FAQ from the SSUG-L log files & rec.woodworking

Fence Adjustment

I have a Shopsmith Mark V 510. Sorry to say that it has not been used much over the past year, but now I have to adjust the rip fence because it is more than 1/2" off straight when I clamp it down. I tried the adjustment procedure in the binder, but I was only able to adjust it to get within 1/4". It is almost like the tubes or the fence bent, or maybe I am missing something. I do not know. Anyone have a suggestion on alignment of the Shopsmith fence or maybe it is the table itself. I did not check the table itself, just the fence on the table. I have most of the weekend to do this. Any help or hints would be great. Is there a FAQ around somewhere? Richard Woelffer

If it is the tubes, try putting the fence on the back tubes to see if the same things happen? But do check the table against the blade like it describes in the book first. Jim

Also, make sure the fence is aligned to the miter slots on the table. Fortunately, you have a 510, which has a better fence than my older 500. So, your fence, once aligned, should stay in good alignment. Frank

Richard, There are two screws that you'll find to the left and right of the handle you use to tighten the rip fence. If you haven't investigated these, they may be misaligned. Charles W. Mathews

Weather Question

Fellow wood workers, I am building a 12x20 workshop in my back yard. It will have a concrete pad with a wood floor (as suggested in previous SS conversations), insulated sides and ceiling, 2 -3' wide doors and a window. The question is: Will the cold cause a problem with my power tools during the winter? I was not planning to heat the shop all the time, just when I'm out there. What problems will SS experience? All responses will be appreciated especially by SS, Rob

I live in Louisiana and have a 20'X30' shop. It has insulation in the walls but the 'ceiling' is open. It's not heated or air conditioned and I haven't had any problems with my SS. I do keep it waxed and that helps, even in our humidity. :) -- Jimmy J.

I would think that you might not experience a great deal of problems with the tools, but you might run into some with the wood. Where do you live? If you have wood that sits at 5-10 degrees all week, then you heat your shop on a Saturday morning say for a half hour getting up to 68 degrees, complete a project, then take it into the house, you may have joints come loose or even split when the wood and glue expands a few weeks later. In this case you should be extra careful with joints Such as not gluing panels into stiles , reinforcing them with dowels etc. Please do not consider this to be an overwhelming problem just my thoughts . Rich

We'd need more info on where you live, I think. Here in central PA my shop is in a now-and-then-heated garage bay. The area is super-insulated, which is fine for keeping the heat in once it's all up to temp, but it's still not very practical to try to keep it heated all the time, so I tend to use radiant-type heaters (which of course heat the objects -- mainly me! -- rather than the air. As for the equipment, in cold weather let it run a bit before putting it under load (SS recommends this for the thickness planer even at normal temps; I rarely run it in cold weather, and then only when I've brought the area up to comfort zone). One problem you'll want to anticipate: not every year, but sooner or later you'll get a sudden influx of warm, moist air into your area, with the result that every cold metal surface in your shop will get a coating of beads of water, inside and out and throughout. It is not a pleasant experience, but you'll want to dry it all off with towels and sponges and cursing and, finally, a hair dryer. A prior coating of silicone spray (it's proprietary, and tends to preempt the water) can help, as can WD-40, but ultimately you'll want to dry it physically. But this has gone on too long -- especially, as I suggested, it'll help to know where you live. Good luck. Dan Wheaton

Rich Olexa questions whether you will have problems with wood movement because of temperature. My personal feeling is that you won't have these problems. I think you could store wood at freezing temperatures for a long time, then warm the wood up to 68 degrees, make your project, and everything will be okay. I think the wood movement to be careful about is due to moisture changes. In this sense, Rich could have a point because wood that is stored at freezing temperature is not going to dry out, if you are air drying the wood. Anyway, it won't dry very fast! As Rich says, just my thoughts. Will Self

One thing to keep in mind is that most wood glues have a "chalk temperature" at which point the uncured glue will turn to a chalky color and will not hold well. For white and yellow glues this is around 45-55 degrees. If your WOOD is much colder than this, even though the air in the shop is warmer, you will not get a good glue bond. The glue will lose temperature to the wood (heat sink) faster than the air will warm it up (especially in a closed situation (such as a wood joint)). Epoxies and hide glues will not cure well or at all at much below 60-70 degrees. If you don't heat your shop, it can pay to bring the wood into a heated living area prior to glue ups. This is bound to make points with the SO. Keith Mealy

Use 5/8" arbor for 10" Saw blade?

