Old Shopsmith

[Branson]

heh, I think the extras covered what you paid for the Shopsmith.
You stole it ; P

Shoot, in the proper place, I suspect the Marples gouge and the drawknife alone cover the $40 I paid for the whole haul.  The ShopSmith was just the prize in the box.

[Aunt Phil]

well dang, you didn't get the saw blade sharpener.

I thought you said it was rusty.  That'll polish out in half an hour.

The original cardboard boxes are prized by many owners, keep them in a nice place for future generations.

The jointer setup is a bit hard on the machine, I know a fellow whos dad lost 2 fingers proving that.  That machine was originally bought in 51, and lived in what became the living room till the house was completed.   It cost over $200- with saw, drill chuck and drum & disk sanders new.  The disk sander is a beast, with a lot of momentum to be dealt with.

There also should be a "splitter" on the back side of the saw table to maintain the kerf when ripping.  It also carrys th cast blade guard.  I might be able to get you pics of both the blade guard and belt guard if you need them.

[Branson]

Yeah, I was real depressed about not getting the blade sharpener.  I gather that the speed changer is uncommon, but one is installed on the machine.

Sounds like the jointer is harder on the user than the machine...  Oh well.  I learned to be careful on the old square head jointers -- learned from people like Lefty and One Thumb.  At some point I'll look for a disk, but not until this machine makes me some money.

There is a splitter.  I pulled it off for the time being.  I focused on getting the lathe function set up since I need to use it this week.  (remember my search for socket chisels?  Got 'em all, but some need handles.)  The guard is one of those plastic jobs, and I'll have to check to see if the splitter is original (the manual shows it).  There was also a cast iron bottom guard for the blade, also not there. 

There's mixed messages on the belt guard (another missing in action part).  I saw one that had been owned by one of the Magna machinists, and he had tossed the belt guard.  I think I'd like to get one, but I don't wear loose clothing and my hair is short, so I'll put that off.

When the pics were taken, I'd spent a couple of hours getting rid of rust.  Had to move the parts on the ways with a 2X4 and a big ball pein at first.  (The ball pein I snatched out of a pile I have turned out to be a Madole!  Hadn't looked at it closely before.)  I felt like a shoe-shine boy with the scotch bright.  Now it moves freely except for the back part that I haven't worked yet.

Know anything about the motors?  I have the A.O. Smith, and it seems a little sluggish.  I looked for places to lubricate it, but couldn't find any. 

[Branson]

Oh.  The machine disassembles with two allen wrenches, but the smaller parts, like the live center use a third, smaller allen.  I found a series of holes drilled in the bench top that look like the original owner's place for stashing allen wrenches. 

It didn't move far from where I found it, either.  The wheels still had price tags on them from a Santa Rosa hardware store (under its old name).

[Aunt Phil]

You'll love this, the motor was an optional extra on ShopSmith generation 1, damned if I know, maybe there were still a lot of line shafts in home shops, or they needed to lower price for better sales and a lot of people used motors off old washing machines, a popular source at that point in time.

The belt guards tended to get tossed or shelved, according to an old friend who still has one, because the &$^&(*( hunk of iron got in the way when the saw table was set to maximum cut depth and you were cutting off a 2x4. 

Sluggish motor-
That could be lack of lube on the bearings or it could also be rust between the rotor and stator.  I find a lot of motors that live in damp locations and don't get much use grow sufficient rust between rotor and stator to lock up.  The best cure is to clean it off with Skotchbrite and coat the surface of both with lanolin. 

Could also be an accumulation of dust in the motor housing

Might be a sluggish centrifugal starting switch as well that needs a bit of lube

If the motor is ball bearing there is a possibility the soap based grease has become more of a hard plastic in the bearing.

About that Skotchbrite shoe shine thing, you can sew Skotchbrite onto a piece of cloth a couple feet long and about 4" wide and get a lot more efficiency going. 
Yea, when you stop laughing and try it you'll be glad you did.

[Branson]

>You'll love this, the motor was an optional extra on ShopSmith generation 1,

Sheesh!  You're right!  I checked the packing list, and there is no listing for the motor.  But  it is the motor ShopSmith sold to go with the machine.  No motor... Scratching my head here.

But then, they only shipped two allen wrenches -- 3/16 and 1/8, and the drive center for the lathe, etc, take a smaller size.

