Shopsmith Tool Hunter. Find Shopsmith Mark V, 10ER, Bandsaws, jointers & More! Click for HOME Page

So, how does this blog work?

2015-01-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

This blog (short for Web Log) features links to Shopsmith woodworking tools and items that are related to Shopsmith tools which are for sale on the web.

We've been adding a BUNCH of FREE scans of historic Shopsmith articles and ads, and if you happen to have something we should add we'd love to hear from you. Most of these can be seen Biggie-Sized by clicking on them.

Speaking of clicking, if you'd like to enter a comment about one of the posts, please feel free. To do so just click on the bold title line (For example, this post is titled "So, how does this blog work?" If you click on the title it will open that post in it's own page. There you can enter a comment, and after I moderate it, you'll see it there for all the world to see and comment back!

Please do me a favor. If you have a blog of your own or are a member of an Internet newsgroup and decide to flatter me by quoting from the text of my entries, please honor me by posting a link to this blog. Thanks and good hunting! Scott

Before we talk about the Mark V I feel compelled to tell you a bit about how I got to this point.

2012-10-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Shopsmith Mark V.

These words have stirred a child-like excitement in me ever since Mr. Stone (a family friend) stopped by our home in Beavercreek Ohio to visit my parents while on a trip to Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Stone had just paid a visit to a factory in Dayton where he made a large purchase of a power tool. Now, my dad is the son of a Cabinetmaker and because his mother died when he was three, he and his two brothers were raised in the shop while my Grandfather worked. So here's Mr. Stone and my dad sitting on the couch looking at a brochure for this neat tool, and I vividly remember standing behind the couch staring over their shoulders in amazement at this wonderful new tool. This was around 1977, which would have made me 13-14 years old, and at that time I had no idea that the Shopsmith Mark V had been in production since 1954! (A conflicting date of 1953 is given on the official Shopsmith Inc site, but I've not been able to confirm this dating with any official documentation or witness. Go figure.)

I convinced my dad that we needed to get a catalog, so he returned the postcard that Mr. Stone left with us, and for years we continued to get the occasional catalog and better yet the awesome woodworking magazine "Hands-On!".

Fast forward to 1987 and though I had visited the showroom at the Shopsmith factory in Vandalia Ohio (North Dayton) several times this time I was actually there just to kill time while I waited for a near-by job interview. It was on this visit that I met Ron Hittle. Ron was a playful and intelligent man who instantly won me over with his silly puns and jokes. When you met Ron it was like meeting a long-lost brother for the first time. He was totally engaged in our conversation as we talked about woodworking, tools, Jim and Tammy Baker (they were falling from grace at that very moment) and Shopsmith. I was having a great time when I suddenly realized that I was now a half-hour overdue for my job interview! Ron noticed that I was looking at my watch and getting stressed so he asked me what was wrong. I told him that I was late for a job interview and he said "Are you looking for a job?" I thought that was a silly question following my previous statement but I said yes. At that Ron smiled and said he had an opening and would love to continue our conversation in his office. About an hour later, with my face aching from laughter, I was an employee of Shopsmith Inc!

Lots of other things happened after that, but in total I was an employee for 10 years, as an in-store salesman, a store manager (twice) and as an Academy Instructor. Oh yeah, in 1987 I finally became the proud owner of a Shopsmith Mark V Model 510!

Congratulations to Woodcraft's sweepstakes winner!

2012-01-06T12:32:00.001-08:00

While my subject line really says it all, here's a link to the Woodcraft blog where you can learn even more: http://blog.woodcraft.com/?p=16399

I love that the photo in the blog post shows the winner, Robert, with his Shopsmith Mark V! Even though for many years when I was a Shopsmith store manager, Woodcraft was my competitor, I developed a strong respect for the way they service their customers, not only with their product selection, but with their excellent corporate and retail crews.

Sweepstakes like this are an exciting way for tool manufactures to show-off their latest innovations, and a great way for Woodcraft to spread a little excitement. Congratulations to Robert, and thank you Woodcraft for being a true leader within our industry and more importantly, within our communities.

Kreg K4 jig with a butt-load of free screws

2011-10-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

I don't know if there is anything I can say about this jig beyond what you already know. I got my first aluminum K2 Kreg jig over 15 years ago, and though it is still in good working order I purchased the plastic K2000 Kreg jig a few years ago because my original jig was designed only for 3/4" stock.

The K2000 jig that I own and use today requires that I partially disassemble it and add shims if I change the stock thickness. Seeing that my old jig wouldn't even accommodate this I thought it was a huge improvement. The new K4 (shown at right) has a slick feature that allows you to quickly adjust it for a wide range of stock thicknesses.

I originally thought that I'd use the K2 in the drill press mode of my Mark V, and though I did use it that way once, it just didn't make sense. I now have a dedicated corded drill that I picked-up at either Big Lots or Harbor Freight for drilling with the step bit, and I usually drive the screws with a small cordless lithium ion powered driver.

My K2000 Kreg jig was used extensively in the construction of a sleigh that was the focus point of our daughter's winter-themed wedding, and on the six-cheese nacho cheese fountain that was featured at my son's wedding. Yeah, you read that right. We even made a build-blog about that one, but that's another story. Anyway, while I am still a big fan of traditional Mortise and Tenon joinery, there's no match for the ease and speed of a pocket joint for face frames and simple butt joints, and let's face it; not every project deserves that degree of craftsmanship.

If you don't already have one of the newer adjustable Kreg jigs, Woodcraft has a great deal going on the current K4 Kreg Master System that deserves your attention. They are throwing-in a bunch of screws that themselves make-up the difference between this offer and their standard $99 kit. In addition to the screws they also include a handy assembly clamp and a few other goodies that will come in handy.

Check it out. Scott

Kreg K4 Jig at Woodcraft.com

For fun, here's a link to our Instructable where we show how we built our 6 Cheese Nacho Cheese Fountain. You can even see the K2000 in use: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Build-A-8220Talladega-Nights8221-Insp/

Shopsmith Launches New Line of Ceramic Abrasives

2011-08-11T07:54:00.001-07:00

I "liked" Shopsmith's Facebook page some time ago, and for the most part their posts are short versions of the same content that I read in their marketing emails. But every now and then a photo on their post will catch my eye and draw me in. If you didn't know, Shopsmith is promoting a new line of abrasive products, and some of the posts on FB have been about their excitement about being added to the inventory of LOWE's.

Here's the text from a recent post, and a couple pics.

We are proud to announce a ShopSmith line of professional quality abrasives that are sure to set the new standard in abrasive performance and quality for the "Next Generation"! A nation wide launch in coming in August, but a sneak peak of the product offering will be coming soon on future post.

Something about their packaging seemed familiar to me, so I did a little Googling and confirmed my suspicions: This product is made by Ali Industries. Ali is located in my birthplace of Fairborn, Ohio, and is a manufacturer of a lot of the private label "store brand" abrasives that you may have purchased over the years. Normally when I think of store brands I think generic, but after discovering Ali abrasives some 20 years ago I actually look for their little alligator logo in the small print on the back of the package. I've found it on Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware and a few other packages over the years, but so many of these products have gone to the lowest bidder now.

The most interesting thing that I learned was about the name or branding of the product. Here's the first part:

On Monday, July 18, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark for ALI INDUSTRIES, INC. registration number 85046037 was abandoned having the name G2 CERAMIC 2000. The Reason provided as ABANDONED - NO STATEMENT OF USE FILED
So, Ali Industries abandoned their trademark for G2 ceramic abrasives. Here's where it gets interesting though:

On Wednesday, July 13, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING. This trademark is owned by ALI INDUSTRIES, INC., FAIRBORN, OH 45324. The USPTO has given the SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING trademark serial number of 85369944 The current federal status of this trademark filing is NEW APPLICATION - RECORD INITIALIZED NOT ASSIGNED TO EXAMINER. The correspondent listed for SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING is R. WILLIAM GRAHAM of A PAT..., 3340 ..., P. O. BOX 752125 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73120 . The SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING trademark is filed in the category of Cosmetics and Cleaning Products , Machinery Products , Hand Tool Products . The description provided to the USPTO for SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING is Abrasive products for sanding, namely, coated abrasives and sandpaper in the form of sanding strips, sheets, belts, spindles, and discs, emery cloths, and sanding screens in the nature of abrasive cloth.

Interesting, huh? RLFShop is the owner of the Shopsmith and Shop Smith trademark, but it looks like they've licensed the name to Ali, who has trademarked the "SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING" slogan. So what does all this really mean? Nuthin'.

Ceramics are excellent abrasives, and I also see that some of their products are what is called "film back". Cloth and paper has a texture to it, and when you cover that texture with abrasive particles they points of the abrasives will protrude from the paper at different heights, which causes scratches that will be amplified by your finish. With a film back the abrasives are bonded to a dead-flat piece of film, so you don't get these flaws.
I've used a LOT of brands, and have been impressed by ceramics and film back products, so I can't wait to try it and to see how this all works out. As I said, Ali Knows abrasives, and I know that Jim McCann of Shopsmith knows abrasives, finishing and sharpening better than 99.999% of the Woodworkers you've heard of, so with their powers combined (like the Wonder Twins) this could be a very good thing indeed.

Here's a video of the man himself, Mr. Jim-Bob McCann, playing with this new abrasive on a Shopsmith Mark V.

Learn more at Shopsmith's site.

DEWALT DWP611PK Compact Router Kit Killer Deal!

2011-08-09T14:29:00.001-07:00

DeWalt and Porter-Cable (Both manufactured by B&D) recently introduced similar compact router sets. The motor is slightly larger than a traditional trim router, but what you get for the extra girth is a height adjustment that is second to none.

Below is a video from "John the TIA guru" that runs the Dewalt Owners Group. In the video John does a run down on the DEWALT DWP611PK Compact Router.

These kits are priced in the $199 range for a fixed base and a plunge base, but at this moment they are both on sale at Woodcraft. The DeWalt has an even sweeter deal going:
You can save 10% Now Through August 27, 2011 AND... Receive a FREE 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander with Mail-In Rebate through August 15!

Click this link for the DEWALT DWP611PK Compact Router Kit at Woodcraft

Click this link for the Porter-Cable 450PK Compact Router Kit at Woodcraft

Ever See a Hen's Tooth?

2011-08-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

"They" say that something that is hard to find is as rare as a hen's tooth, and today I think I found one. WAY back in the late 1980's Lee Valley, a Canadian woodworking tool company, published a neat book that they called the Woodworker's Logbook. It was a hard cover 3 ring binder with a couple hundred loose-leaf pages of charts, measurements and other useful things for the woodworker.

Lee Valley described it as:
More than just a record-keeping book, the Woodworker's Logbook is a compendium of essential information for the shop. Standard furniture heights, depths and widths, lumber and plywood standards, pre-drill sizes for screws, bit operating speeds (to ensure you never watch another expensive bit turn blue) and a guide to knock-down hardware are included along with numerous other tables and guidelines.

It also had a simple inventory record system that let you compile and readily update the cost and replacement value of your hand and power tools, lumber stock, etc., for insurance claims.

Additionally the indexed project section is designed by woodworkers to allowed you to record information specific to various pieces you built in an easily accessible format. Exact molding profiles, critical dimensions of a piece and the materials you used could be recorded conveniently, which makes it much more likely that you will keep the records you often wish you had.

The logbook was supplied with ruled, graph and tracing paper and was in a durable 2-½" thick three-ring binder that opens flat, allowing easy page reorganization or addition.

Why do I mention all this? Because I can't find my copy to save my life, so I decided to just hop onto the "Interwebs" and purchase another copy... and that's when I hit the brick wall. First off I couldn't remember the title, so I was searching "Woodworking resource book". Then I added the word "chart" to that search, because I knew it had charts. Nothin'. How about adding the name Lee Valley? Ya know, I think they were launching the name Veritas at that time, so let's add that to the search too.

I finally went to the Wayback Machine and searched a ten year old version of the Lee Valley site and there it was!

Good, I have the title, so now I'll just search THAT and I'll surely be bombarded with reliant hits. NOT!
This book, when it can be found, is selling for upward of $100! USED!

So, here's a link to an eBay search for this book, but keep in mind that it will rarely be posted for sale, and when it does I will be bidding against you!

Click this link to find your own copy of the Woodworker's Logbook for Sale on eBay.

WoodRiver Benchtop Mortiser with FREE Chisels and Bits!

2011-07-29T21:28:00.001-07:00

If you are interested in handsome and strong joinery you already know that mortise and tenon joints are the way to go. Yes, pocket hole joinery is all the rage, and I have three Kreg jigs myself, but when I want to build furniture that will be passed-down to my grand kids I know I'll be making mortises and dovetails.
Try as I might I was never able to get good results mortising with my Mark V. It takes a LOT of force to drive a four-sided chisel into a block of hardwood, and not only does the quill handle suffer from a size problem, but just as you make some progress the table wants to move on ya. This is not a good prize, especially because Murphy's Law dictates that you won't notice that your mortises are not as deep as you planned until some time after removing all of the mortising gear from your Mark V.
My mortiser is a PowerMatic 719, which wouldn't ya know I purchased just months before the 719T with tilting table was released. (Grumble). Before forking out the big bucks for my mortiser I researched all the tabletop units, and I just wasn't going to be able to cut the mortise depths that many of the projects I had planned would require. At the time the market was dominated by Delta, Jet and a couple questionable no-name imports.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I was at my local Woodcraft the other day and at a Rockler a couple weeks back and was amazed at the improvements that have been made in benchtop units. The one that caught my eye was the WoodRiver at Woodcraft, which as a huge base with extensions that expand to 35" in width to support for your stock. This unit has a firm fence and rollers that act as hold-ins to keep your stock firmly against the fence. The fence is made of cast iron and is adjusted with a rack and pinion that reminds me of a mini version of the fence on my Delta jointer.

One of the biggest hassles that benchtop mortisers tend to introduce is caused by very limited access to the drill chuck. The WoodRiver has two HUGE clear plastic doors that swing open for practically unhindered access. Another neat thing about this design is that because the doors are clear they allow plenty of light to make bit changes as easy as I've ever seen.

Another advantage of this unit wasn't obvious from a study of the manual: It's ambidextrous. The two access doors swing open on both the right and the left. Likewise, as you can see from the bottom photo, the lever handle can be mounted left or right. With the switchbox on the left I thought there might be a problem using it on the left, but nope, she worked just fine.

The thing that really surprised me was that it comes with a full set of four chisels and bits and the mortiser has a full 5" depth of cut! Seeing this made me curious, so I measured my PowerMatic and learned that while it has a 6" stroke, all of my chisels are 5" long!
So, if you are in the market for a great looking, reasonably priced mortiser, check the WoodRiver out at your local Woodcraft.
BTW, until Aug 27th this mortising machine is on sale for $234.99 at this link: WoodRiver Mortiser with Chisels and Bits

KILLER DEAL on Woodcraft's WoodRiver 4-Piece Parallel Bar Clamp Set

2011-07-28T17:17:00.001-07:00

I remember back in 1987 when I was the manager of Shopsmith's "Boston" store, and I gat a call for the Director of Marketing at Shopsmith back in Dayton with an odd request. He told me that he'd be faxing me a list of items and an address where he wanted them delivered, assembled and aligned, ready to use.
OK.
That was a very odd request, seeing that we didn't deliver, set-up, or align tools for anyone! It turned-out that this was heading to the home of WGBH's Russell Moreash to be used on the set of a new show called The New Yankee Workshop.
I've written about what happened next elsewhere on this blog, but what I've never written about was the one tool in Norm's shop that left me completely amazed. Norm had a stack of the then-new Bessey K-Body parallel bar clamps! These things were AMAZING! I asked if it was OK to play with them a bit, and Russ said "Sure, Mark". My name is Scott BTW, but this time it didn't bother me because there were new tools to be discovered.
There were a couple lose but jointed boards laying on the bench near the clamps and for the next few minutes I stumbled and fumbled with the clamps until I realized that they wood was able to rest on the bars and would be clamped with even, square pressure no matter where they were against the tall jaws. Cool! Under pressure the thick steel I-Beam bars showed very little sign of bowing, and to my pleasure I learned from Russ that they could be used to clamp wood on any side of the jaws. That means they can be laid flat on a board with the jaws running along the edge of the board and clamp with the full 6" or so of their jaw's face. Double Cool!
Over the yeas since this encounter with the Bessey K-Body I've amassed an impressive collection of a couple of these clamps. I mean, come-on, have you priced them? And the new version doesn't impress me at all. The removable/replaceable jaw covers are always slipping! No, for me I'll take the original style parallel bar clamp.
Fortunately several other companies have introduced their own versions of the originalK-Body design, and some of them are very nice. I've used the Jorgensen and liked them very much. The Jet is also very nice, and except for the fact that they aren't sold at many places they may be worth taking a look at. The Irwin was being used at our local SkillsUS contest where I was a judge, and they had a bit of a bending problem that showed itself by allowing the jaws do deflect way out of parallel.

I just noticed that WoodCraft is having a sale on their parallel clamps that's a really good deal. The regular price for this set is $169, but they have them on sale for $99.99! When I saw the flier I though to myself "Yeah, I'll be the set has four 20" clamps, or some such rarely-used size", but boy was I wrong. The kit has four clamps, Two (2) of the 24" and two (2) of the 40"s. This is exactly the sizes I use when assembling kitchen cabinets! The other thing that the set includes is a set of corner blocks that I'd bet a bunch of folks will never use. Big mistake! These four blocks allow you to create a four-sided clamping jig for assembling boxes and cabinets. I use my Bessey corner blocks almost every time I reach for the clamps, andI hate to think what I paid for my set. OK, I'll think about it; I paid at least $25 for my set!

This Four-piece Clamp Set is only $99 throughout Aug 27th, as are some of the individual WoodRiver parallel bar clamps, so this looks like a great time to stock-up for our soon to come Fall projects.

Click this link to be magically transported to the Woodcraft web page for the Woodcraft WoodRiver 4-Piece Parallel Bar Clamp Set

Woodcraft has a great deal going on a nice 170 piece Brad Point Drill Bit Set

2011-07-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

I was at our local Woodcraft store the other day, and while my bride sat patiently in the car I rummaged through their router bits looking for just the right one. As I made my way to the checkout I was stopped dead in my tracks by a special that was on an end cap.

Until the end of August they have sets of 170 titanium nitride coated brad point drill bits for $29!, which is $10 less than the last time I found it on sale!

The set has 5 - 10 bits of each size: 1⁄16", 5⁄64", 3⁄32", 7⁄64", 1⁄8", 9⁄64", 5⁄32", 11⁄64", 3⁄16", 13⁄64", 7⁄32", 15⁄64", 1⁄4", 17⁄64", 9⁄32", 5⁄16", 21⁄64", 11⁄32" & 3⁄8"

The set is in a nice box, and it also includes a drill size gauge.

