Another possible way to attach machines is like the super-long Shopsmith was done. The guy I bought it from was a machinist and machined a piece between each set of bars with same out side diameter but each end has a lip to seat inside the bar bores. Then threaded rob with couplers in the center all the way to ends. he capped ends and rod came out a drilled hole and he capped it with a flat piece of metal and nut and lock washer. It works great. The bars are about 10' long and very heavy so I can imagine multiply that times the weight of the bars for the Supershop!

 

In the case of the Supershop bars, that method does not take into consideration the broached teeth under the front tube. The carriage won't move onto the extension unless those teeth match up perfectly. I suppose one could remove the internal carriage gear and make it work. The bars are heavy enough that set screws onto the connector hold well and do not need a lengthy threaded rod to hold them together. The sockets in the end castings are not very deep and if there is a nut preventing it from bottoming out completely, there could be trouble with the big torsion force. Now, it's possible to drill the socket in the center for space, I suppose, but I just haven't experienced the need for an internal rod to hold it together.

I can see that method working well on the Shopsmith, though. The tension of the rods would make the bars a little stiffer.

DanK

 

I picked up my 2nd SuperShop yesterday. It is in fantastic shape :> Unlike my first, which was pulled from a barn by the PO, this one has been well cared for. It came with all the original accessories and manual, as well as the belt sander, bandsaw and jointer add-ons. I have a vague memory of these being the same as the ShopSmith accessories - is that true? I'm kinda skeptical on the jointer. I think it may weigh as much as the entire ShopSmith! Ok, maybe not that much…but it is a beast. Don't want to move that thing around any more than needed. Here it is, in my crowded shop. You can see my first one in the background.

Things that I'll need to fix/improve:
1) The table height lock lever is broken - actually the fitting that the lever screws into is split. I have the parts. Hopefully I can make a replacement. Or pull it off my first one.

2) No motorized carriage. My first one has this…it looks like all the castings are the same and the holes are there…so I think I'll be able to move it over. I really like that feature, especially for vertical drill press.
3) Can't get the belt sander to tension. The provided instructions say to turn one way until machine labors, then turn back and let the auto-tension take over. First part is good…but then the belt just goes slack. There is what appears to be a push-in button on the tension knob. What does that do?

4) Lift torsion is not set correctly. Lifting to vertical position is a bear.

I have a large bandsaw and had not planned to keep the bandsaw add-on, until the owner pointed out that it is variable speed…and therefore useable on metal, which my WWing bandsaw is obviously not. So maybe I'll keep it.

 

What is the approximate selling price (not asking price) of these Super Shops. I know that Shopsmiths sell for way less than they are worth on the used market. Also, does anyone know if the sliding table with the drill vise slots will fit on a Shopsmith, particularly in reference to the way tubes dimensions?

 

I think selling price is probably all over the map. There is both very low supply (because they didn't make many) and very low demand (both because nobody has heard of them and because there is no longer much support from the manufacturer). I just bought this one for $360 on eBay. Asking prices are frequently over $1000. I think a few on eBay over the last few years have sold in that range…not sure.

No, the tubes are different sizes, so that won't work.

 

Thank's, merrill77.

 

I have no experience with the belt sander, so I'm no help with that issue. Yes, the carriage should move onto the newer machine but it may be stiff because machining tolerances were tight on that and if it's off just a hair… and yes, I use the lateral feed all the time. Right now it's being used to carry a router jig to duplicate balusters. May get a picture later today.

There is a procedure for adjusting the torsion spring. It's done with the machine in the standing position to minimize tension. There are three allen head sockets screws to loosen and I think a large pipe wrench or strap wrench with a cheater is involved. I've only done it once to a machine decades ago, so I don't remember. I'd have to look, but I think the owner's manual describes the procedure. Oh, and the head should be moved to the extreme right before attempting to stand it up.

Fox's jointers were heavy machines, true, because he started making them beefier than Shopsmiths. He made several 3 wheel band saws, but the end of his run came before they were marketed much. He did cast adapters that held Shopsmith equipment and it seems that later producers welded some together.

The height lock looks like a casting in the picture. Replace it with a piece of mild steel machined and threaded to fit and it will last forever.

Selling prices vary widely as merrill points out. I confirm what he said about tubes not fitting. We're pretty much on our own for (our mutual) support.

DanK

 

I adjusted the torsion spring last night. There is a tool specifically for that…my 1st unit did not come with one so I had to make one. The tool is just a rod with 2 pins sticking out. Anyway, it appears that the PO had actually torqued it the wrong way…it was pushing the tubes down instead of pulling them up. Works much better now

 

Thank's, Dan.