Can anyone tell me if there is any reason *NOT* to use a 5/8" Dado Arbor to mount a 10" saw blade in a Shopsmith Mark v (500)? How good are the 1-1/4" arbor saw blades sold by Shopsmith?

It should be OK to run the saw blade on the dado arbor, I did it for about 5 years until a Woodcraft store opened near me, at which time I broke down and bought a spare arbor.

Yes you can use the dado arbor for mounting a 10" saw blade but it is generally not done. Three things come to mind regarding the dado arbor: 1. The arbor can make contact under the table if the table is tilted too far. 2. Depending on which lower saw blade guard you have, you may have difficulty aligning the blade, the arbor, and the lower blade guard. 3. The table must be adjusted farther away from the headstock on the tubes than when using a regular saw arbor. I have not used any Shopsmith blades so I can't comment on their merits. When I buy a good blade I simply specify that it is bored to 1.251". This allows me to use any blade I choose. Most blades are available either 5/8, 1.125, or 1.25 standard without special order. Keep churning out those Christmas gifts - Rick Rick Campeau

When the list started?

The list started on Oct 7, 1994, although Thomas got the group started quite some time before that. My first piece of mail is dated June 1, 1994. To the Shop Smith peoples.... How about giving us some names so we don't have to say "hey you guys", "those SS peoples", etc.... Jim Wirtz

SS stops as speed goes up

I was turning some pens tonight on my Mark V and as I increased the speed from C the spindle stopped turning when I got to about G or H. Last night I noticed it the speed control seemed tight when I was dropping the speed from N back to A getting ready to turn off the unit. It runs fine on the very low speeds but cuts out as I increase the speed. I looked in the port on the back when the speed was just about ready to cut out and it looked like a belt was loose, it was vibrating a lot. This is the first trouble I've has since I bought this used SS and I'm not sure what is wrong or how to go about correcting it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Jerry

I'll bet up to a quarter that the sliding sheave on the lower adjustable pulley is sticking. You can easily find out. Remove the left end of the headstock, the part farther from the spindle. You only need to remove two sheet metal screws to get it off. Slide it along the ways to the left as far as you can to get it out of your way. I usually put a wooden "Jorgensen" type clamp on one of the tubes to keep it from sliding back. Now run the Shopsmith and watch the lower pulley as you change speeds. It will be apparent if the sheave is stuck and failing to slide so as to conform to the belt. You need to lubricate the shaft that the pulley slides on. Use plenty of oil, because most of it won't get to where it needs to go. Also, there is a little hole where you can put oil. Try finding it by pushing the coils of the spring aside. It is at the right end. In a severe case oiling will not free the sheave, it's too late. If this happens you can try tapping it a bit, but not directly with a hammer, because it's only made of aluminum. Hold a piece of wood against it, as near the shaft as you can, and tap the wood with the hammer. If this doesn't free it up, write me and I will make some more suggestions. Greetings of the season to all my Shopsmith Friends everywhere. Will Self

Will's advice is right on for what sounds to be your problem. However, I usually take lubrication one step further. I own a Mark VII and am assuming this can also be done on the Mark V. First I set the speed dial to the lowest speed (700). Then, with the motor OFF, I turn the dial to 5200. This loosens the belt and allows it to be flipped off the upper sheaves. Doing so gives access to the upper shaft between the sheaves for direct lubrication. Be careful not to get any oil on the sides of the sheaves. The lower shaft can be accessed by manually retracting the outer sheave and applying oil to the shaft. This takes strong fingers. If the sheaves are still sticking, the shafts may be fouled up with gum from belt dust and will need to be cleaned. After lubrication, separate the lower sheaves and wedge the belt up as high as possible. Then, slip it back between the upper sheaves. I then manually turn the spindle while decreasing the speed dial back to the lowest setting. This entire procedure may not be necessary, but since parts are no longer available for the Mark VII, I want to be sure they last as long as possible. Ron

