Dating a Mark 5 by it's serial number.

[chapmanruss]

bgstraughan,

Were you able to get the table off? Just wondering.

[CharlieDunn]

Hate to bump an old thread but new to the forum and new to Shopsmith. My Father-in-Law gave me his old Mark V and I am doing some cleanup and restoration on it. I was curious as to the date and I came across this thread and the spreadsheet with the serial numbers and dates. The serial number on this unit is 276561. If I am reading the spreadsheet correctly that would be August/September of 1954. The round Shopsmith label also says "Magna Engineering Corp" and "Mark V 3/4 hp, 115V, 6 amp". I was hoping someone could confirm the dating and if anyone has any idea what color the unit was originally. Thanks in advance for your help.

[JPG]

Green/Silver, 1954 would be Magna Engineering time frame.

[chapmanruss]

CharlieDunn,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum.

Serial Number 276561 would have been made in August 1954. As JPG said it would have been painted in green and silver with hammered finish paint like the one below.

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This Mark 5 "Greenie" is a restoration and the paint used was Rust-oleum Hammered Finish Verde Green and Silver. Although a popular color substitute for the original green it is not that close to the original green. Rust-oleum no longer makes the Hammered Finish Verde Green so no longer an option anyway.

Below is a Greenie Headstock with its original paint but keep in mind it is aged and was 59 years old when that picture was taken.

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I am still looking for a green paint to use on my restorations. I haven't found one I like and Hammered Finish Green paint is hard to find.

[CharlieDunn]

Thanks Guys for the info and the pics. Yeah, hammered paints are really getting hard to find in colors like green, red and blue. I have found the occasional can of Hammerite for between $100 - $150 a can and a few Rustoleum cans, but it is usually only one can and I don't think that will be enough. Well, if anyone finds a source let me know. Again, thanks for the replies.

[chapmanruss]

On that Greenie restoration I posted the picture of above I used 3 cans of green paint and 1 can of silver paint.

[Bmaatl]

New to the community....

I recently bought a used Shopsmith online like many others do and become introduced. I couldn't find anything on the official shopsmith site regarding serial numbers or date codes but was able to find this thread through google. Below is the info I was able to find on the machine.



SS #9228

Based on that chart, it was produced around February of 1987?

Thanks!

[chapmanruss]

Bmaatl,

Your Serial Number SS #9228 would have it likely made sometime in mid 1975. This is a best guess as that is in the time commonly referred to as the lost serial numbers. The chart previously posted by Ed has Mark 5 Serial numbers from just after the introduction of the Mark 5 in March of 1954 until the change to Date Codes in December 1987. What is missing in that chart is the serial numbers from 1962 until the Mark 5 went out of production in the mid 1960's and when Shopsmith Inc. restarted production of the Mark 5 in 1973 until the chart starts again in 1978. Also note that the serial numbers in red are estimates I made when making that chart and are based on several factors. This website currently has a chart by years only. There are some inaccuracies in the 1950's due to the missing numbers as found in red on my monthly chart. As noted on their yearly chart the serial number for 1973 through 1988 are 1001 – 28653. When Shopsmith Inc. formed in 1972 to bring back the Mark 5 they started with serial number SS-1001 and the Mark 5 began selling again in March of 1973. The SS serial number prefix was used by Shopsmith Inc. until they went to date codes in December 1987.

[Bmaatl]

What an incredible, well written reply....

Thank you so much for the information.

Par for the source!

[Vince]

I inherited a Shopsmith Mark V from my father. It is gold in color. The serial number is 293751. How do I search/find the date of manufacture?