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Should I buy my friend's Shopsmith?

RFGuy

It does look very clean and appears to be well cared for. I see he found the lower blade guard for it as well!!! By the way, whereabouts do you live? It looks like a desert somewhere in the Southwest...just wondering if you are local to me or not.

MatrixClaw

RFGuy wrote It does look very clean and appears to be well cared for. I see he found the lower blade guard for it as well!!! By the way, whereabouts do you live? It looks like a desert somewhere in the Southwest...just wondering if you are local to me or not.

Yessir, definitely the desert - I'm in AZ ;)

RFGuy

MatrixClaw wrote Yessir, definitely the desert - I'm in AZ ;)

I thought that looked like an AZ "cookie cutter" house and yard (no offense). :) Well, I assume your friend can show you how to use it, etc., but if you need/want any help with it, e.g. how to perform certain functions, maintenance tips, etc. just let me know. I can always pop by for a few hours. It wouldn't be the first time that I helped an AZ neighbor with their Shopsmith.

chapmanruss

MatrixClaw,

It does look in good shape. It should serve your needs well. If for some reason it does not you should be able to sell it to someone else and get your money back. Do give it a chance though. From the pictures it is a Mark V 510 made sometime between 1986 and 1991. RCGuy does know the Shopsmith and could be a real help if you need to be shown operations on it. If it comes with the Owner's Manual great but if not check out the summary manual from here on the Shopsmith website at the link below. Although is does not go in to detail as much as the full manual having it will be a great help in using the Shopsmith.

https://www.shopsmith.com/getting_started/505-510_Summary_Manual.pdf

A couple other books that are helpful are the Self Study Guide and the book Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone.

MatrixClaw

RFGuy wrote
MatrixClaw wrote Yessir, definitely the desert - I'm in AZ ;)
I thought that looked like an AZ "cookie cutter" house and yard (no offense). :) Well, I assume your friend can show you how to use it, etc., but if you need/want any help with it, e.g. how to perform certain functions, maintenance tips, etc. just let me know. I can always pop by for a few hours. It wouldn't be the first time that I helped an AZ neighbor with their Shopsmith.

Ha! Funny thing is, he lives on a county island and none of the houses are the same.

Thanks, I definitely appreciate that. It's certainly going to take some getting used to!

larryhrockisland

I noticed the fence straddler and featherboard are the model 500 gray type. Wonder if this was upgraded to the 510? When did the toggle switch change to the new style?

RFGuy

MatrixClaw wrote

Ha! Funny thing is, he lives on a county island and none of the houses are the same.

Thanks, I definitely appreciate that. It's certainly going to take some getting used to!

Yeah, I could only see the front corner of the garage in the pic, but the house looked nice. I was just trying to make a joke since so many houses look similar out here in the Southwest. I sent you a private message on this forum, so click on it up above if you decide to take me up on my offer.

Ed in Tampa

RFGuy wrote
Ed in Tampa wrote Okay 6 inch wide is that wide enough? How long 6 ft? Or should it be longer? How do you joint a 12 inch by 12 ft long board on a 6 inch jointer? My question was how big a jointer is big enough?
Ed,

Kind of a moot point for me since my shop is too small to accommodate it, but ideally I would like an 8" jointer in my shop. IF I ever move, that is my plan to get an 8" jointer. IF I were independently wealthy with a large enough shop then I would love to have a 12" jointer. Most panel glue-ups that I do typically have 6-8" wide boards, so really an 8" jointer should suffice. Finding local stock much wider than this is a challenge in this locale. Sorry if I misunderstood your original comments on this thread. I just don't find my Shopsmith 4" jointer to be that useful in actual practice for the types of projects that I build, or want to build. That was the point I was trying to get across, though for other customers, that make smaller wood projects, the 4" jointer may be all they need.

RFGuy the point I was trying to make is jointer width is never wide enough if the board is wider. It is never long enough if the board is longer. Therefore a “craftsman” is forced to do something different. Be it hand planing, buying different lumber, constructing jigs to use in a planer to handle the wood. Changing construction to compensate for twisted wood. The answer is not buying bigger!

chapmanruss

Larry,

The "C" Headstock with the red safety switch came out in 1991. You are correct though, it could be an earlier Mark V the was upgraded to a 510 in 1986 or later. If we knew the serial number we could tell.