I'm not usually a sucker for TiN coated bits, because I've seen too many sets at Harbor Freight where the manufacturer obviously coats the bits that have the worse edges in order to hide their sins. What a scam! They take their defective bits and put 50 cents of electroplating on them and charge a premium! Anyway, TiN coatings help to reduce heat on the cutting edge for increased bit life, and this Woodcraft set looks very nice.

Take a look at this set at Woodcraft.com

Pleas note, this sale ends Aug 27th 2011
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

HEADS UP! Shopsmith to appear on PAWN STARTS tonight! (7/25/2011)

2011-07-25T14:22:00.000-07:00
I know that this is short notice, but Pawn Stars will feature a look at a 1950s Shopsmith woodworking machine! Being a '50s era machine means they won't be offering much for it, but I'll be curious to see if they bring in an expert to give some background on it. It's on th History Channel at 10 p.m. tonight, July 25th, 2011.

Revised: Ha ha! Just as I thought. They had a guy call them and invite them to his home where he wanted to show them his old Shopsmith. Rick and the "Old Man" went and it turned out to be an 10ER. As you would imagine, the conversation went something like this:

Rick: What a pile of junk!
Old Man: No it's not, that a piece of Americana!
Rick: How much do you want for it?

After some haggling they paid the guy $50

The 10ER sells for $250 every day on eBay, so as long as they don't put too high a ticket price on it in their store, they'll do just fine on it.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Rockler Pock-it Hole Clamp

2011-06-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

Whenever I can I love to stop by Rockler. Understand that isn't as easy as it once was because they closed the High Point NC (home) Rockler a couple years back, so I have to drop-by their stores wherever I happen to stumble upon them. I'm in Torrance (LA) CA this week and my hotel is less than 1/4 mile for Rockler, so I had to visit today. As usual they have a sale going on and there were two things that I had to tell you about.
The fist one is a simple little do-dad that is simply a rare-earth magnet in a little plastic housing that slips smugly not the end of a tape measure to help you measure over long distances. What's funny is that I've got a rare-earth magnet on the tip of one of my tapes back at home for just this very thing, but because it isn't attached it's always getting attracted t metal stuff and slipping off when I lease expect it. This little thing is called a "Magnatip", and it normally sells for $3.50, but during the sale they are three for $3.49. I left with four of them.

The other thing that I couldn't walk out without was a Rockler exclusive item called Pock-it Hole Clamp. This neat little tool is designed to hold a butt joint together while you drive a picket hole screw into place. This simple little task has caused me countless hours of frustration with parts slipping around, so I was thinking abut picking-up one of these $20 gadgets. In the Rockler catalog they are $19.99, or four for $17.99 each. I had one in my hand and was reading the back if the package when I noticed the sale sign that said they were only $12.99 each!
Check out this new pocket hole joinery clamp in this video from Rockler and get a couple today while they are on this excellent sale.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RYU2dhUaHs
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Giving Bogsy app on my iPad a try

2011-06-20T04:34:00.001-07:00

With as much time as I spend on my computer, smart phone and iPad you'd think I could be better about posting on my blogs and Twitter. One problem is that there are large spans of time between useful thoughts! Seriously, I've been looking for a way to get better at this so I recently purchased this iPad (I'm typing on the silly screen at this very moment) and at my son's suggestion I purchased the app "Blogsy". What's Blogsy? Good question. So far it looks a lot like a Word document or even typing a Blogger post, but the real magic seems to be when you add photos and multimedia to a post. I'll have to do a lot of playing with it, but it promises to make this process a little easer. I'll let you know how that works out.
I've just used the drop and drag feature to add the Youtube video to this post. That was very easy!
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

But I digress...

2011-06-14T10:45:00.000-07:00
This just made me smile.

I dream of a better world... by PatentPlaceUSA
Become a t-shirt affiliate for Zazzle.

"I dream of a better world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned" Tee shirt.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Harbor Freight Tools? Really?

2011-06-13T14:55:00.000-07:00
It never fails to stop my tool-snob buddies in their tracks when they walk through my shop and past my Shopsmith Mark V's, my Powermatic 66 table saw, my Delta 14" bandsaw and jointer, my DeWalt planer and other very nice tools that I've been blessed to own, only to find my Harbor Freight tools on a shelf next to my bench. "Do you really use THOSE tools?" usually comes next. Of course I do!

Sure, I've purchased my share of duds, but that can also be said of all the brands listed above too. The key is to first know your tool options well and study their construction and use them HARD the weekend you purchase them. If they're going to have a problem it'll be when you need them most, so put them to the test as soon as you get them and return them if something goes wrong.

I'm also a big proponent of buying their tools whenever they are on sale and you can always find a couple of their coupons in my money clip. (click the photo at right of today's actual haul)

The trick is knowing where to get the coupons. Of course you can keep an eye out on the mailers that come directly from HF, but the real trick is to find the coupons and the codes that they use to entice new shoppers. There are the truly sweet deals!

I have three favorite places to get these every month: Popular Mechanics, AAA magazine, National Geographic (Seriously!) and at this link: Harbor Freight Super Coupons: Save 30% to 60% Off!

I'm NEVER without a "20% off a single item" coupon, and usually I have another "Free Gift" coupon worth an LED flashlight, a set of screwdrivers or something generally useful.

Check the link above from time to time because those deals change often. You can either print them and take them to your local store, or click on them and purchase them from the HF site. With the price of gas these days being around $3.50 a gallon I've been finding their shipping charges to be less than a trip to my local store!

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

How can someone let this happen to a perfectly good Shopsmith Mark V?

2011-05-01T15:10:00.000-07:00
My adult daughter gave me a call yesterday to tell me that she just visited a yard sale where there was a Shopsmith Mark V of some sort that was for sale for $150. What's funny is that I'm still driving around with the Mark V and accessories in my van from last weekend because my shop has a dirt driveway and it's been raining all week. $150 is a great deal if the tool is in even half decent shape, do I drove to my shop and off-loaded the other Mark V and the four SPT's, and after popping a few Tylenol I was off the the other end of Greensboro.

As I approached the drive of the home I could see the Mark V out in the lawn near the road, along with an old washer, a table full of glassware and a couple other lawn and garden odds and ends. Sweet, it's a 510!
I jumped from my van and casually walked past the other items, feigning interest in a few, but all the while trying to assess the details of the Mark V. Finally I was standing in front of the tool and my heart sank.

Now, to put this tool into perspective I need to tell you about the Mark V that I saw that was in the worst condition ever. It was when I was working at the Shopsmith Factory store back in 1990ish and some poor fella had an almost new Mark V that went down in brackish water on a boat he had been restoring. It had been under water for ten days when they finally raised the boat, and his insurance man advised him not to touch anything until everything had been inspected. Several weeks later he was finally able to start the clean-up process, and by that time rust had begun to seriously eat away at the way and bench tubes and the quill, and who knew what was going on inside the headstock.

He decided that a trip to the factory in Dayton was in order, so he strapped the Mark V to a borrowed flat bed trailer and started to pull away. Now, I don't know what clued him in, but after a few seconds on the road something made him stop to investigate and what he found was that the Mark V had fallen over and was hanging off the bed of the trailer and riding on one corner of the headstock casting!

By the time we received this dog at the factory it was totally beyond repair. I'm sure his insurance company gave him something for it, but there was really nothing we could do. After an act of God, followed by poor moving skills, his Mark V was dead.

Back to this weekend.

The Mark V before me was missing a few items. No, it was missing a lot of items! The fence, the miter gauge, the upper and lower saw guard, the floating tables and support tubes, the support legs, the sanding disc, any saw arbors, and any safety equipment were all gone. It did have the drill chuck mounted on the quill, but the hex hey and the chuck key were missing, so whoopty freakin' do!   But here comes the worst part: The tool was covered in rust, corrosion and for some unknown reason about a quart worth of white paint drippings. It looked like someone had left this poor machine on an open porch and had used it as a work bench for painting bird houses!

Now, I don't know about you, but when I purchased my Mark V back in 1987 it was my most valued possession. To this day I cherish that very tool. The few times that I've entered my shop to see a little rust on the surface of my jointer, I dropped everything I was doing and nursed her back to health.

It is behind this backdrop that I ask, "How can someone allow this to happen?" I mean, I suppose the original owner may have died, and the new owner didn't value it. Or perhaps it was purchased in an auction for a song. I don't know, but I left that Mark V where I found it, and in a weird way I actually felt a loss not unlike the loss of a family member. I debated negotiating with the owner just so I could part it out and perhaps get some benefit from her death; but I just couldn't bring myself to talk to him.

Sorry but this isn't a happy post. I think I need to go wax my Mark V and assure her that this will never be her fate.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

See, it pays to shop at the Habitat for Humanity Restore

2011-04-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

Every other weekend or so I drop by the local Habitat for Humanity Restore to see the latest stuff. This weekend I was hoping that they'd still have a RTA (Ready To Assemble) cabinets that they had on my last visit. As I make my way past the front counter I noticed that just to my left they had a Shopsmith Mark V model 510 on display with a large price tag. I was almost past it when I noticed it, so I turned to get a better look at it as I continued to walk by. I could see that it was one of the first generation of the 510 because it had holes in the table tubes which is how Shopsmith originally bolted the tubes to the table. (See second pic) I also finally saw the sign that indicated that it was priced only $275! I though "Wow, someone's gonna get a good deal!"

As I rounded the corner I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks. It was a shopping cart parked next to the Mark V that contained a Shopsmith bandsaw. The table was cast iron, so it was probably purchased with the Mark V in the mid to late 1980's. Just behind the bandsaw in the shopping cart and standing uptight was a Shopsmith 4" Jointer. Now I had to know what all was included in this sale, and if these items were priced separately. I looked around the outside of the cart and found another $275 sign. Is that just a coincidence, or are they trying to say that it's included with the Mark V?

The cart also contained push blocks and what looked like most of the Mark V's accessories, and as I looked-up to take a better look at the Mark V I finally notices the SECOND SHOPPING CART! This cart also had a $275 sign. I looked over at the check-out counter and saw that despite a line of a half-dozen customers ahead of me, the cashier was just wrapping-up with a customer, so I made eye contact with her and while pointing at the tools asked "Is that $275 for each, or for all? She replied "It's for all", and I said "I'LL TAKE IT!

I still had to check on the cabinet that I was there for, and after anxiously loading one onto a flat-bed cart I made my way back to check-out and paid for my new Mark V!

There were a couple HFH workers on the loading dock, and their supervisor had them each grab a load and bring to to the back of my van so I could load it. They were amazed that I was able to load the Mark V by myself, and I explained the little trick that I learned while working for Shopsmith about moving the headstock to the low end while lifting one end of the MKV, and then sliding the headstock up the waytubes and then lifting the other end.

The guys then brought the shopping carts out and a large Rubbermaid tub. I hadn't noticed it before, but without questioning it I popped the lid to make sure that it was Shopsmith related. Inside was a stack of new, boxed bandsaw blades, the Mark V's owners manual and several other things. Yep, they belong together, so I tossed it into the front seat and returned to load the rest of the stuff.

The first cart contained the bandsaw and jointer and to my surprise an early Shopsmith lathe duplicator!

The second cart contained a few surprises too. It had a SS jigsaw and better yet a SS 6" belt sander! The pic shows my van with everything including the cabinet jammed into my van. (Click the pic to Biggie Size It.)

Everything needs some TLC, and I'm thinking about shooting some video as I clean her up and do a few repairs and upgrades.

Finally, let me encourage you to drop by your local Habitat for Humanity Restore or Goodwill or Salvation Army store and leave some of your money. I used to think that these stores were for folks who were down on their luck; but after working on a few HFH bulids and with a couple Christmas toy builds with St Vincent DePaul, I learned that these stores employ some sweet and hard-working folks who may otherwise be considered unemployable, and the cash that they make from the sales help them do the good works that they do.

Lots more to come. Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Hey Shopsmith Owners... Wanna Win a FREE Mug?

2011-04-07T15:21:00.000-07:00
I can't tell if it's just that I'm feeling narcissistic or lonely, but it's just been too quiet around here for me. So let's do something about it. Click on the title link above to get to the page where you can leave a comment, and tell me what Shopsmith tools you own and what you like to build. If you play along I'll put you in a drawing for a free mug like the one shown below in your choice of colors shown at the link. This little game will run from now (4/7/11) until some time next week. I'll announce the winner right here next week. Scott

I Wish I Had A ShopSmith. by PatentPlaceUSA
Start selling my art online with zazzle.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

A KILLER Deal on the DeWalt 13" DW735X Planer, with LOTS of FREEBIES!

2011-04-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I wrote a post about my "new" reconditioned DeWalt 13" planer. I've owned a few dozen planers and this one is just spectacular: It's fast, leaves an incredibly smooth finish, and the blade changes are a snap. I purchased the reconditioned unit because deep down I am frugal and at the time no one, and I mean No ONE was discounting this planer. What a difference a few years makes.

Woodcraft currently is offering the DeWalt 735X at $30 off their normal price, but in addition to that they are throwing in a spare set of knives, the normally optional infeed and outfeed tables (I'm jealous) and best of all a FREE DeWalt trim router!

Check-out the link below for more details.

Click here for the Killer DeWalt 13" Planer Package
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How About a Pop in the Mouth?

2011-03-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Last month I entered a step-by-step instruction on how to make a unique dessert at a neat website called Instructable.com. My favorite son-in-law Nathan made a silly suggestion one evening, and like a lot of silly things it sparked my curiosity. So we invented something we call "Cake-Pie" and let me tell you, it's excellent! Several months later I noticed that Instructables.com was doing a dessert contest and the top prize was something that I'd been investigating: SodaStream

SodaStream is a counter-top "pop" maker (I'm from Ohio), and based on my super-human pop consumption it made sense to me that an in-home soda maker was my "density" :-) . The winner of the contest would win one of their top of the line units, while a couple runners up would win one of the mid-priced units. I figured that even if I was a runner up I would walk away with over $100 in prizes, so why no?

It took a few evenings to write my Instructable and I entered the contest. Here's the OREO Cake-Pie Instructable. Long story short I am now the proud owner of a SodaStream Home Soda Maker!

The unit is self-contained and best of all it's not electric; so it's just about the only think on the kitchen counter that's not hogging an outlet! At its core is a proprietary CO2 canister, which had me a little concerned because the last thing I need is to be locked into an expensive consumable. Fortunately I found these for sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond and was also pleased to learn that the $30 price sticker (!) included a $15 deposit, so that, added to the cost of flavors would make the resulting 1 liter less than .50 cents.

My wife's favorite thing is that for the first time in who knows how many years, the kitchen, fridge and cars aren't overflowing with 2 liter bottles! As for me I like that we aren't hauling all those full bottles in and empty bottles out, and best of all the pop is always fresh!

Here are a few shots of the unit in action.

The top pic shows most of what was included in the kit. The larger bottles were purchased locally and from what I can see from the SodaStream website the unit shown normally comes with one each of the sample packs shown. The unit also came with two heavy 1 liter bottles, which have a nice wide mouth that makes adding the flavors a breeze.

The prize I won included two sets of the sample flavors, so we've been having fun trying them all out. I've enjoyed the diet drinks, including a cola, a Dr. Pepper taste-alike, a wonderful lemon-lime flavor that is probably closer to Sprite than 7UP.

My bride raved about the diet root beer, which like the caffeine-free cola is sodium free. We haven't tapped into the fruit flavoring yet, but one surprising thing we read on the package was that it doesn't require a large amount to flavor water. That'll be nice for when I'm not in a cola mood.

To use the SodaStream you first fill the bottle to the fill line with cold tap water. I originally thought that I would have to break-out the Brita filter, but I'm happy that I tried it straight from the tap first, because it's just fine.

Anyway, you fill the bottle then screw it onto the female threads on the unit. You'll notice in the top photo that there's a short white tube that dangles a short distance into the water. This is where the CO2 is propelled into the water.

It takes a few short bursts of gas to fully charge the water, and you know when it's done when the unit makes a funny buzzing sound as you press the button. The sticker on the unit says that three buzzes will give you the typical fizz, but for the caffeine-free cola I just need a little more fizz, so I've been giving it a few more shots.

One neat feature that I didn't notice at first (no, I didn't read the instructions) was that the threads that hold the bottle in place will allow the bottom the the bottle to swing forward while it's attached to the unit. "Cool" I thought, "That'll make it easier to remove". But the first time I used it I was surprised by the "WOOSH" of gas that was released when I swung it forward. Why didn't I know that before? All the previous batches I made released a rush of CO2 as I twisted them off the unit, and in some cases it gave me an unexpected spritz of mist. Now that I know how to use it I'm able to remove the bottles and stay dry too!

The bottom pic shows the unit in action.

Here's a link to the SodaStream site.
Here's a link to SodaStream items on eBay.

Here's the Cake-Pie video

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Posters using Comment Kahuna, Fast Blog Finder and other SEO tools are driving me nuts!

2011-03-23T12:10:00.000-07:00
For those of you civilians (non-web-geeks) who are here just for the woodworking and tool advice; God bless you! Unfortunately we have been besieged in recent weeks with outrageous amounts of spam comments on our blogs. One of the things that I’ll admit up front is that Blogger makes is a little tough to comment as it is. You need to first click on the title (which is a link) to get to the individual post, and then you are able to post a comment. Apparently webmasters and bloggers who are looking to boost traffic to their sites are using software such as “Comment Kahuna” and “Fast Blog Finder” to locate blogs that are somewhat related to the keywords they use on their own site, and which accept comments. From there they post a comment and a backlink to their site.

This does two things:
1. It may attract readers directly from the blog, or
2. By having a non-reciprocal link from another, well respected site, it lends credibility to their own site in the eyes of search engines like Google. This is what is known as SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

What is sad is that this activity doesn’t have to be entirely one-sided; it’s just that the spammers are posting nonsensical and off topic comments all in the effort to serve their own desires. Look, to be honest with you I’ve posted comments on other sites with this very goal in mind, but when I do so I only reply to a post or thread that I am truly interested in, or where I feel my comment will add some value to the conversation.

So, let it be known from this day forward that while I will continue to accept and even encourage comments, I will moderate them carefully. Feel free to backlink to your related sites and blogs, but if your comment is entirely self-serving it will be deleted.

Now, back to the shop. What are you building these days?
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

An AWESOME deal on my favorite Router and Biscuit Joiner.

2011-02-05T16:15:00.000-08:00

Just a post or two back I mentioned my router obsession and more importantly my favorite router; the Porter-Cable 690 series. Over the years Porter-Cable (P-C) has made several of my favorite tools; but the other stand-out is the P-C 557 Plate (Biscuit) Joiner. It has the smoothest, tool-less fence and plunge action of all the biscuit joiners on the market. In fact, until the Festool Domino hit the market the 557 was the joinery tool on everyone's tongue.

I mention all this because as I was reviewing the most recent Woodcraft sales flier again before tossing it into the recycle bin I noticed something that I missed on my first read-through. Until March 3rd if you purchase the 557 Plate Joiner for $219.99 you'll get the P-C 690LR fixed base router for FREE!

