Mark 7 self study guide vs vintage DecCristoforo book

[StoneyD]

Being a bit OCD and having recently acquired Mark V Model 510 with mid 1980s owner's manuals, felt I should do the self-study guide currently available and then found that it referenced the Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone. Purchased a hard copy of that book in very good condition but now find that the study guide and the textbook pages don't quite match up. The DeCristoforo book does not have any indication of date of printing, and although the current Shopsmith self-study guide does have a course cross reference it doesn't quite match up. Also, found it odd that neither book makes any mention of the M5590 planer I have. It is great that so far, I have been able to determine what condition this Model 510 is in and still get some parts from Shopsmith.

[chapmanruss]

StoneyD,

A little history for the book and study guide.

The book Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone dates back to 1953 with the first edition covering the Shopsmith Model 10ER. A year later the Mark 5 was introduced and time for a rewrite. That second edition was released in 1955. The third edition was released sometime after 1972 and is the one with no copyright date. In 1984 a revised edition came out. In 1989 the fourth edition was released and it was followed in 2019 with a "new" 4th edition with basically a cover change. The editions since 1955 with the first Mark 5 book have had some additional information added and some removed. SPT's have come and some gone over the years so even whole chapters have been added or removed. Since the 4th edition (1989) was released after the introduction of the Mark V 510 (1985) it is used in the book as the reference tool for pictures.

I'm not sure exactly when the Self Study Guide first came out but has continued for a long time. Just recently a Forum Member completely went through the Self Study Guide with Shopsmith's permission and updated it which was long overdue. Shopsmith still sells their Mark Self Study Course (SKU 505717) which may have been updated when the current 4th Edition of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone was done in 2019.

It is not surprising that when getting these two reference books from different time periods that there would be some disconnect between them.

Since you said you cannot find a copyright date, I would guess you have the 3rd edition of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone. This edition predates the introduction of the Planer. The Planer is included in both (1989 & 2019) of the 4th editions. I don't recall off hand if any of the copies I have of the Self Study Guide include the Planer. I don't have the current one being sold by Shopsmith.

If you are interested in checking out the 4th Edition of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone you can find a PDF copy at the link below from here on the Shopsmith website. It is the current (2019) release.

https://www.shopsmith.com/_files/ugd/d5 ... ed7ed7.pdf

[HopefulSSer]

Hmm, was just looking at that version in the link. I think this might be a bit of an error

Screenshot 2025-06-03 at 1.40.59 PM.png (316.37 KiB) Viewed 2076 times

(And no surprise -- my print copy is the same)

[edma194]

Hmm, was just looking at that version in the link. I think this might be a bit of an error

Yeah, wrong sander. The belt sander can be mounted on either side of the headstock so it does have an auxiliary spindle. The standard strip sander doesn't but I modified mine to mount the other way so it does have an auxiliary spindle now. Described in this thread- Strip Sander wheel and bearing.

My circa 1990 510 manual came with the self study guide. Not sure when they started the 3-ring notebook style manual.

[chapmanruss]

In doing a bit of looking around at what I have for the Self-Study Guide, here is what I have found and jogged my memory with. The oldest I found that I have was called the Shopsmith Woodworking Course and copyrighted 1956. It was ten lessons contained in 10 separate Booklets. I have a notebook version of the Self-Study Guide made sometime in the early 1980's. In a 1987 copyright copy I have of the Self-Stude Guide there is a cross-reference sheet to compare to the Revised Edition of the Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone book. I have a 2001 cross-reference sheet in another copy of the Self-Study Guide for both the Revised and 4th Editions of the Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone books.

It will take a lot of time comparing page by page the different copies I have of the Self-Study Guide to see what changes may have been made to it over the years. Based on the use of those cross-reference sheets little may have changed to the Self-Study Guide.

As for HopefulSSer's post above that is an oops made to the current version of the 4th edition of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone and the original 4th edition has the correct picture in Figure 19-26.

[chapmanruss]

There is an online PDF copy of the Self-Study Guide, which is of very poor quality for some reason, at the link below. It does have that 2001 cross-reference sheet on page 3 for both the Revised and 4th Editions of the Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone books which is clear and readable.


https://www.shopsmith.com/_files/ugd/d5 ... 7a61e8.pdf