Speed Change Control Knob

I've had trouble over the years with that knob coming loose. There is a spring behind the dial whose function is to keep the dial from rattling (I think!) and finally I just removed that spring. Now the dial may rattle a little on occasion, but I don't have trouble with it coming loose any more. I suppose a person could also try changing the tension that the spring exerts on the dial. Will Self

I'm not sure that I have exactly the same problem. Although, it may be related. I have a 510 converted from a 500. So, the speed control is original. My problem is the hex set screw comes loose, so that when I dial down, the speed control doesn't! Of course this means that I have to go through the process of recalibrating my speed dial on a more frequent basis than I'd like. My work-around, is to make sure the hex set screw is tight before the start of each workshop session. I also check it during each session if I get the feeling that it's been too long. But, this sure is a pain. Of course, this is on the list of things to be fixed when I next take the headstock in for a tune-up. Another problem, and much more serious, potentially catastrophic, is the set screw on the blade arbor (5/8" or 1 1/4") vibrates loose. The first thing I know about is the blade either starts hitting the insert or when I turn the motor off the blade runs forever. Any suggestions? Needless to say, the spindle is getting replaced during the headstock tune-up as well.

Look at the bottom of the set screw, you will see that it has been worn flat. there should only be pressure applied by a thin ring of metal. You first step is to replace the set screw (I buy about 20 at a time, and change mine often. This is a dangerous situation.) I also wrap some Teflon tape around the set screw. One layer seems to do the trick. glenn glennl@math.odu.edu

A freewheeling blade is no fun. Try some thread sealer such as "loctite" on the setscrew. That should fix the problem, and you will be able to undo the set screw when it is time to change operations. good luck. Regards Tom

Loose Speed Dial

Check in your manual under high speed adjustment. Moving the speed dial while the SS is not running can mess up the belt by catching on the pulleys. The low end is not to worry to much, it's the high end that will throw the belt. Did it about a month ago. Chews the belt all up???? Anyway... if the high speed adjustment procedure doesn't make sense to you, feel free to drop me a note and I'll try to help out some more? Jim Wirtz

This is really very, very easy. Simply attach the disk sander to one end of the spindle, so you can use it for a handle. Then, (and be sure to unplug the unit!) just manually turn the spindle in the normal direction and simultaneously turn the dial down. You'll need to do this in small steps unless you have a helper, since it's not too easy to keep the spindle turning. Take it slow and easy and you should have NO problems. -- Pat Freeman

I've had luck recovering from this situation by turning the spindle by hand while turning the speed dial down. My 'technique' is to use my left hand on the attachment end of the spindle, turn in towards me, and reduce the speed dial as I go. In case you are looking for a non-invasive surgical procedure, this works. It's also good if you are looking for a way to create blisters on your left hand. Actually, after re-reading your e-mail, if the dial was truly turned while the motor was off, you should be able to simply turn it back down. If the motor was not turning, then the belt would not have moved to the high speed setting. You should be able to tell based on how difficult it is to reduce the speed. If it goes easy, you're in good shape, if it goes hard, you'll need to spin it down. Jeff

I've found that I could recover by rotating the spindle by hand. The belt should get back on track and if you're doing it by hand it will be slow enough that things shouldn't get too trashed. Remove the little cover plate on the back side and you'll sorta be able to watch what's happening. HTH Kevin

This is really very, very easy. Simply attach the disk sander to one end of the spindle, so you can use it for a handle. Then, (and be sure to unplug the unit!) just manually turn the spindle in the normal direction and simultaneously turn the dial down. You'll need to do this in small steps unless you have a helper, since it's not too easy to keep the spindle turning. Take it slow and easy and you should have NO problems. It sounds like all that really happened is that somebody turned your dial for you without power on. All this does is open the sheaves. However, they can't close up again unless the spindle is turning. -- Pat Freeman

Hard to Move Speed Dial

I would guess the most likely cause to be that your speed-change pulleys need lubricating, especially the lower one. I lubricate my lower pulley with grease. I've not seen it officially recommended, but it works well for me; it lasts longer than a lube with oil. Will Self

