Shopsmith Forums

I just acquired a 1960 vintage Mark V (another goldie) for $100.00. General condition is rough (rust, pitting, etc) but inside of headstock looks quite good. Motor (or something else) is noisy but not real bad. I haven't had time yet to pull out the motor to check out. It has a Gilmer drive with single bearing quill (no apparant run-out). The speed control works and it came with a Magna jointer, belt sander, air compressor, and a jig saw (dark grey color) It needs a lot of cleanup, touch up. and general maintenance but seems functional. I know a lot of people have more than one Mark V so I am curious about how most have been using their second one. My main purpose for buying was for the belt sander and jig saw which I figured was worth the $100.00 investment. Any comments would be appreciated. I will post some pictures once I get it cleaned up. Thanks, John McCrossen

You really got a super deal. The number of Shopsmiths you can own and use can vary according to the space you have available. I try to keep the following: one as a drill press, a SHORTY as a sharpening/sanding station, one as a bandsaw/jigsaw station, one as a tube cleaning/polishing station and a MINI as a Power station.

I have always been able to clean, paint and rebuild any Shopsmith I have brought. I have had to grind the rust off the way tubes to get the headstock off. This headstock had no paint left from setting in the back yard for a few years but bead blasting made it look new again. I believe any Shopsmith can be rescued regardless of the condition with a little patience and elboe work.

I highly recommend the Jacob Anderson's 3 DVDs for any Shopsmith owner. He explains how to repair the headstock in one DVD, 4 different electric motors repairs in another DVD and tuneup and repair the bandsaw in the 3th DVD. Just tell him that I recommended him, thanks. You can contact him directly through his Email (jacobvb@yahoo.com) or through Ebay (jacobvb_the_s_smith_doc).

I have mostly Gilmer drive headstocks with the 3/4 HP motors and find they do everything I need to accomplish without any problems.

johnmccrossen wrote:I just acquired a 1960 vintage Mark V (another goldie) for $100.00. General condition is rough (rust, pitting, etc) but inside of headstock looks quite good. Motor (or something else) is noisy but not real bad. I haven't had time yet to pull out the motor to check out. It has a Gilmer drive with single bearing quill (no apparant run-out). The speed control works and it came with a Magna jointer, belt sander, air compressor, and a jig saw (dark grey color) It needs a lot of cleanup, touch up. and general maintenance but seems functional. I know a lot of people have more than one Mark V so I am curious about how most have been using their second one. My main purpose for buying was for the belt sander and jig saw which I figured was worth the $100.00 investment. Any comments would be appreciated. I will post some pictures once I get it cleaned up. Thanks, John McCrossen

Yep, I'm a Double Mark V owner now also...

For the 2nd machine I mostly use it in drill-press mode for drilling, shaping, drum-sanding operations. (The 1st machine often has the bandsaw on it, so I don't tend to want to raise it vertical.)

Also, I've occasionally used the Wagner Safe-T-Plane(r) gadget for my light-duty thickness-planing chores. Being mostly a hobby & minutiae type of guy, I like this. There are a few nice web articles about it including:

http://www.songofthegreatlakes.com/ssproject3.htm


Enjoy!

I am in the process of restoring a 1955 Greenie I also have a ShopSmith Clone a WoodMaster. I will most likely sell the WoodMaster when I get my Greenie restored. I am going to leave the Gilmore belt, Shopsmith came with a jigsaw, band saw, jointer, mortising tools, sanding drums, and a lot of other miscellaneous shopsmith things. I have an old drill press in my shop, plus I brand new Scroll Saw. I am planning on selling the Jigsaw. You got a good deal on your Shopsmith.

Hi John - I restored a 1960 Goldie and had a blast doing it - here's some pics for inspiration! Have fun! Alec


Before


after

Wow! It looks great!
BPR

Eastern- Your machine looks beautiful, so do your garage doors and workbench! Even have WD-40 and spray Silicone!

Chuck - I WISH that was my garage - but it's not, it's the neighbors. My SS now resides in my new shop though, so I'm not complaining!
The WD40 however, is mine..
Alec

Looks like Chuck has the same bionic eyes as Dusty:rolleyes:

The first picture is of the stuff I got with my $100.00. Included the belt sander, jig saw, compressor, and jointer. Also includes the parts on the Sawsmith RAS table above. (That was a $10.00 investment to begin with that is now totally functional and matches the color of the Mk V's). Note: The Bun & Thigh Rocker (black thing behind the jig saw) is not a wood working tool.

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The second picture shows the condition of the Mk V which I will start on sometime soon.

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The third picture is my other Mk V (shown on a recent previous post also)

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I love to play with these older machines, but making wood things is the primary goal. This is fun stuff.

Oh, please ignore the WD-40, I forgot to make sure that was not in the picture.

Thanks to everyone for the comments on how you are using your extra SS's and also about your own restoration projects. And for Nuhobby, I also have a Saf-t-planer but didn't know how to use it until your post.