Ever seen a genuine Australian 230V/50Hz Mark V before?

[Maurice]

Greetings

First time, first day owner in fact! Can't believe I found it 30min away! They are incredibly rare in Australia, only a handful of confirmed owners on the forum far as I can tell. I just happened to see a Workshop Companion video a few days ago and it reminded me to check Marketplace. Thera are no others listed in Australia.

Serial number SS-115073, 1-1/8 HP. There's a sticker carefully applied over the original specs on the nameplate showing 230V/50Hz/6.5 amp. Looks like ShopSmith did it, has anyone seen this before? I haven't opened the headstock yet so I don't know what the motor story is. There's some electrical wire wrapped around the base so I'm curious what I'll find. Tips welcome.

Best I can piece together on history: a farmer in regional Victoria who occasionally imported machinery acquired it in the 90s, passed down to his grandson, who I picked it up from. Serial number puts the machine in the early 1980s I believe. I wonder how it crossed the Pacific?
It's in decent shape, but no castors, no drill chuck, missing lathe centres, bit rusty. But it runs! Running on 50Hz means everything is about 17% slower than the speed chart.

700 × 50/60 = 583 RPM, 5200 × 50/60 = 4,333 RPM

I want to build solid body guitars, and apart from the 5 main tools, I also can use it as a fret press, do a pin router mod, maybe a drum sander mod, who knows, this thing is so versatile!

A bandsaw attachment is my dream... but shipping one to Australia on ebay is $500-$600 US which sucks (more than I paid for this whole thing locally). If anyone has a bandsaw, drill chuck, or retractable castors gathering dust and is willing to ship, I'd happily pay a fair price plus freight.
Currently soaking lots of stuff in Evaporust and following advice from My Growth Rings.

[chapmanruss]

Maurice,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum.

Serial Number SS 115073 was made in July 1983. Shopsmith has and still actually does with the Mark 7 offer a 220 Volt version but the 50Hz is unique. Over time, there has been a lot of Shopsmiths exported to other countries. Australia first had the Shopsmith Model 10ER (aka10E shown on the nameplate) being made there back in the early 1950's before the Mark 5 was introduced.

Getting anything Shopsmith to Australia would be expensive. I once sold a Scroll Saw to someone who was taking it back to Australia with him. Checked as baggage on a plane was probably a lot cheaper than shipping it.

[Maurice]

@chapmanruss Very intersting thanks mate!

I still can't believe i own one. I picked it up yesterday, and spent all today working on it, nearly everything is done except the head which I will tear down next weekend.

Yes shipping is brutal. I really, really want a bandsaw attachment. There's 3 currently on ebay, all of them are about 500-600 US delivered - which is as much or more than I spent on my own entire ShopSmith. Everything is expensive due to shipping, $30 US for shipping on any individual item, but I am going to figure out a way to get all the stuff I want and need (I'm misisng a few things), I'm sure there is a way.

Who knows, one day I might get a newer model, but I'm really digging the 'you can figure it out' factor with this old beast.

[chapmanruss]

I noticed in one of your pictures you did get some documentation. Hopefully that included an Owner's Manual and parts diagram with the parts list. Since your Mark V is the 500 model you can use the 500 model drawings and parts list from here on the Shopsmith website under Shop then Parts. There is a number of supplemental information sheets available for free download as a PDF under Learn then Manuals & Information. Unfortunately, the most recent Mark V 500 manual is not available as a PDF for free downloading but there are other older manuals available out there. I can guide you if needed. The MARK V 520S Owner’s Manual (For 557501, 557500) is available for Download as a PDF. Although it has the 520 Table/Fence System and Double Tilt feature the Headstock is the same. It could be a helpful reference for you if needed.

Hopefully it has a 5/8" Arbor with it so you can buy Saw Blades for it locally to use. That could be either 555321 or the 505506 5/8" Universal Arbor both shown in the picture below. 555321 is specifically for Saw Blades while 505506 can be used for other accessories like a Dado Blade set.

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Arbors page 1 - labeled.jpg (150.85 KiB) Viewed 21230 times

[Maurice]

Excellent this is really hepful thankyou very much!

Arbors - It came with 3 arbors (no drill chuck), but I haven't measured or verifed what they are yet, they were all very rusty and seized, so treated in evaporust.

Manual - I didn't get one, only what you see pictured, but I read halfway through the free PDF Summary Manual on the plane yesterday, will finish the rest last this week.

Headstock - I breifly opened it (after finally I releasing a very siezed bit on the rear spindle) - and it was packed with dust,the stamped steel casting is rusting internally, so I closed i back up and will deal with all that when I'm back. If I had to guess it's never been properly maintaned, probably all original parts.

I think I need to do a full headstock teardown, then see what I need to buy - bearings, pullies, etc. The issue is shipping on each individual item is 1-2x the cost of the individual item on eBay. I hope to find someone I can ship parts to and do one big order to Australia, Spike from Sparkle Guitars already said he might be able to help on Facebook which is awesome.

I'm very new to ShopSmith, I only learned what it was literally a week ago (6 days in fact), so "I don't know what I don't know", but I'm learning. The moment I realized this tool existed I knew it was for me. Now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can to make it economical to restiore and use.

Luckily this Forum is a vast wealth of information, and there are enough YouTube tutorials to figure most things out.

[Maurice]

If you do have any "pro tips" or "cheat sheets" for where to start on the headstock tear down and restoration, I'm all ears. But I'm pretty good at fumbling about, this was my first ever tool restoration, and I've never worked on an engine, so I'm starting big!

[RFGuy]

I want to build solid body guitars, and apart from the 5 main tools, I also can use it as a fret press, do a pin router mod, maybe a drum sander mod, who knows, this thing is so versatile!

Maurice,

Welcome to the forum! I was fortunate to get out to visit NZ and Sydney, AU at the end of last year. So beautiful there. I wish I could have seen more of Australia, but perhaps on the next trip. We did get out to the Blue Mountains though and it is gorgeous there. I am not a luthier, so I don't have experience building guitars. Maybe one day, I might try my hand at that. Since you are just starting out, you may want to check out the Stewmac company (link below). They sell a lot of hand tools and specialty items you might need for building guitars, in addition to your Shopsmith purchase. I know luthiers use Stewmac a lot. Best of luck with it all.

https://www.stewmac.com/

[Maurice]

Thanks mate! I have never been to the Blue Mountains, but I should go, it's only a few hours from Brisbane. Thankyou for the suggestion, I have bought from Stewmac before, they're awesome, great youtube videos as well.

[JPG]

inspiration!

viewtopic.php?t=3078

[Maurice]

Great thread thanks for sharing! Headstock is next, ordered all my bearings, gotta get new belts, oh and I ordered a cast iron band saw. Lots of goodies on their way! It's gotta be one of, if not the only bandsaw in the country.