Glen, I have two SSs, and with both the speed control is difficult to rotate *at low speeds.* At higher speeds, they both are easy to rotate. I just today installed a new spring behind the speed control dial (the old one was broken) but I can't say it makes a lot of difference. Both SSs have <1 hr. or running time since lubrication. Also, I disassembled the speed control on one and cleaned and reassembled it. This didn't seem to make much difference either. I believe it's just the "nature of the beast" to be harder to turn at lower speeds. Chuck

I recently had to replace my V belt on my SS. It had gotten out of adjustment and the belt went over the top and I suddenly lost power. When I opened it up the belt had been shredded. Anyways...... When I went to order a new belt I decided to get some other parts I needed. I had messed up the holding screw for the eccentric sheave that adjusts the belt tension and I ended up buying a kit. It included the shaft. Has it turns out the shaft has a key in it and when I put the speed adjustment sheave on it they would hardly slide. It came with a new key and it was just too big? After some file work I could get the sheeve to slide freely and afterwards I notice that the speed dial was easier to move.

Odd - my speed changer is easy to turn clockwise (increase the speed) but hard to crank down. I figure it is due to the belt having to be squeezed back up the pulley to slow it down. Naturally, this increases the friction and of course its always easier to go downhill than up. I've just learned to live w/it and dream of a 1000 sq/ft shop w/all independent top end machines. But I digress.... Kevin

Kevin's experience matches mine, it's hard to crank down because you're compressing the spring which pushes the lower pulley together. I've even considered taking that spring out and cutting a little bit off... Meanwhile, at the risk of getting awfully boring by repeating myself, I would encourage everyone to try greasing the lower shaft (on which the sheave slides) instead of just oiling. Will Self

By lower shaft you mean the one with the spring around it that is a real pain to access via the removable nameplate? Or do you mean a different shaft? Kevin

Kevin, Mine is also harder to turn toward lower speeds than toward higher ones. This is, as I believe I stated earlier, far more pronounced at low speeds than at high. Like you, I'll live with it. <g> Chuck

Annoying casters...

I have an annoying problem with the casters on my Mk V. If the trailing caster is obstructed by even the smallest debris or passes over the relief seam in my garage floor, the sheet steel base of the Shopsmith will expand just enough for the caster assembly dowel to pop out of the assembly, dropping the whole unit to the floor. Needless to say, it gets very annoying having to lie down on the floor under the machine to pry apart the base enough to persuade the dowel back into it's rightful place. Does any one else have this problem, and if so, have you managed to find a solution? Thanks, Peter Hansen

We have a piece of literature that will tell you how to correct this problem. The basics are that the cam is not on the correct position on the rod. Call us and we can send this out to you. By the way, these casters have been redesigned with in the past 6 months and this problem is not happening any more. If you have any more questions just let us know how we can help. Shopsmith, Inc Rae Customer Service

Shopsmith Inc., I have a question for you. I believe the part is called the quadrant assembly. It is the part that gets tied to the belt pulley that adjusts the speed of the spindles. I have replaced that part once and can see that the part on a second Shopsmith I own has been replaced. Both of my units are wearing to the point that I will need to replace both of them. Has anything been done to correct this problem? I am very careful to never adjust speed without the motor running. Doug

Rae- Wow! I must say that I am impressed. I did not expect Shopsmith (the company) to monitor this list. I guess my experience with certain computer and software companies who do not monitor their respective lists has skewed my perspective. I'm glad to see Shopsmith's commitment by being here. It helps to correct the (personal) negative impression I formed after my local Shopsmith dealer in Columbus, Ohio disappeared three months after I bought my 510. I am considering the bandsaw attachment and I would like to get some 'hands-on' time on it before I make my decision so I'll take a trip down to the remaining Shopsmith store in Dayton to check it out... Thanks, Peter Hansen

Belts

Has anyone tried the "antivibration," linked v-belts I keep seeing advertised in the catalogs on the Shopsmith? The theory sounds interesting, but I am not sure about the implications of the sliding sheaves. Ron Sand

Ron, why don't you try one and give us a report! Bound to be interesting. Will

I had already replaced the belt on my Shopsmith before the linked belts became popular, but I sure will try it next time. Buy enough links to use on a table saw and give it a try. Since they are adjustable, if it does not match up with the sheaves, you could just undo it and save it for another use. So it would not be wasted.

