Shoptask owners?

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Harold_V
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by Harold_V »

TomB wrote: Or even if he finds a buyer it may not be someone interested or capable of running the company as it has been run.
Speaking from personal experience, I fully agree.

When I retired, I sold a precious metal refining business that was exceedingly successful. It was so busy that I worked seven days/week, including holidays, trying to keep on schedule. It took the new owner but a few months to destroy a very nice business. He was intent on redesigning the wheel, which I found to be sufficiently round, and lacked a desire for work. When it collapsed, everyone was at fault (I was included) but he. Strangely, it had made a decent living for me for over ten years, with no issues.

Harold
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LX Kid
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by LX Kid »

JT has been very helpful over the last couple of years with my older 1720 XMTC. He's given fast response and gone out of his way for me to help me resolve all my little problems.
MachMat
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by MachMat »

So I am an owner purchased new, a ShopTask 1720 Gold I think I purchase in 1998? Anyway I still have and use it regularly. Kind of a home machinist out of control I also have a 1932 Model O 9" South Bend and a Tie Bar Hendey 14x40 Lathe and a early CNC Bridgeport Mill, this is to say I have options when it comes to turning a piece of stock. Yet I have thought often of getting rid of the ShopTask... it is done lots of good work over the years. The mill suffers from being not very rigid, it does need an extra support and using the Morse 3 extension, not optima, more of a drill press with an X Y table. But the lathe is fine, better than fine and being that my other two lathes are old American Iron, and neither can cut Metric threads, and I even once turned a chair base which was right at the maximum capacity.

I added a servo to the X axis and change the lathe motor over to 3PH 2hp with a VFD, and put on linear scale for digital read out, these are all mods and while this is certainly not the quality of Old American Iron, it is functional.

Funny because I got to this forum because of looking up Shopmaster CNC lathes only to find they are now called Chicago Lathes and JT is no where to be found...... so does any one know anything about the new company? Or the quality of the product? The reason I shelled out $2k so many years ago was because of JT and he did stand behind his machines, I am sorry that he no longer represents the ShopTask brand.

Well the first post on this site since 2011, 9 years... maybe someone will bump into this post and we can chat LOL
VelocityDuck
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by VelocityDuck »

I don't suppose anyone has a source for the 27 tooth tapping gear? JT says that they he hasn't been able to get that gears for a few years. Unfortunately, just about every thread pitch I need uses that gear.
Torch
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by Torch »

27 tooth tapping gear? Is this one of the change gears for the lathe, or something else?
toddalin
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by toddalin »

Maybe from Shopmaster/Shoptask? My Tri-Power shows the 27 tooth tapping gear being used on everything from 10 - 42 TPI as well as being used for lots of feed rates. I don't know if they are the same, or if Shopmaster/Shoptask has them, but worth a shot.

I do know that when the spline shaft for my feed gear broke, I was able to use one from the other major mfg, but had to cut the length on the mill portion. I actually ordered three spline shafts, and one of them fit the gears with the other two being a hair to large in diameter (Chinese tolerances). These other two would need to be broached to make them fit.
VelocityDuck
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by VelocityDuck »

toddalin wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:31 pm Maybe from Shopmaster/Shoptask? My Tri-Power shows the 27 tooth tapping gear being used on everything from 10 - 42 TPI as well as being used for lots of feed rates. I don't know if they are the same, or if Shopmaster/Shoptask has them, but worth a shot.
That's who told me they can't get them anymore. :(
TomB
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by TomB »

It sort of sounds like someone is going to have to learn how to make the gears in the gear train. I just looked at my gear train gears and they do not look that hard to make. Right now my Tri-Power is totally apart (and I'm too diverted to fix its problem and reassemble it) or I would go set up to cut one of the gears. Hopefully by next spring or summer I will have gotten caught up and have my machine fixed and rebuilt.
Torch
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by Torch »

I have made a number of additional change gears for my machine (not a Shoptask). What is the module, pressure angle, thickness, shaft diameter and key size of your gears?

Look at this post to find an Excel spreadsheet with a guide to identifying gear module and pressure angle at the bottom.

My machine uses Module 1 gears with a 20° pressure angle.
VelocityDuck
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by VelocityDuck »

IMG_20200609_175450 (1).jpg
I'll try and get that information.
VelocityDuck
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by VelocityDuck »

Gear geometry is way over my head. I downloaded the spreadsheet but I don't know whether to use the 20degree PA User input worksheet or the 14.5 degree. Other than measurements, I don't know much more about the gear.

OD: 1.142"
OD of hub (also bottom of teeth: .944"
27 teeth
ID .595"
ID of spline section: .708"
Number of splines: 4
Width at hub: .353"
Width at teeth: .318"

If anyone has a source for these, I'd be grateful.

-Don
PXL_20201208_154631436.jpg
Torch
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Re: Shoptask owners?

Post by Torch »

If we convert to metric, the OD is 29mm making the gear pitch module 1. Next step is to determine the pressure angle, and that is where a couple of new measurements need to be plugged into that spreadsheet.

To identify the Pressure Angle, enter the chord measurement taken across 3 teeth at the Pitch Circle Diameter (approximately 1/2 way between the root and the tip of the tooth). Enter that number in the spreadsheet and it will automatically calculate the theoretical chords for both 20° and 14.5° pressure angles. (note: make sure the "Metric" radio button is selected at the top of the spreadsheet).

Now take a measurement across 4 teeth at the pitch circle diameter and compare to the theoretical chord. That estimate will (hopefully) reveal which one it is.
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