Shopsmith Forums

Many of you may recall the $75 MK V Bill Mayo found in central FL a few weeks ago. I emailed Bill and we worked a deal for him to check it over and do any repairs and then shorten it. Luckily, Bill found no major problems.
Five boxes arrived yesterday. It'll be a few weeks before I can unpack them and start assembly but I am excited to have another 'Smith. With the Jointech on my original Shopsmith, this shorty is going to be really handy.

Will be looking for pictures. Not to be nosy but how much was shipping? I am really enjoying my mini that I made from a Greenie I bought last month. I put band saw on one end and belt sander on the other. It sure is nice not to have to pick them up and mount them on the Shopsmith.

Joe,
Not sure how much the actual shipping was. Bill had to buy 3 or 4 of the boxes/tubes, plus some packing materials. Total cost, including Bill's work and the machine it'self was $425. Not bad, I think.
I'll be primarily using it for the DP, Band saw and disk sander.

joedw00 wrote:Will be looking for pictures. Not to be nosy but how much was shipping? I am really enjoying my mini that I made from a Greenie I bought last month. I put band saw on one end and belt sander on the other. It sure is nice not to have to pick them up and mount them on the Shopsmith.

Congratulations on the new Shorty. I hope you get as much use out of yours as I do mine.

Currently, mine is the power base for my "drill press" and jointer but I am going to move the jointer to the Mark V and put the belt sander on the Shorty along with the "drill press".

Shipping was $200 really amazed me for Florida to Arizona with FedEx and a 20% discount. I managed to over pack the weight on 2 boxes so had to repack and make up another box to ship everything. I will weight the packed boxes after this. First time for shipping a Shopsmith. Learning as I go. I am going to get a few custom size double wall cardboard boxes (less than $10 a box) for the tubes, the legs and end parts which should help reduce the shipping costs. I disassembled 3 Shopsmiths that was stored in my garage this week. One was my restored 1955 Greenie with reversible 3/4 HP motor and chrome tubes that I used in my Home Show booth. If anyone is interested in a MINI or a SHORTY, please contact me.

billmayo wrote: If anyone is interested in a MINI or a SHORTY, please contact me.

Bill I'm assuming I could send everything but the headstock for you to make a shorty for me?

tomsalwasser wrote:Bill I'm assuming I could send everything but the headstock for you to make a shorty for me?

Yes, you could but why. You can cut the way and bench tubes 18" shorter with a metal cutting hand hack saw. I did this for years before getting a metal cutting bandsaw. I found I had to mark around the tube and then just cutting into the tube, I would rotate the tube a little and cut again until I work all the way around the tube. You will need to file the sharp edge from the cut tube end as it will cut you when installing. I did dozen of tubes this way. You cannot just cut straight thru the tube as it will go very crooked. Shipping two ways for the tubes is too expensive. I can send you a set of cleaned and polished SHORTY tubes for the same expense as doing your tubes and you still have your old tubes if a need occurs. The tube length is the only difference between the regular length and the SHORTY Shopsmiths. I normally have sold a 3/4 HP reversible motor headstock with the SHORTY and the MINI frame kits. I do have cleaned and painted frame kits if desired, only needing the headstock. I will not ship another complete Shopsmith again, just too expensive. I am learning how to better pack the frame and tubes for lower shipping costs. The boxes make a big difference. Thanks.

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billmayo wrote: I can send you a set of cleaned and polished SHORTY tubes for the same expense as doing your tubes and you still have your old tubes if a need occurs.

I hear you Bill, this sounds like the way to go. I have a roofing project underway and when that's done I'm going to focus on the shorty. Looking forward to working with you. Thank you!

To mark around the tube at the 'cut line', use a pipe cutter to score the tube. If ya have a 'good' pipe cutter, use it all the way.

billmayo wrote:Yes, you could but why. You can cut the way and bench tubes 18" shorter with a metal cutting hand hack saw. I did this for years before getting a metal cutting bandsaw. I found I had to mark around the tube and then just cutting into the tube, I would rotate the tube a little and cut again until I work all the way around the tube. You will need to file the sharp edge from the cut tube end as it will cut you when installing. I did dozen of tubes this way. You cannot just cut straight thru the tube as it will go very crooked. Shipping two ways for the tubes is too expensive. I can send you a set of cleaned and polished SHORTY tubes for the same expense as doing your tubes and you still have your old tubes if a need occurs. The tube length is the only difference between the regular length and the SHORTY Shopsmiths. I normally have sold a 3/4 HP reversible motor headstock with the SHORTY and the MINI frame kits. I do have cleaned and painted frame kits if desired, only needing the headstock. I will not ship another complete Shopsmith again, just too expensive. I am learning how to better pack the frame and tubes for lower shipping costs. The boxes make a big difference. Thanks.

Where are you located? Adding the address can help see if a Forum member is located close to you for help and assistance.

I agree. I have shipped quite a few complete machines over the years. When doing this, I would get my boxes from U-Line. Headstock goes in a 20x20x20 with polystyrene sheet insulating foam surrounding it. Tubes get a box built around them. Legs and misc. stuff go in a 20x26x20 box while the tables and other stuff goes into another 20x26x20 box. When I was not shipping as much, I would go to the local Postal Annex for boxes but you will pay a premium for the boxes.

For cutting tubes, I like my little angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.