 

Here is a short video a Supershop equipped with a lathe duplicator jig. What you can't see in this video is hidden under the white tin shield that protects the linear motion front to back. It's simply a 1/2" x 2" piece of mild steel with slanted sides (like so <--> ) riding between pairs of V groove bearings secured to the T slots to hold the bar snugly. My right hand is applying slight pressure to keep the stylus against the template. The carriage is autofeeding at about 1/2 speed with the spindle turning at 300 rpm. The first and only pass stopped at the detail and I manually held the follower steady left to right to round the detail area cleanly, then finished the detail under power as seen.

Takes about 1 1/2 minutes to move about 24" along a 36" turning, maybe two minutes to complete this whole operation. I'll have to touch up the turnings by hand to round the rest of the baluster the router could not reach in this setup, crisp the detail, and sand them. A set of 36 in red oak for a stairwell railing in my house. So the main benefit here is getting consistent size, shape, and placement of the detail.

DanK

 

This is a picture of the double Shopsmith in the guy s basement when I bought it in 2013.

- DantheToolman

It's the Sammy Sosa bat maker. It was advertised on the Rockford Craigslist as being the perfect set-up for coarking bats. Notice the bat in the picture…

 

That is a nice setup, Dan! I assume you considered a spring so you don't have to stand there…did you eventually do that?

 

No, I haven't done that and yes I've considered it. But it's no trouble to hold it…takes very little pressure and I can quickly take the router out of the cut if there's trouble. A spring seems like it would get in the way as much as be helpful. It's never going to be something I can walk away from, so this keeps me paying attention! I might consider a friction stop to hold the follower for cutting cylinders (like dowels) but there's another type of setup I made for that purpose before the follower was made.

Notice that there is no center support on the 1" diameter spindle in this long cut, that's how little pressure there is to the cutting action.

DanK

 

I was thinking that, along with the spring, you could add a cut-off switch based on ending carriage position and then you could walk away from it Overkill, I admit, for making just 30 spindles.

 

LOL Merrill, BTDT. Sometimes there's a fine line between manual and CNC type automation. It was Tony's dream however, long before CNC was common, to replace the plastic emblem panel with electronic controls that essentially turned this machine into an engine lathe and powerfeed mill, not really CNC but a good deal more automatic than it ever became. His biggest barrier I think was the prohibitive expense of stepping motors of the time. My philosophy is becoming more and more KISS!

DanK

 

Yesterday I took some time to thoroughly clean my new SS. Then I pulled the carriage motor and controls out of my old SS and transplanted them into the newer one. I think the old is a Fox and the new is a Smithy (at least, the manual that came with it said Smithy). The Fox has a serial# plate (01042), while the Smithy does not. Found some minor differences and took some pics along the way. I'm mostly posting these for documentation purposes, in case anyone is interested. But maybe I should be posting this info over on VintageMachinery.org? Anyway…

Here is the Fox motor:

...and the Smithy

I had hoped to transplant the broken part from the table lock lever on my old unit to the new one, but they are different. Old (Fox) on right, new (Smithy) on left"

Making my own replacement now seems daunting, since it needs a square hole. Which I could do in wood…but not in steel

Other than the condition, the interior of the carriage is mostly the same. Looks to use the same casting mold. But there were 2 key differences. First, the 3 holes for bolting the motor bracket into the carriage were different sizes - 7mm bolts for the Fox, 8mm for the Smithy. That required a trip to the store. Also, if the carriage came with a motor, it looks like the carriage position lock is omitted - that is the top-most horizontal rod, which sits at the back of the housing in the newer pic. At least, it was missing in the Fox. So now, without the motor as a brake, I don't have a way to lock the carriage position…making usage in vertical mode problematic.

Info on the carriage motor:

 

Merrill77 - congratulation on the bid, I was the other guy bidding against you on e-bay. Was only interested in the attachments, so I didn't want to go beyond $350. One thing that's odd, is the Power Station, the drive has a slice down the middle of the shaft.

I'm hooking up the jointer (its a beast) and I noticed that the fitting that goes over the power shaft (metal coupling), doesn't screw on, rather floats on the threaded shaft and there is a break pin that slides though the slice down the power shaft for the power transfer.

Is yours the same ? I'm guessing this is for safety purposes or am I missing something ?

 

Merrill, sure you can make a square hole in metal and rather easily. BTDT many times. Drill a hole whose diameter is the same as the side of the square. Thine with a square file simple file out the corners. Doesn't take as long as you would imagine.

