Shopsmith Forums

I am requesting your questions in this post as I focus on Shopsmith history after 10E & 10ER starting with the Mark 5 which pre-dates the Mark V

Post your questions here, and as I receive and research document submissions, I will strive to document those answers from materials received.

I have a new place to send files to: I now have a special email account to receive oversize documents, photos, scans, pdf’s etc. email: ShopsmithHistorian@gmail.com

If you send something by email, it would be nice for others here to know what you sent so make a note so we don’t spend a lot of duplicate work on the same things.

If you choose to scan something for me, respectfully I prefer 300 dpi (dots per inch) in color as it makes extraction and retouching easier for me.

I prefer PNG files if you can produce them, but a JPG or PDF is fine.

Be aware that there is a size limit here in the forums and images must be a certain size or smaller. Gmail will not care about image size and can accept very large files so you don’t have to gift wrap them for me. In fact having the larger file, it makes retouching easier.

What I am seeking I will break down into several vintages as many questions exist and permeate the forums through the years. Compounding the information we collect is the knowledge that due to the survivability of this amazing machine, what is there now is not necessarily what it came with in the period it was made.

Some may have been answered within the text, but finding them within the various posts and topics using the search engine in the forum tool is tedious, and does not always produce the results one might hope.

I am requesting scanned copies of anything related to product announcements, production changes, dealer notifications, service bulletins, and product end of sale notices.

First Year Production Greenies – Wide Casting Sprue on Headstock – Sand Cast Headstock Mark 5 designation.

The first ones had a solid drive sleeve and a toothed Gilmer type Belt (but no clutch) and the single bearing quill. – Sand Cast Headstock Parts Illustration and first generation manual is something I do not have to work with.

The second Greenie series had the Gilmer Belt and added the Clutch so it would slip (opposed to bending things) when something like a blade jamming stopped the rotation of the spindle.

The third series of Greenies were not Sand Cast but Injection Molded with a thinner sprue (where the hot liquid metal gets injected, opposed to poured). They also had an access hole and SS Cover on the back side to access the lubrication point on the Quadrant and the oil hole (early ones had no oil hole) in the Control Sheave.

First Year Production Goldies introduced the Poly-V belt circa 1960 and by
1962 the 3/4 HP motors in them was upgraded to 1 1/8 HP, which was an upgrade option available for existing 3/4 HP machines.

updated information added 6/28/2018

Then there are smooth gray non-textured and hammered paint (crinkle finish) versions, and the Mark VII, and the Mark II’s made initially for Montgomery Ward, but verified also sold by Shopsmith, before those models going out of production.

As we confirmed recently, they did not go out of business in the 1960’s.

The company that made them simply stopped production of the Mark V, and related parts. They did make the Mark VII and parts for a few years, and production numbers dropped year after year until they stopped making those, and slowed production on a SawSmith Tilting Arbor Table Saw and SawSmith Radial Arm Saw.

In 1972, John R. Folkerth bought the rights to the old lines and starting making machines again in 1973 and the Mark 5/V 500 went back in production with a gray splatter texture.

1984 saw the introduction of the 2 bearing quill.

1985 they introduced the 510 and a later 505 which was a 510 without floating tables to get a lower cost entry level machine to market that could be upgraded later. The larger table upgrades and associated parts came with those.

1991 Saw the "C" headstock casting with the Rectangular Safety Switch.

1999 the 520 came with different table components and Pro Fence

2010 saw the Mark 7 Power Pro with the DVR headstock which had the same table system as the 520.

The 510 and 520 Table Upgrade Kits were offered to upgrade the 500, or the 510 to a 520 both of which used the wider carriage, as well as headstock upgrades to upgrade to the Power Pro DVR system for older machines.

There were technical upgrades, part changes, and upgrade kits made through the years for both the headstock and Special Purpose Tools (SPT) such as bandsaws, jointers etc.

We don’t know a lot of things relative to exact dates.

Who, What, When, Where even Why on a lot of things relative to those products and upgrades. The various companies who owned manufacturing rights changed things through the years.

At some point the model went from Mark 5 to Mark V.

Some were made in various cities, and with various names of the company.

The company name varied among the original vent plates on which the serial number was stamped for many years, until it went to a data tag and date of manufacture for serial numbering.

