broken plastic track

davis76 · Post by **davis76** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 12:21 pm

I have an old Shopsmith 7 and I squeezed it too tight and shattered the plastic track that the headstock runs on. I can't find a replacement part anywhere, and I'm not sure how i would replace it if I could find the part. It seems to be riveted onto the tubes?
Seem to be a lot of knowledgeable folks on here. Any answers?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 6:45 pm

davis76 wrote:I have an old Shopsmith 7 and I squeezed it too tight and shattered the plastic track that the headstock runs on. I can't find a replacement part anywhere, and I'm not sure how i would replace it if I could find the part. It seems to be riveted onto the tubes?
Seem to be a lot of knowledgeable folks on here. Any answers?

I saw one where a replacement was made of wood. Those are large pop rivets.

chucks · Post by **chucks** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:15 am

Have not heard of any other solutions yet. But I've wondered about it(and hope to have some time to research), There are some commercially available Racks. Will any of them interchange with the Mark VII's???
There is also a place online that will manufacture one to your specs,(defined as"pricey")
Maybe someone has already done this research? This thread at least will give them a chance to enlighten us.

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:17 am

Go to McMaster Carr online and look up gear track. They have metal gear track sections that I am sure can be used to replace the plastic one. You just have to measure the current track and match it up to what they have. I was going to do this with my Mark VII but my plastic track has been holding up. I am sure at some point in will have to replace it though.

davis76 · Post by **davis76** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:30 pm

sounds like a good jumping off point. i'll check those tracks out. if it comes down to making a wood one, do y'all think some oak would do? it is awfully thin and i'm afraid wood will crack pretty easily. while we're on the subject - i broke it when i was tightening a blank between the 2 centers - should i be just getting it close with the crank then extending the quill to lock it in? i'm probably using this thing a little more by the seat of my pants than i should be, but i guess that's just my way. thanks for your input. this forum gives me a little more faith in mankind.

davis76 · Post by **davis76** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:40 pm

just went to mcmaster carr and my head is spinning. i'm thinking this is what i need but i'll need to take some measurements.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-gears/=fmb722

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:49 pm

"should i be just getting it close with the crank then extending the quill to lock it in?"

Yes, that's it exactly. And it doesn't need to be extremely tight, either.

Gary

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 3:35 pm

greitz wrote:"should i be just getting it close with the crank then extending the quill to lock it in?"

Yes, that's it exactly. And it doesn't need to be extremely tight, either.

Gary

Detail missing(maybe).

Lock the headstock(to the ways) before extending the quill to secure the blank. I believe that involves pushing the crank/knob in IIRC.

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:01 pm

davis76 wrote:just went to mcmaster carr and my head is spinning. i'm thinking this is what i need but i'll need to take some measurements.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-gears/=fmb722

Yes you will have to get out the measuring tools and figure out what size the gear track is before ordering what you need. They have both plastic and metal gear tracks and when I was looking I was trying to find one in metal thinking it would be more robust and have less tendency to break.