I just checked the deal at Woodcraft.com and it looks like they are out of stock, but taking pre-orders that they will honor once they are back in stock! If you need EITHER of these tools this is the best deal I've ever seen, so jump on it!
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Looking for a dream router table? Here's a few tips.

2011-02-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

i think I've mentioned my router obsession before, but I don't think I've talked about router tables. The short story is that I don't like most prefabbed router tables. Why? Well, for starters they are too expensive. I mean, if you wanted to spend $600+ to shape edges you might as well go for a shaper. So many of today's router table manufacturers seem to be obsessed with router lifts and dials and other gimmicks. For years I made intricate and fine-detailed joints that made observers jealous; all the while my router table was a discarded sink-cut-out with a smoothly-planed 2 X 4.

I've never liked a miter slot on a router table, and I really would care less if there's a plate to support the router. No, that's not true. If given the choice I would prefer NOT to have a router plate.

Now before you click the back button on your browser let me tell you a little more about my love of routers and router tables. Currently (As of 2/3/11) I own 14 routers. I have trim routers, fixed base routers, plunge routers, a router arm, a horizontal router and several shop-made router tables. I have more money tied-up in router bits than most woodworkers have in their tablesaw! I don't say this to brag, but to make the point that I know a little something about routers.

Don't get me wrong, I like some of the features of commercial router tables:

An easily adjustable fence. I look for a fence with two fixing points, and it is imperative that it can pivot on one fixed point. This is the reason that a miter slot is useless on a router table. If I need to make a 1/32" adjustment on the position of the fence, I should be able to loosen one knob and pivot the fence slightly to move it into the correct location. If it must be kept parallel to a miter slot them I would have to loosen BOTH fixing knobs and accurately move the fence evenly on both ends of the table.

Convenient and effective dust collection and containment. I prefer an enclosed base on a router table, but that doesn't mean it has to be a heavy cabinet. One of the best router tables I made had a simple particle board box as it's base with two holes drilled through it that provided a smug fit for a standard ShopVac hose. I used to keep one port open and the other was connected to the vac, and let me tell ya, that thing SUCKED! Depending on what type of routing you are doing depends on the best dust collection arrangement. Edge routing will toss the chips to the rear of the cutter; so dust collection in the fence is a must. If instead you are routing "inboard", your dust will get tossed ahead of the cutter and get sucked into the base by the bit and the motor. I don't worry about the dust that gets tossed out ahead of the cutter; except to compensate for this by raising any stop blocks off the surface of the table where these chips might gather and throw-off my stop setting.

If there's a router plate it must be rock solid and flat! I recently used a Ryobi router table that was quite impressive, except that it had a thin plastic table insert that could never be made level and slowly developed a concave shape that effected my joinery. Imagine plowing a sliding dovetail in the post of a three-leg Shaker candle stand table. The dovetail bit starts into the wood at the low center of the plate, but as the bit continues into it's cut the leading edge begins to ride up and out of the dished router plate. This makes the dovetail slot shallow at the end of the cut, and therefore the properly dovetailed legs will have a gap where the shoulder of the dovetail at the top of the leg is set too shallow into the post. Yuck.

The table insert plate must be either smooth aluminum or a thick, non-warping plastic like phenolic resin. It should have a snug fit in the table with almost no gap between the table and the plate, and the more adjustment points beneath the table to level the plate the better. Because I know I'll be lifting the plate in and out to change bits I prefer not to bolt the plate down. The weight of the router motor and plate should keep it in place, and the only way it's going to lift out on it's own is during a cut; and because I'll be pressing down on it with a piece of wood, this is highly unlikely. But if the plate is loose in the table in may twist and shift in relation to the fence, so the tight fit is critical.

On a related note, you're going to want an insert with inserts of it's own. Huh? You know what I mean! That cut-out in the middle of the table where the bits poke through needs to be as tight to the bit as you can make it; so that means you need to be able to quickly swap them out. On my last project I used three different diameter bits, and as luck would have it I used three different inserts.

Unless it's a feature of the router itself, I don't consider a router lift a must-have accessory. They are outrageously to the cost of a router table, and every time you swap bits (all the time) you'll have to re-set the dial or depth gauge. I'd rather just get the router back into the table and use a Incra Gauge to tweak it to the proper height. I seriously do this in less than ten seconds and didn't have to spend $200 that I could invest in bits.

I can't believe how much I've grown to depend on this, but I MUST have an auxiliary switch. One of my favorite routers is the fixed-base Porter-Cable 690 series (I have 6 of them), which rotates on it's base as you adjust the bit height. That means that you never know where the switch will wind-up! By plugging the router motor into a table-mounted switch there's no question where to flip that sucker off if something feels wrong.

So where is all this going? I recently conducted a series of classes at my work where I needed a router table. Rather than dragging one of my personal router tables in from my shop I decided to purchase one. I visited three woodworking stores and shopped several online specialty outlets before deciding on a router table that turned out the be a real winner. The router table that I purchased is the JessEm Benchtop "Rout-R-Table" which I bought at Woodcraft.

I had over 50 people routing grooves on the edges of Baltic birch ply and plowing stop slot-mortises.   I stopped counting when the tenth person complimented me on the router table. While not a large table, this tool is perfect for portable use (I took it back and forth from my person shop and my employer's shop several times over two weeks) and will store snugly under a workbench or in a base cabinet. The base of the table is made of solid steel tubing; and it has a slick ballistic nylon enclosure that captured all the below-table dust without a dust collector attached to it. Not that we couldn't attached a vac to it, we just left it on the fence port and before we knew it we made the observation that the "base bag" was trapping all the bottom dust. Very cool.

The fence is everything I was looking for. Two firm locking points with tall knobs. While the body of the fence is anodized aluminum, the two adjustable and sacrificial fence faces are laminated MDF. The dust port worked perfectly, though we did have to use a roll of "silver dust hose adapter tape" to attache the odd metric hose from our stupid European dust collector. 100mm? Really? What's up with that?

Anyway, click the link above to see this neat router table at Woodcraft.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

A Killer Deal on a set of Irwin Marathon Thin Kerf Blades

2011-01-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

I've been using Irwin Marathon thin kerf saw blades for over 15 years, and I couldn't give a stronger recommendation. As a Shopsmith Mark V owner one of the issues that we have to deal with is it can be a little weak at sawing speed. In fact, there are times that I've slowed the Mark V down to speed-up the blade, as it has more torque at lower speeds. Over 20 years ago I fell in love with the Forrest Woodwork II thin kerf blade. It's thinner than the average blade, so it makes your saw feel like it's got a larger motor; and it actually reduces the amount of dust that's created when you saw.

(Cue the sad music)

One weekend I chipped a tooth on my FWWII, and it you know anything about carbide blades that means it can't be used until it gets fixed. I knew I had to buy a replacement ASAP but my budget just couldn't justify another Forrest. I found out that the Irwin Marathon was a fraction of the FWWII and though I had low expectations of it I figured it would get me through until I got the FWWII fixed. What I found was that the Marathon cut just as fast as the Forrest, and my Mark V had all the power I had come to expect from a thin kerf blade. Best of all the Marathon cut almost as smoothly as the Forrest.

I just noticed that Rockler has a deal going on a pair of Marathon blades, so if you are in the market for a new blade it's a great deal on a great set. Here's more info and a link to the deal on their site:

Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 80T Blade
get a FREE 24T thin-kerf rip blade — a $79.98 value for less than $50! This set will take care of everything from ripping rough lumber to the finest finish work. ---

This blades features micro-grain C3 tungsten carbide tips for long life, and #400 grit diamond-ground teeth for fast, clean cuts. The thin kerfs mean less waste and less work for your saw, and fully hardened plates keep the blades running truer, longer. Features specially engineered heat vents to reduce heat and resin buildup. Precision tensioned and balanced for optimum accuracy. Unique reinforced shoulders adds stability and durability.

Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 24T Framing/Ripping Blade features 24 rugged teeth that will tear through Maple like it was Pine.
---
The Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 80T Trim/Finish Blade is perfect for mitering and other detail work. 5/8" arbor on both blades.
Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 80T Blade
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The Pen Is Mighter

2011-01-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

With all due respect to Mr. Sean Connery, Mark V owners are sitting on a gold mine. Pen turning is fun and challenging, and there are very few lathes that pack the pen-power of the Shopsmith.   While most pen turners are working on tiny little lathes, Mark V users have 1 1/8hp of juice behind them.
And have you seen the puny little tool rests on those little lathes? The tool rest on the Mark V is the ideal length for pens.

OK, so we have the lathe covered, but what about the drill press? That's right, many new turners think all they need is a lathe, but many of the projects we make require prep work prior to turning. A saw of some sort, such as a bandsaw is invaluable; but if you have pens in mind you must use a drill press to bore for the tube that is glued into the blank. The Mark V is an excellent drill press, but you'll soon find out that you'll need some help supporting the blank when drilling. For years I used a wooden-jaw hand screw clamp, but I've always have been keeping an eye out for a better way. Imagine what I thought when I saw the bad-boy in the photo above! This new Self Centering Pen and Bottle Stopper Drilling Vise solves the problem of position the blank perfectly every time. Click the link to check it out.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

That's What She Said

2010-12-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

One of these days I'm gonna start a blog that's dedicate exclusively to things that make me laugh; but until then this will just have to do. If you're a fan of The Office then you are familiar with the fine art of "That's what she said". Well, someone on Zazzle has taken a bunch of the trigger phrases and made a cool shirt with That's what she said hidden in the text.

I wonder if it comes in 3XL?
(All together now... )

That's What SHE Said by 220clothing
Create a customized tee shirt at zazzle
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A Tool You Can Take For Granite

2010-12-24T22:19:00.000-08:00

As you may have read I've been returning to the roots of woodworking by dusting off my hand tools and purchasing a few new planes. An important first step after purchasing a new plane is something called "Fettling", which is a pretentious way of saying prepping the plane by flattening the sole. While there are a few other things that also need to be checked and tweaked, the sole flattening is the biggie. I've successfully used wet/dry silicone oxide sandpaper for this, but the trick has always been finding an uber-flat surface to stick the paper. I was at Woodcraft today and noticed that they are now offering a large slab of granite for this operation, and I can't think of a better solution. Great idea Woodcraft!

This same set-up can be used for sharpening and honing your plane's iron (blade) and your chisels, using a rolling blade guide, so it's a multi-tasker too.

Check it out now at Woodcraft.com, because it's on killer sale through January 2011!
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Step-By-Step Shopsmith Mark V Conversion to 520 Pro

2010-11-22T14:31:00.000-08:00
In what has got to be the most complete step-by-step write-up of it's kind, since the creation of the Shopsmith Mark V, author "bhelgeson" has posted an amazing document on converting a Mark V to the new 520 Pro at Reviewboard.com. The photos alone are worth taking a look.

ShopSmith Upgrade Part 1 Model 520 Table Upgrade Hosted by Reviewboard Magazine Product Reviews For Consumers
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What's YOUR Zombie plan?

2010-10-29T13:36:00.000-07:00
A couple years ago my creative and odd nephew took it upon himself to ask EVERYONE who he met: "So, what's YOUR Zombie plan?" The varied responses he received were quite telling, but all in all people had fun with it. Fast forward to today when I stumbled across this poster on Zazzle that walks you through all the 3 steps to surviving infestations in the even of zombie attack! It's very cleverly written, and I'm sure everyone who sees it displayed in a prominent place will do a double-take.

IN THE EVENT OF ZOMBIE ATTACK by fearwerx
View other artwork at zazzle.com
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A Forstner Bit Quest

2010-10-22T20:56:00.000-07:00
Way back in 1885 Benjamin Forstner applied to the US Patent Office for a patent for a drill bit that to this day bears his name. The Forster bit was unique, because rather than being guided by an auger screw in the center of the cutter, this bit is guided by its almost continuous rim.

The original design is quite a bit different than it's modern cousins in that most new "Forstner-style" bits have been redesigned to make them easier to mass produce. How you say? Well, for one thing the original bits had almost zero center point, while today's bits have a pronounced point. Now, I have to admit that in most cases this larger point comes in handy. Imagine having a 1" hole to drill, and after marking the spot on your workpiece where you want your hole how are you going to center the bit on your mark? now, on the other side of this debate is the fact that if you need to drill a recess that doesn't pass all the way through the wood (think of this as a round mortise) most of today's bits are going to require a shallow bore, unless you're OK with the point poking through your workpiece.

As for the rim, in the old days the rim was almost a continuous rim with just two small breaks where the lifting cutters can be sharpened. The new design has two very large gaps in the rim that allows mechanical grinding and sharpening. This is fine for most drilling operations, but where it does create a huge difference is whenever you drill into the wood at an angle or drill overlapping holes in an effort to produce a slot mortise.

The other thing that has changed, and really it's for the best, is that on bits over about 1" they've changed the smooth rim to more of a saw-tooth design. The smooth rim runs very hot due to friction, and it wasn't uncommon for these bits to lose their temper in normal use. Not a good prize.

On that point, I was recently looking to make some slot mortises on my drill press when I remembers a unique Forstenr-inspired bit from Vermont American. Two features set this bit apart from all the others:
It has a single lifting flute, which means it has just a single gap in the rim. This made this bit a pleasure to use in angled entry and overlapping boring operations.
The second unique feature may sound like a drawback, bit it isn't: They are about 1/3 the length of other bits of a similar size. True, they can't drill as deeply, but they are very rigid. Again, this helps immensely in those angled and overlapping situations.
This bit was touted about 20 years ago in an issue or two of Woodsmith magazine, and I used some to great effect. Since my original set is long gone I hit the web to grab a new set... and that's where the problem began.

Apparently VA no longer makes this style of bit, but instead has adopted the modern design. DANG! The odd thing is that they didn't even change the part #.

I did a search of eBay and found someone who is selling 9 sets for four of these bits, so 'll be snatching-up a set of two. Click this link to see if any of the stubby Vermont American Forstner Bit sets are still available on eBay
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

A Simple Tool That I Can't Live Without: Incra Gauge

2010-10-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

I know that most of the posts on this blog have been about Shopsmith manufactured tools, but I was in the shop this weekend and I realized that I haven't mentioned one of my most-used tools: my Incra Gauge. This neat little tool is my center finder for doweling; it's my marking gauge for most joint layouts; it's the toll that I reach for whenever i need to set the depth of cut on my Mark V tablesaw when kerfing or dadoing; and it's the tool I use to set my rip fence on my saw and on my bandsaw. Outside of my Mark V it's the most handy multitasker in my shop.

The tool is only two identical plastic plates that are held together with a small carriage bolt and a knurled brass knob. Each side has a scale and a rack of grooves that engage the matching rack on the other plate. The racks lock together and precisely lock the tool at your desired dimensional setting. This is great because you aren't left trying to eyeball your dimensions while you measure and set your tools, but rather you have a physical item that is locked at your dimension. I know I'm doing a poor job explaining this, but it's just a neat and simple tool.

Here's a link to a pdf of the owners manual for the Incra Gauge, and here's a link to the tool at Woodcraft.com It's only $19.50 and you'll not regret it.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

We just posted some PowerPro videos on Youtube

2010-10-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Visit our new Youtube Channel at www.Youtube.com/MrToolhunter were we've just posted four new videos showing the PowerPro being put through a few tests. More videos to come. Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Tips and Techniques for Selling Your Shopsmith Tools

2010-10-01T18:25:00.000-07:00
As much as it pains me, some folks just don’t need their tools. Perhaps you’ve outgrown them, or maybe you inherited them and need the value they represent more than their functionality. That’s OK. So what do you say we do everything we can to get you them most money for your tools? Since 1987 I have sold hundreds of Shopsmith tools, and I’ve also bought more than my fair share, and in this blog I’ve written about my experiences in order to help connect buyers and sellers of Shopsmith tools. Here are of few tips to help you accomplish your goals…

My first tip is that when you are through reading this post that you take a look at my post titled “Tips and Techniques for Buying Shopsmith Tools”. In it I explain to buyers what they should do to make sure that they are confident and totally satisfied with their tool purchase. Knowing the tips that I share with them will give you some good ideas about what you need to do as a fair and honorable tool seller. In the end you’ll know your tool will go to a good home, and that you’ll be able to sleep soundly knowing that they are not going to fall into “buyers remorse”, and perhaps even causing you headaches by using eBay’s feedback to retaliate or by embroiling you in a needless Paypal dispute.
Take a look at the individual posts relating to the tools you are selling to make sure you know about the history of that tool. Shopsmith tools have gone through a lot of change over the years, and you need to know the details to make sure that the tool you think you are selling is in fact the tool you have to sell.
If you are selling the tool online make sure that the photos are clear and cover every detail you can. Choose a well-lit area to take the photos, and when in doubt, add another light.

Don’t leave the buyer to assume anything! In my “Buying a Suit on eBay” Blog (seriously!) I mention that many suits today are made in China by people who don’t read English. The English labels inside a suits lining may say “Wool“ or “100% Silk“, but that doesn’t mean that the suit is made of wool or silk! There is a label in a suit that must disclose the country of origin and the actual material, but the “show labels” can say anything you want! Back to tools. If a prospective buyer sees a “Forest Woodworker II” carbide saw blade on a Shopsmith saw arbor hanging on the pegboard behind your Mark V in the photo in the eBay listing, they may believe that it is included with the Mark V. Is it? Isn’t it? Make sure that you include a COMPLETE listing of all items which are included in the listing; and if something makes its way into the photo that shouldn’t be there, either edit it out of the picture using Microsoft Paint, or state clearly something like: “Please note that the blade shown in the wall in the photo is NOT included in this auction.”. If something is included in the listing but not shown in your photo, consider taking another, of make sure that you not this prominently in your ad. Say something lever like “There is an awesome 8 Gallon Ingersoll Rand Model SS3J2-WB air compressor included with this Shopsmith Pro Planer; but it was too shy to be photographed with the planer.”

Offer to send additional photos upon request. Buyers understand that eBay charges for extra photos and that you may have additional photos. Rather than waiting for them to ask, offer this extra touch up front. The other advantage is you will now have their email address, so you can send them a friendly reminder the day before you auction ends!
All major Shopsmith tools have serial numbers of date codes on them. If your tool is a Shopsmith Mark V you can visit Shopsmith’s web site and find the birth date of the tool. http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/serialnumber.htm On the Mark V the serial number is located on the left side of the Headstock (Power Plant), on the vent plate or on a Red/White Sticker. Note that the serial #’s were switched to a date code in 1988. If your tool is another Shopsmith tool you can either email or call Shopsmith’s customer service. Ask for Linda and tell her Scott Markwood says “Hey”.
Because the color of Shopsmith tools MAY indicate the age of the tool, make sure your mention if the tool has been repainted. The fact that it’s been re-touched or repainted isn’t a bad thing; but changing the color to mimic a newer production model, then not disclosing this fact is tantamount to fraud.