I will not reproduce the Copyrighted Mark 7 Power Pro or 505/510/520 Manuals as the present owners of the company still produce all but the 505 which they discontinued in the last few years and still sell those manuals.

(I need copy of that 505 discontinued announcement by the way).

If I get a lot of spam on the new email address, I may have to go to a pre-authorized email sender list which will slow things down, but once I get something from you I can add your email to the approved list and filter spam

Your help is both solicited and welcome. We have collaborated with our experience in the forums and shared valuable information. Help me with the documentation project and we can do even more as well as answer some pesky questions that many of us have.

I have no plans to send email out from that email account to anyone, so if you “appear to” get something from it, it is just more of the forged spam that permeates email everywhere. Delete it without opening it.

Thanking you in advance.

Kindest Regards,

Everett

NONE of the Mark 5 (all colors etc.) had a two bearing quill.

Two bearing quills were introduced by SS Inc. after the 510 creation(???).

Right you are James. When will I learn NOT TO EDIT on my cell phone?!!!

I had that segment abutted to the motor upgrade from 3/4 hp and deleted that segment which brought the 1985 double bearing quills to use in the 510 adjacent to the Goldie text.

When I get back to something other than my cell phone to edit, I will revise the post above accordingly.

Thanks James!

Hi Everett,
This is the updated version of changes to the Mark 5/V over the years I have compiled. It is the one I posted to Dusty's request for a place for information for the Mark 5/V. JPG brought to my attention the 8 screw holes for attaching the belt cover which was later reduced to 6 and finally 2. 8 to 6 may have changed with the different casting types for the "A" Headstock. JPG and Brenda both have the 8 screw belt covers although Brenda's does not have a Serial Number to go with hers .

Some of the information is from a Shopsmith Inc. bulletin that was distributed with the Mark V Parts List (504287 - 4/74) called Supplement to the Mark V Parts List which lists changes made to the Mark V prior to Shopsmith Inc. making them. I have an original and a later copy bound with other documents. I need to scan the original. Yes I used Mark V since the bulletin does. It is an example of the confusion of the use of Mark 5 and Mark V. Documents used Mark V years before it was changed on the machine itself in 1980 between January and March. That is as close as I have been able to narrow it down to from the Vent/Serial Number plates. S/N SS52018 is Mark 5 and S/N SS-55582 is Mark V. Some of the information like 5 to V is from the machines. Some from the Shopsmith history page and other sources. I did go through and document the source for each item. The Mark V Changes PDF above has been updated.

I thought the SawSmith Table Saw was a Shopsmith Inc. addition.

I have a list as well. I will look at yours in more depth and incorporate it into this one with an edit when I get a chance. You clearly have some things on your list that need to be added to mine and perhaps vice-versa.


My goal is to find and publish the period source documents that support these facts similar to your comment: 1953 Shopsmith Mark 5 introduced in Shopsmith Shavings Issue No. 8

Everett

Here are some dates, events, and questions

Source: Nick Engler

• 1953-early 1954 Headstocks were Sand Cast and had wider casting sprue
• 1954 Headstocks were injection molded and had thinner casting sprue and
• 1954 Rear inspection hole added
• 1953-1960 Two Tone Green Paint (Greenies)
• 1960 -1963 Two Tone Brown Paint (Goldies)
• 1962 Headstocks made before 1962 (Serial No. 37143) have 3/4 horsepower motors
• 1962 Beginning with (Serial No. 37143) headstocks had 1 1/8 HP motors
• 1962 Headstocks made before 1962 (Serial No. 37143) used Gilmer Belt Drive changed to Poly-V
• 1963-1967 Machines were painted a smooth gray
• 1973 Prior to (Serial No. 1001), the way tubes and bench tubes had thicker wall DOM tubing
o Prior to 1973 Way tubes were plated; Bench tubes were painted.
o Starting 1973 all four were plated and had thinner wall DOM tubing
• 1973-1984 Machines were painted a smooth gray
• 1984 Machines were painted a rough gray
• 1984 After (Serial No.190000) Machines have a two-bearing quill.
• 1985 Prior to (Serial No. 196119) Mark 5/V model was only model produced 510 with larger table and new fence afterwards. They referred to the prior model as the 500.
• 1988 Shopsmith began using the date of manufacture as the serial number in form: mm/dd/yyyy
• 1991 Shopsmith introduced 'C' headstock (Serial No. 01011991) with a red safety switch
• 1999 Shopsmith beginning with (Serial No. 01011999), introduced the Model 520 with a larger and more stable “Pro-Fence” system.
• 2010 The Mark 7 Power Pro was introduced which kept the upgraded Pro Fence and Table system.


