Shopsmith Forums

Hello fellow ShopSmither's. I recently inherited my late grandfather's wood working equipment which included, I believe, a Mark V. It has attachments for table saw, Lathe, Horizontal boring machine, Drill press, Sander, Band saw and Jig saw, etc. I have an enormous amount of bits, parts, guides and I'm honestly not even sure what all I have or how to use it for that matter.

I got bitten by the woodworking bug when I built a privacy fence at my house with some custom sliding doors, etc. I went overboard really but the fence is killer. I then built a kitchen island with stainless steel top for my kitchen after I remodeled it. I only had a miter saw and some hand tools for this.

I knew my dad had my granddad's old equipment and we pulled it out from way back in the garage and low and behold there was a Mark V, a Belsaw Planer/Molder and a Shop Smith Jointer and what seems like every attachment known to man. My father had an old Walnut tree that fell during a storm rough cut into some 1x's and I am going to make a butcher block counter top for a kitchen island for my mom (building the base out of pine and will paint). We rewired the planer and got her running and the jointer is working well. The Mark V is bogging down when using the table saw so we did some research and think it's just a belt issue which is on the way.

I'm trying to learn whatever I can about the Mark V but it seems like the web site shopsmith.com is down. I ordered my belt the other day and I assume I ordered it from ShopSmith.com but now I can't get to any ShopSmith.com sites. Is anyone else having this issue? I tried to access it on my phone as well just in case it was being blocked somehow on my laptop.

Oh, I've got lots of questions and I'm sure this community will be a great resource when I get stuck. Right now, I just need to know if Shopsmith.com is really down?

I'm super excited (can you tell) about this equipment. It's a great legacy from my grandfather and has already given me and my dad a reason to spend some much needed time together. I even found some plans my grandfather made for various projects. I think he purchased this in the early 80's. I don't have the SN but I will get it the next time I'm at my Dad's.

Thanks Beeg but I can't get to this site either. Anything ShopSmith.com I try to access fails. Server not found message. This site is ShopSmith.net which obviously is working. You say "NOPE the sites know down." I assume you mean the site is now down? Does that mean it is indeed down temporarily or that is has been taken down permanently?

The shop smith.com site is loading fine for me, so problem must be on your end for some reason…try another browser/computer/device and see if you can load it elsewhere.

Meanwhile, ask lots of questions and post lots of pictures - tons of folks here who can help out as needed, including identifying and mystery items etc. Also, make sure to read up on maintenance for your Mark V - there are links on this site - if the machine has been a sitting for a while and/or not regularly lubed and maintained, you want to do that before you start running it through the paces. Also, make sure not to turn the speed controller unless the motor is running.

Welcome to the world of Shopsmith!

Thanks. Really weird that I can't get to it. I will see what I can figure out. Thanks for the advice. I did, of course, immediately start trying to turn the speed controller. I didn't do it very much though but that could be the cause of the bogging down issue we are seeing. Hoping the belt will fix it.

Also when you mention lubing the machine is there oil or some other lubricant in the motor itself? It seemed pretty warm when we tried to rip a few pieces. Could just be the belt I suppose. Hopefully I can get on the website soon and go through all of the basic maintenance info. I'm also interested in the upgrades available.

Do 'absorb' the sticky posts!!!!

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/forumdisplay.htm?f=10

And Welcome!!!!

You may have to give the site "permission" so it does not get rejected by your browser settings.
Bill V

Sounds like his wife found out about the "bug" and put a block in the FW or Hosts file .....

I don't know squat about woodworking, there there are some real gems here ....