I suggest to Mark V buyers that they ask the seller to confirm that the speed dial turns freely and that there is no bearing noise. To do this you want to make sure that the headstock isn’t coupled to a bandsaw or any other SPT tool, and make sure that the tool is running before you turn the speed dial. Once you confirm that all is in order, mention in your listing what you learned. Say something like: “We cycled the Mark V’s speed dial through the entire speed range, and no unusual noises were observed.” This may be a great time to state the obvious to the buyers with a disclaimer that states “Please keep in mind that though this tool has given faithful service all these years with no maintenance problems, I am not a tool expert, electrician or mechanic, and this is a 25 year old tool. There may be unknown conditions that are not warranted by me or the manufacturer.”
The Mark V has been manufactured by no less than five companies, so provide either a photo of the name plate from the headstock or at the very least the serial number and the other text from the name plate.
There have been several versions of the Shopsmith 5-in-1 tools, including the 10e, the 10er, the Mark I, II, V and VII. There has NEVER been a Mark IV, though the Mark V is regularly listed as a Mark 4 on eBay. The Mark V has been made in several models with distinct differences. There has been a Mark V model 500, 505, 510 and 520, and you can find more information about this in our Mark V post within this blog.
If you’ve added any upgrades to the tool, mention them! This is important because some of the older tools have undesirable features that you may have addressed with an upgrade or retrofit. For example, many older Mark V’s have been upgraded with a new two bearing quill, and many Shopsmith bandsaws have been retrofitted with ball bearing blade guides. Describe what the upgrade does, and give a testimonial while you’re at it. Say something like: “The original bronze bushing guides were like fingers on a black board and were in constant need of lubrication. Since upgrading to the new ball bearings the noise is gone and the sealed bearings require zero maintenance.” What if your tool has no upgrades? Say something in your listing like: “The Shopsmith 11” Bandsaw has continued to evolve since its introduction, and unlike so many companies, Shopsmith never leaves their older tool owners behind. All upgrades since this bandsaw was produced are retrofitable to this classic saw and are readily available from Shopsmith.”
How will you ship the tool? Will you ship it assembled, partially disassembled or totally disassembled? Include photos or better yet a video of the disassembly process and make sure that all loose parts, set screws, etc. are placed in well labeled a Zip-Loc bag. The Mark V is a very easy tool to break-down and reassemble, so don’t let this scare you off. It the tool is to be shipped assembled I would still suggest that you remove the legs. They are held in place with fives screws each, and with them removed the tool will ship much more compactly (saving you or the buyer money) and the tool will be less likely to become damaged due to toppling as the center of gravity will drop dramatically.
Before listing your item, do a quick Completed Auction Search of similar items. This will let you know what the current going rate is for that item, and unless there is something special about your deal, your location or your copywriting skills, use the going rate as a rule of thumb for establishing your opening bid.
That reminds me to mention that buyers HATE reserves! If you know you must have $2000 for your tools or else you are going to give it to your son-in-law, then start your auction with $1997 as the opening price. At least that way potential buyers know where they stand, and only serious bidders will jump into the fray. Personally I’m a little more confident in my ad writing abilities, and I’m a bit of a gambler, so I would start the auction at $997 or $1447.
Don’t mess around with 10 day listings. They cost you more, and after three days you are still left with a seven day auction! Buyers are looking for instant gratification, and seven days is long enough.
Consider a “Buy It Now” price. This will cost you a bit more, but it will have a valuable psychological effect on the bidders. If you are reasonable in your asking price, and assuming that someone didn’t win that last Shopsmith Mark VII that they’ve been dreaming of, they just might take it off your hands right away and not risk missing out to a sniper. Likewise, the “Buy It Now” price serves as a benchmark for potential buyers who may not know the going rate of your tool.
If your goal is to make the most money you possibly can for you tools, please note that tool prices are seasonal because woodworking is seasonal. Woodworkers are active hobbyists and as such are in their gardens, on their Jet Skis and climbing rocks during the Spring and Summer. That means you will have fewer buyers competing for your items if you can wait to sell them in the Fall and Winter.
Feel free to send me your ads, and I’ll be happy to offer tips and suggestions. I’ll even post them on my blog at no charge.
Lastly, consider adding a link to our “Tips and Techniques for Buying Shopsmith Tools” (linked above) within your eBay listing. This will show that you have nothing to hide, and that you are looking out for their best interests. They might find it in a Google search anyway, so you might as well be the one to offer a good tip.
Good luck! Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Tips and Techniques for Buying Shopsmith Tools

2010-10-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Tips and Techniques for Buying Shopsmith Tools
You are at an exciting place in your woodworking hobby; you’ve been sold on Shopsmith tools and now you’re looking for the best way to add them to your shop. I’ve written about my own experiences, so I’ll try not to bore you any more than totally necessary…

My first tip is that when you are through reading this post that you take a look at my post titled “Tips and Techniques for Selling Your Shopsmith Tools”. In it I explain to sellers what I would do in order to get you to part with as much of your money as possible! Knowing this will give you some good ideas about what to look for, and what I would consider fair and honorable behavior when selling tools.

Take a look at the individual posts relating to the tools you are interested in buying to make sure you know about the history of that tool. Shopsmith tools have gone through a lot of change over the years, and you need to know the details to make sure that the tool you think you are buying is in fact the tool you get.

If you are buying the tool online make sure that the photos are clear and cover every detail that concerns you.

Don’t assume anything! I write in my “Buying a Suit on eBay” Blog (seriously!) that many suits today are made in China by people who don’t read English. The English labels inside a suits lining may say “Wool“ or “100% Silk“, but that doesn’t mean that the suit is made of wool or silk! There is a label in a suit that must disclose the country of origin and the actual material, but the “show labels” can say anything you want! Back to tools. Just because you see a “Forest Woodworker II” carbide saw blade on a Shopsmith saw arbor hanging on the pegboard behind the Mark V in the photo in the eBay listing; that doesn’t mean it’s included with the Mark V. What should you do? Make a list of all the items you see in the photos, then read slowly through the listing and check-off the items from your list. If something on your list but not in the description, send a message to the seller and ask of the item is included in the sale. If something is listed but not shown, ask if they can email you a photo of the item. There may be a reason why they didn’t show the bandsaw… because it fell off the shelf and has a huge crack in the casting! This tip has saved me so much money, and has even won me some great items that were not noticed by buyers who just look at the photos.

If the serial number of all the tools are not shown in the listing, write the seller and ask for them. With the numbers in hand visit Shopsmith’s web site and find the birth date of the tool. http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/serialnumber.htm On the Mark V the serial number is located on the left side of the Headstock (Power Plant), on the vent plate or on a Red/White Sticker. Note that the serial #’s were switched to a date code in 1988.

The color of the tool MAY indicate the age of the tool. The Original Shopsmith 10er’s was gray. The original Mark V of 1955 was two-tone green. (Known among Shopsmithers as “Greenies”) This was changed to two-tone brown (or gold) in 1960 and so on. Again, read the post for the individual tool that you are shopping for. The point is if you are looking at a grey Mark V you may be looking at a Mark V from the 1960’s, or 70’s, or 80’s, or 90’s or 00’s or maybe it’s a Greenie with a new grey paint job! The only way to know for sure is to check the serial # or to ask the seller if the paint job is original. I actually like the color of the Greenies and the Gold Anniversary Mark V, but I loathe Mark V’s with non-standard paint jobs because they always look like Chinese knock-offs to me.

Ask the seller to confirm that the speed dial turns freely and that there is no bearing noise. If they aren’t sure, as them to turn the Mark V on and run the speed up to fast, then back down to slow and to report their findings back to you. If they are selling the tool for a friend, or if it’s a tool they inherited let them know that they want to make sure that the headstock isn’t coupled to the bandsaw or any other SPT tool, and that they make sure that the tool is running while they are turning the speed dial. Feel free to suggest that they view this and the Sellers post mentioned above.

The Mark V has been manufactured by no less than five companies, so ask for either a photo of the name plate or at the very least the serial number and the other text on the name plate.

There have been several versions of the Shopsmith 5-in-1 tools, including the 10e, the 10er, the Mark I, II, V and VII. There has NEVER been a Mark IV, though the Mark V is regularly listed as a Mark 4 on eBay. I think sellers must know that the tool they own is an older unit, so it must be the model before the current Mark V. Now, the Mark V has been made in several models with distinct differences. There has been a Mark V model 500, 505, 510 and 520.

Ask the seller if they’ve added any upgrades to the tool. This is important if the tools age would indicate the presence of undesirable features. For example, many older Mark V’s have been upgraded with a new two bearing quill. Without this newer feature the drill press will have more side-play, and faceplate turnings will tend to grab and chatter.

How will the seller ship the tool? Will it ship assembled or will they partially disassemble it? If so ask them to include photos or better yet a video of the disassembly process and to make sure that all loose parts, set screws, etc. are placed in well labeled a Zip-Loc bag. The Mark V is a very easy tool to break-down and reassemble, so don’t let this scare you off. It the tool is to be shipped assembled I would still suggest that the seller remove the legs. They are held in place with fives screws each, and with them removed the tool will ship much more compactly (saving you money) and the tool will be less likely to become damaged due to toppling as the center of gravity will drop dramatically.

Never fall in love with something that can’t love you back. Just because you think a tool is a great find doesn’t make it worth all the money in the world. Set your top price and stick to it. Rather than sitting around waiting to snipe at the end of the auction, set your top bit from the get-go. Should someone outbid you let it go. That said, don’t bid in even numbers. A top bid of $10 will always be beaten by an earlier bit of $10.01. I tend to bid 1.0507 times my pre-established top price. That means if my top price is $100, I’ll bit $105.07, or something like that. Again, I’ll beat all the folks who try to snipe at the last minute with a $100 or $101 last minute bid.

Before you bid, make sure that there isn’t an identical tool for sale elsewhere on eBay. Nothing sucks worse than entering a bid only then to notice the identical tool selling for half the price several auctions down the page.

Before placing that bid do a quick Completed Auction Search of the item. This will let you know what the current going rate is for that item, and unless there is something special about the deal such as the location or additional items included in the auction, use the going rate as a rule of thumb for establishing your top bid.

That last tip reminds me of one of the most valuable tips on this post. (see, there’s a reason you read this far!) Tool prices are seasonal because woodworking is seasonal. Woodworkers are active hobbyists and as such are in their gardens, on their Jet Skis and climbing rocks during the Spring and Summer. That means you will have fewer competitors if you can plan your purchases and buy in the Spring and Summer.

Use the links on this blog to find hidden Shopsmith tools. I’ve been searching for, buying and selling Shopsmith tools on eBay since 1998, and I’ve gotten pretty good at sorting through the SPAM that clogs the tool category. eBay’s own analytics have proven that you have a stronger than normal likelihood of winning the bid when you go from my links to tools on eBay. Cool huh? Good luck, and let me know how your tool purchase goes. Scott

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

When I say that "I Saw Smith", I mean that I SawSmith!

2010-09-11T18:13:00.000-07:00
It's taken way longer than expected, but we finally got the SawSmith Radial Arm Saw US Patent tee shirt posted on Zazzle. they do an excellent job with their items, and I've really been tickled with their shirts and their mugs in particular.
Please note that you not only get to select the shirt size and color, but they have a wide range of styles and qualities to choose from as well. We also have items that feature US Patent images from the Mark V, the Mark VII, the 10ER and other woodworking tools.

When I say I “Saw Smith, I mean I SawSmith! by PatentPlaceUSA
View more Sawsmith T-Shirts

We also added a shirt with our favorite image of all time. You ow it to yourself to check this one out.

I Wish I Had A Shopsmith by PatentPlaceUSA
Browse Shopsmith T-Shirts
Click either pic to check it out the shirt, or click the Patent Place USA link to see our entire offering.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Heads-up, Shopsmith-Tool-Hunter Blog is Moving!

2010-09-11T13:14:00.000-07:00
I can't believe how many years I've been ranting here on Blogger and what started as a simple blog has mushroomed into a dozen "Tool-Hunter" blogs! While that may sound impressive it really isn't. Many of my other blogs are simply digital file cabinets where I store my tool stuff. If I'm feeling inspired I may make an entry or two, but my heart tends to be here with the Shopsmith tools, so the others get no attention. To make matters worse, whenever I want to make a change in several of my blogs it's a total pain to move from one site to the other.

With all that said, I've decided to mash all my tool blogs into one site: www.Tool-Hunter.com

This site will allow me to break my blogs up a bit so that they aren't just one long page that takes forever to load. Additionally this new site will allow you to easily interact with comments and posts of your own!

I'll give you plenty of warning before I pull the plug on this URL, but in the mean time I invite you to drop by the new site to look around and let me know what you think.

Please note that as of this post I've only added Shopsmith content, so please be patient as we begin this migration. Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Tune Your Shopsmith Bandsaw (And a Few Myths)

2010-09-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Shopsmith Bandsaw Study from www.PatentPlaceUSA.com
As I mentioned in an earlier post, about once a year or so EVERY woodworking magazine and web site feels obligated to publish an article called something like "How To Tune Your Bandsaw". The problem with these articles is that they offer dogmatic advise that assumes that all bandsaws are made the same. And it's true that most bandsaws sold today are based on designs dating back to the late 1800's... all but the Shopsmith bandsaw that is.

If you take a look at the illustration at right from the US Patent for the Shopsmith Bandsaw, (Click on it to Biggie Size it) most BS's utilize crowned wheels, like those shown in Fig. 12. The idea is that a flat band of steel, if properly made and tensioned will naturally gravitate towards the highest spot on a spinning wheel. When running on two crowned wheels the tracking is fine-tuned by tilting the upper wheel forward or back to properly position the high spot. Once the blade is properly positioned on the wheels the back-up bearings are brought into position against the back of the blade above an beneath the table to prevent the blade from being pushed off the high spot during the cut.

On the Shopsmith Bandsaw (SSBS) the lower wheel is flat, and the upper wheel is conical, or cone shaped, as shown in Fig 14. In addition to the conical shape the upper wheel is positioned with a backwards tilt. This design makes the properly tensioned blade run to the back of the wheel; and if there were no back-up bearings, I'm sure the blade would happily escape off the back of the wheel! To control this the SSBS has not only a set of back-up bearings above and beneath the table, but there is an additional set of bearings on the upright side of the frame whose only job is to control the blade tracking. In fact, this is what Shopsmith rightly calls the "Auto-Track" bearings.

So this is where the "Tune Your Bandsaw" articles cause their greatest frustration for the SSBS owner. First they'll tell you to back-off the back-up bearings and to adjust the tracking until the blade runs centered on the wheels. You can't do this on the SSBS.

Then they'll suggest that you hold a straight edge against the rims of the two wheels to ensure that they are properly aligned. If they are not you'll be encouraged to shim one of the wheels forward until they are brought into "coplanar" alignment. As you can imagine from Fig 14, there's no way this is going to be the case with the SSBS.

No, the SSBS is an engineering marvel that requires no such adjusting. But what if it's not cutting properly? Well, we'll need to check a few things that could hamper any BS's operation:

Is the blade sharp?
Is there a burr on the back edge of the blade?
Are the guide blocks properly adjusted? (Behind the set of the teeth, and just kissing each side of the blade)
Are the tires in good shape? Was it stored with a blade installed and under tension, which will "flatten" the tires on about 1/3 of their diameter, causing the blade to increase and decrease in tension and wobble.
If the blade does not run towards the back of the wheels and against the Auto-Track bearings, consult your owners manual or contact Shopsmith Customer Service for instructions on how to adjust the tilt of the upper wheel.
That's it. If all these things are in place you should be the proud owner of the best bandsaw on the market today.

Get a copy of the complete US Patent for the Shopsmith Bandsaw at www.PatentPlaceUSA.com and you too can become a bandsaw nerd just like me.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

What's up with the Shopsmith Mark V shown on the new PowerPro video? New Mark VII?

2010-08-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Some eagle-eyed viewers of the new Shopsmith PowerPro introduction video noticed something odd at the 47 second point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Pb_j8JdAM

Take a close look at the way tube tie bar at the top of the photo at right. (Click to Biggie-size)

Wassup wit dat?

Another sleuth noticed something odd about the photo which is posted on the Shopsmith web site. (Below) Notice anything different? See the steel pivot pin in the right hand bench casting? Yes, that's the pin that the Mark V pivots on when it's being lifted into the drill press position. Now, notice the same pin in the left bench casting? What's it for?

Some are theorizing that it's to allow the Mark V to tilt to the left like the old Mark VII, which would allow the headstock to be beneath the Mark V table. Why? For shaping and routing with the new PowerPro!   Others have pointed out that in order for this to work with the 505, 510, 520 table that the table tubes that pass through the carriage would have to have racks milled into them.

Hummmmm. Very interesting.

The Shopsmith.net forum is buzzing with speculation about a new Mark VII that Shopsmith may or may not be launching. There are a couple photos on http://www.shopsmith.com that show a Mark V with what looks like two of the pivoting base ends; which would imply that it can tilt both left and right. I've written a few of my thoughts on my blog and then today while we were in the shop during a rain storm the power went out. One thought that kept running through my mind was that the table would be awful high, so, this seemed like the perfect time to do some "cordless playing". My favorite son-in-law Nathan gave me a hand (sore, or perhaps just old shoulder) and we flipped the headstock over to simulate its position on the new mythical Shopsmith Mark VII.

Sure enough, even with the large rubber spacer removed from the way tubes from between the headstock and the carriage, the table still found itself around 46" from the floor. Now, granted, this is with the carriage in the current position, which isn’t exactly where it would be if the entire unit simply tilted left. For this to work the tubes that support the table would have to have racks milled into the opposite face. In that scenario the table would indeed be a bit lower.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Powering the Shopsmith Bandsaw with the PowerPro Headstock

2010-08-17T21:27:00.000-07:00
If you don't already know this about me, I have a few quirks that often make me wonder why my Bride even likes me. For one thing, I get obsessed with something new, and the next thing I know I've purchased books, videos, spent countless hours online joining discussion groups, reading blogs and web sites and watching Youtube videos. Name a topic and I've probably had a brief obsession with it. In the shop my obsessions include a love for all things relating to Shopsmith tools, routers, Jigs and Fixtures and shop-made tools. But my REAL tool obsession centers around bandsaws. I've often said that if Congress ever made a law requiring all woodworkers to select a single saw, and all others would be collected and carted off, my choice would be a bandsaw. With a bandsaw I can cut curves, crosscuts, laser-straight rips and best of all I can cut thicker boards than with any other saw; and all without the fear of kickback. I currently own four bandsaws, with one of them even prominently displayed in our living room! (Thanks again Hon.)

I mention all this in order to explain why the first thing I did with the PowerPro that I'm testing for Shopsmith is to connect it to the bandsaw for some serious resawing. I was sent several 2" thick, 6"+ wide and 18" long red oak boards for the testing, which are perfect for resawing. Actually, the board I grabbed first was a hair wider than 6", so after adjusting the fence to compensate for the drift in the blade I took a couple 1/8" slabs off one edge in order to bring her down to 6". With the PowerPro driving the saw the first thing I noticed was that there was absolutely no drag on the motor. So far so good.

