Shopsmith Forums

lnrmiller wrote:I've been using a Sawsmith2000 for over a year now and love the machine. There are some drawbacks, first is the parts availability issue, second is the fact that the motor is an open design. Sawdust can build up in the motor and cause it to overheat. I blow out everything with compressed air on a regular basis and have had no problems. I replaced the starter solenoid with a solid state unit and replace the starter cap and so far works like a champ. The saw arbors from my MK5 520 work just fine, though the dado set up is a little hinky. There is a tab for the table insert that gets in the way. Since the whole saw mechanism moves I just move it back a little out of the way of the tab. Table inserts can be an issue as well. I've had success making them out of thin plywood and planing them down to fit. And yes, it does have dust collection, though I still sweep up a lot of dust from under the machine.

It's been a great compliment to my MK5, I'm glad I bought it. I can see myself becoming a SS collector.

Ed in Tampa wrote:

wlhayesmfs wrote:Shopsmith made the SawSmith 2000 from 1985 to 1987 which had a siding table top and the blade did not move was concidered ahead of its time and safer than a RAD, Used a 1 1/2 HP motor, you can find them from time to time usually with an upgraded RipFence. Most go around this are from $400 to $700, I don't have one of these Yet. You can see a picture here
http://www.songofthegreatlakes.com/ssmodels.htm if you want to see what they look like
Hope this was what you were looking for. I have not seen one by Magna. The Magna SawSmith is a RAS it ended production in 1965 I believe, I do have one of them.

Actually the Sawsmith 2000 to the best of my knowledge did not have a sliding table but rather had a carriage under the table that allowed the operator to pull on a rod to slide the saw blade forward and back.

I don't think anyone thought it was ahead of its time. The reason most people didn't buy the thing was if you grabbed the blade you could move it left and right about a 1/16-1/8 inch. The movement was from the slop in the slide mech that allowed the blade to move froward and back.

Had Shopsmith made this saw without the sliding blade feature I would have bought one. I really liked the table and fence. But now I perfectly happy I didn't buy one.

peterm wrote:chucks;
Did your new in box Sawsmith 2000 come with a manual?
and did you see this post:
http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/commu ... 18889.html

Just wondering