Newbie needs help to ID lathe,please

medman1234 · Post by **medman1234** » Sat May 16, 2009 1:42 am

Hi guys,
I have a freind who does cabinet work.I happen to ask him the other day about turning.
He had alathe that was given to him out of an ederly womans garage,her husband had died.
He said it was a Shopsmith.
He brought it to me and it looks just like a "goldie".
Just a few differences in the head unit housing,power swith near bottom and no place machined for one above the speed dial.
I can't find anything on it that says Shopsmith.
It came with tons of Shopsmith acc.Duplicator with all cutters, 2 sets of chisels(Frued tt-108=Brand new)plus another set.saw blades sanding discs,etc.
I watched some of the sawdust series videos 21,22,23,about rebuiling one.
Anyway,It is in great shape.Runs smooth.
I opened it up and it has a 1 1/2 HP motor(MIN HA?)same belts and porkchop setup.
The top way bars are chrome I guess and the bottom two are black.
It has a wooden shelve under it that attaches to the legs but could have been homemade.
Everything else looks just like a shopsmith.
Anybody know who make Shopsmith clones?
On the speed it just has an arrow going clockwise.I think it goes from around 800 rpm-5200 rpm,SMOOTH the whole way.
It looks like it was really taken care of.
I am trying to get a good pic to post.
Since all the SS acc fit I dont know what to think.
Any help would be apprecciated.
I have never turned nything and this seem like a BEAST to start on though ,so I want to find out everything I can before I even try.
any ideas on where to start learning will help also.
Thanks
Tim

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:43 am

It sounds a lot like a Shopsmith - the pictures will help. Does it have a serial number?

medman1234 · Post by **medman1234** » Sat May 16, 2009 10:00 am

Where do I look?
The tags are to the left of the speed dial and are faded real bad.I can make out the last few letters on one RKN
It also has a list of instructions on the belt cover(the list goes from the top down to the place where it widens out.
The motor says MIN(pic of horse)HA.
The floating sheave has been balanced.
I'll try to post some pics later,I have to find my camera.I was going to try to take some pics of the labels and run them through a photo app and try to read them.
ty
Tim

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:05 am

medman1234 wrote:Hi guys,
I opened it up and it has a 1 1/2 HP motor(MIN HA?)same belts and porkchop setup.
The top way bars are chrome I guess and the bottom two are black.
It has a wooden shelve under it that attaches to the legs but could have been homemade.
Everything else looks just like a shopsmith.
Anybody know who make Shopsmith clones?
On the speed it just has an arrow going clockwise.I think it goes from around 800 rpm-5200 rpm,SMOOTH the whole way.
Thanks
Tim

This is a Total Shop and will operate all Shopsmith accessories and SPTs. This motor will also operate on 220 VAC. This company went out of business many many years ago. There are prior posts on this. You will find that any machined parts like tubes and headstock parts are a different size than the Shopsmith and are not interchangable. I have a limited number ot Total Shop parts and have been able to repair a couple Total Shop headstocks by modifing/machining Shopsmith parts to fit.

Lubrication is very critical for this machine. Be sure to do the sheaves and the speed control internal parts. Let me know if you have any questions or needs.

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Sat May 16, 2009 12:09 pm

It could also be a Woodmaster Multi-Tool. Someone just asked about this machine in another thread. I did a Google search and found some pictures and it is a very close replica of the SS machine.

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Sat May 16, 2009 12:49 pm

curiousgeorge wrote:It could also be a Woodmaster Multi-Tool. Someone just asked about this machine in another thread. I did a Google search and found some pictures and it is a very close replica of the SS machine.

Here's the Woodmaster Multi-Tool.

[ATTACH]4550[/ATTACH]

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Sat May 16, 2009 9:49 pm

mickyd wrote:Here's the Woodmaster Multi-Tool.

Yep! That's one I found on the Google search.

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:03 pm

mickyd wrote:Here's the Woodmaster Multi-Tool.

Maybe ShopSmith could make some $$$ by suing the shorts off the manufacturer of this blatant clone!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun May 17, 2009 1:05 am

mickyd wrote:Maybe ShopSmith could make some $$$ by suing the shorts off the manufacturer of this blatant clone!

They would be safe as long as they did not copy some of the newer designs(like a biscuit jointer).

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:05 am

I suppose it is time to post these items for edification of our newer members. There is really a lot of good stuff hidden in the bowels of this forum - but it is hard to find!

Nick's explanation of Supershops beginning and how it relates to patents.- - http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... ostcount=9

Here's an interesting "Feel Good" story about Shopsmith and safety. - -
"Another great group of inventions which were obtained by Shopsmith in the purchase was the four safety tools we know today as the Shopsmith Push Stick, Fence Straddler, Push Block and my favorite the Featherboard. One interesting thing to note about these four tools is that long before Shopsmith's patent rights expired on these tools they began to be knocked-off. Shopsmith decided not to exercise their rights to have these clones removed from the market because they put the safety of woodworkers ahead of their profits. That's enough of a reason for me to continue to use their safety tools exclusively to this day."

That story came from a great Blog that is mentioned several times in this forum http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com/
According to this blog - Here are the names given to shopsmith clones: Fox, smithy, super shop, super-shop, supershop.

If you want to read about every machine and tool that Shopsmith has ever made - the Tool Hunter blog is the place for you.