I was now ready for the big test. I adjusted the upper blocks to their max and turned the headstock back on and started into the cut. WOW! Now folks, I've used some powerful bandsaws in my day, and while the Shopsmith bandsaw has always been my favorite saw due to it's auto-tracking and other easy to adjust settings, it has been a little underpowered in these maxed-out resawing situations. I've made thousands of those cool bent-wood Shaker Oval Boxes, and accurate resawing is a must or the wood will split in the middle of the bending process. Usually I find myself feeding the wood painfully slow through the saw in order to prevent the blade from slowing and therefore introducing more chatter and washboarding, but with the PowerPro providing the power I was able to shove the wood into the blade faster than I have ever cut a piece of 6" stock on ANY bandsaw! In fact, I was able to feed the stick so fast that I was able to clog the blade and cause some bellying in the cut, but the saw never slowed down at all. I'm not in that big of a rush in the shop, but I just had to do it in order to see how much power this baby had. Before I knew it I had three perfect 1/8" X 6" X 18" sheets in my hand and a stupid smile on my face. Trust me, that smile repeated itself several more times that night.

More to come.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

OK, I'm ready to admit it. I'm testing the Shopsmith PowerPro.

2010-08-16T21:36:00.000-07:00
At Shopsmith's request I've been keeping tight-lipped about being part of the beta test group, but now that they have posted videos of it I think that opens the door for a few of my thoughts.

I was sent a PowerPro retrofit kit along with a 1955 Mark V headstock. During it's first year of production the Mark V headstock was what is called a sand casting, so I was curious how SS was going to be able to accommodate the wide range of tolerances that I know would exist. Another fun prize was the fact that these early Mark V's didn't have an access hole under the rear name plate. This has always made lubricating the control sheave a challenge, and simple tasks on the current headstock, like replacing the switch, require dropping the motor pan.

As the Shopsmith Youtube video shows the retrofitting precess starts with the removal of the headstock. Even thought SS sent me a headstock I would still need to remove mine in order to conduct the tests following the retrofit. I followed the instructions and because I also have a Lift-Assist installed on my machine, this too had to be partially removed. Fortunately this is a very quick process, so my Lift-Assist and headstock were off in less than 10 minutes.

I had a few delays in the process as SS was completing the final draft of the instructions, so for several weeks prior to any machining of the head I had the retro components sitting on my bench just taunting me. Mercifully the folks at Shopsmith contacted the Beta Testers with instructions on how we could safely play with the motor and the Control Pad in order to prepare ourselves for the tests to come. This was a lot of jun, but let's fact it, it was like taking a kid to the candy store and telling him it was OK to play with the PEZ dispensers, but not letting him have any PEZ candy!

We finally got the instructions and again as the video shows there are a few templates and a drilling jig that make the machining on the new motor mounting holes a breeze. It was then that I noticed two road blocks: A couple small parts were missing, not from my retro kit, but from the old headstock. The other problem was a bit of a surprise. In order to install the large control unit inside the headstock the headstock lock must be removed. No big deal really. You just use a punch to drive out the little roll pin that connects the handle to the threaded rod. the problem was that on this old unit the roll pin was driven into a blind hole. Since SS was going to be sending be me the missing headstock parts I just followed the instruction for removing a damaged headstock lock and asked the folks at SS to send me a replacement lock.

A few days latter I received the missing parts and the new lock, so I was able to press on. The drilling was straight forward, and all the drill bits and countersinks were included in the kit, along with templates and a neat drilling guide.

One little fiasco involved a step where I had to enlarge a hole in the motor pan for the relocation of the power cord. I'll add this story as a separate post, because it's worth telling, but has more to do with me being a moron than anything else.

Now I was able to move on to installing the new parts, which included: A new two bearing quill, a new drive assembly that converted the old drive from the toothed Gilmer belt to the new Poly-V belt, a new switch and a new high-speed idler shaft. I've done this conversion many time in my days repairing equipment at the Boston, Hillard and Dayton OH Shopsmith stores, and I knew that these upgrades alone would breath new life into this old tool.

Next came the new territory. The Control Pad installed so quickly that I had to read the instructions over three times to make sure I wasn't missing something. Nope, it was installed with two screws in about 20 seconds! From there things got a little tough for my fat and clumsy fingers; as there are several wires that need to be properly positioned and plugged-in, as you are balancing the control box just above these parts. This was about the time that I started to miss the rear access hole. I was confident that I have everything properly wired as I followed the instructions to use a zip-tie to tie back the ground wire and trim off the excess.

Next everything moves to the Mark V base. The headstock is slid onto the way tubes, and the entire unit is raised into the drill press position. From there the table is installed from the back side of the carriage, which is something that modern Mark V manuals show as a tip if you ever need to remove the motor pan. Anyway, you use a 2x12x12 block as a platform to position the motor in just the right spot. I hoisted the massive new motor onto the table and fortunately while it was still in my grasp I realized what happens if you skip the step that tells you to lock the drill press lock on the MKV base! That sucker was about to drop backwards, taking the loose motor with it! Whew! Dodged that bullet.

The mounting plates on the motor lined right up with the holes that I drilled and countersunk in the headstock casting. There are a few simple steps to positioning the motor and to wiring the motor to the control box and Control Pad. It was then that I realized that I misread a step. I was supposed to use a zip-tie to tie back the ground wire on the power cord and cut off the excess... OF THE ZIP-TIE, not the wire!

So after staring at the wire for a few moments I realized that I could trim a little more of the insulation from the wire and pull the ground wire out a few inches. That did the trick and after all was in place and bolts were installed, I couldn't wait to turn her on. All that was left to do was to turn her on and follow the tensioning instructions to tension the belts and I'd be ready to start the woodworking portion of the test!

The instructions said to turn on the main switch (the original mechanical switch) and that following a few clicks the pad would play a little tune and run through some warnings. I flip the switch and.... CLICK THIS LINK

Dang it! I checked the outlet, the plug, the wire, and then it hit me. I took out my cell phone to use as a flashlight and I gazed into the depths of the headstock. Past the motor, the control box, and there it was. All my tugging on the wire while trying to expose more ground wire I had yanked the wires off the switch. (Click the pic to biggie-size and to see the misplaced wire) Not a big deal. All I need to do is pop of the rear name plate and DANG!

So, long story short (too late for that) I had to remove the motor, remove the headstock, drive the pin out of the headstock lock handle, remove the control box and plug the wires back on the switch. What's really amazing is that this entire process of removing, disassemble, reassembly and installation took me a total of 15 minutes! The learning curve is amazingly steep, so once I'd done it once it was somewhat second nature the second time.

That's about enough for this post. I'll tell you how everything went from there in another post. Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've been way too busy playing in the shop.

2010-08-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

August 9, 2010
Typically I take the Summer off from any heavy woodworking commitments because my shop isn't air conditioned. Sure, I spend some time tinkering and smoking my pipe, but unless we get a few cool days the concrete slab that my shop sits upon retains the heat better than a Thermos!

I did force myself to spend a few hours setting-up my new Harbor Freight tool box ($139!) but it was rough going with big drops of sweat dripping on all the new steel.

So why mention this? Because I've been spending hours upon end in my shop the last few weeks playing with my Mark V; I've been drilling with a 2 1/2" Forstner bit; resawing 6" wide red oak boards, turning large bowls, ripping 2" thick red oak and shaping and routing just for fun.

Sure, I've been playing with the tools themselves too. For example, I had my headstock off my Mark V and replaced some bearings and even the motor.   :-)

Yep, this is going to be a fun Fall, and I can't wait to start making toys for my one year old grandson, Smuckers. (Seen at Right with a little wrench.)

More to come.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

THE INITIAL PRODUCTION RUN OF THE SHOPSMITH POWER PRO IS ALREADY SOLD OUT!

2010-06-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Updated June 14^th, 2010:
Well that didn't take long! THE INITIAL PRODUCTION RUN IS ALREADY SOLD OUT!
Shopsmith announced that they are offering four optional ways for you to upgrade your MARK V Headstock to the new Shopsmith PowerPro.
One awesome part of this announcement is that no matter which Upgrade method you select, all parts that are included or replaced will be covered by a 5-year PowerPro Motor Warranty and a 2-Year Warranty on all Electronic Components, Belts and Bearings!
Let’s look at the options.
OPTION # 1:    NEW, READY-TO-RUN PowerPro HEADSTOCK
Owners selecting this Upgrade option will receive a brand-new MARK V Headstock, complete with the new PowerPro Motor, all electronic circuitry, Digital Control Panel, Two-Bearing Quill, Quill Feed Mechanism, Drive Sleeve Assembly, Pulleys, Poly-V Belts, Cord and Headstock Wedge Locks.
To install you just slide your current MARK V Headstock off the Way Tubes and slide the new Headstock on in its place, keeping your "old" Headstock as a "spare".
This option is part # 556176 New PowerPro Headstock and is priced at $1899.

OPTION # 1A:    NEW PowerPro HEADSTOCK WITH TRADE-IN
This option is essentially the same as Option #1 above...except that you will return your Old Headstock to Shopsmith for a refund. Owners selecting this Upgrade option will receive a brand-new MARK V Headstock, as described above. However, under this option, you will simply ship your old Headstock back to Shopsmith for a $200 Cash Refund.
556176 New PowerPro Headstock and is priced at $1899 - $200 rebate: Final price $1699.

OPTION #2:    REFURBISHED PowerPro HEADSTOCK
Owners selecting the Refurbished Upgrade option will receive a fully refurbished (GRAY) MARK V Headstock, complete with the new PowerPro Motor, all electronic circuitry and Digital Control Panel. It will also include a two-Bearing Quill and Upper Drive Sleeve with new bearings; new Poly-V Belts and a new Power Cord. The Headstock Wedge Locks, Quill Feed Mechanism and Headstock Casting will be evaluated and reconditioned, as necessary.
Once you’ve switched to the Refurbished Headstock, simply use the packaging it arrived in to ship your "old" one (including Motor, Quill, etc.) to Shopsmith to receive your $200 Cash Refund.
556189 Refurbished PowerPro Headstock..... $1729. The final value after $200 Cash Refund is $1529.

OPTION #3:    YOUR HEADSTOCK, RECONDITIONED AND UPGRADED TO PowerPro STATUS
If you select this option, you will ship your current MARK V Headstock to the factory for upgrading. Shopsmith will install the new PowerPro Motor, all electronic circuitry and Digital Control Panel. ALL remaining internal parts will be evaluated by Shopsmith’s Factory Trained Service Technicians and replaced as needed to upgrade your Headstock to today's high PowerPro standards. Shopsmith will then ship your Upgraded PowerPro Headstock back to you.
556178 Your Headstock, Reconditioned and Upgraded to PowerPro Status.....$1529

OPTION #4:    DO-IT-YOURSELF PowerPro UPGRADE
Owners selecting the Do-It-Yourself Upgrade option will receive a new PowerPro Motor, all electronic circuitry, Digital Control Panel, new Two-Bearing Quill, new Upper Drive Sleeve Assembly, new Poly-V Belts and new Cord… all for self-installation in your current MARK V Headstock. In addition, you will receive a printed Upgrade Manual, an Upgrade DVD and all necessary drilling templates, drill guide and bit for precise machining of the mounting holes for the new components. It is estimated that the Upgrade process should require approximately four hours to complete.   If you currently have newer Belts, Upper Drive Sleeve or a Two-Bearing Quill… in order to protect your Upgrade Warranty, you are required to replace them during the Upgrade process and keep your current parts as "spares". Replacing all of these internal parts assures that all components of your upgraded Headstock are up to today's high PowerPro standards.
556177 Do-It-Yourself PowerPro Upgrade Kit.... $1429
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Ways to upgrade your Shopsmith Mark V headstock to the NEW Power Pro

2010-06-24T13:52:00.001-07:00
Watch the video below to learn about the four ways you can upgrade your Mark V, Mark VII or Mark II to the new Power Pro Headstock, then visit this site to learn more: http://www.shopsmith.com/shopsmithpowerpro/ways_to_upgrade.htm

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Here she is! The NEW Shopsmith Power Pro Headstock video

2010-06-24T13:46:00.001-07:00
Your wait is over! Well, at least your wait to see the Power Pro Headstock for your Shopsmith Mark V.

Learn more about it over at Shopsmith's site: http://www.shopsmith.com/shopsmithpowerpro/diy_upgrade.htm

Here's a short video that shows the upgrade process.

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Don't forget Shopsmith inspired Mugs and Tee Shirts at Zazzle

2010-06-11T15:30:00.000-07:00
We've posted a few links to products at Zazzle on our blog because we've purchased a few things for ourselves and were quite impressed at the quality. Click the link below to see the cool Shopsmith-inspired mug, and once there search "shopsmith" to find other items like Tee Shirts. The cool thing about Zazzle it that you can select any size mug or shirt that fits you or your wallet! Click on the different mug sizes and colors to find the right mix and price. You can do the same thing with all or their tee shirts too, so play around. Scott

"You say Changeover like it's a Bad Thing" by PatentPlaceUSA
View more Mug Mugs

Mark V Headstock Mug by PatentPlaceUSA
Design a custom travel mug at zazzle.com
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

New Idler Shaft introduced ahead of the introduction of the Shopsmith Power Pro Headstock.

2010-06-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Shopsmith has posted a service bulletin that shows the new high-speed bearings on a Mark V Idler Shaft. These bearings will be found on the Idler Shaft of the Power Pro headstock, but seeing how the Reeves Pulleys are not used on the Power Pro the shaft will not require the key way, the groove or the shallow hold at the end of the key way. Read more at http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/idler_note.htm and at www.Tool-Hunter.com
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Thank You

2010-05-30T17:55:00.001-07:00

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

FINALLY! A Shopsmith PowerPro update!

2010-05-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

On March 10th, 2010 RLFSHOP LLC, Doing Business As "Shopsmith LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY" (The current manufacture of the Shopsmith line of woodworking tools) was granted a trademark for the PowerPro!

The description of the mark is:

The color(s) Red, Blue, Black and white is/are claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of red Registered Shopsmith Logo above Power Pro in white with dark blue/black background with lightning bolts throughout background.

More to come very soon at www.tool-hunter.com
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Miter Gauge musinings

2010-05-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

In 1954 Magna Power Tool Corp received a patent for the miter gauge with the safety hold-down which is the same as you see on the Mark V today. Well, not quite. One subtle change in the Mark V miter gauge came shortly after the Model 510 was introduced in the late 1980's. The quick grip was introduced as a retro-fit for the threaded hold-down, but what was discovered shortly after was that at just the right angle, and if your nylon glides are just a little too far out, and if you are running the miter gauge in the left-hand slot, the glide would drop into one of the shaper fence mounting holes and the miter gauge would stop dead in it's tracks! Not a good prize if you are in the middle of a cut, that's for sure.

Obviously a new miter gauge protractor head casting had to be designed that could accommodate larger glides that could not drop into these holes in the table. The solution was to use nylon hex bolts and to insert them from the bottom head-side down, so that the miter gauge would slide smoothly on the heads of the bolts.

As for the old nylon bullet-shaped glides, they may still be available from Shopsmith under the old part # 501406. A quick search of Amazon turned-up a sale of 100 nylon set screws that would replace the original parts for just over $4! Nylon Set Screw, Slotted Drive
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

New Gerstner Tool Chest blog

2010-04-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's absolutely true that I need another blog like I need another hole in my head; but that doesn't seem to stop me, does it?   As a Dayton boy there are several local companies that you just know. There's Shopsmith, NCR, Mead, Standard Register, Delco, and more. The city of Dayton is even promoting these home-grown companies with a new "Dayton Patented" promotion.
As a woodworker Shopsmith stands out as a great supplier of tools, but H. Gerstner & Sons is the pinnacle of craftsmanship. They've made machinist's tool chest from wood since 1906! I've been shopping for them for some time, and like this blog I've started a blog to make it easy for me to store my refined eBay search links and other data that I've collected over the years. Some of the links on the blog will lead to tool chests from resellers like Woodcraft and Amazon, and other links will be to tool chest plans and parts.

Drop by http://gerstner-tool-chest-hunter.blogspot.com and check it out.

Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith PowerPro update (sort of)

2010-04-09T19:56:00.001-07:00
(4-9-2010) Got a preview of the PowerPro today while visit some of my old co-workers at Shopsmith, and while I've been sworn to secrecy I have been authorized to say one thing:

"WOW!"

I'm telling you guys, this thing is going to be awesome. And that's not all...

I'll say more when I can, but for now I can confirm that it's still a go and should be available long before the Fall woodworking season.

This has been the answer to Shopsmith's dreams, as they've been asked for this functionality forever. As a Shopsmith user I can tell ya that my voice has been in the same chorus as yours. Every time I rip thick hardwood or drill with a large Forstner bit with my Mark V I wish it had a larger motor. Every time I use the Mark V as a shaper or do a slot mortise with a straight router bit I wish it ran faster than 5200rpm. Every time I turn a large piece or drill steel aor again try to drill with a large bit I wish my Mark V could run slower than 700rpm. Yes, there are some add-on solutions to some of these drawbacks, but wouldn't it be nice to have these as standard features? Of course they would!

More to come soon, but again; and this is official: "WOW!"
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Looking for a Mark V in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area?

2010-02-23T16:38:00.000-08:00
I was just contacted by a Shopsmith Mark V owner in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area who is looking for a loving home for his Shopsmith Mark V Model 500. The Serial # is 222227, which would put the date of manufacturing as Oct. 1987. Coincidentally this is the exact month my Mark V was made! That must make the brothers!

Anyway, this unit has seen very little use, has no rust, runs well and the variable speed dial works great. The entire unit has been in inside storage for the past ten years.

Included accessories:

A Shopsmith 11" Bandsaw with blades,
The award-winning (seriously) safety kit, including a push stick, push block, fence straddler, & feather board.
A coupling kit for driving the Bandsaw and any other Single Purpose Tools you choose to add.
The famous Shopsmith miter gauge with safety grip.
Lathe tail stock, drive center, cup center, & tool rest.
Miscellaneous Allen wrenches & arbor wrench.
2 Drill press chucks & keys.
Table saw extension table, rip fence, upper saw guard, saw arbors (2), 10” saw blade, dado blade set (never used), aluminum inserts for table saw & drill press tables!
Wooden accessory shelf for storing accessories when not mounted on the Mark V.
Two videos: ‘Woodworking Fundamentals’ & ‘Crafts & Toys’.
The famous book, which is known far and wide as "the Shopsmith bible", ‘Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone’.
Complete owner’s manual for the Mark V and the manual for bandsaw attachment.
Vinyl covers for Shopsmith unit and bandsaw.
A plastic tub of project plans from Shopsmith and other sources.
All this and the seller is only asking $1100! Based on my years of research on eBay and Craig's List this is a very reasonable price.

Email me (Scott) for contact information: MrToolHunter@gmail.com
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

A New Electronic Variable Speed Shopsmith Mark V Headstock is in the Works!

