Shopsmith Forums

With thanks to a couple of gents on Lumberjocks, I thought I'd share my recnet gift from my Uncle who is giving up woodworking. He bought this 510 new and proceeded to very lightly use it over the past two decades or so. He's in GA, I'm in NY, but the MK V is with my dad in VA, where I hope to move in a year or so. My Uncle wanted it to go to someone who would actually use it, and since I have a woodshop already, he knew it would be an excellent addition to my tool set.



As you can see I also have the bandsaw, and my Dad recently found a dust collector as well.





It is in fine working shape, though I bet it could use a good tune-up just to be sure of that.

It even has a complete set of lathe tools, still with their tip protectors and the factory grind on them!


The basement where it is living is heated so I'm confident it will still be in good shape when I finally take posession of it.

One thing which I will be doing a search on is raising the whole unit up a few inches. I'm 6'3" tall, and when set up for turning, I found that the tool rest height is a bit low for comfort.
I'm 500 miles from the unit, so I can't run downstairs and measure it, but the standard height is several inches below what is commonly thought of as 'ideal' height, which for most turners is just below their elbow height. For me, that is just about 43" or so.

I'm also very interested in the potential new power head, price dependent of course. I'll be watching for further announcements. I hope it will dial right down to '0' and not merely 1000 rpm. 700rpm seems awfully fast for roughing out of bowls and hollow forms, something I'm looking forward to doing when I finally get to making chips next summer.

Thanks for checking in!

Ned

Congratulations Ned,

Your are embarking on a new and very rewarding experience in wood working. I have worked with wood most of my life and dreamed of owning a mark V most of my adult life. The last few years have proven to me without any doubt, a Shopsmith is a blast to own.

I live in Charlottesville area and have my Shopsmith in a heated basement. We determined early in our time here that a dehumidifier is my equipments best friend. I have been in process of selling off my gun collection which is stored in a steel cabinet also in the basement. Three different collectors have commented on the low moisture level apparent in our basement. We have two units running intermittently one at each end of an 1,800 square foot area. Each are emptied about every three weeks. No we have never had water in our basement. In fact our house has poured basements walls. Yet the humidity here seems higher than we were accustomed to in the South West US. I also keep all of my tools covered.

You will find this forum a great resource and those of us in Virginia are blessed to have Jacob Anderson in Virginia Beach. Jacob has an excellent reputation for his abilities with headstock repair. If you read your manuals and follow the hints offered by others regarding maintenance your love affair with Shopsmith will grow quickly. Jim

Jim,
howdy neighbor, I'm destined to move to beautiful Rockingham Co just around the corner from you in about a year or so. (long story, essentially I'm going to be moving to be near my parents). I have to wait for one of my sons to finish HS first, as well as selling off the house and shop here in NY.

When I get there I'll be busy outfitting either the basement or a new building as my shop, so lots of projects to be built as well as the new tool to get acquainted with.

Ned B_CNY wrote:...It even has a complete set of lathe tools, still with their tip protectors and the factory grind on them!


The basement where it is living is heated so I'm confident it will still be in good shape when I finally take posession of it.

Welcome, Ned. Looks like you got yourself a nice set up. One thing...I was told by a former SS TA instructor (Rick Davis) that the "factory grind" is anything but ready to use on those lathe chisels. You must sharpen those chisels before use for satisfactory results!

Ned B_CNY wrote:Jim,
howdy neighbor, I'm destined to move to beautiful Rockingham Co just around the corner from you in about a year or so. (long story, essentially I'm going to be moving to be near my parents). I have to wait for one of my sons to finish HS first, as well as selling off the house and shop here in NY.

When I get there I'll be busy outfitting either the basement or a new building as my shop, so lots of projects to be built as well as the new tool to get acquainted with.

That is too bad, Ned. Jim is trying to move to Colorado. By the time you move to Virginia he might be living near his daughter!

Ned B_CNY wrote:Jim,
howdy neighbor, I'm destined to move to beautiful Rockingham Co just around the corner from you in about a year or so. (long story, essentially I'm going to be moving to be near my parents). I have to wait for one of my sons to finish HS first, as well as selling off the house and shop here in NY.

When I get there I'll be busy outfitting either the basement or a new building as my shop, so lots of projects to be built as well as the new tool to get acquainted with.

Ned,

Ah yes we spend time in Harrisonburg several times a year. I hope we are still in the area when you return here. Our house has been on the market for two years. We had our first offer a month ago. Soon I hope. My wife is retired and desires to be near our granddaughter in Denver. I am fighting retirement but have a feeling the government will but me out of business before long. Good luck on selling your home. Jim

Tim,
I'm 'enough' of a turner to know that they need some TLC before using them. I just found it remarkable that they were nearly 25 yrs old and still in pristine condition.
I hate to say it, but by that time, I'll have a full set of gouges from Doug Thompson. I'll probably keep the stock tools as it, just 'because'.
I already have a delta Midi in my current shop, I'm looking forward to the larger swing of the Mark V, not to mention the extra HP.

Hope someday to step up to one of these beasties:

I was lucky enough to be invited to Bill G's new Robust lathe warming party last year, which was a blast!

HI folks,
well, it's been awhile, but I'm still waiting for my 510. I did move to VA, and back to NY. Long story ,suffice to say that the current economy and straight commission sales jobs aren't the best combination.
The 510 is still down in VA, though I'm supposed to get it after the snow stops flying this spring. (Sooner if I want to make the trip)... but since my shop in NY is semi-heated, I'm thinking spring is 'soon enough'.

My shop is a mere 12' x 20' barn that I built from plans off of the interweb. It isn't fancy, but it Is mine! I've been building my stand alone tool collection for about 12 years now, and once the 510 gets in town some of them are going to be heading on to greener pastures. ( Mainly the midi-lathe and benchtop DP off the top of my head, Possibly the chopsaw as well)

Anywho, I'll be reading up here on the forums, and pestering y'all for tips and what not once I actually get the 510 up north of the Mason-Dixon line.