Shopsmith Forums

I really appreciate all the replies. My plan is to fix this thing up but I haven't decided how quickly or how far. I will at least order the belts, rollpin, quadrant, hardware and etc. for the headstock repair today. At least I'll get it running well for less than $100.

I'm still undecided about further RBR's and upgrades. I'll sand the way and bench tubes for now. I tested this and when I'm done they will slide smooth but they are so pitted they will still be dark.

It could use a dual bearing quill, saw guards and a new table fence and miter guage as I mentioned, but I may hold off on that for a while.

I realize my shop will need more than the drill press and table saw I hope to use the Shopsmith for, but I have doubts the Mark V will really play a role in those things. I don't expect to use a wood lathe but if I did, the Shopsmith would certainly exceed my expectations. I also doubt my need for a disk or drum sander. I am far more likely to use a handheld orbital and belt sander for the kind of work and designs I expect to do.

Some other woodworking tools I know I will use include a planer and jointer. I want to build three beds and a kitchen table and benches, the designs for all of which use large joined panels. Nevertheless, I am reluctant to limit myself to a 4" jointer and the cost of the Pro Planer is a whole other debate.

I can really see my boys using a Mark V add-on scroll saw in a few years and maybe a strip sander. I can also see myself using the bandsaw.

The variable speed of the Shopsmith is a useful feature, but again, I don't need a variable speed table saw, and any drill press is variable speed. The problem with the Shopsmith's variable speed is that it doesn't vary as far as standalone tools without the Speed Increaser and Speed Reducer. For my purposes, the drill is too fast for larger holes in steel and iron. I would probably use it only for wood, but my shop is not for wood-only by any means. I'm planning for a benchtop machine lathe, a mini-mill, a cut-off machine, welding and brazing tools. I can outsource the more rare big metal jobs so that's why I think the Shopsmith along with the mini-mill will meet the drilling needs.

I agree about having everything on wheels. Even now my toolboxes, storage racks, and just about everything else in the garage is on wheels or casters. The Shopsmith has retractable casters. The workbench will be on wheels eventually, but the kind I have in mind to keep it stable are not cheap. In fact, they will probably double the materials cost of the bench itself. As for a cabinet saw not being wheelable, that's true, but in fact I would more likely choose a miter saw and a contractor saw rather than a bottom of the line cabinet saw. More about that later.

I do have a fair amount of single phase power in the garage. I'm not limited by receptacles as much as I am by the house's 2-phase 100A main. I can run most things, just not too many at once. 3 phase base charges are huge but I'm passing on the large vertical mill and built-in air compressor so I won't need it. The air compressor would be handy to run a sand blaster that might really help clean up this Shopsmith, but I'm going to make do with a couple portable compressors I got free (but forget about blasting). One's weak. The other is stronger but it's gas-powered and has small tanks (for running framing nailers).

In about 7 years my boys will really be using power tools and I hope to move this shop into a barn somewhere. Even if I took over the whole three car garage, we're going to outgrow this eventually. So space is not my primary concern.

I appreciate the evaluation of the Craftsman saw. I never really intended to buy that saw, but I thought it provided the starkest perspective to put the Shopsmith's cost in. I would more seriously consider buying a miter saw to serve my immediate needs. For me, a miter saw might really limit my demand on a table saw so that I might not even need one for some time and even then I might do well with a contractor saw. I could do a lot of my work with a plain miter saw and even a little bit more with a sliding miter saw. I rented one for the last job (sandbox), and I've got a job waiting (workbench) that needs one if I don't get the Shopsmith going.

I do value the Shopsmith because it was my dad's, but not just sentimentally. It proved itself valuable enough for my dad to keep it 35 years, and afterward there are still other people investing thousands of their dollars into the same design and they don't seem to be apologizing for it.

Nick has posted a tip on how to remove rust from way tubes on Shop Tips. Look for Removing Rust using a Potatoes. It might be worth the try.

Ben -- I cannot add much to the stories and good advice here. Like you, I am a multiple-Shopsmith owner. And like you, I have a large shop. When I was faced with your decision (in 1984), I bought a pro-sumer table saw, drill press, band saw, and jointer for reasons that don't ever cross the minds of most craftsman. My editors did not want my books to look like ads for Shopsmith equipment, and they thought it would be prudent if I showed no apparent preference for one brand over another. That was back in the days when even how-to journalism had some ethics.

I kept most of my Shopsmith SPTs and all three of the MarK Vs. One (a 500) I shortened to make a "mini" and turned that into a sanding center. One (a 510) migrated over to my hangar at an airport were I work with kids to build historic aircraft. The third (a 520) stayed in my shop a does all the things that ordinary stand-alone tools won't do -- which, once you understand that the machine is just an overgrown Erector set with an arbor and a chuck, are many and varied.

That said, I should repeat something I told the audience last Sawdust Session and nobody seems to have picked up on. As you may be aware, next session will will start an eight-part series on how to purchase, restore, and upgrade an older Mark V. At some point douring the series, I am going to show something that has everything to do with just this question -- upgrade your older machine or buy new stand alone tools? For a very good reason that I cannot explain, I will not tell you what until I get to it. However, I would advise you to put off a buying decision until I get there. It won't be too long and I promise that you will be glad that you had this information to weigh in the balance.

With all good wishes,

I ordered the belts, quadrant, retainer ring, roller pin, and some nuts and bolts yesterday. I also ordered the dual bearing quill.

I'm going to clean up the way and bench tubes. I saw the potato tip, but it seems to me that the dissolved potatoes simply released their phosphoric acid into the water and that dissolved the ferrous oxide. Naval jelly should work faster without the potential mess of spilling putrified potato water.

I read the suggestion that the potatoes work by chelation, but I'm skeptical about that. They very well may contain organic compounds that are chelant, but those chelating agents would bond with the metal ions rather than the oxides. Even more likely, bacteria that are fermenting the potatoes are producing siderophores (iron chelating compounds like pycocyanin and pyoverdin). Still, I imagine those would have a very minimal effect on the comparatively huge amount of iron in the tubes.

The rust, however, is almost certainly coming off with the phosphoric acid in the potatoes -- the same acid that makes them viable as batteries. It converts the ferrous oxide to a water-soluable phosphate compound and that's why it wipes off with a wet rag. Iron phosphate is the remaining black coating on the tubes.

In any event, it's a clever tip and I'll be looking forward to seeing what Nick has to show us next.