RFGuy

Ed in Tampa wrote RFGuy the point I was trying to make is jointer width is never wide enough if the board is wider. It is never long enough if the board is longer. Therefore a “craftsman” is forced to do something different. Be it hand planing, buying different lumber, constructing jigs to use in a planer to handle the wood. Changing construction to compensate for twisted wood. The answer is not buying bigger!

Ed,

Yeah, I get your point...now. :o Sorry I didn't fully comprehend it the first time around. Yeah, it seems like there is no end when it comes to tools sometimes. I mean who wouldn't want a 20" wide planer, 12" jointer, 36" bandsaw, tablesaw with a slider, etc., etc. Tool envy can be very real for some of us. Don't get me wrong, I have gotten very good use out of my Shopsmith 4" jointer over the years and I still use it (for edge jointing). I have also cursed it many, many times for not being big enough. Of the Shopsmith accessories it is probably my least favorite that I own simply because of the capacity limitations. I am much happier with my Mark mounted planer and bandsaw than with my jointer. JMO. After 30+ years (not 100% duty cycle) of predominantly power tool woodworking, I finally have some good quality planes so I do hope to learn how to joint, by hand, in my small wood shop in the future. IF I had a bigger shop I would have just bought a bigger jointer already. :(

JPG

Some extra parts there. Not all it came with are shown. Looks clean/good condition.

MatrixClaw

Got it today! Super excited to figure everything out on this. He had the overhead router attachment as well, which will definitely get a lot of use. I have a router table and plunge router right now, but being able to see my cuts on top for inner routes will be super useful.

techiejunk06

I have question to those that comment on the 4 inch jointer. How big is big enough? What in furniture making requires you to have a jointer bigger that 4 inches? I have built furniture, built houses and did general home maintenance and I was never stopped or had to do a major work around because of having only a 4 inch jointer. So I would like to know what size jointer is big enough.

RFGuy

techiejunk06 wrote I have question to those that comment on the 4 inch jointer. How big is big enough? What in furniture making requires you to have a jointer bigger that 4 inches? I have built furniture, built houses and did general home maintenance and I was never stopped or had to do a major work around because of having only a 4 inch jointer. So I would like to know what size jointer is big enough.

Largely dependent on what lumber you buy and what kinds of furniture you build. For example, if you are building a table top or desk top it is common to use 6-8" wide boards (larger if you can get them locally) and join them in a panel glue-up. You can edge joint these on the Shopsmith 4" jointer, but you can't surface joint them on it. Note that edge jointing on a Shopsmith jointer requires a longer infeed/outfeed support if board is long - otherwise you may never remove cupping due to the very short jointer bed. Unless your lumber is straight and flat to begin with it is difficult to build solid wood furniture with the Shopsmith 4" jointer. I would never build a desk/table top using 3" wide boards, but that is an alternative if you want to use the Shopsmith 4" jointer.

Are you buying lumber from a big box store (Home Depot, Lowes, Menards) or from a lumberyard?

JPG

In addition to the width limitation, there is the length of the beds.

As an SPT for the SS, anything larger would have an excessive weight issue and a power limitation.

chapmanruss

DO NOT bother responding to techiejunk06 comment about the Jointer. It is a copy and paste of the comment Ed in Tampa made in this thread on page 1.

Do I see spam coming?

JPG

Regardless, those posts that followed are useful to the rest of us.

Time will tell re spam. At least this is an established thread.

Hobbyman2

Ed in Tampa wrote My question to you is what do you want to do on the SS that you can't do with what you got now? I am sure everyone will have a comment but this question is directed to you alone.

I have one other question to those that comment on the 4 inch jointer. How big is big enough? What in furniture making requires you to have a jointer bigger that 4 inches? I have built furniture, built houses and did general home maintenance and I was never stopped or had to do a major work around because of having only a 4 inch jointer. So I would like to know what size jointer is big enough.

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I would agree , so many people see these shows on TV with these shops loaded with every new tool on the market and seem to think you cant build anything with any quality with out them . some of the most amazing wood craft is still around and was built / carved with out a CNC machine or mechanical tools , I have found that a drum sander will do just as much in most cases as a big planer and there are a lot of plans for diy drum sanders that are fun to build . JMO

Majones1

If I ever need to do something larger I can increase my membership level at the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association and gain access to the workshop. Among the equipment they have is a 12” Jointer, several thickness planers (including a 20” model), thickness sanders (including a SuperMax 25-50 that accepts pieces up to 50” wide and 4” thick). If we don’t have the space or the money to equip our shops with larger equipment, we can think outside the box to find ways to do what is needed.

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