hmm.. I might have described it wrong, then?
It's not on the lower shaft on back, but the top one that is the "other half" of the main spindle... it turns the same speed as the other side..
Now that I think about it, maybe if I put the bealle buffer on the LOWER one..
*lol*Mac
Just picturing it in my mind, and I think you'd need major revisions of the tubes to run a 12" disk on the bottom shaft.. *g*
Mac
Saw blade for the revisions!
I have owned a shopsmith since 1974 and IMHO the lathe is the best function it has. It will accommodate reasonably long stock, has a 12" capacity over the ways, has an outboard faceplate capability, and last but not least is the moveable quill and speed control system.
The weakest part of the SS again, IMHO, is those flimsy sheet metal skirt-type legs. They don't offer stability on par with the rest of the unit. I remedied this with my SS since I didn't have a "must roll around" requirement, I used 8" concrete sonatube forms and poured columns and anchored a 5/8" j-bolt into the top of each. I made two "blocks" of wood 4" thick and about 1'x1', bolted them on each end to the j-bolts embedded in the columns, then attached the blocks top surfaces to the end castings where the sheet metal legs used to screw on using aluminum angle, then filled the casting cavity with expanding spray foam "great stuff" for extra connection and dampening. I also used a polymer rubber gasket under the blocks at the point where they attached to the concrete.
The concrete used was strengthened with poly fiber and acrylic pasticizer and tinted black, and the wood blocks painted black as well. The most impressive thing is how well the SS works in all modes now that it is solid as a rock and vibration dampened, WOW! Oh, I forgot to mention I chipped out a "crater" in my shop floor into which the columns were poured so they are cemented to the floor so to speak, a cheap fix (about 100$, if I had to buy everything new, most of the stuff I had as leftovers from other projects however..) I wasn't really upset with the performance of the SS before the leg mods, but I was shocked afterwards regarding how much more smoothly it cut, and the lathe tools felt more stable on the tool rest, too. Hard to describe adequately, but suffice to say it is a different (way better, imho) machine now...good luck with what ever you go with for a lathe, but the SS would fare favorably with the other two you mentioned, even with the crappy skirts. regards, Joe.
I forgot to mention, my current SS 500 is made of cobbled together parts off of ebay costing about 250$ total. though I do have the 12" disc sander, I also have two additional lathe faceplates with 12" x
3/4" mdf discs screwed on them. I keep each sanding disc permanently configured with three different grit discs on them for convenience. I think the mdf/faceplate discs are smother and more true than the steel one I have from the factory...Joe.InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.