Review of Shopsmith's Lift Assist

[Bill-Co]

I didn't think I would like (or needed) the lift assist. I did give in and ordered on when they were on sale. Since I installed it I wouldn't be without it. I think this is a very worthwhile purchase for anyone.:) :)
Bill-Co

[dusty]

You guys have convinced me. I now must overspend the Christmas budget by at least $144.49.

[Unregistered]

You guys have convinced me. I now must overspend the Christmas budget by at least $144.49.Go for it.

[chettrick]

Someone mentioned setbacks from the lift assist. I have three blown lower discs in my back and jumped on the offer when the Lift Assist came up. With enough pain, no price is too much.

In the meantime though, I was building a rolling toolbox similar to the one SS sells, after all, what woodworker wants to buy one if they can make it.

Anyway, after I bought the Lift Assist and installed it, I was finishing my toolbox. I found that the piston in the down position prevented the box from fitting under the machine and had to keep it under the work bench.

The second thing was that I use the lathe for small pieces and the mounting brackets prevent me from reaching the opposing end of the tailstock. It limited my use and had to get creative. I also must have did something wrong because the set screws in the metal tubes slipped and the tubes started to separate from the base of the SS. The alignment went off and reinstalling the Lift Assist after re-alignment of the way tubes made things better.

Despite the problems, I still think it is a great solution for some of us.

[paulmcohen]

The Shopsmith Lift Assist

You will also loose 2" travel for the table at the right hand end, due to the fixing blocks, but in practice this is rather insignificant unless you want to turn stock right to the limit of the Mk Vs capability.



I don't understand your point about limiting size of turning After installing lift-assist, I can no longer turn smaller items like Wine Corks and the upgraded Universal Lathe Tool Rest bumps into the upper bracket. Has anyone modified it to fit? The upper bracket also is not all the way to the right there is a 1" gap further reducing the how close the Table Carriage can get to the right.

[chettrick]

They must be talking about the smallest size limit. ANd yes, the tool rest is hard to manuever in there but it the same problem existed before when the headstock was closer to the tail, for instance with plates.

I started to just crank the quill as far as I could for the small items and it gave me more room for the tool rest. It still did not meet the tailstock but if you get the bandsaw extension tubes, (the ones used so you can lift the SS in upright position without removing the bandsaw), they may allow for close up work.

[paulmcohen]

I am not using the standard toolrest, I am using the upgraded toolrest (which I strongly reccommend) and it overhangs the carriage making the problem much worse. I don't understand the point of using the offset bandsaw supports. So you replace the legs of the tailstock? If that gave me another 1" I think it would work to align the headstand and tailstock but not sure it would help with turning small items.

[8iowa]

I installed the lift assit and noticed a problem. The gas tube is not centered and exerts almost all it's force on one tube. With the Mark V in horizontal position, a lot of force is placed on this tube, lifting it about 3/16 inch high at the far end. This of course causes a small mis-alignment of the whole machine.

I called Shopsmith's tech and talked to Linda. Apparently I'm the only one that has experienced this problem. I even carefully re-installed the system but the problem persists.