green and/or gray

cranehead · Post by **cranehead** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:19 pm

I've been looking for a Shopsmith off and on since I saw pictures of them in the book Workshop Lust but never could connect until last weekend. My son wants to make Nutcrackers to add to his Mom's collection for Christmas. Never one to miss the opportunity to justify a new tool purchase (that's what projects are for, right?) I immediately started looking for a lathe. As I looked on CL one morning a Shopsmith had just been posted, no picture. After the kids were in school we headed out there.

here's the driveway pic:

[ATTACH]16630[/ATTACH]

AFTER making this purchase I found this forum, so I really didn't know what I was getting, but I found this place through a link from OWWM.com, so I sort of know the drill. A couple of things I could see right away, one was the amazing amount of corrosion and pitting on the aluminum table.

[ATTACH]16631[/ATTACH]

I attribute this corrosion to the piece of laminate bolted to the fence. the machine had been stored in a barn so the way tubes have rust like this:

[ATTACH]16632[/ATTACH]

Gotta make a long spooge tank or try some evaporust- can't even move the carriage.

The next day I notice someone selling some Shopsmith parts including a table which I more wanted than needed since my first intention was a working lathe. It turns out that the PO has an entire Shopsmith already disassambled with a bad motor. So I went to see and by now I know more what I'm looking at- it's an old Greenie without the opening behind the headstock logo. The PO sez the motor didn't run well or bogged down and a local shop quoted $75 to clean contacts (?). This is how it looked in the back of my vw:

[ATTACH]16633[/ATTACH]

Here's a pic with Future Owner:

[ATTACH]16634[/ATTACH]

I love the texture of the older headstock andt he Greenie's 3/4 HP motor runs on my bench without apparent difficulty, but how do I test it further? I was intending to get one running but I could end up with two (relatively) complete machines. Now I'm thinking to restore the Greenie since it's already taken apart. This is a dillemma. How do i go about assessing these machines, what should I be looking at? I have watched some of the sawdust videos so far and looked at restoration threads so far I have more ideas than good sense about it.

Well anyway I plan to have a working lathe by September one way or another. I welcome any words of wisdom.

TC

mgbbob · Post by **mgbbob** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 5:00 pm

I would recommend going to the Shopsmith web site and look under the Woodworking heading. There are some videos there that will steer you down the road to restoring on of these beauties.

Overall there is nothing too complex but it does take a while to learn the system. There is also a book called "Woodworking for Everyone" (I think). You can find it on Amazon if you search for Shopsmith.

There are lots of good sources of information here on the forum so I think you will be fine.

Bob

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:13 pm

If the motors are running they are both salvageable.

I had problems with my motor "bogging down" until I rectified a few issues.
Number 1 is alignment this is by far the biggest cause for poor performance when sawing.
Number 2 was proper speed selection. Try a slower RPM with a slower feed rate on more dense materials. Slower RPM means more torque.
Number 3 Sharp Blade/Tools I don't care how powerful a machine is, if the blade/cutting tool is dull it will only make heat and perform poorly.

I recommend new bearings in both of them. Should be able to do for less than $50 per machine, depending on your bearing preference.

I also recommend replacing the belts while you have everything torn down. I don't know if the table on the first is salvageable or not. As long as you have one table that fits both all you really need is one. The bench tubes and way tubes should be salvageable.

Pick whichever has the best runout for the lathe/drill press. Don't even bother checking the runout until bearings are replaced.

Welcome to the madness. Keep us posted and feel free to ask questions as you progress. There are a ton of very helpful people on this forum.

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:33 pm

Both of those machines will cleanup real nice. The Greenie motor probably just needs some TLC, clean it, replace bearings, check the speed control for proper operation and whether the teeth on the pork chop are worn or not. If they are they can be salvage most times and there are posts here that will outline how to do that. The way tubes and bench tubes will look like new after some elbow grease is applied. My 54' Greenie was in a lot worse shape than either of your machines and i completely refurbished it including a new paint job and it now looks better than new and runs that way as well. Here is a picture of my 54' Greenie after the refurb I unfortunately did not take any pics of it before the rebuild that would give you a much better idea of the amount of work that went into it but i enjoy doing it so it was a labor of love more than anything. Took me probably 2 months of off and on working on it in the garage through last winter and I had to wait to get all the parts back from the sandblaster.

