Shopsmith Forums

According to the Shopsmith timeline, the 510 was introduced in 1985. However, based on serial number (100410), my new-to-me 510 was made in 1981 and the jointer that came with was made in the first half of 1980. The plate on the headstock says 510 so this isn't a case of an earlier machine upgraded. Thoughts?

I am sure Russ will chime in but some of the "Historical" info on the SS site is known to be incorrect. As for the jointer, they were made long before the 510. Actually since the 10ER. There is no guarantee that the jointer you got was purchased new with the 510.

jsburger wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 10:47 pm There is no guarantee that the jointer you got was purchased new with the 510.

Agreed, but that the date for the jointer roughly corresponds to the sn-inferred date of the 510 suggests that it might have been purchased concurrently. Since those two data points align with each other more than the 1985 date for the 510 intro, it makes me wonder about the 1985 date. But the timeline also says the 2-bearing quill came along in 1984 and this machine appears to have a 2-bearing quill. So that's 2 in favor, 2 against....

Does the nameplate indicate "510R" or similar? Early on they did factory 510 upgrades and IIRC this is how they are identified. A new nameplate with the old SN could easily be part of an upgrade.

My best recollection would put the 510 in the mid 80's. For sure they were still doing demonstrations with what later became a 500 in the early 80's.

- David

Is the serial number on the nameplate or a separate sticker? I don't recall what the date codes looked like, but could it have been made on October 04, 2010?

edma194 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 10:42 am I don't recall what the date codes looked like, but could it have been made on October 04, 2010?

Good guess, but per Everett Davis' "Buying a used Shopsmith v2" document, date codes started in 1988 and are in mmddyyyy format.

Seeing a picture of the serial number on the Headstock would be the easiest way to determine when it was made. Not having that my first question would be is the serial number on the Vent Plate or a sticker. On the Vent Plate it is a serial number. Actual Mark V 510 serial numbers began with 51-serial number, but the records show it didn't go anywhere close to being as high as 100410. The Vent Plate also says Mark V Model 510. On a sticker it is a date code. Some date codes have dashes between the month, day and 2-digit year while other are simply 6 digits of month, day and 2-digit year.

Post a picture of the Vent Plate or sticker with the Serial number and we can solve the mystery.

Sorry -- number is 100490. So maybe 04 OCT 1990? That would make more sense!

Calling is a serial number is a bit misleading....

Oct 4 1990

Mystery solved.

HopefulSSer,

You did throw me a little bit when in your first post you said

serial number (100410),

since date codes well before Oct. 4, 2010 were using the MM-DD-YY format unlike the earlier date codes like yours being simply 6 digits without the dashes.