The link belt ain't cheep - about $5 a foot, so maybe this is a case where the Shopsmith people would be willing to do the test and give us the results. How about it guys? Thomas

Dado Blades

Please recommend a dado set for a Mk 5. Thanks Glen Ellis

I have been very pleased with my Freud six inch set. Perhaps an eight inch may suit your needs better. You might also check out the Forrest product, very good, but expensive. Chris Kaine

I have been pleased with the 6" Stack-able Dado from Black and Decker. It makes clean cuts no sanding. Be sure to put a backer board on your miter gage to avoid chip out. This is an inexpensive set about $35.00, I would classify my usage as moderate , I cut about 300- 400 dados a year. I imagine the Fred or Forest are better but more expensive.

I wood also be interested in dado info. The SS stack set that I have (came with the SS as I bought a used unit from a retired guy) does not cut square bottoms. For some reason the blades are different sizes by about 1/16" . Has anyone ever had this problem? Can a sharpener service regrind all the blades and chippers to correct this? Any ideas on price for this service? Also, I currently have a Mark V from 1980 that I bought 2nd hand. I like it except for the table saw which I find too small. Any comments on the 510 upgrade kit? I believe it costs over $600 so I'm wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to buy a Delta Contractor's Saw and just use the SS for the other tools. BTW, I love the SS 6" belt sander. Finally, anyone know where to find a used SS bandsaw and jointer. I'm struggling with justifying the price of the new SS units as some new and many used standalone quality tools can be had for the same price. Thanks Ed - in Dayton,

I also have a SS stacked dado set, (purchased when I bought the unit in 81), it doesn't cut straight bottoms either. I picked up a wobble dado blade from Sears that works quite well. I haven't been cutting a lot of dado's lately, but I'm pretty happy with what the Sears. The wobble blade requires that you mark the teeth at the extreme edges of blade travel for different size dado's. Jim Berecka

I also have a SS stacked dado set, (purchased when I bought the unit in 81), it doesn't cut straight bottoms either. I picked up a wobble dado blade from Sears that works quite well. I haven't been cutting a lot of dado's lately, but I'm pretty happy with what the Sears. The wobble blade requires that you mark the teeth at the extreme edges of blade travel for different size dado's. Jim Berecka

Lathe Duplicator

Has anyone used the lathe duplicator accessory? Bob Hoffman - Mark V

From what I have read on in rec.woodworking, duplicators are not all they are cracked up to be. But every time I have to make an exact copy, usually of a chair leg, I wish I had one, if nothing more than to get some of the basic diameters.

I've done several tables/chairs, and what I've done is first draw up the leg. I use the 1/4" graph paper, so I can both see it to scale, and have measurements to go by. Then I round down the leg, and mark at different points, to indicate the different cuts. i.e., I draw a line each side of a bead, or the ends of a taper. Then I use that to turn down each place. This seems to do a good job, as it gets each cut defined lengthwise, and since most cuts are only 1"-3", you can make them fairly similar. It may not be exact, but I look at it from the standpoint that the legs are somewhat far apart, making it hard to see any differences. I figure if someone is going to be that picky, I'm not going to be pleasing them anyway. I'm an engineer by trade, and sometimes get carried away with details. I'm not saying you should do a sloppy job, just it doesn't seem worth getting too carried away with something that can be time-consuming, with little/no benefit. I sometimes spend more time figuring out how to do something, and the best way to do it, rather than just doing it! Brian D. Reed

I have the lathe duplicator, and have used it for several smaller projects. It works quite well in my experience, and is easy to set up. I became moderately proficient at freehand turning after several classes at Shopsmith (boy, I miss those classes since the stores closed!), but never got good enough to make multiple spindles or pegs that were close enough to identical for my purposes. The lathe duplicator does a nice job, and is quite fast to use for "production runs" of a dozen or so parts. Note: Norm used the SS lathe duplicator in a This Old House series a few years ago to make spindles for a porch. As I recall, the homeowner had to make 50 or so! Ralph Taylor

Bob, my wife Jean and I use it a good bit. She turned some rolling pins made by cutting square stock on an angle and glueing contrasting woods in between, turning, recutting, and so on. Also the duplicator table and tool holder which uses carbide cutters is really handy when we turn Corian pens. We don't use the duplicate feature, just the table and tool holder. I was wondering if anyone in the group has used the "ringmaster" attachment? I bought one when SS/WU was going out of business, and we haven't even taken it out of the box to try it.

