Breathing new life into a 510

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Ophbalance
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Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:23 am

Breathing new life into a 510

Post by Ophbalance »

My story starts with having watched SS demo's in the 80's. Back then you could find a demo being done in any random mall in the north east. Sadly most of the malls that grew up with have perished (I'm looking at you Frackville!), but it looks like Lowe's is now filling the gap.

Right around 1980 my father had a dome house framed out and roofed in a sleepy little central PA town (the scandal!). He spent the next 3 years running all the electrical, plumping, sheetrock, insulation, etc. to finish the build himself. I also heard about the kegger that was used to invite friends and family to paint all the sheet rock for the house and what a terrible idea it was.

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I lay all that out there to point out that he was enthralled with the SS. We stopped every time we came across a demo. And somewhere around '86 he decided to bring home a 510. Along with that he also acquired the bandsaw, jigsaw and belt sander. Sadly (for me) he never grabbed a planer for it. But as luck would have it a neighbor up the street and I are going half on a greenie and I'll be getting the planer that comes with it! Since I'd love to do more than just minor turning, I'm going to end up having to hunt down the Nova products and a speed reducer at some point.

This 510 has survived a lot of use and abuse. It was used to help build additions to the dome. We used it for building a gazebo and wood deck that was used when my sister was married and had her reception at the dome house. And then the new house was built a valley over, and the SS went into hibernation. Partially because my father wasn't really into building things anymore. Partially because the SS started making a horrible metal on metal sounds. I will saw that the SS did manage to survive two different floods while at the dome house, but lack of use is what knocked it out.

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In 2015 I took the family up to visit my parents and noticed that the SS hadn't been used in a very long time. All of tools that it represented had been replaced with standalone items over the years. The fates aligned and I said to my parents "Hey, I've already got a trailer with us on this trip. Can I take the SS home and fix it up?". And the answer was a "yeap, it's just taking up space". So I packed it all up and drug it to NC!

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And then... well it sat. I spent a few years learning how to repair my newest hobby, being motorcycles. And from that I learned that there's nothing really magical or scary about fixing things. It just takes patience and practice. About a month ago I finally decided it was time to tear into the SS and bring it back to life. I've grown tired of only having a skill saw and cordless drill for doing home repairs. And I want to start building things with my own hands again (I'm looking at you dining room set from Rooms2Go that's fallen apart in just 4 years).

So with that, tear down began! I tried to fire up the SS and, while it started, it made a very obvious metal on metal noise. With tearing it down to what is shown in the Jacob's youtube videos. In the end, it was still making the noise with just the motor on not connected to anything else. After cleaning up those sheaves and key... no more noise! I also ended up replacing the bearings in the drive sleeve as they were no longer moving smoothly and making noise. I thought I would have to end up driving up to Jacob's shop in VA, but as luck would have it, my neighbor has a bearing press and puller. And a shop that stocks the STS bearings on hand. Score! So the only part I really need to replace now is the slightly worn drive belt. All told I'm out $50 to have the SS functional again.

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So that's it. All the functions work, but I'm waiting on some blades for the jigsaw and belt sander. My father found a bunch of items floating about in storage that include those types of things (and more dado blades) and will be bringing them my way in a month. I really cannot be happier. Though I'm going to go poor trying to pick up items I'd like to get to finish setting up my shop area, like a dust collector, 12" planer, LED garage lights and better lathe components. But at least it'll be fun getting there.
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nuhobby
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:34 am
Location: Indianapolis

Re: Breathing new life into a 510

Post by nuhobby »

Bon Voyage! It's a great hobby.

Chris
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rjent
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Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:00 pm
Location: Hot Springs, New Mexico

Re: Breathing new life into a 510

Post by rjent »

Great machine to do it with! Have fun and congrats! :)
Dick
1965 Mark VII S/N 407684
1951 10 ER S/N ER 44570 -- Reborn 9/16/14
1950 10 ER S/N ER 33479 Reborn July 2016
1950 10 ER S/N ER 39671
1951 jigsaw X 2
1951 !0 ER #3 in rebuild
500, Jointer, Bsaw, Bsander, Planer
2014 Mark 7 W/Lift assist - 14 4" Jointer - DC3300
And a plethora of small stuff .....

"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Benjamin Franklin
Ophbalance
Bronze Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:23 am

Re: Breathing new life into a 510

Post by Ophbalance »

I especially enjoy the fact that I used this particular machine to make things like Pinewood Derby cars. I'm hoping that my children will enjoy using it as much as I did back in the day.
Ophbalance
Bronze Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:23 am

Re: Breathing new life into a 510

Post by Ophbalance »

Uh... and then there were two? I happened to catch a 500 on sale for $200 that included a jointer. So now my neighbor is storing his new to him shopsmith in my garage as well. I ended up paying $75 for a new to me jointer so I'm happy. Neighbor has an order in on an ultimate tool rest (so jealous of this) and Nova chuck.

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Smitho
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2018 11:57 am

Re: Breathing new life into a 510

Post by Smitho »

Nice machine you have there
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