Shopsmith Forums

I cannot remove one of the jointer knives from my 505681-B. The 3 wedge locking screws came out fine, but both leveling screws are absolutely frozen. I've tried heat, penetrating oil, tapping, and in desperation drilled through one of them trying to use a screw extractor, but all to no avail. Called Shopsmith, the tech I spoke with couldn't even find the leveling screws on the exploded parts diagram. So I guess I'll try to remove the cutter head and work on it disassembled. Couldn't find any help on tearing it down and how to remove cutter head on the web. Any help on teardown and knife removal would be appreciated. Thanks.

IIRC, just the screws holding in the pillow blocks for the bearings hold the cutter head in place. You do have to remove the drive hub and angle the cutter head to allow for the shaft to pull through the side.

thunderbirdbat wrote:IIRC, just the screws holding in the pillow blocks for the bearings hold the cutter head in place. You do have to remove the drive hub and angle the cutter head to allow for the shaft to pull through the side.

Two screws (one on each end) hold the pillow blocks. With screws removed, the pillow blocks and cutter head lift right out.

http://shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maintenan ... 15836.html

The bearings (missing in this photo) are all that holds the cutter head in the pillow block.

Having drilled on the screw heads, I wish you luck. A new cutter head is not inexpensive. Ask me how I know.

What are you using as a penetrating oil?

A trick I have used in the past which might work for you is to put your Allen wrench in the freezer and then heat the cutter head up fairly hot and stick your Allen wrench in the leveling screw and try working it back and forth. The screw will cool ahead of the cutterhead and hopefully loosen up.
Paul

#33 You do not want to know the $$$

It is not a typical screw.

Thanks to all who replied. Once I got the cutter head out, I was able to pry the wedge loose with a small screwdriver and the knife came out without further hassle. The leveling screws then came right out, they must have been jammed tight against the bottom of the knife. I've already ordered replacement leveling screws from SS to replace the ones I drilled through. As you can imagine, they are bargain priced.

FWIW they will always be jammed against the bottom of the knives. When installing the knives that is what those screws do(raise and provide a 'bottom' support for he knives).

Great ya got it apart.

Prying is typically the method of necessity.

Glad you got it apart. Here is another thing with the wedge screws. The wedge screws seem to get tighter through use of the machine (jointer or planer). This assumes no corrosion. The L shaped or T handle allen wrenches have a large amount of give in them. They will likely end up with a permanent twist to them when you apply enough force to break the screw loose.

I had that problem with a Pro Planer a friend bought when we tried to remove the knives to sharpen them. I got out my Apex bit holder (https://apexbits.com/apex-bit-holders.aspx) and a 5/32 hex bit and ratchet and they broke loose like they weren't even that tight. No spring in the short hex bit in the Apex holder.

What exactly is a "Pillow block"? Also how do you remove the end cap that covers the ball bearings on a jointer cutter head assembly housing unit?

Thank you for your advice.

Darcy W