Well perhaps boy is a little misleading, since he is 39. Anyway he gave me a call the other day saying he was thinking of getting a small table saw to help his DIY efforts. He has a few tools but this would be a big change for him. He has made a deck with a little help from me and some of his friends, he and I did a make over in his house by adding a wall and twin glass entry doors and molding/shelves/etc. He finish the project by doing a wall desk for the three girls effective making it a study area and play room. He just finished some panel box molding in the stair area and previous did the dinning room that way.
So the last say 6 years he has gained the bug to do more and more. Building a small area in the basement for a shop seems a logical addition to what is fast becoming a woodworking hobby.
After he explained his hopes he said what about me getting a shopsmith! I told him the cost of a new one and I think that was a bit of unexpected cost even for just a base unit. Can't say I blame him. Then I added that it is quite possible to get them used for a whole lot less. Of course you might be trading the lower initial cost in for clean up time and repair/parts. I figured if he did the leg work I could take a look at it and give him my opinions on it.
Couple of days later he gives me a call and says he found one. If I have this right the ad was for a shopsmith with scroll saw and they had wanted $600 but would now take $500. When we arrived the scroll saw turned out to be a bandsaw.... The thing had been sitting some years as the previous owners wife could make herself get rid of any of his things........ the kids on the other hand now need to sell the house and things have to go.
A lot of crud on it but the prospects of a full recovery looked good to me. Surface rust on the bandsaw table, tubes with light rust etc. The serial number let us know it is from July 1978. It still has the two saw slot table which I think of as a plus. Out of the shopsmiths I own 3 are that vintage, so they are right up my alley.
It was left in saw mode and I first fear was the arbor was going to be stuck on, loosened it and it slid off. The back cover was held on by duct tape, when I touched it the tape changed to dust. The spring clip was missing which is no big deal. The ring was on and the belts looked reasonable so proceeded onward. Put the disk sander on and dialed the speed back to slow. Took off the disk sander and plugged it in. Flipped the switch and it was running! Took it up to fast and back down, all was well, still needs oil and cleaning but at least it was frozen up.
Despite the rust on the tubes the head stock moved as the did the carriage. Checked the quill lock and quill movement again all was well. It has casters so we checked then and they were working. So while it needs cleaning and rust removal and of course some lubrication I was happy with it.
The band saw has the really old blade bearings, they will be replaced anyway. Checked wheel cant and hand spun the wheels all felt good. The tires I expect were replaced as they look almost new and no cracking. Chose to not put the unit under power as the blade was not adjusted correctly and I didn't want to start fix that since it was still being looked at and we did not know if we would be buying it or not. It will need some work as the table is very rusty but every thing else checked out.
Now we started looking at what else was still there. Found a drawer with maybe 15 or so lathe tools, mostly cheap stuff but he must have been into turning. Piles of saw blades, a lot of them pretty rusted, and questionable. Several on arbors so those were in better shape. When all was said and done we were unable to find the 6" faceplate but did find several wood blocks indicating he owned one..... Found a bunch of "extras" so even if that never shows up having to buy one is no big deal.
The negatives were that it still has the old metal blade guards, I think they need to be replaced as I know I was starting to not use them and was thankful when the plastic version came out......
The 6" faceplate missing.
No coupler
No PTWFE
No safety kit.
Plenty of extras, live center, shaper fence, drill bits, and the list goes on.
My advice was to offer $300 but not pay more the $400. And expect to spend sometime watch ebay etc for the other things you need.
So Sat. morning we went to pick it up. Found more things for it, manuals, PTWFE X2, lots of plans, magazines etc. Left with 2 tubes and 3 large boxes of stuff. Three couplers also showed up.
It is now in a storage locker. I'm in for surgery Monday so it will be at least 3 weeks before I can help get him started on all that needs to be done. One thing will be getting him on the forum so he can read up on what needs to be done while I'm dealing with medical restrictions.
He has some familiarity with the machine for his childhood, he was born in 1975 and the shopsmith came to live with us in 1976. Still I want to go over everything with him, especially the safety aspects. I've already warned him that some of you don't use guards.... I told him to not be like those guys.
Ed
Proud of the boy
Moderator: admin
Ed, sounds like a find!
You taught your "Boy" "good."
(Sorry, the grammar isn't right,
but the message came across.)
I hear you on guards, but the ones
on MY stuff is, well, "not so much."
We have an upper blade guard, but
it is best, left in the "parts" box.
Outside of that, we've got the stuff
the Good Lord gave us, between our
ears.
(I'm 56, had a Shopsmith Model 10,
since 1984 {I think} and still am in
full possession of all my digits.)
Of course, YMMV.
steve
You taught your "Boy" "good."
(Sorry, the grammar isn't right,
but the message came across.)
I hear you on guards, but the ones
on MY stuff is, well, "not so much."
We have an upper blade guard, but
it is best, left in the "parts" box.
Outside of that, we've got the stuff
the Good Lord gave us, between our
ears.
(I'm 56, had a Shopsmith Model 10,
since 1984 {I think} and still am in
full possession of all my digits.)
Of course, YMMV.
steve
10 ER, stripped down.
Basic 10ER, Parts machine. Will be a semi-dedicated drill-press machine.
10 ER, a "survivor" of the trailer fire, in the back yard, needing restoration. Has a Mk5 headrest. Finally, stripped down.
Numerous parts, for Model 10 stuff. Except for lower saw guard, A and B adapters, I've got it.
Looking for one more, or some 9 inch extension table raisers.
Basic 10ER, Parts machine. Will be a semi-dedicated drill-press machine.
10 ER, a "survivor" of the trailer fire, in the back yard, needing restoration. Has a Mk5 headrest. Finally, stripped down.
Numerous parts, for Model 10 stuff. Except for lower saw guard, A and B adapters, I've got it.
Looking for one more, or some 9 inch extension table raisers.
-
rjent
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 2121
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:00 pm
- Location: Hot Springs, New Mexico
Always nice to see someone being added to the industry. I hope you get the SS dialed in. Looking forward to meeting him here ..... 
Dick
Dick
Dick
1965 Mark VII S/N 407684
1951 10 ER S/N ER 44570 -- Reborn 9/16/14
1950 10 ER S/N ER 33479 Reborn July 2016
1950 10 ER S/N ER 39671
1951 jigsaw X 2
1951 !0 ER #3 in rebuild
500, Jointer, Bsaw, Bsander, Planer
2014 Mark 7 W/Lift assist - 14 4" Jointer - DC3300
And a plethora of small stuff .....
"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Benjamin Franklin
1965 Mark VII S/N 407684
1951 10 ER S/N ER 44570 -- Reborn 9/16/14
1950 10 ER S/N ER 33479 Reborn July 2016
1950 10 ER S/N ER 39671
1951 jigsaw X 2
1951 !0 ER #3 in rebuild
500, Jointer, Bsaw, Bsander, Planer
2014 Mark 7 W/Lift assist - 14 4" Jointer - DC3300
And a plethora of small stuff .....
"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Benjamin Franklin
