Shopsmith Forums

Hi all,
I inherited my dad's shopsmith which my sisters and I bought him in 1956, (then as I recall we bought for around $200.00 new). He always kept it clean and waxed and used it a great deal. I have used it for many projects. Bit noisy in the bearings but worked fine.

I recently replace the 3/4 mtr w/ 1hp 1/8. Made quite a difference on cutting. I then decided to replace the quill w/a 2 bearing. This Mark V is original and had single bearing and the gilmer belt drive. In order to put a new 2 bearing quill in, I had to change from gilmer to poly V drive, close to original cost of Mark V in 50's.

I was able to make the change with some difficulty getting the drive shieve mechanics out. It now sounds like a cat purring with all new bearings except the drive bearings which seemed ok. I also heard the metal to metal rub, mentioned in one article, but on the low speed end extreme.

Any other gilmer drive Mark V's out there?

Got my 57 model last Month. It's in great shape and all original. It made noise at the high speed setting, but I was able to adjust it and it works great. I've wanted to get one for a while and couldn't pass this one up when I came across it.

I'm a beginner when it comes to woodworking, but the few simple projects I've done so far (mostly making some jigs for future projects) have all come out great

I have a 54 model that my dad bought used in '57. I finally got tired of fooling with the gilmer belt (I stripped it out twice when rough turning green logs) and went the the dual bearing quill and V belt5 or 6 years ago. It all went smoothly and I've been very pleased. The dual bearings is definitely an improvement and the V belts don't strip and are much simplier to install.

I still have the 3/4 horse motor and it's going strong. I've added the 520 tables and use the machine a great deal. When properly maintained, these machines will last forever.

Got my '56 a while back. Gilmer drive. Guy said it "didn't work". He was right. Hauled it home and proceeded to take it apart to see if it could be fixed. I was astounded at the amount of sawdust packed into the machine, The motor even had sawdust in it. It had been "rode hard and put away wet" many times.

I cleaned it up and re-assembled it, lubing everything as I went. Finally got it back together, plugged it in and crossed my fingers. It worked great. Ran well. Everything worked and no unusual noises.

I am still using it almost every day. It didn't come with much except for the lathe stuff, the table/extension/broken fence and the drill press chuck that someone had possibly left in water and was rusted almost to the point of being unusable.

All in all I am very pleased with the old girl. I hope to get some of the accessories like the bandsaw and planer some day.

I found another Shopsmith that another guy says "doesn't work". I'll probably have to take it off his hands and see if I can add another to my shop.

turdwhiffle wrote:I found another Shopsmith that another guy says "doesn't work". I'll probably have to take it off his hands and see if I can add another to my shop.

I love the "doesn't work" tools. I've got a lot of "doesn't work" tools that, with a little effort, now work just fine and are giving me good service in the shop.

Hi all,
First time ever to any type forum, but I'm interested in the shopsmith system.A local ad for older mark v(50's or 60's the seller said) owned by his dad is partially disaassembled & all parts available for $250. Any thoughts besides buyer beware?

belltech wrote:Hi all,
First time ever to any type forum, but I'm interested in the shopsmith system.A local ad for older mark v(50's or 60's the seller said) owned by his dad is partially disaassembled & all parts available for $250. Any thoughts besides buyer beware?

First of all, Hello there! I guess you are not yet a Shopsmith owner, but you wannabe. Sometimes, we don't have the money we want - to get the stuff we want - and we settle for a little less. One has to be careful, as you are, of buying a pig in a poke. If you have some time - maybe some of the forum members that have older Mark Vs can give you more info, but since there is not a lot of info to start with - this might be tough.

Here is a link to a Shopsmith page showing age of Mark Vs. http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/faq/markv.htm
You will find a listing of serial numbers near the bottom of that page. If you can ascertain the serial No. of that machine - It may tell you a lot.

This may be a good deal as the price seems low enough, but I wouldn't jump at the offer right away. You will need to be prepared to spend at least another $250 to get it operating. Shop around and compare at E-Bay and Craig's list - you may find something better.

Good Luck!

I just purchased a 50's model with serial number 329031.
It has the bandsaw and jigsaw attachments.
Seems to purr like a kitten through all the speed settings, but I haven't run any wood through it yet.

pinkiewerewolf wrote:I just purchased a 50's model with serial number 329031.
It has the bandsaw and jigsaw attachments.
Seems to purr like a kitten through all the speed settings, but I haven't run any wood through it yet.

It's time to make sawdust Pinkie.

This weekend for sure Tim!:)
I just finished getting acquainted with the table saw, bottom guard, and top guard.
My Mark V came with two saw tables and it took me a bit to figure out why.
One of the tables has the attachment for the bottom guard, the other doesn't. I should have guessed, since the second table wasn't attached to the extension legs.
The band saw and jigsaw both need a bit of attention. That is OK though as I really only need the table saw at the moment.
I am really enjoying my time getting to know the saw, I hope you other guys/gals that grabbed older models are enjoying them as much.

I am a bit perplexed by the color of my machine. I thought the older (1950's) models were green. Mine is a smooth grey finish. Maybe it has been repainted, or I'm just "off" on the colors.