Shopsmith

[doeringr]

Anyone else out there turn pens with a Shopsmith? Wondering if we could meld our minds together and gather some tips for turning on one of these beasts. I'm going to post some pics of some pens I've turned on it later today if I can.

Right now I'm using a mandrel set from Penn that fits in a drill church and I'm using the Live Tailstock Center w/ 60 deg point - #2MT
Would love to hear some input from other Shopsmith users.[8D]

 

[Jeff-in-Indiana]

Yes, I do ... looking forward to talking with you ...

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

I have a Shopsmith. I use it to cut blanks (bandsaw attachment) and as a drill press. I was never able to get the mandrel to run true, so I picked up a Jet mini vs to do my turning on.

 

[Mikey]

I learned to make pens on a shopsmith. IMO, the range of speeds you can do makes it an excellent pen lathe. I never had a problem with anything not round on it. I wouldn't go turning big bowls on it though. The lathe does not reside with me, but my uncle still has it.

 

[ilikewood]

Use it all the time for pen making. Would be nicer if you could put more pressure on the tailstock side as it has a tendency to flex a bit now. Out of round usually is from non-square ends on your pen blanks with this machine.

 

[KenV]

Mine has always been sensitive to the match of the headstock and tail stock. Also, the drill chuck that came with the Shopsmith had a lot of runout.

Replaced the drill chuck with a 4 jaw version and tweaked the eccentric with shimstock until it was as good as I could make the match and locked it down. Have done a lot of spindle work with it over the years and some pens. Use a smaller lathe for most tubular turnings now.

 

[wicook]

I, too, am a Shopsmith owner. I love the machine and use it for all my turnings...including pens. It has setup flexibility that is unmatched...in my opinion at least... []

My experience is much like Ken's. I replaced the drill chuck with a 4-jaw chuck and fiddled with the tailstock options (height and offset) till I got a good alignment between the chuck and the 60 degree live centre. That's made all the difference in the world in actually being able to turn round pen bodies.

I haven't been able to get rid of the bit of flex in the tailstock, however. Maybe some shims in the tailstock receivers could help with that??? Any ideas?

 

[doeringr]

Glad to hear there are some Shopsmithers out there. I haven't had too much of a problem with the flex. However, the end of the mandrel that rests on the tip of my 60 degree live center is beginning to rub a pretty good indentation on the center. Worried that after a few more pens it might actually cut the tip of the center off. Any ideas on why this is happening and/or what I can do about it? What kind of live center do you guys use and where did you get it? Thanks.

 

[Rochester]

I've been using my shopsmith for two years to turn pens. It's a nice tool if you have a small space. I just bought a TCLPROVS so that I can have something a little more portable. I will continue to use the shopsmith for some turnings.

 

[redfishsc]

The Shopsmith is a good machine, but IMO it's difficult to use it as a pen lathe if you have to re-convert the thing from one machine to the next.

My machine, which I no longer have, had too much slop in the tailstock--- I had to tweak and adjust the thing every time I sneezed or farted.


On the other hand I love it as a bowl lathe so long as you can PRE ROUND THE BOWL on a bandsaw. I turned some nice bowls on that thing.

 

[BRobbins629]

Another Shopsmith penturner. Agree with the original drill chuck - replaced it with a Beall collet chuck and found much improvement. Also had a problem with flex of the tailstock. I did call Shopsmith about this and they said to make sure both nuts are extending into the tube when you tighten the tailstock down. Only one was engaging in mine initially. When I adjusted to have both engage, it is was alot better though still has some minor flex. Also upgraded my quill to their new model (mine was 25 years old) and this improves runout. Though I initially bought it for lack of space, it has served me well for many projects and very suitable for pens.

 

[DocStram]

SS owner here also. Looks like there are more of us than we realize. Mine was made in 1985. I've had it two years and bought it from the original owner. (He was moving back to Idaho and was running out of room in his Uhaul. Sold it to me for $250. What a deal!)
I recently bought a Delta 46-715 but still head to the SS. I have my Beall three wheel system set up on it and do some penturning with it.

 

[wesley8747]

I'm also turn pens on a shopsmith. Doc, I beat your price. (mine was free) Was given to me by a friend of mine when he couldn't get it to work. (He had cut it off on high speed.)
I have never had any problems turning pens on the shopsmith.

 

[Jeff-in-Indiana]

RE: Drill chuck and runout

I have (let me use the other hand to count, too) eight drill chucks, and only use two for pen turning ... This is because I had to "mate" the mandrel to the chuck, by a process of : "tighten chuck with key, check mandrel for runout; loosen chuck; rotate mandrel a few degrees; Repeat until happy" ... once set, that sucker never gets loosened ... then usually I am not turning more than one pen at-a-time ( [] ) ...

I love my Shopsmith(s) .. I have a 1984 Mark V, and a 1952 10-ER; two bandsaws (one new-in-box), jointer (new-in-box); 6x48 belt sander (new-in-box), plus a few boxes of accessories I have never examined ... I got a gooooood deal (IMHO) from the original owner (who bought it new, built one set of shelves, finds out wife has cancer, SSmith sits idle until 2003 when *I* came along to offer a handful of crispy $100 bills ... offer was too good to pass up!)
(sorry, I got carried away on the detail there ... I guess I am just a Proud Papa [])

 

[bradbn4]

I have been using the Shopsmith on and off for the last year to turn pens - it has it's faults - due to the total hight of the shopsmith - can be a royal pain in the back. It is new - made in 2004 I think.

I love the speed control - but like most - the tail stock can be a bit of a bother trying to keep it aligned with the head stock.

Right now I am looking at upgrading to the powermatic to extend what I can turn without worrying about the hight - or the size of the object. All I need now is a smart car to replace my SUV - so I can think about parking in the garage during the winter.

Whould I get rid of the Shopsmith? Never - it sure saves space. It is a good tool.

I just think the shopsmith is cool tool, and even if I had the space for all them dedicated machines I don't think I could part with it. I am scheduled for the traveling class this month on the lathe from Shopsmith.


Bradbn4 - still having fun here in Colorado