2010-01-31T10:33:00.000-08:00
(Read Updates at bottom)
Just days before the word got out that Shopsmith Inc. would be closing its doors and restructuring under the new name RLF Shop, the CEO of Shopsmith Inc set the following email announcing an exciting new improvement to the Mark V:

!! GENUINELY EXCITING NEWS !! -- FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT SHOPSMITH

I have some really FANTASTIC news for all Shopsmith MARK V Owners, as well as those who may have considered adding a MARK V to their home workshops.
Soon (late Summer of THIS year), Shopsmith will introduce an all-new, upgraded, computer-driven Headstock for the Shopsmith MARK V. Called the MARK V PowerPro®, here are a few of the features this new Headstock will provide:
state-of-the-art motor drive that will pull a fraction of the start-up amperage of current MARK V models (brown-outs are a thing of the past).
deliver 1-1/2 times to over 2-1/2 times the horsepower and torque (depending upon selected speed) of current MARK V models.
offer a reversible drive system that will allow you to perform operations that you just can’t do with your current model Headstock.
In addition, you’ll enjoy a much broader speed range than with your current MARK V -- and change speeds with digital, keypad controls rather than a mechanical dial. And, since there will be fewer moving parts, there will be less maintenance than current machines.
This is truly a quantum-leap to the 21st Century Shopsmith MARK V you’ve been waiting for…and, of course, you’ll be able to upgrade your current Model MARK V with this new Headstock at a fraction of the cost of a complete new machine.
PLUS…as always, all of your current accessories will work with this new Headstock, without having to make any additional adjustments or changes.
So, watch for more information between now and the end of Summer and get ready to step up to the 21st Century Woodworking Wonder….the all-new, Shopsmith MARK V PowerPro® Headstock.
It’s been a long time coming…but you won’t have much longer to wait. I assure you, it will be well worth it !
Bob Folkerth
CEO, Shopsmith, Inc.

Here's a link to the original announcement on the Shopsmith forum; Shopsmith announces new DVR Mark V Headstock

This is an exciting new development indeed, and my sources within RLF Shop tell me that the new headstock is still a go! Read more about the technology within the PowerPro here:

New Shopsmith Mark V Headstock discussion on Nick Engler's Forum
An excellent explanation of DVR variable speed drive in wood lathes
Even more info on DVR variable speed drives

P.S. The photo above is from a US Patent for an earlier Mark V headstock revision that never saw the light of day. I got to play with this headstock and it was cool, but most of what it was trying to accomplish was to satisfy the safety regulations in Canada. This was accomplished in the "C" headstock with the moving of the toggle switch and making it a removable key.

Updated 1/20/10:
I just got word that the new headstock is still a go for 2010! It sounds like Shopsmith will introduce it with a trade-in option, This is a brilliant idea as the last thing they need is a flood of used Mark V headstocks on the used market. Below are a couple videos that explain the concept behind DVR drive motors, like the one that will power this exciting new headstock.

Update 1/31/10:
One interesting tidbit is that the motor within the new headstock, and perhaps even the entire headstock will be produced for Shopsmith in New Zealand. This just happens to be the home of Teknatool International; the very folks who own the patents on the DVR power system. Another interesting piece of intel is that Shopsmith received a shipment of "WOOD TURNING ACCESSORIES" which weighed 296kg (651lbs) from Teknatool in New Zealand in June 2006. Knowing full well the "Speed of Shopsmith innovation" this makes sense that SS would have purchased a lathe headstock or three to experiment with.
See the Teknatool to Shopsmith Bill of Lading here.

Updated 2/3/10 REAL NEWS!
Earlier today Bob Folkerth announced on the Shopsmith Forum that the new PowerPro headstock is moving towards the launch pad! One of my guesses about the new technology was proven correct in that there will be an upgrade option, where we will be able to add whatever new components are necessary to convert our old MKV head into a new PP head. That means that it is NOT a complete new head that's going to replace our old one. SS will offer first an upgrade "kit", followed by complete new MKV's off the assembly line featuring the new headstock. This means that once again Shopsmith is putting their previous owners at the front of the line to get the new technology. Thanks for remember who brought you to the party.

I've been assured that those of you who are all thumbs, or who don't have the time to devote to the conversion process will be able to ship your headstocks back to the factory for a professional conversion; and perhaps there will even be a faster trade-in option. Imagine being able to make a purchase of a reconditioned and fully-upgraded headstock of the same vintage as your current one, and once you receive it you ship your old head back to SS in the headstock box as a "core exchange. Something like that would be very appealing.

I'm confident that if I can think of it SS has already thought of it, so now we just need to be patient and start squirreling away some PowerPro funds. I CAN'T WAIT!

Some things we can observe from the photo (click on it to Biggie Size it)
Reversing.
Convenient presets plus ability to adjust up and down from there.
The On/Off switch in on the left rather than the right as it is on the TeknaTool lathe. Should keep the switch exposed on the left side of the table.
Digital messages as well as RPM read-out. Perhaps will state common functions such as "Bandsaw Speed".
Notice the displayed speed of 250rpm? I understand it will go from 250-10,000! Compare that with 700-5200rpm on the current Mark V.
Here's the announcment from Bob Folkerth from Feb 3rd, 2010
EXCITING NEWS FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT SHOPSMITH

I have an update regarding some FANTASTIC news for all current Shopsmith MARK V Owners, as well as those of you who may have considered adding a MARK V to your home workshops.

A new, updated MARK V Headstock is coming soon!
As I announced several months ago, Shopsmith will soon be introducing an all-new, upgraded, computer-driven Headstock for the Shopsmith MARK V. Called the Shopsmith PowerPro, this Headstock will feature a number of new capabilities that Shopsmith MARK V Owners have been asking for. These include (but are not limited to) the following: More power, Broader speed range, Run in forward or reverse direction, Lowered electrical power requirements, Shopsmith product quality and warranty support, PLUS lots more (additional info to follow soon)

As always, this new Shopsmith product will be Spectacular
There have been some Forum comments regarding the delay of this introduction... and that's why I feel that I need to explain.

First and foremost, Shopsmith's policy has always been to deliver ONLY top-quality products. Shopsmith Tool owners already know this. Many of you own 30, 40 or even 50+ year-old machines that are still delivering great woodworking results, often with ZERO parts failures.

With Quality as our watchword, we've tested and re-tested the PowerPro under stringent standards that even the highest-end competitive machines would have trouble passing... and put it through multiple rounds of revisions and upgrades over the past year or so to ensure that it's the absolute best product we can produce!

During this developmental phase, some new technologies have been introduced that we've been able to incorporate into the PowerPro. Their discovery and eventual incorporation into this new product have also caused some added delays along the way... but you can take my word that although the delays have been longer than we would have liked, the results will be well worth your wait.

You will be able to upgrade your current MARK V to this new technology
The PowerPro is truly a quantum-leap into the 21st century Shopsmith MARK V that you've been waiting for... and, of course, as always, you'll be able to upgrade your current Model MARK V with this new technology at a fraction of the cost of a complete new machine. Our initial offering will be for these Headstock Upgrades, followed by complete, new Shopsmith PowerPro Machines, 30 to 90 days later. PLUS... as always, all of your current accessories will work with the PowerPro Headstock, without having to make any additional adjustments or changes.

Here's what our MARK V Owners have been asking for
So, watch for our announcement and get ready to step up to the 21st Century Woodworking Wonder... the all-new, Shopsmith PowerPro Headstock. It's been a long time coming... but you won't have much longer to wait. I assure you, it will be well worth it!

Here's a great picture of the PowerPro Control Panel

Bob Folkerth

Shopsmith

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Reversing and slowing a Shopsmith Mark V.

2010-01-21T20:37:00.000-08:00
I was just asked by someone who found my blog if it was possible to reverse a Mark V.
This is an excellent question and it's something that Shopsmith is working on and will soon offer in the form of the PowerPro headstock.

The current motor that is within the Mark V cannot be made to run in reverse, but that being said about 20 years ago I saw an idea that actually worked quite well.

The owner of a Mark V found a reversing motor and mounted it on a heavy board which itself clamped on the way tubes behind the Mark V headstock. This device had a set of shafts, belts and step pulleys and coupled to the lower drive shaft on the headstock. When the unit was coupled to the headstock the speed dial on the Mark V was turned to high speed with the Mark V's motor off. This sounds like it would damage the unit, but damage is only done when lowering the speed with the motor off. What this did was create slack in the lower drive belt within the headstock, allowing the second motor to drive the unit without drag from the stock motor.

This is tough to explain, so I've attached an elementary drawing which I hope makes sense.

Click Pic to Biggie Size it.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

The Shopsmith Mark I Owners Manual

2009-09-23T18:31:00.001-07:00
OK, for those of you who thought that I was insane when I posted the photo of the Mark I that's mounted on the wall of my friend's shop; thinking that I was making it up: Here's final proof. This is the cover of the Shopsmith Mark 1 (555260) owner's manual from 1987. As I mentioned before, the funny thing about this manual is the warning on page 4 that states: "Use only hand tools or other power tools to make the stand. Do NOT use the Mark I".

The second pic is the Nomenclature of the Mark I from the manual. The only difference between this and the Mark V is part #3. One very interesting thing to me about this is it shows the "C" headstock, which has a removable plastic key-switch a bit left of the center of the Speed-Dial. Why is this odd? Because the "C" Headstock wasn't introduced until 1991. I remember seeing prototypes of this headstock around the Quality lab years before it's introduction, but it's weird that Shopsmith Inc. showed it here.

I may have said this before, but to my knowledge there were only two of these tools sold, and one of those two was returned in exchange for a Mark V. I wonder were the remaining Mark I is.
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World Record Holder Shopsmith Hydroplane

2009-09-10T19:02:00.000-07:00
The October 1985 issue of Hand-On Magazine had an interesting article about two Dayton-based hydroplane racers who needed a better boat, so they did what any other Shopsmith Mark V owners would do. They made one. They secluded themselves in the shop for 2 1/2 months, and when they emerged they had a boat that was not only made on Shopsmith tools, but one that Shopsmith Inc. loved so much they sponsored it.

The Shopsmith Hydroplane was made by Alan "Bo" Schide and Ron Bruner, and with Bo at the helm their boat took the USA National Championship E-Class in 1987 and 1988!

Shopsmith had some awesome photos taken of the Shopsmith Hydroplane and all of the Shopsmith stores at the time had two photos of her. One of these photos is shown in the Hands-On article with the boat on a trailer with Bo and Ron next to her. The other, which I'd love to have, showed her flying straight up through a cloud. Sweet!

The bottom photo is of the original paint scheme, while the photo above is of the second. After a few years on the road and water she was thoroughly painted and ultimately sold and renamed.

The photos show here are courtesy of Gary Todd, from his Vintage Hydroplane web site
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I just found a couple old photos of me with my Mark V, and now I'm feeling very old

2009-09-07T17:54:00.000-07:00
At the time this photo was taken I was the store manager of the Shopsmith "Boston" store in Chelmsford. Now, if you are from Boston you and I both know that Chelmsford is NOT Boston, but try telling that to a bunch of marketing guys back in Ohio!

I remember this show very well, because on the same weekend that this home show was taking place in Woburn we had a woodworking show going on in Wooster, and a turning class going on back at the store. Somehow the class got over-booked, so every Mark V in the store had to be used for the class (see lower photo of the actual class in action). That meant we were short a Mark V for the home show, so I pulled my personal Shopsmith from my shop and here it was.

The booth at the woodworking show didn't even have a Mark V, which was actually quite successful. We brought in every freestanding tool we had in the store, including an awesome European work bench, the DC3300 dust collector, the Pro Planer, the Freestanding Scroll Saw and the Router System. Oddly enough, we actually sold two Mark V's at the woodworking show without even showing it.

This was way back in 1988 and the fellow behind me to my left was my assistant manager and buddy Matt. Matt still lives in New Hampshire and to this day still works in a Rockler store, and though like me he still has his hair, it isn't this color anymore!

During this period my store was the only Shopsmith store to be open 7 days a week, and we also were the only store to have two full-time instructors; Bill and Norm.

Turing was Norm's passion (and I just confirmed, still is!), and as you can see this became contagious during our years there.

This photo also shows one of the few weaknesses of the Mark V, that being that the lathe spindle is a bit low as lathes go. To accommodate taller students we had some 6" riser blocks for the Mark V, which during a 3 day class really made the difference.
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Porta Shop. An interesting mini Shopsmith-like tools

2009-09-06T18:58:00.000-07:00
The following is a quote from a current eBay auction:

Now here's something you don't see every day. It's a Porta Shop by Universal Electric Co. Think of it as a miniature type of Shopsmith. Here's a description of the Porta Shop from the Old Wood-Working Machines web site:

"During a five-year period in the 1960s, this company made an amazingly compact little combination unit: drill press, saber saw, scroll saw, shaper, disk sander, tablesaw, and table sander; all contained within a fiberglass case 10"x20"x12" (estimated from a photograph.) [it is actually 10" x 14" x 21" on measurement] About 5000 were sold, for about $1200 each."

I received an email from a man who worked for the company and he indicated that the dates of production were roughly 1961-1968. And that the $1200 price included a lifetime guild membershp. The unit by itself was around $395. (considering the value of a dollar back then, this makes sense)

This one is in overall excellent condition. It appears to have all of its parts except for some drill bits, and a cleaning brush. There is some damage to the fiberglass case, where one of the latches has been torn out. (see last photo). But being fiberglass, this can be repaired and a new latch installed. (The latches are necessary in order to carry the case with the handle.) Nothing else in the set appears to be damaged in any way. There is a bit of caked-on sawdust and a few spots of oxidation here and there, but with a few hours of cleaning and polishing, I believe it could be made to look nearly new.

Most of the metal parts are either of cast aluminum alloy, or of stainless steel, so rust is not a problem. The motor runs smooth and strong, and while I haven't actually used the machine, all functions appear to be working correctly.

It comes with a folder that illustrates the drill-press functions, and shows how the items fit in the case. (hard to do without a map). And there is a goofy cardboard circular slide-rule that displays how the basic unit is converted into the various modes.

I don't have instructions for the Porta Shop, but I think most functions can be figured out fairly easily. This is a compact, but heavy unit --nearly 40 lbs. We charge actual shipping cost plus insurance. We don't add packing or handling charges. Federal Express Ground is often the most economical way to ship heavier packages. But the shipping calculator will not allow FedEx calculations. So I have set it up to calculate UPS ground. I can ship another way if you prefer.

I hope to have more info on this tool shortly, but I owned one of these some time back and even sold it on eBay. Here's a link to Porta Shop tools for sale on eBay

Visit the Porta Shop Yahoo Group here.
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Wanna see a Shopsmith prototype Mark V of tomorrow?

2009-09-06T17:25:00.001-07:00
Around 1996 Shopsmith Inc. was playing around with a new color combination, which ultimately found it's way onto the Shopsmith Scrollsaw as seen in the photo at right. I'm sure my bride could name the exact color, but to my eyes I'd say it's black and teal.

If you know much about the history of the Shopsmith tools you'd know that they've come in several colors including two tone green, smooth gray, two tone gold and textured gray; and up to this point Shopsmith Inc. had stuck to a textured gray finish on all its tools.

I really like this combination and mentioned this during one of my visits to Shopsmith Inc. in Dayton while I was there working on a new franchise store concept. Following one of our meetings I was asked to take a look at a new "Shopsmith Mark V of Tomorrow" prototype which among several other new ideas featured the same color scheme as the scrollsaw.

Again, I really like this combination, and if RLFShop makes a go of it I hope they consider using it on at least a promotional version of the Mark V.

A few other neat features they were playing with here was an advanced fence extrusion that had a T-slot on the two faces for quick attachment of axillary fence faces like the split router/shaper fence shown here. This idea made it's way to the 520 fence. It also has a flip lock on the headstock, just like the one of the on the 505/510 & 520 carriage.

If you've ever seen a used Mark V for sale on eBay with a DIY paint job you'll know why I'd never do this to my Mark V, but I sure wish mine looked this cool.
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Wagner Safe-T-Planer safely planes, rabbits, raises panels and more.

2009-09-05T21:56:00.000-07:00
A recent post on one of my favorite blogs, http://toolmonger.com prompted me to leave a comment (See comment from July 28th from Scott). I've been thinking about it and finally scanned an article to share with you from an issue of Popular Science from the month I was born on the Wagner Safe-T-Planer.

The Wagner Safe-T-Planer was and still is available in two variations; A drill-press mounted version and a Radial Arm Saw mounted version.

I used one of these rotary planers every weekend for years as an instructor at Shopsmith, and without a doubt this was one of the most amazing and useful accessories a shop can own.

We used them to raise panels for doors, rabbit boards for cabinet backs, cut flats on spindles for attaching legs (see photo below), and to safely plane rough blocks of wood flat prior to mounting on a lathe face plate. To accomplish this you simply clamp the block in a hand screw clamp and guide it under the planer with the handles of the clamp.

Another popular use is for planing thin stock for instrument making (aka: luthrie). Traditional thickness planers are designed to thickness relatively stiff boards, and as the lumber gets thinner it tends to chatter and chip. I ran into this when making Shaker Oval Boxes and actually wound-up building a thickness sander for my Shopsmith Mark V for this task. But what if you don't have time to build or money to buy a sander? The Safe-T-Planer may be just the ticket, because it cuts by spinning across the stock, it's less inclined to lit the wood up. My technique for this includes using double-sided tape to hold the thin stock to a carrier. The other advantage to this is that your carrier can be much larger and perhaps even incorporate handles for extra safe planing.

There are two concerns that some folks have with this type of tool:
They say that a drill press quill isn't designed for the side-load encountered by this type of tool. True, but I believe that this is mostly an old pre-ball-bearing concern. That said, if your drill press quill has only a single bearing, I'd either upgrade, or pass on this tool as your quill will encounter chatter that will leave an undesirable finish.
Some folks believe that a drill chuck isn't designed to withstand the twisting forces that are transferred to the jaws by this type of cutting tool. This is a legit concern, so Shopsmith owners are encouraged to mount these in a 1/2" router chuck. Problem solved.

In Shopsmith Inc's Christmas 1989 catalog they made a change from the Wagner tool to a new manufacturer whose name escapes me. It was a sexy red anodized aluminum clone of the Wagner, with the only functional difference being that each cutter had a second cutting edge. (See photos above) That's not to say that six cutters were at work, because only three cutters were cutting at any one time; but the second edge on each cutter was a nice back-up should the first edge become dull or damaged. Of course, that assumes that you keep both edges sharp.

Click here for Safe-T-Planers for sale on eBay

Grizzly now offers the Safe-T-Planer for less than $50 through their web site and through Amazon.com. I'll ask my bride to add the patent for the Safe-T-Planer to her patent store, but in the mean time check-out the informative article below. Click the pics to Biggie-Size them.

