Shopsmith Forums

frank81 wrote:I do this quite often, contact a seller and tell them they have a standing offer of $x, and make a point that I have cash in hand, won't haggle or gripe about imperfections, can load and haul by myself, and my availability and amount of forward notice needed. Then I maintain radio silence until they call me back.

Frank, thank you.
The seller in Aurora ended up finding a buyer for his asking price.

I took your advice and sent out a similar email to a couple of the sellers nearby that were asking a few hundred above my budget.
I let them know my upper limit so that no one needed to haggle at all.

Two have responded. One saying he would wait a couple more days and then let me know and the other wanted his ad to be posted a full two weeks and then he would consider it.

I wanted to check with you guys as to what you thought about the deals.I would be spending under $300 on either.
The biggest difference that I can see is one comes with the dust collector but main unit may be slightly older and the bandsaw has cast iron top; the other has a jointer and i think is newer unit plus has newer aluminum bandsaw table.

Option 1:
The older of the two but I do not know the serial # (is it a two bearing quill?) also, does the wooden bench/tool storage part help with dating it? I haven't seen that thing before

here is what the ad says:
Shopsmith Mark V, model 510 with a raft of accessories:
dust collector, band saw, router table, taper jig, sanding disk, table extensions, saw blades, lathe rest and gouges, feather boards and other small accessories, manual and all other original documents. Very low hours, excellent condition. Original owner. $750 or best offer.

Option 2:
I was told the serial # is 072693

here is the ad:
Shopsmith, lathe and lathe tools, bandsaw, drill press, jointer planer, tablesaw and blades, disk sander, support rollers, books and more.


Which do you think is the best deal?

phillsam wrote:Option 1:
The older of the two but I do not know the serial # (is it a two bearing quill?)
It is a B headstock so it could be. Anyone know the date and/or serial number it changed?

here is what the ad says:
Shopsmith Mark V, model 510 with a raft of accessories:
dust collector, band saw, router table, taper jig, sanding disk, table extensions, saw blades, lathe rest and gouges, feather boards and other small accessories, manual and all other original documents. Very low hours, excellent condition. Original owner. $750 or best offer.

Option 2:
I was told the serial # is 072693 C Headstock Born July 26, 1993

here is the ad:
Shopsmith, lathe and lathe tools, bandsaw, drill press, jointer , tablesaw and blades, disk sander, support rollers, books and more.


Which do you think is the best deal?

Assuming roughly the same condition and excluding similarities / non decision-makers:
Your choice is between a dust collector and router table vs. jointer and newer headstock.

My opinion is that of EITHER seller accepts $300, jump on it! Either would be a fantastic deal!

As the prior poster said, either would be a very good deal and condition may be the most important issue, which you won't be able to assess unless you see both in person. If the condition is equal, here are a couple of thoughts.

The deal with the dust collector comes with the band saw with the older cast iron table (there are those who love them because you can use the miter gauge as a rip fence on them). That band saw lacks a dust chute EDIT: As JPG points out below, it does have one so the dust collector won't work with it as-is although it is reportedly easy to add one using pvc pipe. It is advertised as having a router table but it isn't shown. May or may not be Shopsmith router table A dust collector is a nice accessory but (a) is not essential if you work in a garage and can open the door to the great outdoors (versus a basement shop) and (b) in my experience the standard dust hood on the Shopsmith is not fine enough (lets out too many particles) to keep things clean so you will have to upgrade the hood. I see Shopsmith dust collectors with the 42 inch hood come up with some frequency and they usually go pretty cheap. Shop-type vacs are also an option for dust collection because Shopsmith dust chutes all accept standard shop vac sized hoses (although you will have to empty them a lot and clean the filters frequently unless you add a cyclone). Another option is a dust pan and broom.

The deal with the jointer shows a band saw with the newer, larger aluminum band saw table (and built in dust chute although you will lack a dust collector). You can buy a separate rip fence for it or just clamp a jointed 2x4 to it for ripping. Unless you are a hand plane guy, you will need a jointer and a thicknesser (planer) if you want to be able to do work with anything other than plywood or pre-dimensioned lumber (which is expensive). The deal with the jointer will get you half way there. So, assuming everything is in good condition that would be my preference.

