Quill return spring...

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steve4447
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Quill return spring...

Post by steve4447 »

II discovered my Quill Return Spring broken today....When I took it apart it appeared that the spring was an odd size rather than a common or standard size...

I measured it as 3/4 wide X .027 and very short....The common American clock mainspring is 3/4X.018X96...I wasn't able to get a quick answer... how or where to get one so I took a stab at making one from a piece of an old broken clock spring that I had just laying around...One that I had just never got to the trash...

I modified it and installed it and it seems to be working fine....Cost ..Nothing..

I would have posted pictures but I think all you would have seen was my hands and/or the back of my head...
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billmayo
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Post by billmayo »

Normally the inside tip of the quill feed spring where the hole is located that will break off. I drilled new holes and grinded the groove between the 2 holes on one spring many years ago when I started repairing Shopsmiths. A lot of work. I quickly collected a few used quill feed assembly with the spring installed so I would not have to fight the spring to install it. I still have a few dozen of the quill feed assemblies still stored if anyone is interested.
Bill Mayo bill.mayo@verizon.net
Shopsmith owner since 73. Sell, repair and rebuild Shopsmith, Total Shop & Wood Master headstocks, SPTs, attachments, accessories and parts. US Navy 1955-1975 (FTCS/E-8)
steve4447
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Post by steve4447 »

Thanks Bill,

You are the greatest...But I was able to salvage an old broken clock spring that I had never gotten around to throwing away....

Believe me your kind offer of $7.00 would have been a bargain.. Modifying that scrap was too much work...I had to anneal the ends and punch a hole in the arbor end and also modify the the loop end ..And after I fought the thing back into the barrel I still had to fight to hook up the arbor end....But it works and it cost me nothing...

After I slept on it last night I realized that I was installing the spring in the barrel the hard way....(Like I had always done them in clocks and watches)...I realize now that because of the way that Shopsmith has made that bastard slot in the barrel and that bastard hook on the end of the spring...

All that I would have needed to do would have been...

1. Hook the arbor to the spring and ...

2.Slide the spring into that bastard slot in the barrel leaving the end fun wild outside and...

3. With an extra set of hands ...Wind the spring up with the arbor and it would have just slipped into the barrel through that slot until it came to the end...

Instead what I did was similar to how I would have installed a clock spring into a barrel....

1. Hook the end into the barrel and ..

2. Wind the spring into the barrel with my hands (My mainspring winder wouldn't work with that bastard end)..and..

3. Then fight with getting the arbor hooked to the inner end....

There was a better way...
fitzhugh
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Post by fitzhugh »

OK, I'm posting this here instead of starting a new thread:
I'm looking at my quill return spring and seeing a fair amount of gunk in there.
Do I...
A) take the spring out and clean it up, risking not being able to replace the spring?
B) try and get enough mineral spirits in there to rinse out as much crud as I can without removing spring - using the shaft to wind and unwind spring to try and get out crud?
C) just admit defeat and ignore it?

I'm cleaning everything as well as I can, taking everything apart to the degree I can. So far I have only left bearings on shafts and the motor untouched. Oh, and haven't taken the quill completely apart (yet). So I'm quite tempted to take it out.

How much of a nightmare is it? If Bill Mayo is avoiding it...

And Steve, I don't follow: you mean feed the spring back in through the slot it hooks over on the case/cover/thing it hooks to on the outside? That slot points to the center of the shaft on mine, not at an angle. Seems it would be very hard to feed the spring in through it.

Fitzhugh
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rcplaneguy
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Post by rcplaneguy »

fitzhugh wrote:OK, I'm posting this here instead of starting a new thread:
I'm looking at my quill return spring and seeing a fair amount of gunk in there.
Do I...
A) take the spring out and clean it up, risking not being able to replace the spring?
B) try and get enough mineral spirits in there to rinse out as much crud as I can without removing spring - using the shaft to wind and unwind spring to try and get out crud?
C) just admit defeat and ignore it?

I'm cleaning everything as well as I can, taking everything apart to the degree I can. So far I have only left bearings on shafts and the motor untouched. Oh, and haven't taken the quill completely apart (yet). So I'm quite tempted to take it out.

How much of a nightmare is it? If Bill Mayo is avoiding it...

And Steve, I don't follow: you mean feed the spring back in through the slot it hooks over on the case/cover/thing it hooks to on the outside? That slot points to the center of the shaft on mine, not at an angle. Seems it would be very hard to feed the spring in through it.

Fitzhugh
Have an air compressor? If so, blow the gunk out as best you can. Don't take it apart unless you have to.
John
fitzhugh
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Post by fitzhugh »

OK, I will took your advise. Thank you for saving me from a lot of trouble!
I don't have an air compressor - clearly I need one to blow out my shopsmiths. For now I just did what I could to clean it. I put it back on the shaft and twisted to compress the spring and get solvent in there.
Once the solvent dries, should I oil it lightly? On another thread I asked about parts in general and was advised to wax, not oil, inside and out. I can't wax the spring. It is blued, I think.
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rcplaneguy
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Post by rcplaneguy »

I will defer to the experts on lubrication (or not) of that part. You don't want to attract sawdust and gum things up. Personally I would clean it and "keep on truckin", as we said back in the 70's. Maybe some powdered graphite?

Image
John
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"Wild Bad Bob"
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Post by "Wild Bad Bob" »

Fitzhugh,
!st if I may ask, what nationality are you, just curious with your first name?
I dont have an AC anymore but I bought a mini vac attachment set for a shop vac for getting into really small areas, like keyboards and such, what I do is there is one that ends up at the tip with a 1/4-3/8" hole, when I want to blow some thing out I put that on the hose of my shop vac, reverse the hose and it blows baby, blows.
Measure once, cut as many times as needed to get it right! Bob
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billmayo
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Post by billmayo »

fitzhugh wrote:OK, I will took your advise. Thank you for saving me from a lot of trouble!
I don't have an air compressor - clearly I need one to blow out my shopsmiths. For now I just did what I could to clean it. I put it back on the shaft and twisted to compress the spring and get solvent in there.
Once the solvent dries, should I oil it lightly? On another thread I asked about parts in general and was advised to wax, not oil, inside and out. I can't wax the spring. It is blued, I think.
This is the one area where I do use silicone or teflon base spray lubricant. I bring the snap ring out to the threaded area and pull the housing to the snap ring. I really wet down the spring after blowing out any dust and dirt. I restore the housing back and work in the spray inside the housing and then replace the snap ring. I then clean the outside of the assembly with a cleaner (acetone) to remove any over spray.
Bill Mayo bill.mayo@verizon.net
Shopsmith owner since 73. Sell, repair and rebuild Shopsmith, Total Shop & Wood Master headstocks, SPTs, attachments, accessories and parts. US Navy 1955-1975 (FTCS/E-8)
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rpd
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Post by rpd »

If you are considering option a:
Here is a link to a video made by one of our members, ddvann7, to give you an idea of what is involved.


Attaching Shopsmith Quill Spring


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFFP-n3zYiQ
Ron Dyck
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