Shopsmith Forums

I blew the Gilmer belt on my greenie and while replacing it I found several oddities about parts and procedures:

-No access hole, any way to oil sheaves other than disassembly?
-No hole in motor spindle, how to oil motor sheaves?
-Drive sleeve assembly (518415) won't seat deep enough to expose retaining ring slot. Why?
-Extra screw holes in the motor pan with no match on the belt cover. Purpose? Use?
-Some holes for cover and pan are #8-32 machined. Others are larger but are not #10; what size are they?

[quote="pds0006"]I blew the Gilmer belt on my greenie and while replacing it I found several oddities about parts and procedures:

-No access hole, any way to oil sheaves other than disassembly?
-No hole in motor spindle, how to oil motor sheaves?
-Drive sleeve assembly (518415) won't seat deep enough to expose retaining ring slot. Why?
-Extra screw holes in the motor pan with no match on the belt cover. Purpose? Use?
-Some holes for cover and pan are #8-32 machined. Others are larger but are not #10]

You have an "A" headstock. Original sandcasting. No Access hole. No oil holes in sheaves. "A" headstock had more screws holding the belt cover than 'newer' belt covers. Non 8-32 screws could be metric???? Are 10-32, not 10-24???? Are not 'machine screw' threads???


Drive sleeve may not be fully inserted in the front bore.

The "A" headstock is heavier than the later die cast "B" version, but has those differences mentioned. Being sandcast, they are 'rougher' in appearance/machining.

If you have it 'torn down', drilling oil holes would be a good thing to do. I do not recommend creating an access hole - Not all that better(too small), and dropping the motor pan is not all that difficult if done in vertical with the table reversed in the carriage to provide support after being loosened.

[quote="pds0006"]I blew the Gilmer belt on my greenie and while replacing it I found several oddities about parts and procedures:

-No access hole, any way to oil sheaves other than disassembly?
-No hole in motor spindle, how to oil motor sheaves?
-Drive sleeve assembly (518415) won't seat deep enough to expose retaining ring slot. Why?
-Extra screw holes in the motor pan with no match on the belt cover. Purpose? Use?
-Some holes for cover and pan are #8-32 machined. Others are larger but are not #10]

access hole: cut one out yourself. There are a variety of options (bill mayo posted a few). I used a drill to put holes, then a blow with the hammer knocked it out. Rasp/dremmel smoothed out the hole. Depending on how you want to do it, there are a variety of ways to make the cover stay on.

No hole in fan sheeve/floating sheeve: Drill a hole in the keyway. 5/32 if I recall, but you can search to find the recommendation. Basically find the bit that is the same width as the keyway.

Extra screw holes: wouldn't worry about it too much. There should be 5 screws for the motor pan. two on each side, one in the back. They all go into little keeper clips.

Holes for screws: The ones for the pan use keeper clips. Since screws get changed out (lost) all the time on older units, you might just have to make do with whatever works on your unit at this point.

damagi wrote:access hole: cut one out yourself. There are a variety of options (bill mayo posted a few). I used a drill to put holes, then a blow with the hammer knocked it out. Rasp/dremmel smoothed out the hole. Depending on how you want to do it, there are a variety of ways to make the cover stay on.

No hole in fan sheeve/floating sheeve: Drill a hole in the keyway. 5/32 if I recall, but you can search to find the recommendation. Basically find the bit that is the same width as the keyway.

Extra screw holes: wouldn't worry about it too much. There should be 5 screws for the motor pan. two on each side, one in the back. They all go into little keeper clips.

Holes for screws: The ones for the pan use keeper clips. Since screws get changed out (lost) all the time on older units, you might just have to make do with whatever works on your unit at this point.

He has an "A" headstock. No clips - tapped holes. No relief cast for clips. 8 belt cover screw holes.

JPG40504 wrote:He has an "A" headstock. No clips - tapped holes. No relief cast for clips. 8 belt cover screw holes.

Since I cannot use clips for the headstock middle holes on the belt housing on the Greenie "A" headstock, I use a 10-24" tap for all the belt housing and motor pan screw holes and use S/S 10-24 X 3/4" screws.

I use a 3 1/4" carbite hole saw centered on the LOGO cover studs (jig) to cut the access hole. I use a half round metal file to remove any sharp edges/points on the drilled hole and on the later "B" headstock access hole.

