Shopsmith Forums

When I bought my original 86 model 510 a few years ago it had been stored in an open shed and the Way Tubes were incredibly rusty and pitted. I managed to restore the Bench Tubes but bought replacements for the Way Tubes.

A few weeks ago I found this 82 model 500 in incredibly good condition and priced very reasonably.



I thought about chopping the tubes to make a mini of it. But the original tubes are really in great condition and I wanted the option of going back to standard size. So I took the original Way Tubes from my 510, Cut them to 26 3/8 and 25 5/8. I put them on a lathe and cleaned them as well as I could. There is some pitting remaining but they are smooth enough that the headstock will move freely. This is what it looks like when reassembled as a shorty.



And here it is in relation to my stock size 510.



I'm still playing with it to learn what modifications I might make to increase functionality. But I've already used it in the table saw mode, the drill press mode, and as a lathe. And it should be perfectly functional as is to drive my bandsaw. So far I'm very pleased.

Band saw, or jointer, belt sander, strip sander, jig saw, scroll saw, disc sander, drum sander, pen lathe, small drill press(very short bits!) and as we shall see if I ever finish it an under table headstock shaper(reversible motor required).

They do make a 'better' power station.

You may have some trouble mounting and driving SPT's in the left power mount with a standard power coupler while the worktable carriage is in place. I do not think you will get sufficient spacing to for the power coupler.

SDSSmith wrote:You may have some trouble mounting and driving SPT's in the left power mount with a standard power coupler while the worktable carriage is in place. I do not think you will get sufficient spacing to for the power coupler.

As usual you are correct. A 10er jigsaw coupling is shorter.

Gotta admit I ain't tried them yet!;)

SDSSmith wrote:You may have some trouble mounting and driving SPT's in the left power mount with a standard power coupler while the worktable carriage is in place. I do not think you will get sufficient spacing to for the power coupler.

You are correct SDSSmith. I may take the carriage assembly off; build an MDF extension to bolt on top the extension table; rout two 5/8 inch channels in it to accept the miter; and bolt on the saw fence guide from the saw table to allow use of the fence.

I'll use the 510 for sawing operations anyway. (Much more stable and flexible platform.) And the shorty will give me lots of options for sanding, grinding, horizontal drilling, and short lathe operations. As well as serving as a platform for my band-saw.

The shorty is much easier to roll round in my small shop and uses much less valuable floor space.

Today when I was getting ready to center drill some golf balls for a friend I put the shorty in the vertical position and used one of my lathe tail-stocks as a base for a board to support the work. It was low; in fact I sat on a stool while drilling, but it worked great.

One of the really pleasant things about owning a SS is experimenting to expand it's impressive native capabilities.

When I shortened a Greenie earlier this year, I removed 16" from the way and bench tubes, which allows you to use all of the Shopsmith functions, including mounting a belt sander and using the disk sander at the same time. As I recall, it allows about 19" between centers on the lathe and something similar for ripping on the saw. Initially I though this size would limit disk sanding to size because there was only about 3/8" between the disk and table, but then realized I had a model 510/520 sanding disk mounted. The model 500 sanding disk has a shorter spindle mount so there is plenty of room to advance the quill.

pennview wrote:When I shortened a Greenie earlier this year, I removed 16" from the way and bench tubes, which allows you to use all of the Shopsmith functions, including mounting a belt sander and using the disk sander at the same time. As I recall, it allows about 19" between centers on the lathe and something similar for ripping on the saw. Initially I though this size would limit disk sanding to size because there was only about 3/8" between the disk and table, but then realized I had a model 510/520 sanding disk mounted. The model 500 sanding disk has a shorter spindle mount so there is plenty of room to advance the quill.

The reason for the 'shorty' is he only had one spare pair of way tubes.

I've just acquired a project 10ER and thought about making it into a "shorty." Thanks for some extra inspiration.

v/r,

Rick

chipmaster wrote:I've just acquired a project 10ER and thought about making it into a "shorty." Thanks for some extra inspiration.

v/r,

Rick

You're not going to cut the 10ER tubes are you?

I have a set of Mark 5 tubes I'll trade you. The ER tubes are thicker and heavier than Mark 5 tubes. There are also less of them out there. I'd hate to see them cut up.

heathicus wrote:You're not going to cut the 10ER tubes are you?

I have a set of Mark 5 tubes I'll trade you. The ER tubes are thicker and heavier than Mark 5 tubes. There are also less of them out there. I'd hate to see them cut up.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!