Shopsmith Forums

That is, I am brand new. The Machine I bought today is an 88 model Mark V. I bought it from the original owner. It seems to be in decent shape, although somewhat neglected. I plan to restore it to fine working, and as good as I can cosmetically. Like all the neglected machines I have seen while looking for one, it’s pretty rusty. The bench tubes are solid rust. The way tubes are not as bad, but bad enough. I started to try and clean up the way tubes. The part that I have cleaned up so far is smooth, but obviously pitted. I’m going to try to put some pictures in here. My first of many questions is; can I get this pitting out? Do I want to? Is this as good as it’s gonna get? If I can clean it up more, how? Thanks for any advice you may have for a newb.

Welcome,


There is no functional reason to get all the pits out, and removing less material from the tubes from the tubes keeps things in better tolerance.

I would rub them down with something like Evaporust to neutralize any rust that remains in the bottoms of the pits.

Thanks for the quick reply Ron. I will continue on. I will probably clean up and paint the bench tubes. I’m going to try to recondition the bench first and get it all working, then I’ll work on attachments and the head stock. Again, thank you.

I'll never understand what kind of neglect and abuse it takes to mess up a Shopsmith like that. I have my Dad's 1983 Shopsmith. It has spent about half its life in a basement workshop and the other half in an unheated North Dakota garage workshop. After 37 years, the tubes look like this. The only maintenance they have had is a yearly wipedown of wax to keep them moving smoothly.

How can somebody screw up that bad!!!

Re:pits - it is pointless to try to remove them. Only thing gained is cosmetic. I think MickyD determined they are actually quite shallow. Regardless removing good metal is not in the best interest.

I would apply penetrol after the evaporust is finished. Buff after dried.