Shopsmith accessories

[robinson46176]

As I was looking through some of my Shopsmith stuff this week while planning some storage I was reminded of an observation I had made before about accessories. As I made somewhere around 2 dozen machine purchases over about 2 years I naturally acquired a lot of accessory items. I got maybe 4 or 5 jointers and a similar number of bandsaws. I believe there were maybe 6 jigsaws and 2 belt sanders. I have a small herd of saw blades and arbors and a mix of other common bits and pieces.
The thing that I noticed the most was the things that were not there. I was a little surprised at how many units were missing the Jacobs chuck. I only have about 8 of them and I already had 2. I have a whole flock of sanding disk. Also conspicuous in their absence were face plates. When I bought my 510 new in 1988 I bought it with a small and a large face plate as well as a screw center so I would be ready for any basic turning. I don't recall if any of those were standard equipment with the machine. In all of the units I bought I did not acquire a single face plate of either size and I believe only 1 screw center. I have a bunch of spur centers and tailstock dead centers. I had bought a tailstock live center and I acquired 1 more of those. I was a tad disappointed about the face plates since I like sticking the small one on the left side to use as a hand-wheel like for turning the arbor lock screw to the top or front to install or remove attachments.
I guess I will have to make several disk handwheels to mount there on some of my SS's. I sure wouldn't want to install a wheel with spokes there. Too easy to stick a finger in between the spokes with the shaft still coasting.

[mickyd]

Sounds to me farmer that you have to continue buying more machines in the hopes that at least one of them with come with several identical items of those you have missed in the past.:D

[nutball]

I've had a similar experience. In purchasing 4 different machines over time in order to get a nearly full set of the main SPTs, I believe I've only come away with 2 chucks (one with a stripped key) and maybe a single small (3-3/4"?) and single large (6") faceplate. I seem to be somewhat short on a full complement of lathe center pieces, as well. I don't think I have a single screw center.

The instructor at the traveling academy I attended used the faceplate as a handwheel as you've described - worked like a charm.

[JPG40504]

You should have traveled east last a couple of weeks ago. I purchased a 510 with Lathe Duplicator, Both faceplates, screw center, shopsmith chuck, and a slew of other 'accessories' I did not previously own. I probably paid too much for it considering its condition, but all those heretofore non-possesed accessories got my attention. I did already have the 2 faceplates, the screw center and the live center as well as the tailstock chuck arbor which WERE NOT included with the SS in 1963. The cost then was less than $30.00 for the whole kaboodle! I do not remember for sure, but I think the lathe chisels WERE included even though available as an accessory.

Considering the SS cost less than $300.00(including extra cost for 230v motor) that $30.00 whould have been MORE than 10% additional cost!

You would not have hauled it as far as I did!

[robinson46176]

The instructor at the traveling academy I attended used the faceplate as a handwheel as you've described - worked like a charm.



I have been known to use a smooth small Vee belt pulley as a handwheel but you want to be sure that it doesn't have anything sticking out to catch on like a setscrew or even a protrusion to hold a setscrew.
I have an extra hub for a steel sanding sanding disk that I thought I might use to make a handwheel out of. I have seen some really nice ones made of wood but I would worry about one being left on during a high speed operation and it fracturing like a cracked grinding wheel. :eek: maybe something like a high density plywood would work well or even MDF.