You should be using your lathe within a month if you get right to work why September?

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:17 am

Check out this thread for some inspiration.

http://shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=5497

cranehead · Post by **cranehead** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:47 am

mgbbob wrote:I would recommend going to the Shopsmith web site and look under the Woodworking heading. There are some videos there that will steer you down the road to restoring on of these beauties.

Overall there is nothing too complex but it does take a while to learn the system. There is also a book called "Woodworking for Everyone" (I think). You can find it on Amazon if you search for Shopsmith.

There are lots of good sources of information here on the forum so I think you will be fine.

Bob

I have been looking at the videos for inspiration as you suggest. Is "Woodworking for Everyone" a kind of tutorial for the Shopsmith, I've heard of it.

If the mgb in your handle refers to the sports car, as I suspect it does, I'm sure you're familiar with much more demanding challenges. I drove an austin healey for years and owned an MGA also. Tried to wean myself off old machines, but...

TC

cranehead · Post by **cranehead** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:47 am

mgbbob wrote:I would recommend going to the Shopsmith web site and look under the Woodworking heading. There are some videos there that will steer you down the road to restoring on of these beauties.

Overall there is nothing too complex but it does take a while to learn the system. There is also a book called "Woodworking for Everyone" (I think). You can find it on Amazon if you search for Shopsmith.

There are lots of good sources of information here on the forum so I think you will be fine.

Bob

I have been looking at the videos for inspiration as you suggest. Is "Woodworking for Everyone" a kind of tutorial for the Shopsmith, I've heard of it.

If the mgb in your handle refers to the sports car, as I suspect it does, I'm sure you're familiar with much more demanding challenges. I drove an austin healey for years and owned an MGA also. Tried to wean myself off old machines, but...

TC

cranehead · Post by **cranehead** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:47 am

mgbbob wrote:I would recommend going to the Shopsmith web site and look under the Woodworking heading. There are some videos there that will steer you down the road to restoring on of these beauties.

Overall there is nothing too complex but it does take a while to learn the system. There is also a book called "Woodworking for Everyone" (I think). You can find it on Amazon if you search for Shopsmith.

There are lots of good sources of information here on the forum so I think you will be fine.

Bob

I have been looking at the videos for inspiration as you suggest. Is "Woodworking for Everyone" a kind of tutorial for the Shopsmith, I've heard of it.

If the mgb in your handle refers to the sports car, as I suspect it does, I'm sure you're familiar with much more demanding challenges. I drove an austin healey for years and owned an MGA also. Tried to wean myself off old machines, but...

TC

cranehead · Post by **cranehead** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:59 am

wannabewoodworker wrote:Both of those machines will cleanup real nice. The Greenie motor probably just needs some TLC, clean it, replace bearings, check the speed control for proper operation and whether the teeth on the pork chop are worn or not. If they are they can be salvage most times and there are posts here that will outline how to do that. The way tubes and bench tubes will look like new after some elbow grease is applied. My 54' Greenie was in a lot worse shape than either of your machines and i completely refurbished it including a new paint job and it now looks better than new and runs that way as well. Here is a picture of my 54' Greenie after the refurb I unfortunately did not take any pics of it before the rebuild that would give you a much better idea of the amount of work that went into it but i enjoy doing it so it was a labor of love more than anything. Took me probably 2 months of off and on working on it in the garage through last winter and I had to wait to get all the parts back from the sandblaster.

You should be using your lathe within a month if you get right to work why September?

That is a beautiful result you achieved there. I must attack that Greenie while in in a defenseless state and bring up to snuff.

It seems an odd thing that the PO reported a bad motor, what's up with that? I can see if it bogged down on him on the machine, but why did he get a repair quote from the shop to clean contact, what contacts. Is there a bench test you can do?

September is my deadline because this project must compete for time (and budget) with a bunch of other stuff- so I'm being realistic. Also if its done by then my son and I will have plenty of time to learn how to use it to make the nutcracker for Christmas.

TC

cranehead · Post by **cranehead** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:16 am

heathicus wrote:Check out this thread for some inspiration.

http://shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=5497

Holy cats, I can't get past Mickyd's Greenie and I find myself lusting after a 10 er. I'm past saving already.

I will go back and look at these restoration threads with great interest.

So it the motor situation sorts itself out, I've got belts and bearings, and the speed control to inspect. Is there anything else hard to discover on these?

TC