Shopsmith Forums

Does anyone know if shopsmith ever made an air compressor that mounted on the shopsmith and was powered by the headstock? Someone has it advertized for sale and I was curious if and when shopsmith manufactured it?

0480 wrote:Does anyone know if shopsmith ever made an air compressor that mounted on the shopsmith and was powered by the headstock? Someone has it advertized for sale and I was curious if and when shopsmith manufactured it?

Yes they did, and I can knot give you the dates. Maybe someone else can? There is some discussion about them on this forum. Try a search.

edit: here is one such mention of it: https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=1823&highlight=compressor

This is new to me! This sounds like it would be an interesting new thread to start: What have been the attachments the Shopsmith made in the past that are no longer available?

BPR

Attachments as well as other SPT such as the Crafters Station 518510, the Joint-Matic 555458 and the Routing System 555413.

0480 wrote:Someone has it advertized for sale and I was curious if and when shopsmith manufactured it?

Early to mid 90's if my memory is correct

Actually, there were two. There was a model in the 60s that used a diaphram. In the 90s, there was a piston-driven model...noisy and barely able to keep up with some of the tools. TDS

I have the later model, which is manufactured by Campbell-Hausfeld. So, you can still get parts for it. The package included a portable air tank.

I've enjoyed having it. I just finished making a wood cradle to hold the portable air tank. I then mounted it to the ceiling.

I had the Shopsmith Air System made in the early 90's. It was a small Campbell Hausfeld model adapted to run on the MkV. Nice little compressor,very noisy and light duty. I never used mine for much more than filling tires and blowing dust off in the shop. With the optional air tank, it could run small nailers or a Critter type sprayer. I sold mine and moved up to a Porter Cable pancake unit. Here's a link that has more information http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com/

Shopsmith did indeed have an air compressor that mounted on the Mark V. As a matter of fact I have one and the sprayer that goes with it. I also have the kit to replace the filter, diaphram, etc. It came with an air hose with a coupling in the middle that allowed a garden hose to be inserted that permitted using the sprayer at a longer distance away from the machine. However the air hose became brittle and had to be discarded.

As you can see from this page from the Owner's Manual, Magna Power Tool Corporation did offer a compressor for the Shopsmith Mark 5 (what we now call the "500"). I believe this manual is from about 1984. I have also seen old advertisements where they used a standard garden hose as the means to connect the compressor to the spray gun.