Shopsmith Forums

wanted to say hello and ask a cpl general question, ill attempt to keep it short but im old and long winded.

wife and i are in our mid 50's, within 5 years of retirement. We are not woodworkers but are in the process of doing a medium remodel of our house. New trim paint and patch new fixtures etc,

We have come to enjoy the woodworking side and are looking at getting into more of it. Smaller projects cedar chest, lawn chairs, jewelry box type
stuff.

we have been reading a lot on the Shopsmith, and the pro/con type discussions, and really not wanting to re stir that pot.

We are going to a demo in tulsa next time they are there.

We will only have a single car garage to setup shop in, about 300 sq feet, and will have storage and such out of that. the truck and jeep sit outside.

CL has a few used mark 5's in the area around 1500.00 range.


Anyway big question is there anyone that has a shopsmith setup and using it in the n central part of oklahoma, or south kansas that would mind a cpl of old folks just checking out there setup and asking questions. We are between ponca city and stillwater but we do enjoy a weekend outing,

thank all
Troy & Andrea

Troy, here's a link to a http://lumberjocks.com/topics/155842 forum where there's a couple ,Jim and Candy, that have a Shopsmith in your area.
His screen name is mudflap. Hers is Candy.

welcome, my advice is if are going the SS route start watching Craigs List in your area for the model you want. Usually 1/2 the price of new in good operating condition.
Usually may also come withe some SPTs, special power tools, band saw, jointer, ect, to boot.
Ask all the questions here you want, a real friendly group, and most of the old guys here eat, and sleep with there's instead if the SO so there is more knowledge here then SS customer service, otherwise referred to here as the MS, mother ship.

bmsma,
just a warning, there is a person here in race horse country, that most times speaks a whole different language. His knowledge, unless having a moment, is impeccable, if you can figure out some the lingo.
Isnt that right DHS grad!!! They were just on the news the other day here in Milwaukee, I was not paying attention, doing something else, but it was a positive thing, it may have been a sports thing. I will research it.

Welcome aboard.
One tip when looking on Craigslist. search for "Shopsmith" and "Shop Smith", you will catch a few more listings that way.

rpd wrote:Welcome aboard.
One tip when looking on Craigslist. search for "Shopsmith" and "Shop Smith", you will catch a few more listings that way.

Great point Ron, I do but missed that point.
I am a bit dyslectic to night, using 2 different laptops of different sizes and key board positions. Kinda a Dusty thing if ya know what I mean.

thanks guys, and ill be reading and hanging around. we are real interested in seeing the demo next month. We also discovered that grizzly has a big showroom in springfield mo which is only a few hours so we may go look at them as well. we are still not shure which way we are going to go there are pro/cons on each.

i have seen a few on the local area CL and they are running around 1000-1500 ish, but so far they are 500 or 510 and im thinking we would want a 520 or mark 7 but again we are real green at this

Gene thanks for the link, i will do some reading there and see if i can talk to jim and candy.

Thank you again all
Troy & Andrea

bmsma wrote:thanks guys, and ill be reading and hanging around. we are real interested in seeing the demo next month. We also discovered that grizzly has a big showroom in springfield mo which is only a few hours so we may go look at them as well. we are still not shure which way we are going to go there are pro/cons on each.

i have seen a few on the local area CL and they are running around 1000-1500 ish, but so far they are 500 or 510 and im thinking we would want a 520 or mark 7 but again we are real green at this

Gene thanks for the link, i will do some reading there and see if i can talk to jim and candy.

Thank you again all
Troy & Andrea

Welcome to the forum.

One suggestion to make to help you decide which way you want to go is to make a scale model or drawing of the space you want to turn into a shop and the equipment and storage cabinets you plan to have. This will allow you to see how much space you have and how much room you will need for moving things around and working in your shop. Remember to rip an 8 ft board into strips you need to have that much room for it before and after it goes through the saw. Many here would not give up their SS even with a complete shop of stand alone equipment because of the versatility of it.

Keep checking CL and look at surrounding areas as deals can be found especially if you are willing to travel to pick them up. Also be aware of just what each ad contains. My son lives in an area that has the same price range for a used SS. He found one for $1100 that was a 510 with a jig saw, jointer, SS mounted planer, belt sander, universal tool rest with specialty rests, router chucks and various other attachments. At the same time there was an ad for a 500 and a 510 both just the machines for $1000 and $1500 respectively. He would have had to pay around that much again for the SPT's (special purpose tools) included with his 510.

Since you are just beginning the hunt for a Shopsmith, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with what is available.

First I'll tell you what I would buy were I in your position. I would want no less than a Shopsmith Mark V, Model 510 and a Bandsaw. After becomig comfortable with that I would add a 4" Jointer. With those available to you, you can bild just about everything that a journey hobbiest is goint to want to build. Realize that with the Shopsmith you have a drill press, disk sander, lathe and horizontal drill press. Also realize that when I say you need a Shopsmith, I imply that it must have the standard "set" of accessories. Without the accessories some of the other equipment is useless. Example: The Shopsmith Mark V is a disk sand ONLY if you have a sanding disk.

Study Time:

I am sure you will find this to be excellent reading and advice.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewt ... ng#p185690

Pay particular attention to the PDF entitled Buying a Used Shopsmith. The rest has extreme value but more so with a Shopsmith setting in front of you.

Here's a link to a fairly close 505 or 510 with several add ons at a good price: https://tulsa.craigslist.org/tls/5919569163.html.