Shopsmith: New photos (lots) added

OK youse guys. I'm headed to VA next weekened and will be visiting my parents for the hollydaze. My dad has taken possession of the Mark V and it is supposedly in fine shape. I was thinking of taking a few gouges and my sharpening station with me and making a mess of his shop for a few hours over the course of the visit.

Presuming that my uncle who originally owned the Mark V had 'nearly everything', what can I expect to find when I get down there? Will it have a chuck or will I be turning between centers? Does it Come with Centers?

If it doesn't, I guess I'll be loading up my Midi and taking that with me for entertainment (his basement shop is heated and mine is still drafty and unused now that winter has arrived)

A Shopsmith came equipped with a drive center that used a set screw to lock it on the 5/8" shaft from the power head. It also had #2 morse taper dead cup center which fit in a tailstock that sat in the end of the unit. It also came with a tool rest which fit in the same part that slides along on the tubular ways as the table saw (I cannot remember the name of the piece that held the table). The tool rest would pivot and swing to adjust position with regard to how close it could be to the wood and also could be adjusted up and down.

The standard set of tools are rather large with a shallow roughing gouge, a 5/32" parting tool, a round nosed scraper, a 1/2" or 5/8" spindle gouge and a skew chisel. These tools were rather short and depending on the age of the tool were carbon steel although some were HSS.

You cannot use a chuck on a Shopsmith unless you get a 5/8" plain adaptor which is somewhat hard to find.

I started turning on one and the biggest drawback is the lack of weight of the unit and how low it is. I had to turn bending over. Very uncomfortable.

Mike is dead on. Another down side is the relatively fast slowest speed. Depends on where you look, but the slowest speed is something over 500 rpm's. If you have a Nova chuck, WoodCraft will sell an adaptor for it. In fact, there 5/8" smooth adaptors for nearly all the chucks on the market, usually produced by the chuck manufacturer. If the unit is in good shape you can have a lot of fun on the ShopSmith. If it is not in great shape, well let's just say you're going to wish you'd packed your midi. And for being low, I'm only 5'7" and I cannot turn more than about 15 minutes because it is so low.

Sound advice, thanks guys! I'm 6'3" so the height will be an issue, Unless I build a platform of some sort for it. It's only going to be for a couple of days on this trip, I might just pack the mini, have to see how much stuff my DW is hauling along on this trip.
Nice to see though that adaptors are available if I do decide to use it when I finally do take possession in a year or so. My Uncle gave it to me, via my Dad. He gets to use it while I'm still in NY so to speak. As for shape, I'd bet this 20+ yr old machine has less than 300 hours of use on it and should be in good shape.

People who turn on it usually raise it on some kind of stand their are several plans on the Shopsmith Forum site. You can get an adapter for about $25-$50 that goes from 5/8" to virtually any other thread to adapt a Shopsmith headstock to any other lathe accessories you may own or just get a 5/8" plain adapter for any chuck. I would recommend getting a Shopsmith Universal Banjo, it adds weight and other features making lathe work much easier.

I am 5' 11" and have been using my for 30+ years and it works like the day I purchased it. There machines last forever with minimal upkeep.

I have an old Shopsmith and almost got rid of it a couple years ago. Kept it and now use it for Beall buffs mostly, but it is also a great horizontal boring machine. Good for drilling tool handles, boring bars etc. Even if you don't turn on it it will be useful.

Hi folks,
Here it is in all its glory:



set up for turning


with the bandsaw in place.


shelves with the accessory tables etc stored on them. evidently my Uncle bought all of the extension tables etc...

for the turners in the room...


that's right, those are 20 year old 'brand new' gouges. still with their protective covers and factory grind.


more accessories, plus the saw blades and shop built holder for the same.




drive spur.


dead center.

I did turn on it a little, then the blank split so I shut it down. I don't seem to have uploaded those photos, have to ask my folks to email them to me.

I'm glad to have it, but I can wait to explore its capabilities until I get down to va and have room for it.

after I took these photos, my dad and I set it up as a drll press. Looking forward to that aspect of it, as well as the bandsaw. I"ll likely put a good blade on it for those 'small' cuts which I use the bandsaw for so often.

I started out with one. Had it only 14 months. As a lathe, I found the "Dead" tailstock, and the original tool rest and banjo a pain. The tailstock burned into the wood and the tool rest adjustment had limited movement, which, sometimes left the tool extended too far over the tail rest to be safe.

Since I sold mine (a 500 updated to 520) they have improved live centers for the tail stock and a new tool rest/banjo available that I'm told is very good.

You should be able to let some chips go flying!

Bruce

PS: if no one else mentioned it, the tools are Carbon Steel. Keep some water around to cool the tools while sharpening.

Is the tail stock a fixed dead center or could you substitute a live center into the tail stock... I'm not sure why you would ever want a dead center in the tailstock for turning.. maybe I'm missing something.

Hi Chuck. You're right. The "Dead" center is useless. That's why they now offer as an accessory, a tail stock with a live center. They have a web sight where you can check it out. I believe it's www.Shopsmith.com.

Bruce

Ned, any Morse taper 2 live center will work on the Shopsmith. If you can find one with a short taper shaft it will work better.

Save the dead center and use it for a drive center when practicing the skew chisel.

Enjoy!

Bruce Shiverdecker said:

Hi Chuck. You're right. The "Dead" center is useless. That's why they now offer as an accessory, a tail stock with a live center. They have a web sight where you can check it out. I believe it's www.Shopsmith.com.

Bruce

Click to expand...

"Now" means like for the last 30 years or so. The one advantage of buying their live center is they offer two extenders that are very useful when turning small objects between centers. The extenders go behind the bearings and give you about 3 inches extra reach. Also on the 510/520 there is a safety ring to prevent the sliding carrage from hitting the headstock and an optional newer bandjo and with either of these in place you need the extra reach.