Shopsmith Forums

I see lots of photos of Shopsmiths with a handwheel instead of the original levers, particularly for raising and lowering the table. Can an old Mark V model 500 be retrofitted with handwheels w/o actually having to spend the big bucks to convert it to a 510 or 520?

For reference, I'm using a fairly old (Greenie) M5 and a '04 520, so it is possible that there are variants. I believe that the answer is that you could modify the 500 carriage to use the wheel but you cannot simply remove the handle and replace it with the wheel.

Among the differences, on the 520 the wheel is mounted close to the carriage and the table tilt is spaced away from the carriage. On the '500' it is the opposite, with the table height handle spaced away and the table tilt close relative to the carriage. Differences in the carriage lock would also interfere if the wheel were positioned close to the 500 carriage.

I think the minimum modification would be to add a spacer (approx. 1 inch) between the wheel and the carriage on the 500. This should move the wheel and handle away from the tilt lock and carriage lock, at the same time getting its position right on the pinion shaft. This is similar to the original where the lever is spaced outward by the 'pinion lock.' I'm not able to test this, I don't have a 500 carriage/table set up. My 'approx. 1 inch' would also have to be more carefully determined, it is not a precision thing but you don't want to run out of threads for the lock.

I hope this helps, I can provide pictures if needed.

Edit: The previous response (link) is much better because folks actually tested it. I'm going to delete this post soon.

-David

Leave it alone.

It IS useful!

Thanks. I like the simplicity of the approach using the 3/8" drive socket. Might give it a shot. But, not wild about the 7/8" gap between the table and the tubes in drill press mode. My usual approach is to assume the engineers knew what they were doing when they designed any given object. However, having to unscrew and reposition the lever to get the table to whatever position I happen to want it at has always bugged me. Might just have to give the handwheel a try and, like the posts say, it's doesn't have to be a permanent alteration. Gracias all.

sryoder wrote: . . . . However, having to unscrew and reposition the lever to get the table to whatever position I happen to want it at has always bugged me. . . .

You could replace the movable lever with a short bolt, but then adjustments become much more difficult.