Shopsmith Forums

Hello all, new user and first poster here!

I have been blessed with a great bit o' luck. On a recent visit to a family friend, we were invited to the garage to look at some of his hobbies. During the course of the "tour" I commented on the nice ShopSmith over in the corner. He answered, "Would you like to have it?". Of course I answered yes and offered to make a deal of some sort. He refused to take anything for it so I'm the happy new owner of an early 1980's Mark V that only cost me about $10 worth of gas. The machine had belonged to a family member who passed away. My friend had never used it and was looking to get it out of his garage. His deceased relative purchased the unit new and and the story goes it only has had a couple hours of run time, which certainly appears to be the case. It seems to have all the standard items with the exception of a few minor items, mainly the turning center for the power head.

Here's where the story gets even more interesting. My SS didn't have any accessory pieces but my father has given me a SS bandsaw and jointer he picked up 25 or 30 years ago at an auction. They are "greenies" and with a good cleanup and some new bearings they'll be ready to work.

A few questions:

Will the "greenies" work with my 1980's Mark V?

Does anyone know where I can get manuals? I see the Mark V manual is currently unavailable from Shopsmith.

What about knives for the jointer?

Lastly, if anyone has a good plastic cover for the bandsaw they are interested in unloading send me a PM.

I'm excited about this new addition to my family of tools and look forward to heaps of information available here.

If you go to the website SSUG.org, you can go into their document archive and download a manual for Mark V. As well as a number of other manuals.

I believe Shopsmith still sells jointer knives.

I have picked up quite a few Shopsmith items on ebay and Craigs list.

If you get a chance, I would suggest you pick up Nick Engler's dvds for servicing your Shopsmith. I have found them extremely helpful. A lot of tips I would never have thought of.

Good luck!

Deekay welcome to the forum. You will get good advice here and the first thing you will be told is to check out the Mark V and do a complete lube before starting it up. The greenie SPT,s will work with your Mark V, but you will need to align the couplers. They should also be cleaned and serviced before use.There are some great Saw Dust sessions on all the needed maintenance. Dusty and or JPG can quote them by heart so if they don't respond to this thread send them a PM they are always glad to help. A manual shouldn't be hard to come by. Post the serial no of your Mark V to help narrow down the year it was built.

I'm glad you decided to join us.You are incredibly lucky to have all this at a cost of just $10.00. Just let me know if you tire of it and I will give you your money back.

For Starters, see post # 7

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=3012

deekay wrote:

A few questions:

Will the "greenies" work with my 1980's Mark V?

Hi and welcome! One other consideration is that occasionally you'll find a Jointer or Bandsaw that had been run on its own power stand rather than on a Mark V. In such cases the 2 posts on the underside of the jointer (etc.) may be "straight pipes" and do not allow you complete adjustment freedom to line up the accessory drive-shaft with the Mark V hub.
For this, you might need to order the Mark-V-mount style eccentric posts, such as shown as part #61 in the attached illustration:
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/part ... xpview.htm

Enjoy your prize!

Thank you all for your quick replies and greetings! I'll try to address everyone's comment in one post. I ran the ser. # on the SS website and it shows as an '81 model. thanks for the tip on the manual. Was there any major difference in the 1954 mark V versus the 1981 model that would justify buying a newer manual? I'll take a closer look at my joiner knives. DD wants $50 for the set but I know of a company that can grind them and I'm going to check them for pricing as well.

The joiner has quite a bit of surface rust but it's all there. I'm planning on a complete tear down and rebuild of the SPT's before using them.

I ran the SS for just a few moments to be sure the motor and variable speed worked properly. Everything seems to be in order but as a couple of you stated it needs a good lube go over before any real use. I'm fortunate that the SS had almost no rust and has always been kept inside. Since I don't have a copy of the dvd yet can you give any good overall tips for lubrication? Do the drive pulleys/shafts have lubrication points? EDIT: I just looked at mickyd's link in more detail so I'll be going through the sawdust sessions.

My Greenie SPT's came from a SS. My father picked one up many years ago that had sat outside and was basically ruined. He eventually tossed the rest but kept the bandsaw and joiner. I'll take a peek and the mounting posts tomorrow to see how they're configured.

I'm very excited about the SS and my wife is pretty excited too because she has a lot of projects in mind. We live out on a small farm in a 100+ year old that we're in the slow process of refurbishing. There will be many pieces of period appropriate furniture to build.

Oh, and mbcabinetmaker, my Dad already has first dibs on the SS.

deekay wrote:... DD (SS?) wants $50 for the set but I know of a company that can grind them ...

SS makes a jig (555471) for you to sharpen the jointer blades easily yourself. You must also have a Conical diskto use it.

Welcome to the forum. You already are getting lots of answers to questions you had. I am attaching the link to the sawdust session about lubricating the SS.


http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... _Index.htm

[quote="deekay"]Thank you all for your quick replies and greetings! I'll try to address everyone's comment in one post. I ran the ser. # on the SS website and it shows as an '81 model. thanks for the tip on the manual. Was there any major difference in the 1954 mark V versus the 1981 model that would justify buying a newer manual? I'll take a closer look at my joiner knives. DD wants $50 for the set but I know of a company that can grind them and I'm going to check them for pricing as well.

The joiner has quite a bit of surface rust but it's all there. I'm planning on a complete tear down and rebuild of the SPT's before using them.

I ran the SS for just a few moments to be sure the motor and variable speed worked properly. Everything seems to be in order but as a couple of you stated it needs a good lube go over before any real use. I'm fortunate that the SS had almost no rust and has always been kept inside. Since I don't have a copy of the dvd yet can you give any good overall tips for lubrication? Do the drive pulleys/shafts have lubrication points? EDIT: I just looked at mickyd's link in more detail so I'll be going through the sawdust sessions.

My Greenie SPT's came from a SS. My father picked one up many years ago that had sat outside and was basically ruined. He eventually tossed the rest but kept the bandsaw and joiner. I'll take a peek and the mounting posts tomorrow to see how they're configured.

I'm very excited about the SS and my wife is pretty excited too because she has a lot of projects in mind. We live out on a small farm in a 100+ year old that we're in the slow process of refurbishing. There will be many pieces of period appropriate furniture to build.

Oh, and mbcabinetmaker, my Dad already has first dibs on the SS. ]


1) The Jointer knives are unusual(a SS attribute) in that they are tapered. If the sharpener either does not realize that or is not able to allow for it you MAY have problems.

2)The discussion re SS manual has me confused. How come you are referring to 1981 AND 1954 both? Where did 1954 come from?

3)The earlier(greenies included) jointers did have straight mounting tubes. My goldie is the same. Alignment never a problem! The SS itself is adjustable to horizontally align the shafts.

Where may I ask would you find the question "Are there any major differences between a 1954 model and the 1981 model?' other than on a Shopsmith site. I think that is one of the things that makes the Shopsmith equipment so special.