Shopsmith Forums

I removed the headstock to inspect and clean and lubricate the sheaves. To answer Dusty's question about the upper belt it was centered on the pulley. It would appear that JPG's assumption about the floating sheave being stuck is correct. I attached a photo to illustrate positioning of the control and floating sheaves and if I'm right it looks like the right side of Dusty's diagram. After lubricating the sheaves I tried manually turning the quill shaft towards me while simultaneously turning the speed controller to open the floating sheave without success. Any suggestions for next steps?

Have you tried manually pulling the floating sheave open by hand to compress the spring? It should move easily (except of course for the pressure of the spring you must overcome)

It may just be a matter of personal preference, but I have never had to remove my headstock to do any work on it. I have dropped the motor pan (with motor inside) whenever I have had to work on the motor. With the way tubes tilted and raised about a foot (on the left end) and supported, the belt can be worked off the motor after the screws securing the motor pan are removed. I also use to disconnect the wires from the switch with the switch in place, but now I just loosen the switch and remove it with the motor (not sure if this will work with a "C" series headsock). Reconnecting the wires to the motor through the access hole was just too difficult for me with the switch in its mounted position.

Finally, perhaps pictures of the control sheave (taken through the access hole) would help diagnose your problem as well.

In the photo that you attached, it appears to me that the motor sheave is wide open (belt rides right at the outer edge of the pulley). If this is the case, the belt is also riding deep in the control sheave (the upper sheave). My guess, consistent with JPG's last comment, is that the belt is jammed in the lower sheave. This not uncommon if the belt is worn.

I'm going to leave the resolution to either the other wild cat or any other member who has a suggestion based on experience.

My solution was most probably not palatable to most. I cut the belt.

Do pull the floating sheave 'open'.

This will provide some slack to the belt and it can more easily be removed from the motor pulley.

Then determine if the belt is jammed in the idler pulley.

Getting it unjammed may require further opening of the control sheave.

That MAY require removal of the speed control.

Sounds somewhat scary, but actually is fairly easy.

Cutting belt is a LAST resort.

Following your suggestions (br549, JPG, Dusty) and those from a few others, I was able to pull open the floating sheave and remove the belt. The belt was riding low in the control sheave but the belt appeared to be in good condition. With the confidence that I was able to move the floating sheave, I decided to keep going with a headstock teardown following a few of Jacob Anderson's You Tube videos. I removed the motor pan, lubed the sheaves again, and removed the speed controller. When I got the speed controller out of the headstock I noticed the worm gear was really gunked up, so much so I couldn't turn the worm gear ! I'm sure this was part of the overall problem. I cleaned up the speed controller and adjusted the quadrant following Jacob Anderson's video suggestions. I then attached the belt and reassembled the headstock based on Jacob's video on that task. I turned on the motor and then turned the speed controller through the various speed changes. The sheaves opened and closed properly and the machine now runs great! I certainly learned a very important lesson the hard way about the need to follow routine cleaning and maintenance procedures. I also learned a lot about how the machine functions. Many thanks to all of you that helped me through this inspect and repair process. You guys are true professionals and reflect great credit upon the Shopsmith owner community!

Hip Hip HOORAY!!!

YOU done good.

theinrichs wrote:Following your suggestions (br549, JPG, Dusty) and those from a few others, I was able to pull open the floating sheave and remove the belt. The belt was riding low in the control sheave but the belt appeared to be in good condition. With the confidence that I was able to move the floating sheave, I decided to keep going with a headstock teardown following a few of Jacob Anderson's You Tube videos. I removed the motor pan, lubed the sheaves again, and removed the speed controller. When I got the speed controller out of the headstock I noticed the worm gear was really gunked up, so much so I couldn't turn the worm gear ! I'm sure this was part of the overall problem. I cleaned up the speed controller and adjusted the quadrant following Jacob Anderson's video suggestions. I then attached the belt and reassembled the headstock based on Jacob's video on that task. I turned on the motor and then turned the speed controller through the various speed changes. The sheaves opened and closed properly and the machine now runs great! I certainly learned a very important lesson the hard way about the need to follow routine cleaning and maintenance procedures. I also learned a lot about how the machine functions. Many thanks to all of you that helped me through this inspect and repair process. You guys are true professionals and reflect great credit upon the Shopsmith owner community!

Most lessons that are truly learned are "learned the hard way".

I am pleased to hear that these problems have been resolved and that you are now more comfortable with and confident about your Shopsmith.

A regular maintenance routine will prevent this from ever happening again.

I congratulate you on your perseverance.

Now, go make saw dust safely.

Oh one more thing!

I suggest doing a high speed adjustment as well. Hopefully that will help prevent a repeat occurrence.

Great idea! I recently saw a video online that shows how to make this adjustment.