Shopsmith Forums

Hey all, long time user first time poster. I've owned my Shopsmith since, I believe 1983 seriel# 181340. Not a single issue or breakdown yet. I do use it in spurts however, not on a daily basis. I have the jointer which I've mounted on a powerstand, a band saw also mounted seperately. I've built many one off pieces which I'd be glad to share once I figure out how to post them. I purchased an upgrade sometime in the mid 90's to the model 510R, table and saw guard upgrades along with the 2 bearing quill, table inserts, new saw arbors etc...it didn't however include the telescoping table legs. Not sure if they even sell that upgrade kit anymore or what it was called.
Anyway, I consider the Shopsmith to be very well made and more than accurate enough for even an advanced hobbyist like myself, and I'm proud to own one even with all it's shortcomings and quirks.
Looking forward to sharing stories and ideas with some of you here...

Welcome to the forum. I am really looking forward to hearing about your experiences, good and not so good. We all have them.

I interested in hearing what you believe are shortcomings and quirks of your 510.

Welcome Aboard! I look forward to seeing your work also. Sounds like you'll have plenty to share.

Hi Lurker - (JG) - Happy to have you! You can buy the telescopic legs separately if you want.

Thanks for the welcome. Here are some pics of the dining room set I made a few years ago:
The Shopsmith was the primary tool though there were some limitations, like jointing the 7' table top boards, but you learn to improvise. Also for the moulding profiling, the moulding set really didn't match up to the flexibility of a good router table or shaper. That is easily the least used accessary that I have.
Anyway, thanks for having a look.

Wow! Great projects and beautiful wood. Looks like we'll be learning a lot from you! Keep up the great work (but don't show my wife )

Beautiful dinning set! Hope the pieces are signed for folks in the future! These are beautiful heirloom pieces!

I really admire all of your drawers and the fit of the hutch doors. I'd sure like to see a close up of the hutch drawers. Looks to me as there are some type of thru fingers or dovetails in the corners. Very nice touch!! Also love the tapered legs on the server and matching tapers on the hutch.

Did you use striped maple (I am guessing) veneer for these pieces? If you didn't use veneer, you must have spent a fortune on wood. If you are inclined, I'd like to read more about the details.

jg300da!
Those are some beautiful pieces! Did you turn all of those chair pieces? Wow! If so, did you use the lathe duplicator? Glad you joined us and let's hear some of those stories!:D

Charlese,
Thanks for the kind words. All the pieces are made from solid Tiger Maple and Birds Eye Maple. I posted some more detailed pics so you can see some of the techniques I used. The drawers are hand cut half-blind dovetails with 3/4" Maple fromts and 1/2" Mahogany sides and backs. The drawer bottoms are 1/2" poplar. The dividers on the hutch bottom and server use a sliding dovetail/dado combination that I learned from Fine Woodworking magazine. The doors for the hutch base have raised panels on the inside. The large drawer on the bottom was sized to hold the two table leaves. The two top drawers on the hutch base use a single through dovetail and also double as serving trays (my wifes idea).
The finish color comes from a water soluable analyn dye, finished with 3 coats of boiled linseed oil and 5 coats of blonde shellac buffed out with beeswax and 0000 steel wool.
Here's the pics:

Tim,
Thanks but no, I didn't make the chairs. I took a sample of the finished wood to a place called The Shaker Shop in Litiz Pa. and had them make the chairs to match. They do beautiful work and were able to match the finish perfectly. Making chairs like those is a bit out of my skill level.

Joe