Shopsmith Forums

Mark 2 Miter Gauge - alternate color scheme

While the earliest Mark 2 production runs coming out of Magna Power Tool Corporation were traditional Greenie green, later production runs switched to a grey color scheme. Not sure if this was at the point where Yuba Power Products switched to the wooden bench rails, or when the Mark 5 went Goldie.

Anyway, this recent eBay pickup is a miter gauge in the later grey color scheme - the first time this miter style appeared in the grey tone that became the short term standard just before Magna American Corporation ended Mark 5 production altogether.

Keeping costs down on this model meant no extra holes in the miter bar, and no adjustable angle stops in the miter casting.
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Comparing to an earlier green motif of the Mark 2 miter, with the optional safety grip.
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I scanned all the original documentation that I received with my 10ER.

Owner's Guide
ShopSmith Shavings
ShopSmith ShopMag
Pricelist and Accessories Catalog
Molding Knives And Cutter Selection Guide
Brocure
Packing List
Adjustment Guide
Magna Retractable Caster Instructions
Magna Dado Instructions

Here is a link to a OneDrive folder with the PDFs.
https://1drv.ms/f/c/31b27faf8b067d36/Ig ... Q?e=vlgaId

stubs wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2026 4:43 pm I scanned all the original documentation that I received with my 10ER.

Thanks for sharing!

This one is a new memorabilia item. If you missed the video the new CEO of Shopsmith USA made and posted at on the 1st of the month you should check it out now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE8tDwl1N1k

Yes, I added the Ambi-scribe to my collection. It is actually available to purchase from Shopsmith and is listed as ShopSmith Ambidextrous Carpenters Pencils with Sharpener SKU: 425000 Price: $3.00
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I was just looking at the Shopsmith website for something and ran across the ShopSmith Ambidextrous Carpenters Pencils with Sharpener listing. It is already out of stock. WOW. I don't know how many were made but it is certainly more popular than they estimated.

chapmanruss wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 1:41 pm I was just looking at the Shopsmith website for something and ran across the ShopSmith Ambidextrous Carpenters Pencils with Sharpener listing. It is already out of stock. WOW. I don't know how many were made but it is certainly more popular than they estimated.

In that case, mine will be on eBay shortly. I think I can get $5 for the right-handed model, but probably only $3 for the left-handed one…

I have a 10er 1951 I think. Got on market place for 100.00, and then bought more stuff. I got a speed controller
That thing is cool . I also have a mark 5 ,and a 520 . I love all shopsmith stuff.I think it's the best tools ever made.

voningraham,

Welcome to the Shopsmith Forum.

I would suggest you start your own new topic posting about your Shopsmith tools. That helps keep any questions, answers and information about your Shopsmith's together in one place. We can probably give you a pretty close estimate of when your 10ER was made. There are no known records of when these tools were made by month or even year but there are some references as to when specific serial numbers were made or purchased that have been gathered over the years. Picture always help too.

If you have any unique pieces from Magna/Shopsmith do post them here with pictures. That is what this topic is all about. John has a large collection of Shopsmith memorabilia he has shared with us in this topic.

Evolution of the SHOPSMITH Tailstock Live Center

Most of you are likely familiar with the Live Center accessory - very handy for turning, and a staple of Shopsmith accessories since the 10ER days.

Those that I’ve seen with machines I’ve acquired look generally like this:

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…but I recently had one come to me with a 10ER that was still a live center, but not with the familiar cup shape to grab the wood.

The shape was reminiscent of something I’d seen on a Magna accessories box that had been saved with some documentation from another 10ER I acquired, and sure enough, this example I found was likely Magna-made!

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I didn’t realize that Magna had produced both a Tailstock Live Center and a Tailstock Live Cup Center!

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Tracing back through some of the historical accessories catalogs, it appears Magna produced the original Live Center through mid 1952

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…but had switched to the cupped version by 1953.

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Interestingly, they never bothered to change the part number, even with the product name change…

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The original Tailstock Live Center had the 60-degree tip just like the original Tailstock Dead Center did.

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