I've never seen a motorized carriage without a lock shaft. All of mine have had it. At the end, quality control suffered.

While I think the lock shaft on the Fox Supershops carriage is threaded left and right, I don't see why a right hand thread in a wedge block wouldn't work. Haven't tried it, though. Worse comes to worse, use a hose clamp on the tube. It's remarkable what they will restrain.

Thanks for all the pictures!
DanK

 

Merrill77 - congratulation on the bid, I was the other guy bidding against you on e-bay. Was only interested in the attachments, so I didn t want to go beyond $350.

Ironic. I didn't have much interest in the attachments Probably would have paid the same without them.

One thing that s odd, is the Power Station, the drive has a slice down the middle of the shaft.

I m hooking up the jointer (its a beast) and I noticed that the fitting that goes over the power shaft (metal coupling), doesn t screw on, rather floats on the threaded shaft and there is a break pin that slides though the slice down the power shaft for the power transfer.

Is yours the same ? I m guessing this is for safety purposes or am I missing something ?

I'm guessing that power take-off design is some sort of standard. But I'd say that, along with the nylon connector, this allows a connection where the two shafts are not perfectly aligned…or where one end or the other might move a little in use. Just guessing, though.

 

Dan - good point. I guess that shouldn't take too long in mild steel. I don't have a good quality file for that…but that is a solvable problem.

Unfortunately, I've run in to a more immediate problem. For my 1st SS, I made a rotating mount for the main upright mount that allows me to turn the unit 90deg in vertical mode, so that the vertical drill press faces a more useful direction in my shop. After the successful carriage motor transplant, I though this part would be easy. And it was, until the very last hole I needed to drill in the base. Hit a weld line that I can't get through (the details of the base construction are somewhat different between the two). My drill bits just skate right off it that weld. Considering my options now. Try to find a portable magnetic drill press to rent? Or remove the entire beast off the stand and take it to a machine shop? So close…and yet so far.

 

Ironic. I didn t have much interest in the attachments Probably would have paid the same without them.
- merrill77

I will pm you.

 

Merrill, will a rotary grinder or carbide burr make the hole the right size? Dremel offers diamond burrs that are pretty aggressive. And of course, a plasma cutter…

DanK

 

Thanks - I had overlooked abrasive cutters. That will take a while, but maybe not as long as taking the base to a machine shop. I'll start with some of the ceramic cutting disks I've used for steel in the past and see how far that gets me. I think I have some diamond cutters in my kit as well.

 

I noted another difference between my two models - the thread size on the quill shaft. The older (Fox) has 1 15/16" diameter flat-top threads:

while the newer (Smithy) has 2 1/4" standard threads:

I don't know what the dis/advantages of each are, or why the change.

 

I've just completed moving my rotating base over to the new SuperShop. Here are some pics, in case future visitors are interested. First, moved the head and carriage to the "top" end, supported the underside of the carriage and detached the hinged mount from the base and the tubes. I was able to complete the work without taking the head, carriage or tubes off the machine…and the tubes were (mostly) not impeding the work.

Next, drill a new set of 6 holes in the base. The original holes are circled in blue (3 of the 4 will still be used) and the new holes are in red. Note that I hit a weld line on the lower-right hole and was forced to use an abrasive cutter…hence the ugly square hole Fortunately, invisible in use.

Next comes the lower half of the rotating mount. I used 1.5" BB plywood and matched the hole spacing to re-use the existing holes where possible. The head of the center bolt is epoxied in place on the underside - this is the bolt that the top half rotates around. The four bolt heads that you see here secure the bottom half to the SuperShop base. The top, empty, counter-sunk hole is extraneous and not needed. The lower, empty, counter-sunk hole is used, but did not need the counter-sink.

Then I put the hinged mount back on the tubes and attached the top half of the rotating mount using the existing mounting holes. After lowering it onto the bottom half, it looks like this:

In either of the rotated positions, there are 4 bolts holding it all in place - the center (which remains in place) and 3 that are removed during the rotation. I used wing nuts for quick change on those 3 - you can see two of them above (the third is to the right of the hinged mount). Here it is from the front:

After moving the carriage and head to the hinged end and raising to the vertical position, it can be easily rotated by removing the 3 bolts with wing nuts, rotating and then replacing the bolts. Here is the base when rotated:

Note that if you wanted to rotate the other direction, then the ugly square hole would need to move to the other side of the base.

Of course, after raising the hinged end 3", the other side needs to be raised, as well:

And here it is in my shop. Since I mostly use the SuperShop as a drill press, I make use of the extra space for more tools