Shopsmith Forums

Hello fellow Shopsmith owners, I just wanted to drop in and say hello and maybe get some dialog going with some of you. I'm normally hanging out on a different forum for pen turners at penturners.org and have met a few fellow SS owners over there as well.

I've been a Shopsmith owner since I bought my Greenie for $50 as a basket case in an auction back in April 2004. This is what I started out with:
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I tore it down and rebuilt it from the ground up the following winter and did a few projects with it over the next few years. Then it 2008 it became a regularly used tool in my shop as I started turning pens. It is my bandsaw for cutting the blanks, and my lathe for turning pens (over 300 to date). Here's a couple shots of the old girl in her new home.
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I'm amazed at the service the Shopsmith continues to give me and will to put it to good use as long as I'm around.

Wow! Nice job. I noticed you have the Mark V legs on supports. I recall reading a post last week from a taller gentleman looking for suggestions for on raising his Shopsmith for doing wood turning. Looks like you've done it.

backhertz wrote:Wow! Nice job. I noticed you have the Mark V legs on supports. I recall reading a post last week from a taller gentleman looking for suggestions for on raising his Shopsmith for doing wood turning. Looks like you've done it.

Thanks.

Yes, at 6'2" it is a little low for me to be bending over several hour at a time when I really get going. So I cobbled together some risers made from 2x4s to raise it up. I actually would like about 2-3 more inches, and will probably work on that in the near future.

Welcome to the forum. Nice job on the rebuild, I like the dust collector for the lathe. Can we have more pictures of it?.

Sure, I had some taken up, just needed to re-size for these forums.

The first thing I made when I started turning was something to hold the tool rest in place so it wouldn't rotate on me. This is what I came up with from some scrap pine and closet rod:

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The collector was cobbled together using a few scraps of cedar I had laying around from making birdhouses and a dust collection plate from Rockler intended for the bottom of a table saw. Then I used a few other pieces (also from Rockler) to reduce the 4" hole down to the size my shop vac uses.

I simply screw it onto the tool rest clamp with a couple of drywall screws.

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Welcome to the forum. Great restore! Every time I see a restored Greenie I want to strip the gray paint off of my 520 and "go green."

Finally, because by ShopVac doesn't have the CFM to pull the shavings really well, I came up with one more thing to get closer to the work. This came from pieces of left over plumbing vent tubes I had laying around. A reducer that "just" fits in the 4" hold of the base plat with a friction fit, and a little left-over tubing that I notched out to get close up to the work.
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I believe the whole thing would work better with a full sized dust collector and 4" tubing, but for now it's working with what I have until the budget finds room for nicer solution.
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Sorry #2 is sideways, the uploader didn't like the 800 pixel dimension being on the side instead of the top. Oh well...

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ETA: Ah, now I figured out how to show the pictures in the posting instead of the links.

algale wrote:Welcome to the forum. Great restore! Every time I see a restored Greenie I want to strip the gray paint off of my 520 and "go green."

They do look nice! I was really happy to find the Rustoleum Hammer Metal colors with both shades of green so close to original colors. Another Shopsmith owner pointed me in that direction back when I was doing the restore.

I have a dust collection plate that I have tried laying flat on the way tubes and standing up, did not like either one. I will have to try yours.