Shopsmith Episode 11: A Shopsmith of a Different Color

 In the previous Episode #10, the motor and belts were installed, and the drive train fired up (all working successfully I might add).  However, in doing so, I was trying to convince myself that the motor should be painted.

I finally agreed with myself (?), and removed the motor for painting.  As long as I am at it, I found the pulley cover to paint it as well.

The motor has air vents and nameplates which need to be covered to prevent paint getting inside the motor.  I disassembled the rotor and end casing from the main motor housing, along with the capacitor cover and power terminal cover.  I covered up the vents as well as the serial plate, and set up a paint booth in the basement (it was 20^o outside).

There are many color variations used on Shopsmiths - some from the factory, and others as part of a restoration process:  green ones (seems to be very popular), silver, gray, two-tone, a “goldie”version, a nice black one in honor of the New Orleans Saints (better luck next year), and even a red one.

I was particular enamored with two tone gray/black versions, which is what I adopted for Rusty.

The paint choice was Rustoleum Hammered Black for the motor and Pulley cover - same as used on the support legs.

I mounted the motor back onto the Shopsmith - this time mounting the motor bracket first to the headstock..then mounting the motor to the bracket - much easier than previous escapades.

I realigned the pulleys by using a straight edge to align flush the outer edge of all three pulley assemblies (per the alignment instructions).  

But using this approach, the belts and associated pulley didn’t seem to line up exactly - particularly with the speed changer in the middle.  

So...using the trusty eye-ball approach, I adjusted the three pulley units until the belts were straight and true.  This worked much better, and when I fired up the unit, all pulleys ran smooth and quiet.

Here is the end result:

The next step will be restoration of the table assembly (partially visible in the upper left of the photo).