1 3/4" tubes as well as 1 7/8" tubes. Good move. Makes me wonder if I should switch to some decent 1 7/8" tubes that I have...better rigidity perhaps? Thoughts?
I would contact Shopsmith based on their description of what is included. Looks like your order was shorted the knobs and accessory locks.
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:09 pm
by robinson46176
wa2crk wrote:JPG
That is my point. The latch handle can be left unlatched with no consequence other than a slight increase in vibration and the pivoting casting on a conventional Mark5. The pivot pin is never disengaged from it's casting.
On a new Mk7 it looks like from the photos that if an operator forgets to tighten the knob and pointed screw on the lower end, can that end vibrate and fall off the pivot rod while the machine is in use in the upright position. If it can, it strikes me as being inherently unsafe.
I would have preferred to see some type of spring loaded latch that relocked when the machine was lowered. Somewhat similar to a doorknob and latch where the sliding bolt would latch the casting down to the pivot knob.
Bill V
Somewhere is a post where I discussed just using two pivot end assemblies (you already have one) and using simple removable pins to replace the regular pivot pins. I suggested using a pair of 3/4" tractor hitch pins from a farm store with loop handles and a hole for a simple hair-pin.
With that process one end would maybe more often solidly fastened. At least a hole missing a pin or a pin laying around in the way would be more noticeable than a loose knob that most would not see. SS's method looks OK but I suspect that we will start seeing a few bent or broken end castings from the "Godzilla Gang" over-tightening the lock knobs...
That web is pretty thin.
.