Shopsmith Forums

Well, lets just say that my luck hasn't been the best in the past few years...and I apologize in advance for this lengthy post.

So I've had a bit of a delay. I joined the forums here over three years ago, having (at the time) just purchased an older Greenie. In the early stages of restoring it back in 2012, it became apparent that the lower case had a crack--and that it also needed new bearings. I found a fellow here about 60-70 miles from me, and he more or less overhauled the headstock. He installed new bearings, and he even had a lower case. So now it's good to go. However due to a few other projects (and some medical problems) I haven't done much of anything with it since. But the fellow also had a newer 510/520 headstock that he'd just rebuilt, as well as the table saw components (table system, tubes, etc). So I purchased that stuff, and then some legs and casters from eBay sellers.

What I'd like to do is to get into making acoustic guitars, among other woodworking endeavors. I purchased a Shopsmith bandsaw on eBay and it seems to be in very good shape. I would still like a jointer and a belt sander though, as both of those things would come in very handy. But now I have two of these Shopsmith units--an older Greenie (that still needs some restoration), and a newer 510/520 with the better/safer table system. So now the question is which way to proceed from here?

I am about ready to make one of these units functional. I think the newer 510/520 could be ready to use in 1-2 days, as it really only needs assembly. There are still a few small things I'm missing (table saw blade/arbor, feather board, etc), but those are easy to obtain from Shopsmith or eBay. But the Greenie would need a fair bit of restoration yet. I have some Evaporust and also a case of the Rustoleum Green Verde paint--so with 1-2 weeks of work, that thing would be usable as well. So figure two weeks to get BOTH units up & running. So that being said, would it be useful to have both units? Maybe use the 510/520 for the saw, shaper, planer (etc) operations, and then make a Powerstation-like setup out of the Greenie? A person could cut even cut down the Greenie's tubes to make something like a permanent bandsaw or jointer station.

So I would love to hear the opinions of you experienced fellows on these things. I think I have about $350-375 in the Greenie, and about $500-600 in the newer unit. The shop I have is an insulated/heated third garage stall, and I don't have room in there for both units. But I probably have room to store the newer machine in the larger part of the garage, well away from any road salt from the cars. In fact this might even be better as any sawing operations would likely lend themselves quite well to the larger working area in that portion of the garage. The hanging heater in my shop is sized so that it will heat the entire garage in the Wisconsin winters, so it's quite reasonable to simply plan to leave the newer Shopsmith based in the larger portion of the garage--and then I would have room for a cut-down Greenie as a power station for the bandsaw and/or planer operations in the shop.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for advice/opinions.

TB

If you have only room for one, it should be the 510/520. The larger table system will come in handy for sawing.

If you are making guitars, you will need a band saw, jointer and a thickness planer more than you need a second Shopsmith. But if you keep the second one, it could be made into a shorty or a mini to power a future (when acquired) band saw and/or jointer.

I think a couple of guys have used Shopsmith's to make guitars. I'll look forward to seeing future posts.

Welcome back. All good ideas, I have a greenie I shortened by about 14" and have a belt sander on 1 end and the disc on the other, but you could do any combo that works for you. I left it a bit longer then needed for that but wanted to keep future options open with it.
Er as a dedicated DP just shortened the wood base a bit.
Your 510 with the bigger table would be a fine TS.

Yup...I definitely bought the 510/520 for the nicer table saw configuration. I have all three tables and the extender tubes. So that machine is a must-keep unit for me.

I think the SS bandsaw will work fine for my projects, including any guitar-making. Eventually I might want something with more beef for resawing, but for now this bandsaw should be fine. But I was looking at one of the Dewalt portable planers and possibly a desktop belt sander as well. I have a couple of workbenches with open room on the bottom shelf, and my intention was to have bench-top tools that could be brought out when needed--and then stored under the benches when not in use. I would have the floor space for a cut-down Greenie, but not for a second full-sized Shopsmith unit.

But this raises another question then: Whether to restore and sell the Greenie (if I don't keep it), sell it as-is, or just part it out? Therein lies the dilemma. I would think the headstock would be work some money, but the rest of the components probably wouldn't be worth a whole lot. I'm not even sure I could get the $350 or so I have into the thing, to be honest...but maybe if it was restored (de-rusted and painted) I could.

Thanks for your reply.

TB

ERLover wrote:Welcome back. All good ideas, I have a greenie I shortened by about 14" and have a belt sander on 1 end and the disc on the other, but you could do any combo that works for you. I left it a bit longer then needed for that but wanted to keep future options open with it.
Er as a dedicated DP just shortened the wood base a bit.
Your 510 with the bigger table would be a fine TS.