[lzenglish]

Here she is!  And all the stuff that came with that was specifically for the ShopSmith.  The second pic shows the shaper/jointer fence and the lathe tool rest.  Third pic shows the shaper cutters and their original SS boxes, as well as a circular "planer" to be used in the drill press (anybody ever use one of these?

More in the next post.

Looking Good! You got yourself a steal of a deal!

Wayne

[Aunt Phil]

>You'll love this, the motor was an optional extra on ShopSmith generation 1,

Sheesh!  You're right!  I checked the packing list, and there is no listing for the motor.  But  it is the motor ShopSmith sold to go with the machine.  No motor... Scratching my head here.

But then, they only shipped two allen wrenches -- 3/16 and 1/8, and the drive center for the lathe, etc, take a smaller size.

Somebody's messin with you son.  That machine takes 2 allen wrenches, they both came with it and both were about 8" long x 2" high.

The saw arbor should take the 1/8 wrench.  There are many repro saw arbors out there, and they generally have a course thread.  The original is fine thread.  I think the drum sander is also 1/8.

The drive center for the lathe clamps down to the spindle with a 1/8 wrench, which is strange considering the drill chuck uses a 3/16 wrench best I recall.  The center that sits in the tailstock bushing is just taper friction fit.  You might want to scrub that bushing well with skotchbrite before trying to use the lathe.  If the center spins a single layer of newspaper will solve it.

The place you may have trouble will be the headstock moving because of wear on the lead bushings.  Best suggestion I have is to cast up some new ones in plaster molds while you still have a good one.

There was another cute thing as first gen machines aged, the brass screws tended to corrode inthe aluminum knobs and break loose.  Fortunately we have JB Weld today to solve that.

Probably ought to mention too that a rope going to the overhead is dang handy to have when you tip the machine up.  That rope is sure cheaper than a trip to the chiropractor.

[Branson]

It looks like I have a spare set of the lead bushings, and a spare handle and nut with them.  But it doesn't move at this point.   Saw arbor, live center, 1/8 -- check.  Jacobs drill chuck, 3/16, check.  I had to use an intermediate size to disassemble some things, and I'll have to see what those were...  And what size wrench I used (I just dug through the allen wrenches until there was one that fit). 

The center in the tail stock fits fine, and no spinning at all.  Already tried that out.  And a good thing, too, since that's what I need to use soon.

The rope is going to have to wait until it has a building to live in, but as long as the head stock and motor aren't at the far end of the ways, I do alright lifting it.  I ran the motor for about an hour yesterday, and it seems to run fine.  Guess it just wasn't used to running when I tried it Sunday.

Thanks for all the really useful information!

[bird]

I'm in love with my shopsmith!!! As most of you know, my passion for woodworking began in Houston ( a good decade or so, ago). I had a saw or two, a few chisels, a no. 3 Stanley plane that I bought from a pawn shop, and a whole lot of time on my hands...... endless time to spend in my "shop"....... time to escape from my girlfriend!!!!! So, I spent my mornings practicing cutting dovetails (and pins) ...... it seemed like the best thing to do with my time.
     Again, most of you who know me know this story.... I'm repeating myself. But, for those that don't know me..... I called my brother one day and said, "Stevie, I'd like for you to find me a house to buy." 
    "Um, when, Bird?"
      "Well, tomorrow would be good."
   So, my brother, stevie, looked for a house for me. He finally called me and said, "Bird, I found your house!.  You won't have many neighbors. You have a shop that's 1200 square feet.... it's perfect."
   I told him..... buy it!!!!!
And so, I moved back to Nelson County, VA, without ever having seen the house I bought. When I walked into the house, I was excited. But, Stevie took me downstairs to the future shop .......   It was a very large basement with one light bulb, and an odd machine I didn't recognize.  It was a 1952 Shopsmith that my brother, dad, and grandfather had spent a long time working on in order for it to be an awesome machine that worked perfectly. 
       That Shopsmith served as my table saw, disc sander, drum sander, drill press, and jointer.
     I know that many persons aren't a fan of the Shopsmith for many reasons. One reason is that persons think it takes forever to change the machine into the task you want the machine to perform.  (drill press, disc sander, jointer, ect.)
   If you spend enough time with the machine, it will take you less then 90 seconds to "flip" the machine into the task you want it to perform. Hmmmm, transformers were a little bit after my time.... but, it's the same idea.
    The jointer I had for my shopsmith was a six inch jointer, but not  a very long bed. But, it worked pretty well, considering the many tasks that machine was in charge of!
    I've moved on to some larger machines. But, I won't forget having a shop with that one light bulb, and that one machine that was waiting in my basement when I moved in.  That shopsmith served me well as a table saw, drill press, and jointer.  As time went on, I ran over 350 feet of wire in my shop. Over time, I've bought a table saw I'm quite happy with. I have a Grizzly jointer that I love (76 inch bed!!!!!).  I haven't bought a separate disc sander, drum sander, or drill press........ the shopsmith works fine for those tasks.
       So, as you can tell, I'm still in love with my shopsmith.  It's a sturdy tool with a simple motor. I have gotten to the point where I can "flip" that thing around in no time at all to accomplish any task.
      Well, I've gone into a long love story of that old hunk of metal.  But, it's worth keeping around.
cheers, bird