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Delta Answers Shopsmith With A Multi Tool Of Their Own

2009-08-21T20:14:00.000-07:00
In 1953 Rockwell introduced their response to the Shopsmith tools: the Delta-Shop. Rather than a true multi-purpose tool this was actually 3 tools mounted on a single stand. It was a Table Saw, Jointer, Disc Sander and a Drill Press. While the saw and the jointer were mounted in the conventional side-by-side configuration on a common base, was Drill Press is hinged on the right end of the saw table, and when needed it is lifted up and the belt is fished-down through the saw insert and around a pulley which takes the place of the saw blade. Many of these tools survive, though many if not most of the disc sander and drill presses have been removed to be mounted on a work bench. There was really no comparison to the Shopsmith, but Magna felt the need to reply to this threat with an ad of their own. See this post for that response, and if Delta Tools are of interest to you, visit our Delta-Rockwell-Tool-Hunter blog
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Not Everyone Gets To Own Shopsmith Tools

2009-08-16T20:19:00.000-07:00
The young man in the center of this photo is my new grandson, Jensen aka: Smuckers. He was born on August 3rd, and this photo was taken on August 5th at one of our local Mexican restaurants. He is rather upset at me because moments before I gave him his first power tool, a multi-purpose tool called "Real Power ToolShop". I thought it was kind of cool. It's a jigsaw, a drill press, a disc sander and a wood lathe. Apparently Smuckers was hoping for a genuine Shopsmith tool because the moment this was revealed he burst into tears. I like this kid!

(Click the pic to see Smucker's tonsils!)
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Cash for Clinkers. Who Knew It Was Originally a Shopsmith Thing?

2009-08-08T08:25:00.001-07:00
I wasn't aware that Shopsmith (aka: at the time Magna) had the idea of Cash for Clunkers over 50 years before our Congress! This ad from 1957 called the "Power Tool Round-up" offered a $45 rebate in exchange for a power tool. As I think about it, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for the current Shopsmith manufacturer RLF Shop to offer just such a trade-in for old Mark V's. This would get those old tools off the street (and Craigs List, and eBay) and would get the factory back to work. Of course, they would have to have something worth swapping for... hey, how about that new headstock? Think about it Bob...

Click pic to Biggie-Size
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Is Shopsmith Inc Dead?

2009-07-20T17:59:00.000-07:00
Woodworking forums are buzzing with rumors about the demise of Shopsmith Inc, and if the rumors are true, were does that leave owners of the Mark V and other Shopsmith tools?

Well, I can confirm that Shopsmith Inc. has closed its doors. A new company called RLF Shop, LLC (Presumably for Robert L. Folkerth, COO of Shopsmith Inc.) has begun from 6 full-time former Shopsmith Inc. employees to produce the Shopsmith line of woodworking tools and to take orders. (You'll LOVE Linda!) This makes RLF Shop the fifth company to produce the Shopsmith line since its inception in the 1940's.

As for the future of the Shopsmith tool line. No need to panic. Even if this new restructuring fails there are over 1 million Shopsmith 5-in-1 tools in use and if activity on eBay is any indication there will be a used parts market for years to come. This was part of Shopsmith Inc's problem to begin with; their tools just don't die!

Lots more info and discussions about the ramifications can be found on the following forums:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?referrerid=5960&t=116214

This forum is hosted by Nick Engler, another former Shopsmith Inc employee with strong connections to the company. Take a look for Nick's own observations. (Nick also has a great site worth bookmarking) http://www.nickengler.com/Forum/vanilla/comments.php?DiscussionID=74&page=1#Item_0

http://www.nickengler.com/Forum/vanilla/comments.php?DiscussionID=74&page=1#Item_35

Another interesting blog entry that has been interesting to watch for some time:
http://www.woodworkingonline.com/2007/05/18/is-shopsmith-breathing-its-final-breath/#comments

Information about the Sheriff's auction of Shopsmith's building in Dayton Ohio.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Are you looking for great tools at a great price? Think "Tool Hunter"

2009-06-19T17:14:00.000-07:00
We were looking over some of the nerd-level analytical data that we get for our blogs and have noticed an interesting trend: When folks find tools on our blogs, and bid, they run a good chance of winning the item! Take a look at the info at right (Click on it to Biggie-size).
This is from the dashboard that eBay gives us to track the traffic from our Tool-Hunter blogs, and what it shows is the number of bids placed by our readers and the success rate of their bids. Now, not everyone is successful, but what this shows is a trend that has been improving over the past two years that we've been blogging. Granted, our blogs aren't traditional "blogs", in that we don't feel the need to post when we have nothing fresh to say. No, our goal is connecting lovers of fine tools with , well, more fine tools! We hope this describes you and if so we encourage you to check-out all of our "Tool-Hunter" blogs. You'll find them listed on our launch page at this link: http://tool-hunter.blogspot.com

Thanks for joining us, and please drop us a line if anything comes to mind that you'd like to see on these blogs; or if you have a tool to promote.

Scott
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

You say "changeover" like it's a bad thing, shirts, mugs and more for sale

2009-05-23T23:02:00.001-07:00
If you are the owner of any Shopsmith tool you've no doubt heard the phrase "Oh yeah, the Shopsmith is cool, but it takes too long to changeover".

It used to make me want to scream!

I'm over that now, and am proud to offer my answer to the naysayers: Visit our new Zazzle store for the new "You say "changeover" like it's a bad thing" shirt and coffee mugs, and many other neat items for woodworkers with images from original US Patent Art Prints.
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FREE Downloads of Owners Manuals from Shopsmith!

2009-02-24T15:22:00.000-08:00
Though they don't make every manual available, Shopsmith does have a dozen or so of their current manuals available for free downloading! http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/productmanuals.htm

Here's a few links to specific manuals:
Accessory Shelf (351KB)
Adjusting Collar (16KB)
Bandsaw Circle Cutter (319KB)
Bandsaw Table Extension (171KB)
Dial Indicator (388KB)
Drive Belt Replacement (155KB)
Dust Collector (247KB)
Dust Collection-42 in. Filter Hood (319KB)
Dust Collector - 42 in. Filter Hood (Template) (22KB)
Lathe Shield Support Bracket (185KB)
Lift Assist (77KB)
Mounting Base (286KB)
Overarm Pin Router (958KB)
Packing the MARK V Headstock for Shipment (16KB)
Poly V Belt/Gilmer Belt Replacement (48KB)
Power Station Service Information (8KB)
Pulley Guard (360KB)
Ringmaster (408KB)
Router Arm Upgrade (48KB)
Safety Devices Instructions (179KB)
Storage Cabinets (156KB)
TSIII Incra Manual (493KB)
Wall Bracket (229KB)
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Several AWESOME Sites for Shopsmith Woodworking Enthusiasts

2009-01-04T19:19:00.000-08:00
For some time now I've been watching a couple great sites that if you are a Shopsmith power tool fan, you should save these to you favorites folder immediately.
The first site is www.woodworkinghistory.com and as I think about it now I'm a little surprised I'm just now getting around to mentioning it. Raymond McInnis is a professional librarian, avid historian and woodworker who has toiled for years building a site documenting the early years of the classic DIY tools that tool America by storm in the 1940's-1960's. You'll find MASSIVE amounts of Shopsmith information in the Appendices section, so I've actually linked to this page with the hyperlink above. Mr. McInnis has covered Shopsmith, Delta/Rockwell, the history of the tilting arbor table saw, and lots of history on one of my favorite movements in the history of woorworking design; the Mission/Arts and Crafts movement. I'm telling you, this is a treasure trove of information, so make sure you take time to look around, and for goodness sake make sure you bookmark this site!
If you are the owner of the original Shopsmith 10ER tool, then you own it to yourself to get to know Mr. Skip Cambell. Skip has forgotten more about the 10ER than you and I can ever hope to learn. (Not that he's forgotten much!) With the help of two dear friends, Burl Barnes and Dale Booher (both now passed on), who were the Shopsmith dealer/repair men in Ft. Worth and Dallas, in 1995 Skip started his business of repair and restoration of Shopsmith machines. Burl Barnes worked a the Montgomery Ward headquarters on 7th St. in Ft. Worth in 1947. He remembered when the Magna team came and demonstrated the Shopsmith and they started selling them. He has repaired and/or restored over a hundred Mark Vs but have specialized in the 10ER and has offered help with some of the facts here on my own blog. Skip is the owner and moderator of the 10ER Yahoo group Shopsmith10ERusers@yahoogroups.com and his own site offers some great insight to his tool restoration skills www.mkctools.com.
Song of the Great Lakes is a neat site run by an avid woodworker and Shopsmith user. Dan, the site owner, is passionate about musical instruments, and his site even covers the making of a banjo. This site is different from most "tool sites" in that Dan focuses on USING the tools. I think you'll enjoy this one.
A couple more forums you should frequent are: www.shopsmith.net/forums www.ssug.org and the Shopsmith Yahoo Group
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John Folkerth, Chairman and Founder of Shopsmith Inc. Passes Away

2008-12-19T08:28:00.000-08:00
I received a report early this week that John Folkerth, the Chairman and Founder of Shopsmith Inc. passed away Friday Dec. 19th, 2008.

This information comes from a reliable source (which has now been double-confirmed) and from what I hear the folks at Shopsmith are keeping mum about the details for now. Keep in mind that Shopsmith is truly a close family of folks who are in mourning. Please do not inundate them with requests for details about his death or the funeral arrangements. There will be a memorial service next week; details of which will be announced shortly and I'll pass them on if I can. (Revised below)

I worked for Shopsmith for about ten years through the ‘80’s and ‘90’s and had the pleasure of sitting side by side with John in meetings, car rides and meals. He was a tall, athletic man who could impress, intimidate and challenge you to do greater things. I also had the pleasure of teaching two of his adult sons woodworking in classes at the Shopsmith Woodworking Academy in Dayton, Ohio. They all inherited their father’s height and laugh, both of which were HUGE! He will be missed and Shopsmith will not be the same without him.

P.S. My wife reminded me of a cute story that she remembered about John. We were dining at a very nice restaurant just north of Boston with John and the crew from the Shopsmith store in Chelmsford MA where I was the manager at the time. Our Son, Seth, was three years old and was sitting in a highchair near John as we all dug into a BBQ rib appetizer. After finishing gnawing on the tiny little bone Seth had BBQ sauce on his fingers and began waving his hands erratically about, expecting someone to clean them. John looked over at the Seth and said "Why don't you just lick them off?" Seth's eyes got big as he stared at his fingers and started to cry. We were trying to figure out what was wrong when Seth said something like "But I don't want them off!"

He thought John was suggesting that he remove his fingers with his tongue rather than clean them! With that John let-out one of his bombastic laughs that just shook the place!

That boy never was quite right after that and we owe it all to John Folkerth. God bless you John.

From Dayton Daily News:

John Randolph Folkerth
News Death Notice FOLKERTH, John Randolph 75, left this life December 19th at the Villages Hospital in Florida. He was an awesome husband for 54 years to Carolyn Folkerth and lived most of his life in Dayton. Son of Harold and Peg Folkerth, John is survived by two brothers, Gene (Anne), who live in The Villages, Florida, and Bruce (Betty), who live in Naples, Florida. He leaves three sons, John (Karen), Bob (Robin), and Dave, and nine grandchildren: Brooke, Kate, Whitney, Bill, Laura, Lisa, Lindsay, Allison, and Edward, to whom he was devoted. John started Shopsmith, Inc. in 1971, and served as Chairman and CEO for over 30 years. He attended Oakwood Schools, graduated from Baylor School in Chattanooga, and attended Vanderbilt University and the University of Dayton. John was a life-long member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oakwood. In recent years he pursued his interest in golf and was a member of the Moraine Country Club. While his enthusiasm for the game was only exceeded by his handicap, he persevered. His spirit and smile will be dearly missed by a host of friends and relatives. Services will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on December 30th at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, or the charity of your choice.
Published in the Dayton Daily News on 12/24/2008
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Shopsmith Mark V (Mark 5) Information, Review and History

2008-01-27T12:48:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! See the photo at right for the current MSRP of the Shopsmith Mark V from http://www.shopsmith.com/.

Click here for Shopsmith Mark V Listings For Sale

Click here for Shopsmith Mark V HEADSTOCK listings

Click here for Shopsmith Mark V Repair Service and Service Videos
Watch a Shopsmith Mark V tablesaw being used to cut spirals.

So let’s talk about the Mark V.

When Hans Goldschmidt set-out to create his first multi-purpose tool in the last 1940’s he started with an analytical review of the features that power tools had in common. He noted that in most cases there is a spindle that spins, a support table for the wood and ideally a stand to support the wood at a comfortable position. From there he developed the concept of the first of the Shopsmith 5-in-1 tools the 10er. The 10er featured a movable spindle which in the tool world is known as a quill. This is a must-have feature for a drill press, but it’s unheard of on a table saw; so obviously the quill must be able to lock in place when a saw blade or other cutting tool is attached. An added benefit to having a saw blade on a quill is once the fence is in place, if a very fine adjustment is needed in ripping width, rather than moving the fence you simply move the blade! It’s very cool.

With the spindle being held horizontally for the saw function, and seeing that it’s a quill, why not use it for drilling horizontally? That’s not something the average home woodworker has available and it’s much more practical (also safer) than trying to balance a board on it’s edge on the drill press. In fact, with the exception of the jointer it’s always preferable to have a board resting firmly on one of its faces rather than on its edge, so horizontal boring is a excellent tool in the Shopsmith arsenal.

So Hans settled on the five tools that made the most sense to combine into one tool, knowing that it would still leave a few important tools off. He had an idea about how to remedy that, but those ideas would have to wait. After a few years of successful sales under his belt Hans went back to the drawing board to improve upon his original idea. That effort eventually led to the introduction of the Mark V (Model 500) in 1954.

The Mark V still featured the basic five tools which were present on the 10er; Table Saw, Lathe, Drill Press, Horizontal Boring Machine and a Disc Sander, but all of these functions were improved by the introduction of a unique and fully integrated variable speed control. While Magna did offer an optional speed changer for the 10er, it had exposed belts and was a bit hit and miss due to the lack of a speed indicator.

One of the best things Hans accomplished with the Mark V was he was able to integrate the novel “Add-a-Tool concept, which allowed the woodworker to add the other important tools that were not practical to integrate into the 5-in-1 tool itself, but were critical to certain woodworking tasks. These included a Bandsaw, a Jigsaw, a Jointer , a Belt Sander and an Air Compressor. When these tools were introduced they each set a new standard in the industry. In fact, I believe that the Shopsmith Bandsaw and Belt Sander are still heads and shoulders ahead of all the others in their class. Not too shabby for 50 year old designs!

The Mark V was substantially improved in the 1960’s with the introduction a more powerful motor (1 1/8hp) and an improved drive spindle on the quill. This was later augmented in the 1980’s by the addition of an additional bearing that helped stabilize the spindle during faceplate turning, sawing and drilling.

Also in the late 1980’s the Mark V got another MAJOR renovation with the introduction of the Mark V Model 510. This model is built upon the same base and headstock as the model 500, but everything else changed. The first issue was Shopsmith was determined to produce a saw guard that people would actually use. That meant that it had to be easy to install and remove; and it had to remain in alignment with the blade even if the blade is moved in the saw table slot due to fine tuning with the quill.

Shopsmith was also working on an updated version of the Shop Vacuum, which would later become the DC3300, so they knew that they would want to be able to capture not only sawdust, but also dust produced while using the disc sander, so one of the thing that would have to happen is the tubes that support the worktable would have to be spread further apart. Seeing that one of their goals was also to make a larger table, spreading these tubes would make a lot of sense . This new layout would necessitate a new carriage design, so while they were at it they resolved a little weird glitch in the Model 500 carriage design. To raid the table on the Model 500 you turn a handle counter-clockwise; where on the 510 you turn a large wheel clockwise. Much more intuitive, and the wheel was a very nice improvement.

A few more improvements that the 510 has over the 500:
The 510 has T-slot miter slots, a longer, taller fence with improved locking both front and read, a true riving knife, a much better table insert that continues off the back of the table, so there is no need to level the table inserts at the back, (If you own a 500 you know what I mean) and two "floating tables" which can be placed between the main table and the narrow support table, or even in front or behind the main table for supporting log rips.

In the late 1990’s Shopsmith further refined the Mark V with a new fence system that they mounted on the 510 table system. This tool was given the model #520. This fence in about twice as wide as the 510 fence, and even features two t-slot miter slots in the top and one on each face for the addition of fixtures, jigs, feather boards, etc. The extruded aluminum rails also allow the user to install a new direct-reading rip fence scale. These are two magnetic, stainless steel scales that attach to the fence rails for fast and repeatable rip adjustments. These must be adjustable because when the table is removed from the Mark V and later re-installed, it’s unlikely that the blade will end-up in the exact same position within the insert opening, so the fence in locked against the blade and the scale is simply re-set to zero.

In the end, if someone offered me my choice of any version of the Mark V, I believe I’d stick with the 510, though the 520 isn’t far behind. For me the fence rails are a bit too chunky on the 520, and the double-wide fence necessitates the use of the floating tables, which are just too many parts to have in play. But that’s just me.

Visit www.PatentPlaceUSA.com and search "Shopsmith" to see a bunch of neat Patent Art Prints for Shopsmith tools!

Mike Young puts a Shopsmith Mark V Model 510 through "All The Right Moves".

Mike Young on the Shopsmith Mark V Lathe:

Mike Young once again uses a Shopsmith Mark V Model 510 as a Drill Press:

Mike Young on the Shopsmith Mark V Model 510 as a Horizontal Boring Machine:

A neat video of the Shopsmith Mark V changing modes.

Here's a series of videos demonstrating the Shopsmith Mark V

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Ever Wonder What's Happening Inside Your Shopsmith Mark V?

2008-01-26T19:34:00.000-08:00
The Shopsmith Mark V is a marvel of engineering. The speed control itself is utilizes what is known as a "Reeves Drive", which is a pair of variable pulleys which at the turn of a dial become either large or smaller. Milton Reeves received a patent for this style of pulley in 1897 (Image right from US Patent). This is the same variable transmission method used on snowmobiles (or is that snow machines?) and several small cars like the old Subaru Justy.

The Mark V actually has four pulleys. The upper pulley is part of what is called the Drive Sleeve Assembly. This is driven by a flat belt that is driven by a small pulley that is attached to the Reeves Drive. This part is called the Poly-V or Gilmer Sheave.

Side note: This set of pulleys is mounted on a stainless steel shaft (called the Idler Shaft) that is actually an automotive water pump bearing assembly! This same part is machined differently for use on the Shopsmith Bandsaw, the old Jigsaw, and several other tools.

The other half of this pulley is called the Control Sheave, and it is moved in and out on the Idler Shaft with the turn of the Speed Control Dial on the front of the Mark V.

