Shopsmith Forums

You have an early Shopsmith Inc. produced Mark 5, which places it around 1980 +-. ***
The sn on the bandsaw may provide further clues.


*** Nope, earlier - see post #23 this thread below.

woodboats wrote:I am attaching pics of my SS. Serial number is 9761. Any help in a positive ID would be GREATLY appreciated.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/serialnumber.htm shows 9761 as a 1985

Mark 5 (Model 500) as evidenced by the table.
Bandsaw appears to be 80's vintage as well with the cast iron table.
Nothing wrong with this setup.

the tables are what tells the tale.

500 original smaller table with no extension tubes and the the older fence.
505 Upgarded table and carriage only

510 includes the extension tubes an floating tables

520 upgrades the fence and how it is mounted.

What tells the tale is the vent plate. It says Mark 5. Yes SS Inc. initially made Mark 5s and did not begin calling them Mark Vs until(I assume) the Mark V 510 was created.

I erred above!oo:o I was 'thinking' SS Inc. started in 78. Actually it was five years earlier. Unfortunately the SN info is missing for that period.

So, 75 ish or earlier is more likely.

This chart is not easy to stumble onto(unusual path to find it IMHO).

[ATTACH]25733[/ATTACH]

JPG40504 wrote:This chart is not easy to stumble onto(unusual path to find it IMHO).

[ATTACH]25733[/ATTACH]

That's odd. It looks just like the one referenced in post #5 of this thread. I have probably posted this link a dozen times in response to questions of age.

Be aware that the manufacturing dates for most of the Shopsmith equipment is posted on the same link.

PS NO! Not that same link. A little bit further back. Click on "Can you tell me how old it is?" Then scroll to the bottom of whatever page shows up. If the chart exists, it will be there. Not all equipment is so charted.

I followed a link in the reply to a SS customer phone number that actually resulted in talking to a person. After questions about the S/N, table size, and headstock color/texture, she informed me the machine is a Mark V model 500, produced sometime in the July - August time frame in 1981. I told her I never would have been able to interpret that from the table. She agreed. Thanks to all of you for weighing in on this. Now I just need to find the lower guard. . . .

dusty wrote:That's odd. It looks just like the one referenced in post #5 of this thread. I have probably posted this link a dozen times in response to questions of age.

Be aware that the manufacturing dates for most of the Shopsmith equipment is posted on the same link.

PS NO! Not that same link. A little bit further back. Click on "Can you tell me how old it is?" Then scroll to the bottom of whatever page shows up. If the chart exists, it will be there. Not all equipment is so charted.

Yep, the same chart.]was[/B] quarter of a year ago!

woodboats wrote:I followed a link in the reply to a SS customer phone number that actually resulted in talking to a person. After questions about the S/N, table size, and headstock color/texture, she informed me the machine is a Mark V model 500, produced sometime in the July - August time frame in 1981. I told her I never would have been able to interpret that from the table. She agreed. Thanks to all of you for weighing in on this. Now I just need to find the lower guard. . . .

As usual SS ignores its own creation of Mark5s. Since they began making them in 1972, I think SN 9xxx would be closer to that year than 1981.

I would believe Shopsmith started with using 1000 in 1972 for the serial number. I have had a couple in the 2000 and 3000 serial number range. Two of these very early serial number machines had a beautiful grey crinkle paint job. I had brought these machines at different estate sales and knowing I could never do a touch-up on the paint if chipped, I sold them. I did not realized how unique that these Shopsmiths were. I started looking for another grey crinkle finish machine about 8 years ago but I have not seen one since.

Hello all,
I have yet to purchase a Shopsmith Mark V, but I may be doing this, as early as 3/15/15.

My question is: is the number shown on the attached photo a date code or a serial number? And yes, I have reviewed the graph that was listed (above), within this thread, but I do not see a 5 digit number (12390) anywhere in the graph.

My main reason for wanting to know this is, I would like to know the approximate age of the machine, along with, was it purchased as a 500 or 510?

Please advise and thanks in advance!