Model 500 headstock disassembly questions

I have an old model 500 which still has the Gilmer (cogged) belt drive. I think that some bearings on either the spindle assembly or the drive sleeve assembly have gone bad and am currently trying to disassemble the headstock and remove those parts. I'm running into the following difficulty:

1. I can't extend the drive sleeve. I have cleaned as much as I can on the gears, etc. but can only index out ~ 1 inch.
2. Are any of these parts press fit or should I be able to disassemble without any special tools?
3. Does anyone have any tips for performing this job?
4. Are the bearings easily replaced or should I send the parts to Shopsmith?

What makes you think your bearing are bad? noise, roughness, ? I recently had a problem with a squeal that I thought was the lower sheave rubbing on the motor housing, so checked and it wasn't hitting, and this noise would only show up every now and then and usually at a low speed setting. I removed the back shield on the headstock and would listen to each bearing trying to find the noisy one, finally started disconnecting drive belts to isolate the problem. Imagine my dismay when I had disconnected all of them and the noise was still there. I was the long shaft bearing on the motor and after disassembling the motor and relubing the bearings, all is quiet now. Incidently the motor plate said to lube it every 10 years. If you have the Shopsmith manual, carefully read the instructions on removing the lower sheave spring, it is under considerable pressure and it would be prudent to have both a helper, the suggested ss homemade tool and face protection. Good Luck. Jack.

Doug, There is an Allen screw in the headstock at the top near the right side of the machine that can be tightened into a groove in the quill. It might be that this needs to be loosened on your machine. If it hasn't been touched, it will be covered with a hard putty that will need to be gouged out with an awl. You should be able to buy a complete new quill. Charles W. Mathews

Thanks for your response. I was cutting some ceramic tile with my Shopsmith when the unit seized. I can turn the headstock by hand until it binds and cannot turn in the same direction unless I turn it the other direction first. The motor and other pulleys are fine. I need to disassemble the quill and not the motor. If you have tips on how to do that I would appreciate it. (I bought the Shopsmith used and do not have an owners manual.)

Sounds like the ceramic dust might have locked things up a bit. I used to cut quite a bit of Corian when we were making pens, using the SS and that fine dust gets into every nook and cranny in the headstock. Briefly, you need to extend the quill as far as it will go, then lock down the quill lock to hold it there, its not a bad idea to also lock the opposite side as too much pressure on one side only, can in rare instances crack the headstock. look on the top of the headstock about an inch back from the front and you will see a small setscrew, you might have to dig some putty out of it. loosen this almost to the point of its falling out, then you can while holding the lever to extend the quill, loosen the lock pressure and pull forward on the lever, and at the same time pull out on the quill. it should now pull out of the headstock, at this point tighten the quill lock to prevent the tension spring from unwinding. now you can check over the quill and see if it needs cleaning. I didn't exactly understand your question, but hope this helps. Does the quill rotate but not go in and out? Or does it now rotate when the motor is turned on? The in and out part is definitely a matter of cleanliness. take a 400 grit paper and just lightly polish the headstock where the quill enters it. then clean the quill and lightly wax it. when you reinstall it, with the quill fully extended and under spring pressure, tighten the setscrew in the top of the headstock until you can let go of the lever and the quill won't move. then lightly back off the setscrew until the quill retracts on its own spring pressure, this is the right setting for the screw. when you have the quill out, check the groove in the upper portion to see if its got any burrs that might hit on the setscrew, this will cause sticky operation also. Know this is getting windy, but I am not good at describing things in words. Jack.

Shopsmith Bandsaw Alignment??

