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Oh, joy!

I'm a Shopsmith guy - and we've all had discussions about the god and bad aspects of that. 'nuff said. I'm happy because I just did the variable speed motor conversion on mine. What a difference! Quiet and smooth. Any speed I want from 250 rpm to 10,000, any time I want. Takes less starting current, and develops more horsepower. Delivers all the torque I want at any speed. Happy, happy. Can't spend all the time I want in the mancave, right now, though, as me an' SWMBO are deconstructing the house next door, for the lumber in it, and the extra half-lot it sits on. Still happy. Getting good weather. tom koehler

Reply to
tom koehler
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Hey Tom.. Just curious, what was your investment for the VAR setup on the SS?

Reply to
Mac Davis

If it was the MK-6 it comes with a DVR motor from Teknatool (same people as make the lathes)

Reply to
Ralph E Lindberg

On Fri, 5 Aug 2011 1:17:30 -0500, Mac Davis wrote (in message ):

in round numbers, $1500. My SS is an early '80's era MKV. I'd modified the motor wiring so I could reverse its rotation - very handy for sanding, and a few other jobs. I'd had a 4:1 speed reducer, which was pretty noisy and a bit on the cumbersone side, for turning stuff larger than a small diameter spindle. Otherwise the lowest speed on my unit was about 900-1000 rpm, pretty fast for a lot of work that the SS would otherwise handle nicely. The project took me about 6 hours. I was deliberately slow. If an instruction seemed really simple and clear, I re-read it a couple of more times just to make sure I didn't miss something. Overall, a well-thought-out project and instructional materials. I did make my own tool for adjusting the eccentric bushing, in balancing the belt tensions. (more gooder than just a plain screwdriver)

Yeah, 1500 simoleons woulda' bought me a swell lathe, but my shop is really small, and so this outfit allows me several tools that simply would not physically fit in my shop if there were separate machines for each thing I am enabled to do with this SS. tom koehler

Reply to
tom koehler

On Sun, 7 Aug 2011 23:57:56 -0500, tom koehler

OUCH!! That's more tha I paid for my first 2 lates combined! (and about half of what I paid for my SS in 1980)

As for shop space, a Jet Mini takes up less room than the SS, lathe and sanding accessories ;)

Do a good turn, Tom..

Reply to
Mac Davis

On Mon, 8 Aug 2011 1:37:48 -0500, Mac Davis wrote (in message ):

yeah, that is more than I paid for my first two lathes, too. And my SS is from the early 80's also. The Jet Mini is out of the question, though. I still get great mileage out of the drill press in both orientations, and also the table saw - such as it is, works great for me, and I'd be lost without the bandsaw capabilities. Honestly, there is no room for a stand-alone lathe, keeping these other capabilities with the SS. I think I'm doin' pretty good with the SS lathe. I'm wringing quite a lot out of it, and now with the variable speed motor setup, I feel like the king of the world. tom koehler

Reply to
tom koehler

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