Shopsmith Forums

My dad and I purchased my Shopsmith mdl 500 in '81. We used it together for many projects until I moved away. He continued to use it much more than I thought until he passed away last year. Now it is in my garage and I am building a shop around it since I only have about 100 square feet to work in.

I just upgraded it to a 510 via ebay, the larger table is awesome.

weehawl wrote:I bought mine new in 1985 and have no new upgrades. Was looking at table upgrade. Would like to hear thoughts on the newer models.

The 520 upgrade is on salethis week for 30% off.

I bought mine in 2000 at the Southern Home Show in Charlotte, N.C.
(Actually, my dad bought it for me after I made him sit through several demos while I drooled the whole time. He was a bigger sucker for cool tools than me and had more money at the time so I reluctanlty agreed to let him buy it

We made several projects and attented a TA together. He passed away 12/23/06 but I think of him every time I go in my shop!

fathers are very special. mine taught me my love of this saw dust addiction . worked with him from an early age ( hated it then wanted to run do my own thing . but his love of this hobby profession gets in the blood . lost my father in 2000 . cherish the memorys , carry it through all ur projects. thanks and welcome alan. papahammer

As I have previously posted, my son and I attended a Shopsmith demo at a Holiday Inn back in '83.

It is heartwarming to read recent postings as to how the Shopsmith has helped to create father-son bonding and multi-generational love for woodworking. I don't believe I have ever heard of similiar experiences with the Sears Craftsman saw or any other brand X machine.

For Christmas in '03, I purchased a Shopsmith for my son-in-law. He is a computer engineer who always seemed to be totally occupied in front of the screen. Now he has taken to bowl turning and has advanced to the point of making segmented bowls. Therer is no question about the bonding process that the Shopsmith seems to generate.

I have recently learned that Marc Adams, the owner-founder of the renound Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indianapolis also began his woodworking career by attending a Shopsmith demo with his father. Tragically, his father died of a sudden heart attack just a few days after they brought their Shopsmith home.

I got my 50th anniversary model#505 for my 50th birthday from my wonderful wife as a birthday present.

My inspiraiton was my brother's Total Saw Taiwanese copy model which he's had about 15+ years.

I got my genuine 510, brand new from Shopsmith, about 1 year ago. In later months I got the bandsaw and jointer attachments.

Later in 2007, I came across a dirt-cheap 50-yr-old 500 which I restored for yet another brother in the family.

This will probably not be the end of the story....

I bought my shop smith about 3 months ago used at a yard sale for 350.00. jig saw,table saw,jointer ,wood lathe, sander,air sprayer. small problems am working on to fix. very happy with it.

I bought the 50th anniversary model of the 520 when it was offered at a Home/Garden Show demonstration and have been adding to it ever since.

BPR

Saw a demo at the Santa Clara Convention Center during one of their Home/Garden shows in 2004. We kept coming back to the demo and finally my wife said, "if you want it then get it". Not wanting to upset her, I purchased the 510 w/Bandsaw and Dust Collector as a package deal they were offering at the time. It sat in a carton for over a year before I unpacked it and put it together after retiring and moving to Nevada in 2005.

As a side note, my brother-in-law has had a SS since back in the 60's (or before) and actually used it to build a log home in the 90's. It's still running fine on a farm in western North Carolina.