Shopsmith Forums

Really want to restore my second Shopsmith. I found a 1956 greenie in fair to rough condition. It's fully functional but will need many hours of cosmetic clean up they are asking $375.00 with out any extras. Is this reasonable? I don't have space to store two Shopsmith's (maybe....) but is this desirable for resale once it's restored? Or should I look for another year or model that would be more desirable? Thanks

If your wanting to fix it up and resell it then I would get down to $150 or less otherwise there will be very little if any profit in it for a Greenie.

jcraigie wrote:If your wanting to fix it up and resell it then I would get down to $150 or less otherwise there will be very little if any profit in it for a Greenie.

Ditto! (Or less!) Too much for no 'extras'.

I am beginning to wonder whether a greenie is worth more than ~$50 unless it has a bunch of accessories. Given the ammount you are going to put into it and the market in your area, seems like you are better off buying a newer unit. Granted, there are a lot of factors involved, but once you start adding up the cost of replacing any parts, the cost of spray paint, the cost of evaporust, abrasives, etc just to get the unit in nice servicable condition you are well on your way to a unit that is a bit more complete.

Granted, in my area there are lots of shopsmiths available at various price points - your area may vary.

Less desirable attributes of greenies are their single-bearing quill, gilmer drive system, and 3/4 horsepower motor. These features aren't a deal killer at the right price, but in this case I'd hold out for a later model.

If you want to refurbish one do it for yourself... Do not expect to buy one at (or above) market price, fix it up, and make any money off of it.
If you expect to make money off of one you need to buy it at or under market price and dismantle it to sell as parts. If you need to buy major parts for yourself you are often better off to buy a complete unit, cannibalize what you need and part out the rest. Complete units sell that cheap compared to used parts.
I researched this thoroughly when I was buying SS's (over 2 dozen of them). There is a good market for parts but only a handful hunting complete units. A complete Shopsmith generally has to be "sold". That is the reason that SS is going back to demos.
People see ads for used SS's at high prices and assume that they are selling for those prices. If you could know what they actually sold for (if they sold at all) you would have a very different picture.
Sorry but that is generally the reality of it.

.

Thanks for the advise. It wasn't so much about making a profit as it is wanting to refurbish another one for the fun and satisfaction. But I don't have storage to keep two around and would need to sell it when completed. But you all answered my question that they aren't that "collector" items worth that much. I would rather get the deal on one with accessories. However I like the idea of salvage and eBay it might be fun. Thanks

I have a feeling that once you discover how handy it is to have two SS's, especially since you have all the SPTs, you might just find space to keep two of them. I'm already having an internal debate about reselling the 3rd one I recently bought and started fixing up. (https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=8293)
And I really would be hard pressed to give up my '55 500 and my '89 510 as I use both of them on a regular basis.

It's not that I wouldn't want five of them, but I'm limited on space and I'm not willing to give up my garage parking space. Especially now that it's rainy season in sw Florida! But I might be able to squeeze two if it was the right deal!

I bought my original back in '87 a 510, my second bare bones 500 in '91, my third 500 was because it came with all of the SPT's and it turned out the machine just ran great. My last machine a 510 was again bare bones but I got it for $350, especially since I was considering upgrading one of the 500 models to a 510 it was a good go. Now I have 2 500 models and am still trying to figure what to do with them both are in great shape, kinda figure that I am going to donate one of them to my son, at his age of 34 I am still trying to get him into woodworking. The other son, I think if I gave it to him he would cut off his hand in 2 minutes, not too bright.

So my thoughts are if you don't have the space for it wait till you get a really great deal on a 510 and then make the space, kick out the car, or bring it into the bedroom or the living room, the wife won't mind. Much.