Shopsmith help needed

[C-Bag]

Of course there is no Shopsmith forum, but I decided to take a chance and get at least in the ballpark here amongst you woodworkers. Hopefully I won’t offend in that I actually bought the Shopsmith mk V to repurpose it into a tool grinding workstation.

As often happens I decided to go down this rabbit hole because I was gifted a complete Shopsmith saw table from my bother long before I got my Checkel, Baldor carbide grinder clone, K.O. Lee air bearing and universal vise. The Checkel and faux Baldor work great but the problem is trying to work the crazy height difference between them and the air bearing, vise and other grinding fixtures. Then I saw the old Shopsmith saw table with its tilt and geared height adjust and down the hole I go.

My criteria was met, cheap, good shape and local. It has belt sander, jig saw, bandsaw and joiner besides the usual headstock, tail stock and all kinds of gadgets and googaa’s I have no clue about. Most everything was jammed into boxes and totes so I couldn’t assess the machine except to see the headstock worked and did it’s speed change without weird noise. Also the way tubes weren’t rusty. I waved my 50yr ban on basket cases and am starting to regret it. It seems it went through several owners who were into disassembly before getting a clue and I think the hardware was in a box not included. And I’m realizing the belt sander would be a great addition to the complete cutter grinding station. But there is parts missing to the adjustable rest. And several crucial pieces that are not made anymore, and not on eBay. The Shopsmith forum forbids parts inquiries/sales and I don’t do faceplant or other forums. So you guys are it.

 

[markba633csi]

Those come up for sale all the time from my experience, you can probably find another to take parts off of.
I've seen them for sale in all manner of condition from totally complete to nearly stripped. Seasonal though. Sometimes months go by without
seeing a one, then suddenly 4 or 5 show up for sale. I've been tempted several times but haven't given in yet LOL
-Mark
Looks like yours may have the larger 1-1/8 HP motor which is good-

 

[C-Bag]

Those come up for sale all the time from my experience,

Yeah, the Bay Area and LA Area, not so much here. And when they do they tend to be expensive or cheap rusted garbage. Even eBay doesn’t have the parts I need.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

i owned 2 of them.
a "Greenie" ( from the unmistakable green colors) from the 50's
and a version very much like yours pictured, although my unit was a bit dingier .

due to undesired space constraints, i had to sell it off when i moved a couple years ago. the greenie was gifted to a neighbor.

i purchased the greenie for $50 as a basket case- https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/look-what-i-picked-up-for-50-tool-gloat.15279/

1955 ShopSmith 500- Greenie;Stories from Ashes to Flight: Part 1,How The Bearing Fails

In a recent Tool Gloat, i posted a few pictures of my vintage ShopSmith 500. i got it for $50. for those who didn't see the pictures, here's another look... on her initial inspection it was discovered an whole almond, hull and all were wedged inside the infinite drive pulley preventing...

www.hobby-machinist.com

i've had the 2 versions apart about as far as you can get them, so i can answer questions
i'm happy to help

Congrats on the new tool!

 

[C-Bag]

Shoulda known you‘d have had one Mike! I seem to be the only person who’d not had one So you don’t have one anymore?

of course the one piece I want to keep the belt sander is missing pieces

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Shoulda known you‘d have had one Mike! I seem to be the only person who’d not had one So you don’t have one anymore?

of course the one piece I want to keep the belt sander is missing pieces

no, i wish i still did!

pieces show up now and again on CL and Ebay

sometimes you can purchase whole machines with accy's rather than pieces for the same$$$

 

[Aaron_W]

I've been tempted a couple of time to grab one of these.
The idea of a 1 tool woodshop that you convert from tool to tool seems like a nightmare, but I like the idea for the less used tools, horizontal drill, wood lathe, disk sander etc. Of course they all have the table saw and band saw which to me are the least interesting, it is the ones with accessories that tempt me.

I'll be watching your progress.

 

[C-Bag]

sometimes you can purchase whole machines with accy's rather than pieces for the same$$$

Yup, I got this for $350 and supposedly the headstock in good condition can go for that. All I thought I wanted was the base(w/castors) in good condition with a saw table. Decent base always went for over $200 and each of the accessory usually $2-300. Of course this is all with a grain of salt but these are the prices I’ve seen on eBay and CL. Don‘t know if and what they sold for. Some of the pieces I don’t know what they are:

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Table extension kit

Planer/shaper table

 

[frugalguido]

My father bought me a Shopsmith when I was 12 years old, an old 10ER , all cast iron, except the table was aluminum. I had to stand on one end to raise it into the drill press mode, cause I was too small to stand on the floor to raise and it was real heavy because of the cast-iron . The best part of the Shopsmith , IMHO, is the disc sander, lathe, using it as a horizontal drill press. The tablesaw is terrible!