Shopsmith question

So I've got a chance to pick up an old Shopsmith for dirt cheap. How cheap you ask? $50 :shock:, and I might be able to talk him down another $10 to $40...

So here's the problem. It looks like it's about 40-50 years old and not taken care of. The rails are coated in rust, the cord needs to be replaced, needs a new belt, and the drill chuck is completely rusted. He also doesn't have any of the peripherals. The motor does run, however. Essentially, all I could use it for at this point is a drill press once I replace the chuck.

My question for those of you who have shopsmiths-- is it worth picking up and cleaning up? I've not seen many shopsmith extras for sale on CL, and even if I did, would the newer peripherals work on the older model?

There are lots of ShopSmith extras on the Craigslist here if you're patient. In the last couple months I've seen the bandsaw, jointer, and and disc sander attachments posted.

I think you can use them as a lathe too without using any peripherals. Not that a lathe is something commonly used in making Tele's, lol.

rust cleans up but replacing bearings in the motor will cost ya

I would suggest reading up about them a bit. Figure out what type it is(10E, 10ER, MkII, MkV, MkVII, etc.) And if possible, figure out just how much it is really missing. (Meaning, does it have the saw table, table adjuster/extension, the miter attachment, the ripfence, etc? Or is it literally just the headstock/motor on the rails/stand?)

I have my grandfather's old 10ER here that i have been working on getting back in running order. Fairly large, fairly heavy, beautifully solid piece of machinery. Considering today's more-often-cheepo tool market, it can be very much worth restoring these old beasts. This one seemed pretty rusty when i started in on it, but i found it cleaned up pretty easily. As long as the way tubes aren't deeply pitted(they are such solid steel that it takes some doing to actually get them that far) they will probably clean up as easily as mine did. If they are REALLY bad, then refurbished ones are even available from various sources: http://www.battels.com/productsdetail.aspx?p_id=352


If the motor and headstock/quill are in good shape, and the rails are not too pitted, and it is an ER or Mk5, it is totally worth snagging for $50. I have seen pretty much all of the accessories and parts pop up for sale at one point or another, even obscure stuff like random mounting hardware. Even eBay has lots of old parts. That said, if the machine is really missing the bulk of the accessories, it can add up a bit if you need/want to acquire lots of them.

Shopsmiths are a type of tool that due to their size and weight DO pop up on occasion for cheap when folks decide they don't want to deal with them anymore. $50 is good, but it is not uncommon to find them in the sub-$100 range in Want Ads and on Craigslist sorts of sites, often WITH a box full of parts and accessories. In the same fashion as something like a cheap piano, a lot of times, folks just want the awkwardly large thing out of their way. If you think you might want to use some of the other functionality beyond drill press work, it might be worth it to look around and see if a more complete machine might be available somewhere. IMHO.

Also, if you do wind up acquiring one of these machines, there are folks who are producing refurbished and newly machined parts for restoring and even adding functionality in some cases:

http://www.califsawdustman.com/

http://www.mkctools.com/index.html

Those are two good ones. There are now lots of solutions for speed control on the older models that didn't have it, and even the ability to run modern SS accessory tools on the older models. I was actually fairly (pleasantly) surprised to find just how much was available.

There are lots of ShopSmith extras on the Craigslist here if you're patient. In the last couple months I've seen the bandsaw, jointer, and and disc sander attachments posted.

I think you can use them as a lathe too without using any peripherals. Not that a lathe is something commonly used in making Tele's, lol.
It can be used as a lathe, but he didn't even have the anchor point for the headstock.

rust cleans up but replacing bearings in the motor will cost ya
That's the main thing I'm worried about. The thing looks like it's been rode hard and put up wet.

I would suggest reading up about them a bit. Figure out what type it is(10E, 10ER, MkII, MkV, MkVII, etc.) And if possible, figure out just how much it is really missing. (Meaning, does it have the saw table, table adjuster/extension, the miter attachment, the ripfence, etc? Or is it literally just the headstock/motor on the rails/stand?)

