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Out of all the Shopsmiths that I bought I ended up with many duplicate spt's but the strip sander is the only one I haven't got get. Wish I could pick up a decent priced one in really good condition hint hint

I have always been absolutely amazed that having bought over 2 dozen used SS's that I never acquired a single face-plate... Nada, zip... All I have is the one small one and one bigger one that I ordered with my 510 back in 1988.
I acquired a whole herd of new SS lathe chisel sets and even got so may that I sold a bunch on Ebay. Most of them were unused. I did get a few lathe centers and drill chucks. I just can't get over not getting a single face-plate.
I got several jointers, bandsaws and jigsaws including one jigsaw I kept that had not even been put together let alone used. I only got one 6"X48" belt sander (I wanted it badly). I also kept a dozen sanding disk and I have saw blades coming out of my ears, some better than others.
Part of how I financed my buying spree was selling off some of the extra SPT's I didn't need that came with full SS's. Many times one SPT would sell for more than I paid for the whole SS and accessories.
None of the SS's I bought had a strip sander with them. I already have three 1" belt sanders so I didn't try to buy one separate since they generally sell so danged high.
I kept one jointer for me (I don't use it, I have 6" long bed stand-alone one but I kept one just "in case") and I gave my son a jointer. I kept the best bandsaw. I also got several mortising sets and a really nice 8" 3 jaw chuck. As I sort out boxes in the shop now I still get a surprise now and then at what I find that I had forgotten about getting.


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You want to get an older one. The reason is at one point Shopsmith went from using a bearing to using a bushing. I don't remember where though. Someone in the know pointed that out to me a number of years ago.

Used strip sanders always sell for a ridiculously high amount...usually rather close to the actual price of a new one. Not only that, I rarely see auctions for used ones noting that they include all three platens that originally came with each strip sander - almost always they only seem to contain whatever platen was installed at the time.

backhertz wrote:You want to get an older one. The reason is at one point Shopsmith went from using a bearing to using a bushing. I don't remember where though. Someone in the know pointed that out to me a number of years ago.

I got a new Strip Sander a year ago, and I was thinking I needed to be worried about the plastic idler-wheels (rather than metal / ball-bearing). Last winter I posted a thread about turning up some substantial hardwood idlers to improve the machine. My final conclusion? The factory plastic idlers were really better for my tastes. Granted, I do all conventional sanding, and not the "belt doubled-over, interior curve" sanding method.

I like the Strip Sander. I actually keep it on my Mark V most of the time. A lot of my projects are relatively small or detail-oriented, and it's fun for that.

The plastic/bushing idler rollers can get worn when 'internal' sanding is done since the abrasive side rides on the one. However the metal rollers have the same wear problem, but it is far less pronounced due to the difference in hardness.

The bushings will require occasional oiling. The bearings should last a very long time.

My strip sander has metal rollers in the 'normal' locations, and a plastic one in the internal sanding location. I think the plastic is more 'gentle' on the abrasive.

Those 'missing' platens(1/2" and curved typically) are on occasion found on e-bay but are few and far between.

The strip sander that I did sell on e-bay had all three platens.

I think the reason there are so few acquired with used ss is it was fairly recently introduced and those older machines were bought new prior.