Thanks... That was sort of my thinking as well: Bandsaw on one end, sander/planer on the other. Those things would likely be used more often than the table saw on the other unit, so having them in the shop right in my main work area would be quite convenient.

TB

EDIT: The more I think of it, I think the determining factor on whether or not to keep the Greenie, is whether or not a 4" jointer is going to be adequate--or if I'll end up needing something like a 6" jointer. If I needed the larger unit, then I would need that floor space for it. Also, I could even then put one of these larger "time-saver" sanding machines. Those are pretty handy for sanding tops/sides/backs for acoustic guitars. They definitely save time, although they are a bit spendy.

But the point is that if those other things were deemed more important, then I'd want that floor space for them, and not the Greenie...even cut down. I wouldn't really want to shorten the tubes now and then try to sell it later. I think it would be better, if I was going to sell it, to just do it now.

Keep in mind the only thing you can run on the right end is the disk and drum sanders and the old style 18" jig saw. The jointer is run from the lower shaft on the left and the band saw will run backwards if run on the right. Some SS motors can be modified with a reversing switch but not all. If you can add a reversing switch then all the SPTs except the jointer could be run on the right.

jsburger wrote:Keep in mind the only thing you can run on the right end is the disk and drum sanders and the old style 18" jig saw. The jointer is run from the lower shaft on the left and the band saw will run backwards if run on the right. Some SS motors can be modified with a reversing switch but not all. If you can add a reversing switch then all the SPTs except the jointer could be run on the right.

What about the Pro Planer? I thought I've seen pictures of that going on the right side of the headstock as well...

TB

EDIT: Oops...I guess I meant the mounted planer, and not the Pro Planer. On the Shopsmith site they show the mounted planer on the right side of the headstock. So I was hoping that the planer could go there and a jointer, belt sander or bandsaw could go at the left end. That would seem like a nice set-up in the shop, but looking at their pictures on the main site it appears that the Greenie couldn't be cut down--its width would need to pretty much stay as-is.

tcbetka wrote:

jsburger wrote:Keep in mind the only thing you can run on the right end is the disk and drum sanders and the old style 18" jig saw. The jointer is run from the lower shaft on the left and the band saw will run backwards if run on the right. Some SS motors can be modified with a reversing switch but not all. If you can add a reversing switch then all the SPTs except the jointer could be run on the right.

What about the Pro Planer? I thought I've seen pictures of that going on the right side of the headstock as well...

TB

On a Mark 7 perhaps? (reversible motor)

tcbetka wrote:

jsburger wrote:Keep in mind the only thing you can run on the right end is the disk and drum sanders and the old style 18" jig saw. The jointer is run from the lower shaft on the left and the band saw will run backwards if run on the right. Some SS motors can be modified with a reversing switch but not all. If you can add a reversing switch then all the SPTs except the jointer could be run on the right.

What about the Pro Planer? I thought I've seen pictures of that going on the right side of the headstock as well...

TB

EDIT: Oops...I guess I meant the mounted planer, and not the Pro Planer. On the Shopsmith site they show the mounted planer on the right side of the headstock. So I was hoping that the planer could go there and a jointer, belt sander or bandsaw could go at the left end. That would seem like a nice set-up in the shop, but looking at their pictures on the main site it appears that the Greenie couldn't be cut down--its width would need to pretty much stay as-is.

No, the planer mounts on the left side but it mounts with the in feed side at the back of the MK V. You feed the stock from the back of the MK V. Look at the picture again. A quick glance and it looks like it is on the right but it really is on the left.

There is nothing unique about a Greenie that would prevent you from cutting it down. All MK Vs are the same length to start with. The only consideration would be that if you want to run the planer on a shorty you need to take its width into consideration. You may not be able to cut off as much as some of us do. I cut 18" off of my shorty. When I go out to the shop later I will check to see if it is still long enough to mount a planer.

Ah...I think I see now what you're talking about. A little wider shot would have been nice on that picture to be sure, but I should have noticed where the quill wasn't in that picture. So then a shorty might not be quite as useful as I'd initially thought. Certainly the right-hand side could be left set-up as a sander, and that would probably be useful. But I will re-think it a bit. I'm also reviewing the forum archives on threads related to cutting down the tubes.

I guess if a person could come across a belt sander for a reasonable enough price, then it might be worthwhile to simply leave the shorty configured with a belt sander on the left, and then the sanding disk/drum on the other side. It would seem easy enough to swap out a jointer for the belt sander--and then I could just leave the 510/520 configured as a table saw, with the bandsaw on it as well. That could be the "sawing station" I suppose, as those operations might well be done together.

More thought required, perhaps.

Thanks.

TB