[Branson]

OK, Bird, you are now my primary ShopSmith expert!  I've heard all the complaints about changing the machine around, and I'm not really impressed with the complaints.  We were always resetting machines at the mill shop where I worked for a while, and adjusting machines is just part of the way of things.  It took longer to set new cutters in the shaper than it does to shift the ShopSmith. 

What I had a real and immediate need for was a lathe.  Got it.  The drill press is very useful, and I've already used the table saw, too.   The lathe got the first use -- turning some handles for Civil War period chisels.  I still need to tune it up a bit.  Might prettify it some more.  Gotta play with the other systems (I think the shaper function will be quite useful to me).  I have what *might* be the jointer you mention, but mine came with the 4" jointer that's used in the drill press.

One problem I have yet to figure out is that cinching down the headstock... Well, it cinches down fine, but then getting it to move when I undo it is a problem.  It gets stuck.  Suggestions?  I've got all the rust off the ways, and I've waxed them, and I've cleaned up the holes that the ways run through.  That worked for the table saw mount, but the headstock is still reluctant to move -- though once started, it moves freely enough.

Mine was bought in 1949 -- I was lucky to get all the paperwork with it.  Even the Magna Corp Happy New Year 1950 letter they sent out.  I'm already quite fond of this old machine.  It just feels good to be around it.  And it's what I need right now -- several functions in one compact machine.

I really enjoy your stories, and it doesn't hurt that Bird is my sister's name, too.

 

[Aunt Phil]

One problem I have yet to figure out is that cinching down the headstock... Well, it cinches down fine, but then getting it to move when I undo it is a problem.  It gets stuck.  Suggestions?  I've got all the rust off the ways, and I've waxed them, and I've cleaned up the holes that the ways run through.  That worked for the table saw mount, but the headstock is still reluctant to move -- though once started, it moves freely enough.



 

The old and well known stuck ShopSmith quill problem.

Screw one of the drillpress handles in, and give it a sharp whack with your hand in the direction you'd go to extend the quill farther from the headstock after loosening the locking screw and giving it a sharp whack with a rawhide mallet.  Those lead locking jaws do not like to release.

[bird]

OK, Bird, you are now my primary ShopSmith expert!  I've heard all the complaints about changing the machine around, and I'm not really impressed with the complaints.  We were always resetting machines at the mill shop where I worked for a while, and adjusting machines is just part of the way of things.  It took longer to set new cutters in the shaper than it does to shift the ShopSmith. 

What I had a real and immediate need for was a lathe.  Got it.  The drill press is very useful, and I've already used the table saw, too.   The lathe got the first use -- turning some handles for Civil War period chisels.  I still need to tune it up a bit.  Might prettify it some more.  Gotta play with the other systems (I think the shaper function will be quite useful to me).  I have what *might* be the jointer you mention, but mine came with the 4" jointer that's used in the drill press.

One problem I have yet to figure out is that cinching down the headstock... Well, it cinches down fine, but then getting it to move when I undo it is a problem.  It gets stuck.  Suggestions?  I've got all the rust off the ways, and I've waxed them, and I've cleaned up the holes that the ways run through.  That worked for the table saw mount, but the headstock is still reluctant to move -- though once started, it moves freely enough.

Mine was bought in 1949 -- I was lucky to get all the paperwork with it.  Even the Magna Corp Happy New Year 1950 letter they sent out.  I'm already quite fond of this old machine.  It just feels good to be around it.  And it's what I need right now -- several functions in one compact machine.

