Need advice on buying a green ShopSmith Mark V

edward · Post by **edward** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:58 pm

The ad says it's a green SS Mark V. It says it has table saw, band saw, sanding disk, joiner [sic], wood lathe, drill press and chuck [what's a chuck?].

So, assuming it's in good working condition (I haven't seen it yet), is $350 a good deal? I don't plan on putting a lot of money into it, and I don't want to rebuild it, but I will fix it up if it's worth it.

Any thoughts? Thanks folks.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:15 am

edward wrote:The ad says it's a green SS Mark V. It says it has table saw, band saw, sanding disk, joiner [sic], wood lathe, drill press and chuck [what's a chuck?].

So, assuming it's in good working condition (I haven't seen it yet), is $350 a good deal? I don't plan on putting a lot of money into it, and I don't want to rebuild it, but I will fix it up if it's worth it.

Any thoughts? Thanks folks.

A chuck is that thing on a drill that you put the drill bit into and tighten it onto the bit.

If it runs properly, and is NOT TOO rusty, and all the extra tools work(band saw jointer) it is probably worth it. If you are not inclined to get into "RESTORING" it make sure it IS in good operating condition.

It would help us help you if you indicated in your profile from whence you come.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:17 am

edward wrote:The ad says it's a green SS Mark V. It says it has table saw, band saw, sanding disk, joiner [sic], wood lathe, drill press and chuck [what's a chuck?].

So, assuming it's in good working condition (I haven't seen it yet), is $350 a good deal? I don't plan on putting a lot of money into it, and I don't want to rebuild it, but I will fix it up if it's worth it.

Any thoughts? Thanks folks.

Hi Edward, I can knot comment on value as I have never shopped for a used one; however, I will tell you that "chuck" probably refers to the removable drill chuck for the drillpress/horizontal boring functions. It could also refer to a lathe chuck though (knot normally included).

taquin · Post by **taquin** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:06 am

For what it's worth, I recently paid $260 for my greenie, and that was without the bandsaw and jointer. Which I have paid both $100 each to purchase. I went through mine and it only really needed a few parts ($80 or so) and bearings, which I replaced. 4 bearings to be exact, two in the motor and two at the drive sleeve. The bearings in the motor were especially bad, but very easy to replace. Runs like a champ now. The bearing part numbers are on this forum. I highly recommend gettings Jacob's DVD's on ebay on rebuilding the headstock and motor. Though, I could have figured it out myself as I'm more mechincally inclined... woodworking is a whole new rehlm for me. But it did show any secrets to make life easier.

myoldgarage · Post by **myoldgarage** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:32 am

I've seen prices all over the place . . . I paid $450 for my 510 and I got a jointer with it, a whole box of blades/etc... and a Ringmaster cone cutter.

(Insert green envious remarks here . . . lol) I've looked at a few over the years . . . one that was $100 but the only thing left of value was MAYBE the casters on it. The tables were so badly pitted that they literally had divots missing out of them. The motor was also toast . . . but "it's worth $100" was all the owner could stammer. Ooof.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:45 am

myoldgarage wrote:I've seen prices all over the place . . . I paid $450 for my 510 and I got a jointer with it, a whole box of blades/etc... and a Ringmaster cone cutter. (Insert green envious remarks here . . . lol) I've looked at a few over the years . . . one that was $100 but the only thing left of value was MAYBE the casters on it. The tables were so badly pitted that they literally had divots missing out of them. The motor was also toast . . . but "it's worth $100" was all the owner could stammer. Ooof.

I think that, with a little bit of work, one could probably salvage a hundred dollars worth of parts out of almost any Mark V but not $450. The parts market is quite active and competitive. However, it too is somewhat risky because you are buying sorta sight unseen. Severe rust (to the point of pitting) is clear evidence of a long period of neglect - stay away. Keep looking. There are good machines there to be had.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:32 am

edward wrote:The ad says it's a green SS Mark V. It says it has table saw, band saw, sanding disk, joiner [sic], wood lathe, drill press and chuck [what's a chuck?].

So, assuming it's in good working condition (I haven't seen it yet), is $350 a good deal? I don't plan on putting a lot of money into it, and I don't want to rebuild it, but I will fix it up if it's worth it.

Any thoughts? Thanks folks.

If I find a lot of rust on the tubes, legs, joiner infeed/outfeed tables or the bandsaw table and trunnions, I would pass as rust causes pits and will be hard to remove. This rust shows the owner did not take care of the equipment. If most of the paint on the headstock is missing or the aluminum parts shows a lot of corrosion (flakely powder), I would pass on buying it as I find the aluminum corrosion is harder than rust to remove and leave a nice painting surface. Of course, if you want to put a lot of hand/hard work into it, the resulting finish is still usable. I normally offer much less money when lots of rust or corrosion is present.

Since all of my personal Shopsmiths are Greenies, I try to find the greenie headstocks with an access hole under the Logo cover. These headstocks can be easy to lubricate. The non-access hole headstocks (54-56?) also have no lubrication holes in the control sheave or the floating sheave. This requires the headstock to be disassemblied for any lubrication. I cut an access hole and drill oiling holes in the control sheave and floating sheaves along with other changes to these early Greenie headstocks.

edward · Post by **edward** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:44 pm

were any green shopsmiths made in the '70s?

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:33 am

edward wrote:were any green shopsmiths made in the '70s?

Not aware of any. I have seen a few very low serial number Shopsmiths (less than 2500) that had a really nice crinkle grey finish.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:01 am

edward wrote:were any green shopsmiths made in the '70s?

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/toolhistory.htm

I Think this says NO! This does not say a 70's unit was NOT painted green after it was purchased from ss!

The greenies were manufactured by Magna Engineering/Yuba Tool in the 1950's.