Shopsmith Forums

I have a shopsmith that was made in the eighties......with a new blade the thing can"t even rip a 2x4. is there something wrong.....or is that normal.

What else is happening? Is your power going out as well? What else do you have on in your shop? Radio? Dust collector? Fan? Do the breakers trip? Are you giving the blade enough time to get up to speed? How fast are you feeding the board?

One thing I have found out is when I rip 2x4s, I have to make sure to joint and plane the boards. If you are ripping rough 2x4s they bind because of the irregularity of the boards. A straight board tends to glide nicely through the blade.

Another thing to look at is the table surface. How smooth is it? If it is relatively smooth, then you may need to apply some paste wax just to give the boards something slippery to go over. Also, if your fence isn't paralell to the blade then you are going to bind every time. One of the indicators is when the peice comes out of the blade with a burn on it.

I'm sure someone in this forum can help you with a little more information! Good luck!

Unregistered wrote:I have a shopsmith that was made in the eighties......with a new blade the thing can"t even rip a 2x4. is there something wrong.....or is that normal.

Hi,

I guess the answer is that something is wrong... Now if you want help with a solution we need to know a lot more about what is happening. The more details you give the better the chance we can respond with answers.

Ed

Unregistered wrote:I have a shopsmith that was made in the eighties......with a new blade the thing can"t even rip a 2x4. is there something wrong.....or is that normal.

Yes something is wrong. My SS will rip a 2x4's like butter.

I agree with the other Ed (two Ed's are better than one) (oh please forgive me that pun) we need more information.
Where is your SS in relation to the main power feed.
Do you us extension cords? If so what gauge and how long?
What else is on the circuit with the SS?

What exactly happens? Is there smoking from the motor? From the blade.
How far into the rip do you get before you begin to have problems?
Is the wood clamping back down on the blade? Are you using a splitter?
How is power for other things? Is the blade mounted turning the correct direction? (don't laugh nearly drove myself crazy trying to figure out what was wrong with a band saw once)

What kind of wood? Is it pressure treated? Once the cut is made is the wood straight or cork screwed?

About the blade what kind is it? I once bought a blade made one cut with it and took it back, it was nearly worthless. Store told me I was crazy but they tested it on their machine they agreed the blade was junk. Opened and tested a few hanging on the pegs and sent the whole shippment back to the manufacture.

How are the belts inside the SS is cog belt tight enough? Too tight? At what speed are you trying to do this. Does it work better if you slow the machine down? How about if you speed it up?

Answer a few of the questions above and let us know as much of the symptoms as you can and I'm sure we will be able to at least steer you in the right direction.
Ed

Something is definitely wrong. My old "79" cuts two by fours like butter also.

You don't mention what style of blade you bought. It should be a rip or a good combo blade. Definitely not a crosscut blade. Have you done any maintenance on it? Be sure the SS is running off it's own 20 amp (or higher) circuit. You don't want to starve it for power. As someone else said, if you use an extension cord, use the shortest one you can get by with that is at least 12 gauge. I have seen posts on other forums where the user replaced the stock cord with a 10 or 12 gauge cord long enough that an extension is not needed.

Good luck.

P.S. Even when the SS is running good, a good thin-kerf blade will do wonders for it's performance. I recommend a Forrest Woodworker II. Expensive, but worth it.

Unregistered wrote:I have a shopsmith that was made in the eighties......with a new blade the thing can"t even rip a 2x4. is there something wrong.....or is that normal.

How does one manage to be "unregistered" and still be able to post a question to the forum?

Dusty I was wandering the same thing. Lets get this guy registered and help solve his problem!;)

Mark

Unregistered wrote:I have a shopsmith that was made in the eighties......with a new blade the thing can"t even rip a 2x4. is there something wrong.....or is that normal.

Did anyone notice the date this was posted? 9-10-2006 , I wonder if he ever got registered, and found out what was wrong.

joedw00 wrote:Did anyone notice the date this was posted? 9-10-2006 , I wonder if he ever got registered, and found out what was wrong.

Yes, I did notice the date of the post but I still have the same question.

How does one manage to be "unregistered" and still be able to post a question to the forum?