I have my grandfather's old 10ER here that i have been working on getting back in running order. Fairly large, fairly heavy, beautifully solid piece of machinery. Considering today's more-often-cheepo tool market, it can be very much worth restoring these old beasts. This one seemed pretty rusty when i started in on it, but i found it cleaned up pretty easily. As long as the way tubes aren't deeply pitted(they are such solid steel that it takes some doing to actually get them that far) they will probably clean up as easily as mine did. If they are REALLY bad, then refurbished ones are even available from various sources: http://www.battels.com/productsdetail.aspx?p_id=352


If the motor and headstock/quill are in good shape, and the rails are not too pitted, and it is an ER or Mk5, it is totally worth snagging for $50. I have seen pretty much all of the accessories and parts pop up for sale at one point or another, even obscure stuff like random mounting hardware. Even eBay has lots of old parts. That said, if the machine is really missing the bulk of the accessories, it can add up a bit if you need/want to acquire lots of them.

Shopsmiths are a type of tool that due to their size and weight DO pop up on occasion for cheap when folks decide they don't want to deal with them anymore. $50 is good, but it is not uncommon to find them in the sub-$100 range in Want Ads and on Craigslist sorts of sites, often WITH a box full of parts and accessories. In the same fashion as something like a cheap piano, a lot of times, folks just want the awkwardly large thing out of their way. If you think you might want to use some of the other functionality beyond drill press work, it might be worth it to look around and see if a more complete machine might be available somewhere. IMHO.

Also, if you do wind up acquiring one of these machines, there are folks who are producing refurbished and newly machined parts for restoring and even adding functionality in some cases:

http://www.califsawdustman.com/

http://www.mkctools.com/index.html

Those are two good ones. There are now lots of solutions for speed control on the older models that didn't have it, and even the ability to run modern SS accessory tools on the older models. I was actually fairly (pleasantly) surprised to find just how much was available.
Thanks for all the great info, Chris. I just did a little research, and it appears to be a MKV "greenie", so I guess that dates it between 1953 - 1960. He does have the saw table and sanding disk, but not the arbor for mounting the blade or the disk. he's even missing the lathe bits.

This is by far the cheapest ss I've seen on CL close to me. They usually go for between $200 - $1200 depending on the condition and accessories. What I'm struggling with is a couple of things-- First, I love restoring old things. Second, intellectually, I'm pretty sure that it will be a big project and I could probably buy one that didn't need the work for ~$500 that would include a lot more equipment, but emotionally I'm thinking, "Holy COW! I can get a shopsmith for $40!!" :mrgreen:

That is actually very good, the MkV has the huge added benefit, that parts and accessories are still available directly from Shopsmith: http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/partscat/mark_vpartslist.htm

If the headstock and motor are in solid shape, $40 would be an excellent deal.

I purchased a 1955 "Greenie" Mark V Shopsmith for $250 a couple of years ago. It had the and saw and extra blade, table saw wit a few blades, extra tables, no drill chuck, but a bunch of extra parts. I've purchased a lot of stuff on ebay, here and there, to make a really complete setup. If the motor works, that's worth about $30, even the smaller 3/4 hp ones. The rusty tubes can be cleaned using PVC tubes and potatoes to neutralize the rust, and shined back like new. The top tubes are the ones that really need to be clean and smooth for the headstock to slide effectively. The belt can be about $10-20. There articles on the SS forums to make sure your not buying a real lemon.
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=7092

There Sawdust Sessions online to go through the tear down process, which I've done a few times to refurb mine, and parts are always available. They've been made almost the same way for over 50 years. I'd say go for it - tear it down, and appreciate the good old made in USA old school technology. About as easy to work on as a good 10-speed bicycle. (Just showed my age, didn't I?)

Ok, so it's a moot point now. I called him while I was on lunch, and it's gone. No big deal. I'm sure my wife is relieved that she won't have to give up the garage for several months while I had it torn apart to rebuild lol.

Thanks for all the input, guys. I know a lot more about them now.

Ok, so it's a moot point now. I called him while I was on lunch, and it's gone. No big deal. I'm sure my wife is relieved that she won't have to give up the garage for several months while I had it torn apart to rebuild lol.

Thanks for all the input, guys. I know a lot more about them now.

It does not take more than a couple of days to tear down and refurbish a Shopsmith headstock. The way tubes can be cleaned off with sandpaper, steel wool, and Simonize Paste Wax. Moot point or not, several folks here, as well as professional guitar builders, have and use SS's to make quality guitars. Some day I will too. Too bad it's gone. Some lucky guy got a bunch of usable parts to cannibalize and put on ebay.