JPG40504 wrote:Non 8-32 screws could be metric???? Are 10-32, not 10-24???? Are not 'machine screw' threads???

The holes are tapped/threaded and I have the screws that were in before (8-32 machine) but they don't stay. I've tried 8-24, 8-32, 10-24, 10-32, and several metric sizes but nothing works in all the holes. Some of the motor pan holes seem larger but some ARE 8-32 which is why some of the old ones work. I ordered more from SS and what came where #8 sheet metal screws, which seems odd to me but they seemed to fit the best of any of the others. I suppose tapping as Bill suggested is an option but I've never done it before so I'd be wise to try on some scrap steel first.

damagi wrote:drilling oil holes would be a good thing to do.

Is that safe to be done by hand or does it need to be milled by a drill press? Also, I'm considering upgrading to the Poly-V and Double quill]I use a 10-24" tap for all the belt housing and motor pan screw holes and use S/S 10-24 X 3/4" screws.[/QUOTE]
Never done it before. Does one have to ream out the holes to remove previous threads or just go to it? Is it a hand tool operation or do I need to mill these into the headstock?

My belt cover holes in my 54 were in the same situation as yours. There were no two screws alike. I found some sheet metal screws that were just about the right size but slightly bigger and simply drove them in. At this point if i am to tap etc my holes would simply be getting bigger. 60 years of owners have all increased the hole size. I did drill out for the access hole. Easy to do.

pds0006 wrote:-No hole in motor spindle, how to oil motor sheaves?
-No hole in motor spindle, how to oil motor sheaves?

The only sheaves that have an oiling hole are the control and floating sheaves. When I disassembled my greenie, I drilled oiling holes per Bill's directions: http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... ling+holes
I didn't use a drill press or a mill. I used a center punch to make a small divot so the drill bit wouldn't wander. Then I drilled the holes using a regular power hand drill. Clean any filings from the inside of the sheaves before reassembling.
The upgrade does not come with new sheaves. To upgrade you would need a new drive sleeve assembly, idler shaft, belt and quill.

pds0006 wrote:-Drive sleeve assembly (518415) won't seat deep enough to expose retaining ring slot. Why?

There are spiral retaining rings on either side of the drive sleeve assembly. You might want to check to make sure the inner ring is still in it's slot, and gently clean the race way with a Scotchbright pad. I also did what some on the forum suggested. I put drive sleeve assembly in the freezer overnight. It slipped right in after that.

pds0006 wrote:-I suppose tapping as Bill suggested is an option but I've never done it before so I'd be wise to try on some scrap steel first.

When I had to replace the belt cover and motor pans screw I used thread cutting screws. They work good on aluminum.

pds0006 wrote:Also, I'm considering upgrading to the Poly-V and Double quill]

The cost to convert to a Poly-V Drive and double bearing quill will normally exceed the cost of a used 1985 or later headstock

[/QUOTE=pds0006]Never done it before. Does one have to ream out the holes to remove previous threads or just go to it? Is it a hand tool operation or do I need to mill these into the headstock?

I use a 10-24 Taper tap so I do not have to drill the holes larger. You must be careful when using self-tapping screws as the screw head can twist off when turning them or round out the screw head.

The back Drive Sleeve bearing can slip on the Drive Sleeve shaft when being inserted into the headstock if the Drive Sleeve shaft or the inner bearing race is being used to install the Drive Sleeve. I use a large (2" OD max.) pipe that just fits inside the headstock Drive Sleeve hole to install the Drive Sleeve outter race on the bearing. Do not use the Drive Sleeve Shaft or inner bearing race to install the Drive Sleeve.

I have prepared Shopsmith "A" headstock casings (color can be specified) with a drilled access hole, LOGO cover and other modifications done to them available. Contact me if any Gilmer questions like, Drive Sleeve clutch testing or needs or wants. All my personal Shopsmiths uses the Gilmer Drive and "A" headstock.

holsgo wrote:My belt cover holes in my 54 were in the same situation as yours. There were no two screws alike. I found some sheet metal screws that were just about the right size but slightly bigger and simply drove them in. At this point if i am to tap etc my holes would simply be getting bigger. 60 years of owners have all increased the hole size. I did drill out for the access hole. Easy to do.

When you get up to using 1/2" bolts you may want to fill the holes and start over in new locations...


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