I really enjoy your stories, and it doesn't hurt that Bird is my sister's name, too.

 

   I imagine some persons have better advice then I do.  OK, most persons have better advice than I can give!!!!  But, I've found that the machines dislike to movement is often caused by a balance issue. By this, I mean that if you don't move everything just right, (for instance, if you move any part of that machine along the two bars without it being exactly balanced right, it tends to lock itself into an undesirable position) the Shopsmith is fairly unwilling to move. ..... it's a stubborn beast.
      As for the jointer, I'll have to go measure the width of the jointer blades. But, I think you said that you have a four inch jointer that attaches where the drill press is??? Is that right?  I've not heard of that before. To the best of my knowledge, if you have a jointer, it will fit into the opposite end of where the drill press is. In other words, it's at the end of the machine that isn't used for anything else. The actual jointer is a really heavy piece of metal that "slides"  (yeah right!!!)  into the machine via two posts. OK, I should stop talking, go downstairs, and investigate this whole jointer thing!!!
     As I think I've said, I now have a 9 inch jointer that has a 76 inch bed!  Yeah, I'm gloating!!!! So, I haven't worked with the "jointer attachment" to the shopsmith in a while. But, I do remember that the hardest thing I had to do with that jointer was lifting that beast into the shopsmith.
     Anyhow, I've never met anyone else named "bird".  She must be a good gal!!!!
cheers,
bird

[Branson]

 
[/quote]
   I imagine some persons have better advice then I do.  OK, most persons have better advice than I can give!!!!  But, I've found that the machines dislike to movement is often caused by a balance issue. By this, I mean that if you don't move everything just right, (for instance, if you move any part of that machine along the two bars without it being exactly balanced right, it tends to lock itself into an undesirable position) the Shopsmith is fairly unwilling to move. ..... it's a stubborn beast.
      As for the jointer, I'll have to go measure the width of the jointer blades. But, I think you said that you have a four inch jointer that attaches where the drill press is??? Is that right?  I've not heard of that before. To the best of my knowledge, if you have a jointer, it will fit into the opposite end of where the drill press is. In other words, it's at the end of the machine that isn't used for anything else. The actual jointer is a really heavy piece of metal that "slides"  (yeah right!!!)  into the machine via two posts. OK, I should stop talking, go downstairs, and investigate this whole jointer thing!!!
     As I think I've said, I now have a 9 inch jointer that has a 76 inch bed!  Yeah, I'm gloating!!!! So, I haven't worked with the "jointer attachment" to the shopsmith in a while. But, I do remember that the hardest thing I had to do with that jointer was lifting that beast into the shopsmith.
     Anyhow, I've never met anyone else named "bird".  She must be a good gal!!!!
cheers,
bird
[/quote]

Yeah, she's a great gal!

Once it's started, the headstock moves fine.  It's like the locking jaws get stuck.  I've seen brass replacements for the issued jaws and wonder if they might be less likely to stick.  The spindle has a spring between the jaws, and no problem releasing...

Yep, I have a 4" jointer head.  it uses the drum sander fence (which is also used for the shaper attachment -- got the shaper spindle and four cutters).  I have anoter 4" jointer I got years ago that *might* have been made for a ShopSmith, to fit on the other end like the one you mention.  I always wondered why someone would have removed the motor to just have the bed  and fence lying about.  I have to remember where I stored the thing.

Gloat away!   I just wish I had had the space to put it, but somebody dropped off a 12" Faye & Egan jointer at the dump a few months ago!  Everything except the 5 horse motor was there.  Maybe somebody else will dump one when I have a big enough space and a solid slab of concrete to support the monster.   It sure would be nice to have that 9" like yours!

[scottg]

The stubby chisels are probably Stanley Everlast chisels.  A little collector value there, if they clean up nice.
 The gouges are --really-- interesting. Shipwright size roughing gouges, just slipped in there.  If you want to trade something for whichever one you end up not using, let me know? 
   You won't like the folding handle drawknife much.  A good idea for portability, I never met one I liked using much.
 
Tell how you like using the lathe, when you get to it?? I need a heavy duty lathe, mine is a flyweight. I have considered Shopsmith in the past, but never knew anyone who used one much.
    yours Scott