Shopsmith Forums

Ed in Tampa wrote:Dusty
You should have included model such as Er10, all the Mark models and 500,505,510,520 along with age then we could see all the various renditions out there.

I could have but I am not very knowledgeable about all those other models. I realized that the list was not all inclusive. It the consensus is that there should be another, wider poll that can certainly be done.

What should have been included that was not?

Answer - 10ER and .....

Isn't it amazing how many "greenies" and "goldies" are still in use. This is a testiment to the fine engineering that went into the original design, and to Shopsmith, for their continued support. While we may take this for granted, this is certainly not the norm for most of the conventional woodworking tools in past and present marketing.

I have my original '83 MKV, upgraded to Pro Fence here in Gainesville. Last year I purchased an identical vintage machine, also upgraded, from a local widow. I took this machine to the U.P. where it is a companion to the 2003 520 that was already up there.

After using my Shopsmiths for several projects, my brother-in-law couldn't stand it any longer. He bought a used MKV 500 and is now relishing in the many old parts and accessories that I had stored away.

The base, tubes, carriage and table on my MkV are from 1954, and still sport the original green paint, although somewhat worn. The headstock is a gray "50th Anniversary' model, with double bearing quill, bigger motor and new belt. I would like to replace the table, for one that is less battle scarred, but SS no longer offers this upgrade. The rip fence is the first upgrade...it still has the morse taper hole in the top, which is very handy for sanding disks and arcs. I still have the original fence, but it doesn't see much service any more. I probably will upgrade to the newest 500 fence, so I can use the t slot for featherboards in the vertical orientation, but I will hang on to the one I use now for the sake of the morse taper hole. The auxiliary table is the new, wider upgrade. The original aux table now does double duty as either a left side support table or the base for the sharpening jig. I have also over the years added a couple of front table extensions, both of current design. All in all, even though you might say it is built on the frame of a Greenie, this MkV is really more like Johnny Cash's cadillac, which is why I voted "other."

dusty wrote:I could have but I am not very knowledgeable about all those other models. I realized that the list was not all inclusive. It the consensus is that there should be another, wider poll that can certainly be done.

What should have been included that was not?

Answer - 10ER and .....

I think the 10E, 10ER, Mark II and Mark VII? any others?

And if one has more than one?
Vote twice?

Len wrote:And if one has more than one?
Vote twice?

For that, I vote yes; others have (click on the result amount of any model and it will show you who voted for what).

I don't know how you would fix this up to track totally since I have a goldie, a 1995 MKV and 7 Er's and looking for a greenie and early gray mkv.
Guess you cannot have too many
Wife thinks different

dusty wrote:I could have but I am not very knowledgeable about all those other models. I realized that the list was not all inclusive. It the consensus is that there should be another, wider poll that can certainly be done.

What should have been included that was not?

Answer - 10ER and .....

The other thing to think about, is were you trying to do a poll on only Mark V's, like the title of the poll says? Or were you intending to include all Shopsmith models? If only for Mark V's, your list is complete.

a1gutterman wrote:The other thing to think about, is were you trying to do a poll on only Mark V's, like the title of the poll says? Or were you intending to include all Shopsmith models? If only for Mark V's, your list is complete.

Yes, my original thought was to determine a population ratio of the various Mark V configurations. I think that has sorta been done.

The numbers can be tallied and broken down into any number of different ways so I am not going to attempt that. The one point that I think is significant is the large number of older machines that populate our shops.

I say sorta because there are a lot of forum members out there who simply chose not to participate. That is certainly their right but I still just wish we could find a way to encourage these folks to be heard. They are all part of this group by virtual of the fact they own woodworking equipment or are interested in owning woodworking equipment. They have some interest in "Shopsmith" or they would not be members of this forum.

I am preparing to initiate another poll to incorporate some of those machines that were left off this one (other than Mark vs).

The structure of this forum limits the categories to 10 so some categories of equipment must be lumped or left off.

I will attempt to set it up so that you can vote multiple times. However, I believe that the software limits your vote to once in each category.

If you have information that you want to share about your particular machine configuration, you can always do that in an additional posts to the thread. Be proud, tell us what you got - we are interested. We are equally interested in your non-Shopsmith setups.

Following are the categories that I am contemplating:

1. Mark Vs (other than mini or shorty)
2. Mark V Mini
3. Mark V Shorty
4. Crafter's Station
5. Sawsmith 2000
6. 10E
7. 10ER
8. Mark II
9. Mark VII
10. Other (including non-Shopsmith)

If one of your primary tools is something not included in this list (a RAS, a chop saw, a circular saw, whatever), feel free to share that info by posting comments in the thread.

When I do this, it will be in a separate thread.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Dusty
You should have included model such as Er10, all the Mark models and 500,505,510,520 along with age then we could see all the various renditions out there.

This sort of confuses me and goes along with one of my previous threads that sort of was a flop.

There are tangible differences between 500s and other Mark Vs but are there any real differences between a 505 and a 510 other than a floating table and tubes?

I feel the same way about my 510. It is really no different than anyone else's 510 except that I have equipped it with a new rail system and an additional extension table.

This is the beauty of the Mark V. It can be whatever you need it to be. It is an Erector Set for the woodworking enthusiast. Furthermore, in whatever configuration you need it to be in, Shopsmith stills supports it with parts and service.

Related links:
http://www.shopsmith.com/markvsite/purchaseNB.htm
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/toolhistory.htm