Some of the types of questions that we are seeking to answer. There are more, and likely some we have not asked, or at least recently:

What date and serial number was the last Mark 5 produced? Where?

What date and serial number was the first Mark V produced? Where?

What was the date and last serial number produced in San Francisco?

What was the date and last serial number produced in Ohio before moving to Mississippi?

What was the date and first serial number produced in Raymond, Mississippi?

We are also looking for a copy of the very first Mark 5 manual and illustrated parts list. The Drive Sleeve was solid, with a Gilmer Belt and no Clutch.

What was the date and serial number the Gilmer Clutched Drive Sleeve Assembly was introduced?

What was the date the 505 was discontinued? Is there a printed product announcement?
There are a myriad of others… Chime in…. List them.

I just added an updated changes list above with the sources. It does add more questions though like Nick Englers list above says inspection hole added to headstock in 1954 but my information has it in 1955. Everett do you have a copy of the 4/74 Supplement to the Mark V Parts List?

Everett,
You made me look. I have an original Mark 5 Manual Copyright 1954 (Cat. No. EM-1900-MS-3:54) that shows the Drive Sleeve Assembly parts (shown below). Part B2809 is named pulley - driven and is held on the drive sleeve (B2807) by a set screw (P1014). I have another original Mark 5 Manual Copyright 1954 (Cat. No. EM-1900-MS-4/55) that shows the Drive Sleeve Assembly only as a complete assembly part number 202100. A third Manual Copyright 1955 (Cat. No. EM-9100-10:55) that again shows the complete Assembly. The first two are Magna Engineering Corporation and the third is Magna Power Tool Corporation. Sorry I do not have digital copies of any of the above or below listed manuals.
I also have -
an original Magna PTC Manual Copyright 1957 (Cat. No. EM-9100-B 4:57)
an original Yuba Manual Copyright 1957 (Cat. No. EM-9100-C 3/59)
an original Shopsmith Inc. Manual Copyright 1957 (Bulletin No. 504286 1/73)
an original Shopsmith Inc. Manual no Copyright date (Bulletin No. 504286 6/76)
The rest of my original printed manuals are more current ones for the 500/510 the 520 and the Mark 7 plus supplements

Of note the 6 Manuals above with copyrighted dates of 1957 or earlier all use the same black & white pictures of a Mark 5 "Greenie" with 8 screws to hold the belt cover on.

Russ,

I would like to find a way we might scan your original Mark 5 Manual Copyright 1954 (Cat. No. EM-1900-MS-3:54). Especially the illustrated parts drawing and lists in standard 300 DPI and drawings also in high 1200 DPI resolutions.

I thought I had one of the 4/74 Supplement to the Mark V Parts List but I was mistaken.

If you don’t have a flatbed scanner, PM me your full name and address and I will see if I can procure one and have it drop shipped to you.

I will set up a folder on Google Drive (if you have a Google account you can login to) I can then authorize that account to upload files there.

You have some early history documentation I would love to preserve for history.

Everett

I have scanned it at 300 in JPG and the three diagram pages also in 600 in JPG. My scanner only does 200, 300 & 600 DPI in PDF or JPG format. I will send it to the email above.

Update:
I have sent you 3 emails with the pages as JPG's. Let me know if you did not get all three emails. First has pages 1 to 16. The second has pages 17 to 32 and the third has only pages 25 to 27 of the diagrams repeated in 600 dpi.

Thank you Russ!

All files were received and I will begin the process of Photo enhancement and document restoration which will take me several weeks. I hope to finish it by end of summer.

I will publish the result on My Google Drive for the world to see. It certainly helps with the Sand Cast early Mark 5.

I will also use the large format drawings to build out a large format exploded parts drawing with revised axis perspective similar to others I had done for later model.

Thanks again!

Everett