Shopsmith Forums

The Shopsmith user's manual admonishes against the use of non OEM planer blades. The ones I have came with my Mark V. I didn't even know I had them until I had a chance to look over a lot of miscellaneous components which were included in my purchase. Is anyone on this forum able to identify these blades as OEM blades. There are no markings of any type on either side of the blade. The only number, 365523 or 3651523 I found is the one on the rectangular shaped box and I am not certain that it has anything to do with the blade . Do any of you Shopsmith planer users use non OEM blades in your planer? I did send a message to the person I bought the Mark V from but haven't heard back yet.

The reason for the "do not use non-oem blades" is that the SS blades are unique in that they are tapered(the base is thicker than the cutting edge). Measuring the thickness will determine if they are SS blades.

Now are we speaking about 12" planer blades or 4" jointer blades?

In any event do NOT use non tapered blades!!!

As JPG says, never use any blades except the Shopsmith blades in the planer. The tapered Shopsmith blades lock them into the head so there is no chance of them flying out. Nobody wants to ever have a blade fly out of the head in use.

I have a new set of unopened Shopsmith blades here for my Shopsmith planer. The package has the number 505982 on it. I also have a set of 12" blades for my old Chinese standalone planer.
You can easily tell them apart by looking at them. The Chinese set have parallel sides while the Shopsmith ones have the two sides at a nice angle from each other to lock them into the head.

12 inch planer blades and the base is thicker than the cutting edge. I tried to upload a photo but I haven't been successful.

shoedo wrote:12 inch planer blades and the base is thicker than the cutting edge. I tried to upload a photo but I haven't been successful.

Posting pictures can be a bit tricky, this post should help.
https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/comm ... 19246.html

shoedo,

As long as they are tapered as you said, they are likely Shopsmith Planer knives. As said before that taper is important for locking them in to the cutterhead. 505982 is the current part number for the knives and being a 505 number is probably the only number they have been since the Mark Mount Planer was introduced in 1982. The numbers you listed are not anything close to any Shopsmith part numbers I have seen. Pictures of that box may be more helpful in identifying them than pictures of the knives themselves.

I tried taking a picture, but my camera refuses to focus close enough for something this small. The upper blade is a generic flat blade for a standalone imported planer. The lower one is a tapered Shopsmith blade for the Shopsmith planer. Even with a bad picture, you can see the taper of the Shopsmith blade.

The profiles look very similar but mine does look like the bottom photo. Thanks to all for responding to my inquiry. There is a set of new set of Shopsmith planer blades available on Ebay, with a buy now option, for $40 dollars compared to Shopsmith's current price of $130 and they are labeled with a Shopsmith numeric designation, 505640 which includes a set of three. I can also read tha Shopsmith name and number, 502902 on the blades. My Mark V was purchased by the original owner in mid 1980 timeframe so maybe this reflects a change in terms of the way Shopsmith labeled the blades. It's also confusing because there are two numbers used to identify the same product. For someone that knows the history of Shopsmith from their inception, I am sure they could explain how Shopsmith naming nomenclauture was derived. It's is very confusing for a novice to buy on the secondary market and not be able to know if a particular part is compatible with a given system. I have owned my system for a year now and I am still reading Shopsmith manuals, watching Shopsmith sponsored videos etc. I have learned a lot but it's going to take some time before I feel safe and competent enough to actually use the system. I have a Shopsmith planer, bandsaw, jigsaw, beltsander, and jointer, items which I have never used in my lifetime. I have also upgraded my Mark 500 to a Mark 520 table configuration.

Do not blame Shopsmith Inc. for e-bay seller's ignorance of what they are selling.

Typically parts numbers are not changed unless the parts themselves change(complete part number system changes excepted).

Now it would help if SS kept older part numbers referable on line.

Not sure why I can't post photos now. I have other posts with photos and had no problem up loading them. I used the same procedure as reflected in your email but to no avail.