A couple of months ago I asked if anyone had any experience using the Shopsmith 10E in its horizontal boring mode. There was no reply, so here's my experience from then till now.
I was given an old Shopsmith with sundry missing components. However it did have a chuck, and a table that was NOT original, having been remade with a solid steel top. I first cleaned the unit, greased the motor bearing, and fitted a new belt. I was then concerned about how to easily and consistently get rise-and-fall in the table. I did this by utilising an old mechanical car jack that worked on an Acme screw. This process was made easier by the fact that the remade table was now quite heavy, and fell smoothly under its own weight. The rise was controlled by the jack, and I made a fitting for a cordless drill to make this even more convenient. Once the desired height has been obtained, the table can be fastened in position using the knurled nuts that lock onto the table shafts.
Timber to be dowelled can be positioned with table-wide clamps, and is held down by the fitting attached to the bolt that runs through a slot that had been conveniently cut in the table-top.
When in dowelling mode, the Shopsmith chuck is moved by lever, and the total travel distance is just over 4 inches, plenty for most jobs.
I did minimum cleaning of the Shopsmith, and NO modifications, because I suspect that at some 003.jpg004.jpg005.jpgtime in the future someone might like to restore it to its full working capacity.
For the moment, it serves me well as a dowelling machine.