Al

Get out your magnifying glass Al, option 1 has a dust chute on the bs.

Option one appears to be a 505, not a 510.

Option two, the pix does not show the jointer.

I would consider option two to be a better 'choice'.

option 1 + dust collector
........... -+ CI bs table
........... - 505 vs 510
........... + tool rack
........... - no jointer

option 2 + 510 vs 505
........... +- Newer bs table
........... + jointer
........... - no dust collector
........... - no tool rack

I think both will have a single bearing quill(IMHO an over hyped thing unless doing heavy turning).

Place yer own 'values' on the +/-.

I would wait out the two weeks before jumping on the 'earlier' option 1.

P.S. I overlooked the router table which I assume is to the right side almost out of view. It appears similar to other ss stands, but not enough of it is shown to be sure.

JPG40504 wrote: Option two, the pix does not show the jointer.

Isnt the jointer hanging out on the way tubes in the picture?
I think it is right there with the newer featherboard guard design.

Also, I thought the the single bearing was stopped in '85ish? Wouldnt that mean that atleast the 2nd option (serial dating it to '93) would have the two bearing.
Nice to know that it isnt a huge deal tho, thank you.

The other thing I should consider is distance from me. Option one is only on the other side of town (but down in a basement). Option two is about a 3.5hours drive...

JPG40504 wrote:Get out your magnifying glass Al, option 1 has a dust chute on the bs.

Option one appears to be a 505, not a 510.

Option two, the pix does not show the jointer.

I would consider option two to be a better 'choice'.

option 1 + dust collector
........... -+ CI bs table
........... - 505 vs 510
........... + tool rack
........... - no jointer

option 2 + 510 vs 505
........... +- Newer bs table
........... + jointer
........... - no dust collector
........... - no tool rack

I think both will have a single bearing quill(IMHO an over hyped thing unless doing heavy turning).

Place yer own 'values' on the +/-.

I would wait out the two weeks before jumping on the 'earlier' option 1.

P.S. I overlooked the router table which I assume is to the right side almost out of view. It appears similar to other ss stands, but not enough of it is shown to be sure.

Once again, you have proven to have the better vision, JPG.

phillsam wrote:Isnt the jointer hanging out on the way tubes in the picture?
I think it is right there with the newer featherboard guard design.

Also, I thought the the single bearing was stopped in '85ish? Wouldnt that mean that atleast the 2nd option (serial dating it to '93) would have the two bearing.
Nice to know that it isnt a huge deal tho, thank you.

The other thing I should consider is distance from me. Option one is only on the other side of town (but down in a basement). Option two is about a 3.5hours drive...

Indeed it is!!!!!:o All that yellow orange made it unrecognizable at first.

I misread the option 2 sn. Yes it will have a two bearing quill. Earlier non-date coded sn began with 19..... with the introduction of the two bearing quill. I was looking for the 19 prefix rather than a date code.

Makes waiting all the more worthwhile.

As for the dc, a dust deputy and a shop vac are a very good lower cost alternative, but super fine dust elimination requires far more $ than you be prepared to 'consume' anyway.


P.S. Basement location is NOT a problem. A 5/32" long allen wrench, a 9/16" socket wrench will allow you to haul it up the stairs an easily magaged piece at a time and place it in yer midsized(or smaller) CAR. And do so in less than 15 minutes. I will add a link to a post explaining this after I 'find' it(there are more than one). See Post 61

algale wrote:Once again, you have proven to have the better vision, JPG.

Not perfect however!;) I missed the jointer!!!!!!:eek: And almost the router table(what little was shown).

Phillsam, see post # 57 PS.

JPG40504 wrote:Phillsam, see post # 57 PS.

No way! I had no idea it would be able to be disassembled that easily and fit in a car.

A link to disassembly instructions would help a ton.

This also makes the idea of travelling the long drive more attainable as one of our vehicles is a prius...
I was assuming I would need to borrow a friends smaller SUV and small trailer.

You guys are so helpful, thanks again!
I have learned so much about this in the last couple weeks, and it has made me even more excited about getting one home.