Shopsmith Forums

I recently came in to possession of a very well maintained Model ER Serial Number 46309. I would love to find out any additional information about this model i.e. Date of manufacture and also any resources such as owners manuals, availability of parts/accessories. I appreciate any feedback that might be out there.

Thank you

Welcome, and congratulations on your new tool!

There is a wealth of info about 10E/ERs here, if you just know where to look.

Several regular contributors own one or more of these model (I myself don't) and they will chime in soon, I'm sure.

If I was to recommend one place to start, it would be Everett Davis' thread (one of the first three "stickies" in this "Maintenance and Repair " Forum). Inside that first post you will find a link to My Google Drive, where you likely find more than you ever imagined about Shopsmith in one place.

Welcome to the Forum,

You have come to the right place. First a short history. The Shopsmith Model 10E was invented in the late 1940's with the first 250 tools made shipped on November 15, 1947 to the West Coast Montgomery Ward stores. Magna Engineering Corporation was the company formed by the inventor and his partners. It was first based out of San Francisco California. The tool was so popular the single plant could not keep up with the orders so an Eastern company was contracted to produce them for the Eastern half of the US. As changes occurred the 10E it became the 10ER. The early 10ER tools, like yours, only had ER on the Logo/serial number plate. The Model 10ER went out of production at the end of 1953 and was replaced by the Shopsmith Mark 5. There is not any actual data available on when a tool with a specific serial number was made. We know that the first 250 tools, believed to have S/N 1001 to 1250, were the first ones made and shipped in November 1947. Some owners, but very few that we know of, have original sales receipts for their Shoppsmith's. Add to that there were two plants making the Shopsmith and at first had a seral number prefix of R for the Western plant and E or ER for the Eastern plant. The same serial numbers were used by both plants with their assigned prefix but the serial numbers were not produced evenly between them. Most dates for the production of a given tool is an estimate. I have a Model 10E and a 10ER that I keep besides restoring and selling other Model 10's. My Model 10E is S/N 1077 made by November 15, 1947. My Model 10ER is S/N R64000 and is estimated to be made in 1952. Yours was likely made in 1951 and should have a prefix for the serial number.

As for manuals check under the Maintenance and Repair section for Shopsmith Large Format Drawings, Illustrations and More by Everett Davis. This will be one of the first three topics. In it you will find a wealth of information on the Shopsmith tools. Some are directly linked there and others are on “My Google Drive” with documents too large to be directly linked. Everett has become the Shopsmith historian by saving and restoring manuals and other documents. In there you will find PDF copies of the original Model 10E and a later copy for the 10ER which I recommend for your use. It will be the closest manual for yours.

As for parts, only used parts can be found when replacements are needed with two exceptions. The Quill Return Spring and the Quill Bumper Ring (rubber ring) are the same as the ones still used today on the Mark V 520 and Mark 7. If your has been well maintained you may only need to replace missing parts. Check the manual for what it should have and feel free to ask questions here.

Thanks Russ my serial number has an R in front of it so I am guessing made at the SF plant. I look forward to going through the documents and learning more about the operation of my machine. Originally I was most excited about the lathe feature and look forward to turning some wood. But as I learn more about it I look forward to using some of the other features.

Thank you sir, I appreciate the guidance

SeanPelfrey wrote:I recently came in to possession of a very well maintained Model ER Serial Number 46309. I would love to find out any additional information about this model i.e. Date of manufacture and also any resources such as owners manuals, availability of parts/accessories. I appreciate any feedback that might be out there.

Thank you

Welcome aboard, and congratulations on your prize.

This is a document that I have put together listing many 10ER related resources..
ps We would love to see some pictures.
posting pictures can be a bit tricky, This link should help. https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/comm ... 19246.html

As Ron said, post some pictures. Not only are they helpful in describing what someone is referring to when asking questions but are nice to see. If you want to post pictures of what you have we can help you discover what may be missing.

Many Model 10 users like it for wood turning since it is such a heavy machine. Some have added additional size pulleys to get lower speeds for turning. If you have a Speed Changer on yours you can vary the speed down to as low as 425 RPM. Something the Manual doesn't show is the ability to have more than three speeds 860, 1725 and 3480 with the standard step pulleys. By moving the pulleys to different line ups you can have four more speeds. That is shown in the PDF attached below.
As you are looking through the Manual you will notice under maintenance to apply a light coat of oil to the way tubes and other surfaces. DO NOT DO THAT. Read the attached PDF below for an updated maintenance recommendation.
Have fun learning about you new to you Shopsmith and keep in touch.

In addition to all that other family members have said;

Welcome Home!

Everett

Thank you everyone, I will post some pics here soon as I figure out how to condense them to meet parameters. So quick question, one of the main reasons I bought this is to use the lathe and do some turning but as I learn more about the features I am also looking forward to exploring the posibilities. So my question is for you other turners what is a good all around chuck that you have found. Thank you in advance and again for all the great information and well wishes.

Alright let's try that pic thing