I think I will stick with my Mark 7

[edma194]

Seems like more of an abomination to me; hence the "Frankensmith" moniker. Must be an acquired taste...

Don't you realize a standard Shopsmith is itself a Franken-machine?

[RFGuy]

Seems like more of an abomination to me; hence the "Frankensmith" moniker. Must be an acquired taste...

Don't you realize a standard Shopsmith is itself a Franken-machine?

I don't agree with you, but that is okay. Rarely has my viewpoint been shared by others here. Diverse opinions are of great value to society IMHO. I stated my opinion and that is all. My question still stands though - what benefit does the Frankensmith's shown in this thread have? I understand when someone makes an extra long Mark V, e.g. to turn porch columns or any other long turning. However, I really don't see the point of the machines shown in this thread. So far, no one has answered this question on this thread.

[chapmanruss]

WOW, what a lively discussion. Much more than I expected in a day. This is not something I would be interested in having for a Shopsmith, but I found it interesting that it was made. To me the limitations outweigh the advantages.

For anyone who is interested and may not have seen it, the following is the text from the ad.

Dual Shopsmith Mark V 510 (Shop-Franken-Smith)

I have used Shopsmith tools for 40 years. I have rebuilt over 25 units in the last 7 years. I built this Shopsmith out of two Mark V 510’s Nov. of 2019 to maximize function in one space. Now I’m moving on to different adventure, but still have 2 other Shopsmiths and all the SPTs for continued use. This DUAL unit has been gone through again to prepare for this sale. It is fully serviced with all excellent bearings and belts. I replace the left quill single bearing and both the right quill double bearings. The left end can be used for under-table functions as routing, shaping, sanding, sawing and running SPT such as the Bandsaw, Jointer, Strip Sander, etc. The left can also be used as a saw (see 2 photos) when the Drill Press is in use. It also works for Lathe bowl work. The right end is the main saw, horizontal boring, sanding and Drill Press. It, in combination with the tailstock, is also a lathe. Both sets of way tubes are cut to 46”. This does reduce the lathe length to 26 inches. This baby weighs around 375 lbs. compared to 260 lbs., plus the accessories. The left end can be removed for transport, as well as the legs, of course. Yes, it will fit in a SUV with 60” of room.

[larryhrockisland]

Farmer might be interested, remember his “push me pull me” rig? viewtopic.php?p=259559#p259559

[BuckeyeDennis]

I wonder if the left(under table tilt) runs backwards?

My right-handed router bits greatly outnumber my reversable shaper cutters.

WHAT is a reversible shaper cutter???

If you mount a shaper cutter upside down on the shaper spindle, that changes it from a right-hand cutter to a left-hand cutter. Hence "reversable". Not so easy to do with a router bit!

[RFGuy]

WOW, what a lively discussion. Much more than I expected in a day. This is not something I would be interested in having for a Shopsmith, but I found it interesting that it was made. To me the limitations outweigh the advantages.

For anyone who is interested and may not have seen it, the following is the text from the ad.

Dual Shopsmith Mark V 510 (Shop-Franken-Smith)

I have used Shopsmith tools for 40 years. I have rebuilt over 25 units in the last 7 years. I built this Shopsmith out of two Mark V 510’s Nov. of 2019 to maximize function in one space. Now I’m moving on to different adventure, but still have 2 other Shopsmiths and all the SPTs for continued use. This DUAL unit has been gone through again to prepare for this sale. It is fully serviced with all excellent bearings and belts. I replace the left quill single bearing and both the right quill double bearings. The left end can be used for under-table functions as routing, shaping, sanding, sawing and running SPT such as the Bandsaw, Jointer, Strip Sander, etc. The left can also be used as a saw (see 2 photos) when the Drill Press is in use. It also works for Lathe bowl work. The right end is the main saw, horizontal boring, sanding and Drill Press. It, in combination with the tailstock, is also a lathe. Both sets of way tubes are cut to 46”. This does reduce the lathe length to 26 inches. This baby weighs around 375 lbs. compared to 260 lbs., plus the accessories. The left end can be removed for transport, as well as the legs, of course. Yes, it will fit in a SUV with 60” of room.

Russ,

Thanks. I appreciate it and this ad helps. Yeah, I tried to think of all the ways that one might use a dual machine like this. It just seems too limiting in my opinion, e.g. crosscuts are compromised in both of them. Sure you could have one function on one and another on the other headstock, but if this is to limit changeovers isn't that against the messaging for Shopsmith on quick changeovers for the Mark V? On the other hand, if this is for a production shop where 2 people will be working concurrently, it seems haphazard to me. I mean, would you really want to be sawing on one while another person is using drill press, etc. on the other one? Vibration will travel between them, etc. The unit becomes a lot heavier which makes moving and transport more difficult. I really wouldn't want to use one of these machines while someone else is using the other one. Also, it really isn't that much smaller than having one Mark V and a power station right? Bottomline is I was just asking the question here if these kinds of setups are "beneficial" or just someone got the itch to create them just because they could. I couldn't think of a valid reason to ever have a setup like this, but maybe I am missing something. If this is the case, I am just asking if someone can educate me on how this setup is a step up from a standard Mark V.

[chapmanruss]

RF Guy,

My guess is he did it because he could. Why

I will still stick with my separate Mark 7, which can do under table operations better, my Mark V and my others.

[RFGuy]

RF Guy,

My guess is he did it because he could. Why

I will still stick with my separate Mark 7, which can do under table operations better, my Mark V and my others.

Thanks Russ. Yeah, I was just wondering if there was a special use case or something I was missing here. Don't get me wrong...I am not trying to "knock" the original owner that created it. I just don't see how they are that useful, but then maybe I am not using my Mark V for the same operations as the owner of this Frankensmith. It just doesn't seem like a very practical setup to me. Appreciate the discussion...

[chapmanruss]

RFGuy,

You said

It just doesn't seem like a very practical setup to me.

I agree

[DLB]

RFGuy,

You said

It just doesn't seem like a very practical setup to me.

I agree

Me too. But... While this specific implementation would not be useful to me it has some interesting ideas. I'm a fan of the 'mini' over a Power Station. Expanding that with some of the ideas represented here, I can see a mini with dedicated DP or a mini with dedicated Mark-mounted OAR. I like either. Basically a smaller and simplified version of this, leveraging the modified Headrest shown.

In the second pic, with the left headstock as table saw: The main table is reversed infeed for outfeed. The reason for that is not clear to me. Similarly, it is set up with the blade running between the main table and a floating table rather than through a table insert. Sort of along the lines of the 500 version with two saw slots?

The modified Headrests appear to use knobs rather than a lever to lock the tie bar. The exact implementation of that is not clear. Intuitively, I don't think it will lock nearly as tight as the lever, though I'm not sure this matters. Double tilts don't lock down as tight as the lever either.

- David