I have a 510 with the Shopsmith bandsaw purchased in 1992. In a recent issue of WOOD there was an article on bandsaw alignment. Among other things the article says to ensure that both bandsaw wheels are in the same plane. If I hold a level against the wheels on my bandsaw the wheels only touch the level in three places. Top of the top wheel and top and bottom of the bottom wheel. The bottom of the top wheel misses the level by 2-3mm. There does not appear to be any adjustment to correct this. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Kris

I struggled with this too. If you put the straight edge flush against the bottom wheel you'll notice that the top edge of the top wheel is not touching the straight edge. That is by design, (confirmed by a call to Shopsmith) it forces the blade to be pushed back into contact with the guide bearing. You are correct there is no adjustment for this. None is needed. Hope this helps, Gary

I'm not familiar with the SS BS, but my Delta saw has a tracking adjustment on the top wheel... it simply leans the wheel in or out. This is what you need to do; first make sure the wheels are parallel with this kind of adjustment, then by using shimming washers align the wheels vertically... I hope there is a way you can do this with your saw... Regards, Chris Windsor

Actually the top of the wheel should be out somewhat farther then the bottom of the top wheel. We often ask customers to grad the wheel on both sides and give the wheel a jerk. This will help to get your blade lined up toward the back of the wheel. Feel free to contact our service technicians with additional questions. 1-800-762-7555. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Shopsmith Inc. Dixie Moore Customer Relations Manager

Not applicable to the Shopsmith Bandsaw. It's designed to have the top wheel tilted back slightly.

Shopsmith Belt Sander

I will be going to the Phoenix Home and Garden show this weekend (1-13-96). Shopsmith usually has a booth there. I am thinking of getting a belt sander for my 510, if they have a good show special. Any thoughts on the Shopsmith belt sander? Good/Bad? One other question. I know sheet stock is a bear to cut from full size, is there any Shopsmith unique technique to cutting it? Thanks in advance.

I really like mine. I use it both on my 510 and my Powerstation. Having the variable speed is really nice. With the advent of the rubber sanding belt cleaning sticks several years ago, the belts last a very long time. The tracking adjustment is about as easy to use as any I've seen.

Of all the Shopsmith add-ons, I think the belt sander is the best. It is the only one that I would recommend without reservation. Cutting sheet stock I don't try to cut it on the Shopsmith. I use an 8 foot piece of extruded aluminum that I got at the junkyard as a guide, in conjunction with a portable saw. A couple of quick-acting clamps for the straightedge make the work go pretty well. Will Self

My father has a SS belt sander and he uses it all time. He likes it and has had good results with it. He bought his sander used and it is mounted on the power stand, not the SS itself. Rob

My thoughts on the belt sander - great! I've had mine for over 10 years and believe it is the best built and designed major acc. for the MK V that I have used. This machine has seen a lot of lumber over the years and is still going strong. It is very easy to use and maintain, and unlike some SS products, the dust chute actually collects the majority of the dust. If the new machines are similar to the older ones (I haven't checked the cat. for quite a while) I can strongly recommend it. Regarding cutting sheet stock, I am not thrilled with the idea of using my MK V for this task. I use a sacrificial cutting table (2X4's) on the shop floor, a straight edge, clamps, and my circular saw. I wish I had the room and $ for a real table saw. Rick

I would have to agree with Will. I built some right angle pieces of 2x4 to be the sacraficial wood, to get the plywood up off my bench and then just use the Skil saw and a guide to get it down to a lift-able piece.

Drum Sander

In Woodworking for Everyone there is a design for a drum sander that would allow you to surface sand a wide board. The design is to turn a hardwood cylinder 2.5" in diameter and approximately 15" long. The design also calls for cutting out a wedge at a 30 degree angle which would be used to secure the sand paper. Has anyone tried this? How would you suggest cutting the wedge out of the cylinder? I thought about cutting the wedge out of the stock before it is turned. Would this work? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. Rudy

I'd do it on a table saw by making a sled with a V-block machined out of a 2x4. The sled should be longer than the cylinder, as the saw will cut longitudinally through the 2x4. I would make an index mark on the end, saw the first pass and then rotate the cylinder the needed amount and make the second cut.

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