Shopsmith Forums

Hi, I'm new to the Shopsmith world and I am located in eastern Pennsylvania.
I got a Shopsmith 500 handed down to me relatively recently.
I have never had one before, so this is new for me.
I made the mistake of violating rule number 1 before I knew there was a rule #1.
I turned the speed control without the motor running and I think that is what stripped the gear (that is another story and another post though)

I currently have the headstock apart and am trying to clean 50 years of dust out of it and get it into good functioning order before trying to do any work with it.
The cleaning is mostly done, now I need to oil/wax it (after I get some wax)

I think it is an older one. It is green and silver, and has a toothed "gilmer" belt, which is actually rubbing on the side now for some reason (any ideas?)

I've replaced the power switch now, and hope to eventually add wheels to it.

I'll update this post with the serial number when I get a chance to write it down.

Hi and welcome;
I just looked at the pic you posted and notice that you have two fences attached to the table. Please do not use two fences with a single setup on this or any table saw. Using two fences may seem like a good thing to someone but doing so will pinch the two sides of the kerf together causing a bind and a serious kickback hazard.
Bill V

Yeah, just hoping they are there for show. Got kickback 2 years ago into my pelvis. Blasted a piece of mdf about 1 inch up and 2 inches over from The President. Soft tissue, so I awoke the next morning to all black from the injury, up my side and down to The Cabinet and below...all pooled blood. Had to lay on my back for 3 days with a pillow under my ass to keep my pelvis high and the blood draining down into my legs and into my chest. If not, well, you can imagine the problems.
And I said just before I made the cut, with no safety equip...." I'll just cut this one board real quick". Every time I say that to myself now, I stop and walk away for a minute.

A guy on Ebay rebuilds the speed changer. You might want to check this out.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHOPSMITH-MARK- ... 4ab47ba7c4


Fred

I only have those two on there because that is the easiest place to store them so they don't get lost/damaged. I haven't actually used the saw yet.

As for the rebuilding speed control.
Yeah, I saw about that in my other post, where that is actually the main topic. Thank you though.
I had bought a replacement already direct from the factory, and it doesn't match the appearance of the rest of the machine.

jmchale wrote:Hi, I'm new to the Shopsmith world and I am located in eastern Pennsylvania.
I got a Shopsmith 500 handed down to me relatively recently.
I have never had one before, so this is new for me.
I made the mistake of violating rule number 1 before I knew there was a rule #1.
I turned the speed control without the motor running and I think that is what stripped the gear (that is another story and another post though)

I currently have the headstock apart and am trying to clean 50 years of dust out of it and get it into good functioning order before trying to do any work with it.
The cleaning is mostly done, now I need to oil/wax it (after I get some wax)

I think it is an older one. It is green and silver, and has a toothed "gilmer" belt, which is actually rubbing on the side now for some reason (any ideas?)

I've replaced the power switch now, and hope to eventually add wheels to it.

I'll update this post with the serial number when I get a chance to write it down.

I would check the axial position of the idler shaft. Sounds like it may be out of position.

SDSSmith wrote:I would check the axial position of the idler shaft. Sounds like it may be out of position.

Thanks. Is there a procedure for adjusting that position?

SDSSmith wrote:I would check the axial position of the idler shaft. Sounds like it may be out of position.

Yes, the Idler Shaft & bearing is sticking too far out of the end of the eccentric bushing housing. The idler shaft bearing and eccentric bushing should be even with the edge of the headstoc casing. This is not unusally for the Gilmer Drive headstock. You should make some modifications to really get the Gilmer belt to operate about 1/8" - 1/16" from the back of the Gilmer drive pulley and not have the Gilmer belt rub on the headstock casing or the back of the Gilmer drive sleeve clutch pulley. My method for many years is to drill and tap a 8-32" hole just above the top of the eccentric bushing and use a 1" body washer with a 8-32" X 3/4" screw to hold the body washer. This is what Shopsmith did on thir later headstocks. Then align the bearing and eccentric bushing againest the body washer. This prevents them from moving further out the headstock.

I discard the 2 "U" shaped brackets that the eccentric bolt fit through when doing the above change. I originally made a few identical shaped "U" brackets with the longer U side at the back and drilled a hole for the eccentric bolt hole closer to the longer U end so it keep the bearing and eccentric further in the housing.This worked well once I determined where the hole had to be drilled after several tries. I did not keep any template at that time

My shopsmith is a Mark V. My serial number is 262287.
It says "Magna Engineering Corp."

This does not seem to fit into the listing of serial numbers though. It is before the 1954 serial numbers start.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/serialnumber.htm

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/faq/markv.htm

billmayo,
Wow, it is good to know that I can adjust it, but your description sounds pretty daunting.
What is the point of that little barbed hook on the outside of the bearing?
Can I remove that and put a spacing washer in there before replacing that barbed hook to hold it in place?

I also recommend changing or at least inspecting all of the bearings while you have it apart. There is no better way to know your machine than taking it all apart and reassembling it with everything cleaned, inspected replaced as needed and lubed properly. The difference is night and day.