This pulley assembly is driven by the lower pulley assembly which is mounted on a stainless steel shaft of the motor. (If you ever wondered why the Mark V is so expensive, it's because of the many fine details such as this.) This lower drive pulley assembly is made-up of two sheaves; one called the Fan Sheave, which is fixed to the motor shaft and in addition to driving the v-belt it moves the air around the inside of the motor pan. The other end of this shaft has the Floating Sheave, which moves in and out in response to the adjustments made in the pulley assembly above. If the upper pulley is opened (which in essence makes the belt drop deep into the pulley as if the pulley was smaller) the lower pulley sill snap shut, becoming in essence a large pulley. This explains why it is easier to increase the speed on your Mark V than it is to lower the speed. When you raise the speed you are opening the upper pulley and the lower pulley is closing under spring power. When you lower the speed you and pinching the belt in the upper pulley as you close it, while simultaneously wedging the lower pulley apart with the belt. This also explains why you can turn the Mark V speed dial faster with the Mark V off, but it is impossible to lower the speed with the machine off. You shouldn't do this either way, but if you do raise the speed with the tool off nothing will be damaged.

The Image of the Mark V is from 1962 when the motor was upgraded from 3/4HP to 1 1/8HP. You can tell this from the upper drive belt which is known as a Poly-V Belt on these more powerful units. Prior to the Poly-V the upper belt was a toothed belt known as a Gilmer belt which I mentioned above. The Gilmer belt had a problem which was also its advantage; It doesn't slip. No, really, it can't. The problem with this is woodworking power tools need something to slip, should the blade come to a sudden stop. The original Mark V had a special clutch that was inside the Drive Sleeve Assembly, but this was made of a clutch that was destroyed when the clutch is needed, which resulted in costly and time consuming repairs. When the larger motor was introduced Magna saw the need to change this drive to eliminate this weakness, so the clutch was swapped for the Pully-V belt, which not only has spectacular drive power, but can also slip if need be.

I've spent hundreds of hours with my hands inside these beauties and I have to say that they never cease to amaze me.

Here's a link to a pdf document that covers the replacement of the Gilmer and Poly-V belt on the Mark V.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

There's always a few miss-named Shopsmith items...

2008-01-26T07:52:00.000-08:00
Miss-labeled Shopsmith items for sale on eBay
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Service, Repair and Replacement Headstock Information, Review and History

2008-01-25T13:55:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Mark V headstock is $1604.24!
FYI: The current Mark 5 headstock will fit the Mark I, Mark II, Mark V model 500, 505, 510 and 520, and with a little modification of your way tube it will also replace the worn-out head on your Mark VII.
If you choose to purchase a used headstock there are a few things to know:
From 1955 to 1960 the SS Mark V had a two-tone green paint scheme and contained one fewer bearing and also had a 3/4HP motor.
From 1960 to 1963 the Mark V headstock was a two-tome gold/tan color. In 1963 the motor was changed to the current 1 1/8HP and one of the two internal belts was improved.
From 1963 through 1967 the paint was smooth grey.
From 1972 through today the paint is a pebble-grey.
In 1984, beginning with serial #190000 SS added an additional bearing to the quill in response to pressure from Taiwanese knock-offs which featured this improvement and because it was a good idea.
As you can see in the photo above, in 1991 the switch was moved a bit to the left (it used to be centered over the speed dial). This was done to meet Canadian safety requirements which specify that the switch cannot be covered by the tabletop. The switch also now features a removable "key", which if removed can prevent unauthorized use.
It's surprising to some how many improvements have been made over the years to things that are out of sight, but due to some smart folks at Shopsmith the Mark V just keeps getting better and better as the years go by.
Click here for Shopsmith Mark V Replacement Headstock listings

Click here for Shopsmith 10E, 10ER Replacement Headstock listings

Click here for Shopsmith Mark II Replacement Headstock listings (Very light activity)

Click here for Shopsmith Mark VII Replacement Headstock listings (Very light activity)
On last link. Our analytical data shows us that we've had a surprising number of folks who have gone from our site and have purchased either Shopsmith Service instruction DVD's or Headstock service from one specific eBayer named Jacob Anderson. I have no direct contact with Jacob but have "known" him for years through a couple Yahoo groups relating to Shopsmith and Sawsmith tools, and based on his feedback (currently 100% positive from over 2000 buyers!) it looks like he's the real deal.
The current DVD titles from Jacob include:
"Repair your Shopsmith Mark V headstock"
"Tuneup & repair your Shopsmith Bandsaw"
Additionally you can even send your Shopsmith Mark V's headstock to Jacob for repair by purchasing the repair on eBay.
Here's a link to Jacob's Shopsmith Service items on eBay
If you've had any experience with Jacob's products or service please click on the comment link below and tell us about your experience.

Below is a very odd video from author Nick Engler on removing rust from Mark V tubes using potatoes!
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Conical Sanding Disc Review

2008-01-25T08:12:00.000-08:00
The Conical Sanding Disc (555435) from Shopsmith is a very cool accessory that is way more than meets the eye. The standard Shopsmith 12" sanding discs works great for end grain touch-ups, but it's rather useless for edge sanding. Why?
The proper way to edge sand with a disc sander on the Mark 5 (Model 500, 505 and 510) is to offset the fence with one of the set screws in the base of the rip fence. By slightly extending the set screw which is the furthest away from the disc, the back of the fence will swing slightly away from the disc. (More on this setscrew later)

When you run a board between the fence and the disc the sandpaper you feed the board from the rear toward the front of the table. This way the disc will only contact the board as the sandpaper is heading downward. Do this wrong and the disk will lift the board or worse.
OK, that's a safe method, but the problem is this cross grain sanding will leave some tenacious scratches on the edge of the board, and on thicker boards the edge will not be square.

Enter the Shopsmith Conical Sanding Disc. The first thing that this disc requires is the main table needs to be tilted 4 degrees into the disc. That makes sense, because of the disc is tapered 4 degrees away from the table at the top, in order to get a square edge you'd have to tilt the table to match. The next difference from the method described above is that you no longer need to offset the fence. This is one of the reasons the fence on the 520 doesn't have the setscrew mentioned above. (Don't forget, there's more to come on that)

With the table tilted and the fence locked squarely in place, when the board kisses the disc it will touch the abrasive at the center of the disc; right at the point where the disc is moving perfectly parallel with the edge grain! This neat little characteristic is also what allow the conical disc to be used for sharpening jointer and planer knives.

Click link to view Shopsmith Conical Sanding Disc for sale on eBay

Oh yeah, the setscrew.
One of the most common mistakes made by folks when aligning the fence on the 500, 505 and 510 Mark V's is that they use the setscrews in the base of the fence for alignment of the fence. These setscrews (in the case of the very early 500 units: setscrew) are used only for misalignment as described above. In fact, I've experienced a few of these setscrews that have fallen out, or moved forward due to vibration, and when the fence was brought into position they threw the fence out of alignment. So, I developed the habit of removing these setscrews and I temporarily relocate them to the two threaded holes in the top of the miter gauge protractor. This way I always know where they are when I need them, plus in the miter gauge they can be used to hold a miter stop block.

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Bandsaw Information, Review and History

2008-01-24T21:59:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Bandsaw is $544.99!

FYI, The Shopsmith Bandsaw is one of the best band saws on the market! You can power it on your Shopsmith 10er, Mark I, Mark II, Mark V, Mark VII and even with the Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw! It can also be powered by what Shopsmith calls a SPT Stand (Single Purpose Tool), the Power Station or the Crafters Station.

There have been a few minor improvements made to the SS bandsaw over the years; with the best yet most subtle being the move from bushings to ball bearings in the back-up positions above and below the table and in the auto-track system. Prior to this the SS bandsaw would have to be oiled regularly to prevent it from screaming like a thousand fingernails on a blackboard. This upgrade is offered by Shopsmith for all old bandsaws, so don’t let the lack of this feature scare you off; and if the saw has a serial # higher than 97932 your saw already has this feature.

Another change came in the late '80's when SS introduced an “improved” table. I put “improved” in quotes because the improvement caused about as many problems as it solved. I was at a Shopsmith Store Manager’s meeting at Pinehurst Springs NC when this new table was unveiled, and after the initial oohs and ahs one of the guys in the room said “Hey, it doesn’t look like it will lift into the drill press mode without hitting the table”. “No, that can’t be!” said the proud product manager. So one of the guys unlocked the base and BANG!, the way-tube tie bar smacked the bottom of the table! The product manager’s face went beet-red and the crowd busted out laughing. Oh well. SS introduced a set of extremely off-set tubes for users who miss the ability to leave the bandsaw in place when lifting the unit into the drill press, and all was forgotten. (Till now! Sorry Tim!)

The old cast iron table was glass smooth and had two intersecting miter slots. One was used with the miter gauge for feeding wood into the blade in cross cuts. The other slot allowed for miter gauge to be used as a fence. I loved this feature because it allowed you to adjust the fence quickly to compensate for inevitable drift; and once it was adjusted the fence could be moved closer to or further away from the blade without loosing the drift setting. One negative part o the original table was the sacrificial aluminum table insert, which on many of the saws dropped a little too deeply into the table recess. They also would pop-out mid-cut and would get caught in the blade.

Side note: The ad shown at right was run in 1958 when Magna launched a complete line of stand-alone tools. The ad is purposely printed askew to stand-out in a magazine of same-looking ads. Worked for me! Click the pic to Biggie-Size it.

The new table was much larger than the original cast iron version, and for weight reasons was now made from aluminum. After the introduction of the Mark V model 510 with it’s large ribbed tables, someone in product development decided that ribs were cool, so the new table featured ribs. Apparently the same guy who forgot the check for way tube clearance didn’t stop to think that cuts on a BS aren’t always straight across the table like those made on a table saw, and the bad news was that the edge of your stock is constantly catching on the ribs as you make tight curves! After a few years SS made a change to the mold and filled-in a large circle around the removable insert. The new table has only one miter gauge, but it’s finally a T-slot that accommodates the 510 miter gauge bar, and it also has a neat patented feature that allows the user to tighten the slot if it wears over time.

Speaking of the insert; the new aluminum table has small screws under the insert that allows you to fine-tune the fit until the insert is dead-on level with the top of the table, and the insert also snaps into the recess with two retaining springs. Now the insert stays put when you tilt the table, and it doesn’t fly across the room whenever you remove the BS from your Mark V. This insert is a little tricky to remove and insert because it has two pop-rivets that have to be slid into place just-so, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

Two more features of the new table are optional, bun in my opinion, not really. One is a fence, which adjusts for drift and locks firmly into place. Originally it only locked on the rear of the table, but now it locks both front and rear. The other item is a neat little table extension that can also hold a silly circle cutter. Pass on the circle cutter if it’s an extra expense, but the little support is very handy.

A dust chute was added as an add-on and to install it you had to cut or drill a large hole in the cover and bolt the flange and elbow into place. After a few years Shopsmith realized that this should be a standard feature, so they modified the mold and added an intergraded port into the cover.

What started out as a user-suggest modification became a standard feature just a few years ago. Many of us drilled a small hole into the upper left-hand side of the cover so we could insert the 5/32” Allen wrench (AKA: the “Shopsmith Toolbox”) into the tension adjuster to lower the blade tension as we left the shop, without needing to remove the cover. Shopsmith was under pressure by Canadian law to change the way they attached the cover. They had to make is impossible to remove the cover without the use of a tool, so they removed the knobs and added more 5/32” hex-drive bolts. This made accessing the tension adjuster a total pain in the butt, so SS added the aforementioned access hole, and to make re-tensioning possible they also cut a window into the front so you can see the tension gauge. You can clearly see this little plastic window in the photo above; as well as the new cover-locking bolts and the built-in dust chute.

Speaking of the tension gauge: about once a year every woodworking magazine in America publishes an article by an author like Mark Duginski who walks the reader through a bandsaw tune-up and introduces concepts like co-plainer wheels and how to properly crown the tires on those wheels. The problem is none of these techniques are applicable to the Shopsmith Bandsaw! I highly recommend that you review the original patent for this saw (available through the link below), and you‘ll learn about how this saw is unique and I believe superior to all other bandsaw designs in this class of tool. More on this in a separate post.

Click here for Shopsmith Bandsaws For Sale

Watch a Shopsmith Bandsaw being put to use in an unorthodox way by yours truly in the video below.

Here's a neat tip on how to increase the capacity of your Shopsmith Bandsaw

I told ya you could twist the blade on the Shopsmith Bandsaw!

Did you know you can slow your Shopsmith Bandsaw down for sawing plastics and metals?

A great tip for stacking Shopsmith feather boards for resawing on the Bandsaw

Chicks Dig Wicked-Awesome Bandsaw Skills
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Patent Art Prints for many Shopsmith tools

2008-01-23T21:03:00.000-08:00
Check-out the little eBay widget below to see a wide range of US Patent Art Prints for the Shopsmith line of tools, as manufactured by Magna, Yuba and Shopsmith Inc. To view in a large size (assuming your eyes are going like mine) click this link: ShopSmith Patent Art Prints
Though they rotate in and out of inventory, there are actually around 60 US Patents and one British patent for Shopsmith items, such as the 10er, the Mark 2, Mark V, Mark 7, Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw, Sawsmith 2000, Shopsmith Bandsaw, Scrollsaw, Belt Sander and more.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

They sure don't make TV like they used to

2008-01-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Jointer Information, Review and History

2008-01-22T13:49:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith 4" Jointer is $489.99.

At only 4" wide the Shopsmith jointer is small by comparison to today's Chinese imports, but it just about lives full-time on my Mark V and for me is irreplaceable even though I now also own a large jointer too. The inventors of the Mark V were smart enough to know that the jointer would be needed while sawing, so while the upper spindle is spinning around 3500rpm the lower drive spindle that drives the jointer is spinning 1.6 times faster at 5600rpm.

As for its size, ask yourself how often you'll be jointing boards which are thicker than 4" and you'll see that 4" is wide enough for all be face-jointing. Just like the Shopsmith Bandsaw the inventors of the SS jointer took a fresh look at the tool and came-up with some unique features that have proven the test of time. Some of these innovations are:
One captured handle is used to loosen and tighten the fence tilt as well as for locking the fence in the proper place over the blade. Why move the fence? As you use a jointer the knives will begin to dull, so when you need to make a final pass on your stock you can move the fence to the sharpest point on the knives. In my case I like to move the fence to the back of the jointer if I know the wood I'm jointing has the potential to nick the knives. For example, even tough I do this rarely I do occasionally find the need to joint a piece of plywood. The glue line on the ply is murder on the knives, so for this I'll slide the fence over to the far right and leave the left side pristine.
Most jointers have an adjustable front and rear bed. You raise and lower the front bed to expose more or less of the blades to remove a set amount. I usually have mine set to remove 1/16". The rear bed on most jointers also moves up and down to allow you to line it up with the blades whenever you change them for a freshly sharpened set. The SS jointer doesn't need an adjustable rear bed because the inventors patented a unique cutterhead that allows you to accurately position the knives level with the fixed rear bed. You'll notice that several companies sell knife setting gauges because all jointers except the SS jointer have goofy knife holders which can cause the knives to shift left, right, up or down when they are being tightened. Worse yet most jointer knives can come loose if they aren't properly tightened. The SS jointer knives are ground in a wedge shape, and they are locked in place with an opposing wedge. If the capscrews which hold the wedges in place are even lightly tightened, centrifugal force will cause the knives to hold tight against the locking wedges. I'm not explaining his well, but most importantly this design is just plain smart.
Ever wonder if the piece you're thinking of jointing is long enough to safely joint? A little-know feature on the SS jointer fence is that it has two bumps cast into the top. If your board fits between the bumps it's too short to joint.
The current SS jointer features an improved guard which is called a feather-guard. It combines a guard which can be set to limit how much of the cutterhead can be exposed and a featherboard which helps to keep the board held tightly against the fence. If your SS jointer has the older cast aluminum "pork chop" type guard it can be easily retrofitted with the new feather-guard by purchasing the featherguard retro kit from Shopsmith.
One last recent improvement to the SS jointer sounds a little gross, but the motive is pure and the results were very effective. A few years ago SS increased the diameter of the cutterhead and increased the size of the knife locking wedges in order to tighten-up the spaces that can cause injury if an operator happens to get their hand too close to the running cutterhead. Again, this is available as a service part, but I'm not prepared to go to this extreme. My featherguard keeps me at a safe distance, and my fear of injury handles the rest.
Click here for Shopsmith Jointers For Sale

Here's a neat tip on how to increase the bed length on your Shopsmith Jointer
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith 6" Beltsanders Information, Review and History

2008-01-21T20:12:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith 6" Belt Sander is $429.99.
FYI, The Shopsmith Beltsander is one of the best on the market! You can power it on your Shopsmith 10er, Mark I, Mark II, Mark V, Mark VII and even with the Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw. It can also be powered by what Shopsmith calls a SPT Stand (Single Purpose Tool), the Power Station or the Crafters Station.

I'm impressed at the genius of this design, which not only utilizes the same water-pump bearing Assembly that is used on the Mark V and Bandsaw, but it actually features two short sections of the same tube that us used for the waytube and bench tube on the Mark V! Because these two sections of tube are hidden from view and are only 7" or so long they allowed Magna to make use of bent or scratched waytubes. Clever.

It has a thumbwheel for making quick adjustments in tracking and an auto-tension using that works like a charm. Watch-out that you don;t allow this to spring when the belt is off for changing, but even if you do this is easy to reset by following the instruction in the owners manual.

There have been a few changes over the years to the SS Beltsander:
Originally the Belt Sander featured a 1 1/4" dust port, but 1987 ShopSmith changed this to accommodate 2 1/2"hoses used by ShopVac and others, including the Shopsmith DC3300. This dust port is available as an upgrade retro kit fro around $20, so don't let the small port discourage you from purchasing an older unit.
For many, many years following the formation of Shopsmith Inc. in 1972 they continued to make the SS Belt Sander with the old Magna castings. You can see the "M" logo cast into the side of these units up until the tooling finally wore-out in the late 1980's and was replaced by the Shopsmith logo. Over the years SS stopped sanding the paint off the Magna "M" and added a Shipsmith sticker to the side of the unit.
For a period of time Shopsmith had a batch of Beltsanders that just wouldn't track properly. I don't know the serial # range, but the problem was someone decided that it would save money if they used the same aluminum drum for both the drive drum and the idler drum. Now, the drive drum is perfectly cylindrical with a rubber sleeve glued to it, while the idler drum is bare aluminum with a slight crown. The genius who made the call to use a single drum had the crowned drum covered with rubber for the drive, so just like a Delta bandsaw the belt was supposed to track in the center of the two crowned drums. The problem with this plan is that bandsaws have bearings that help to keep the blade on, but belt sanders don't. So, is by some chance you have one of these bastard sanders be aware that the drive drum can be easily replaced.
Click here for Shopsmith 6" Belt Sanders For Sale

Fitting Drawers with a Shopsmith Belt Sander with Nick Engler and Jim McCann
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Strip Sander Information, Review and History

2008-01-20T20:16:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Strip Sander is $269.49

FYI, The Shopsmith Stripsander is one of the best on the market! You can power it on your Shopsmith 10er, Mark I, Mark II, Mark V, Mark VII and even with the Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw! It can also be powered by what Shopsmith calls a SPT Stand (Single Purpose Tool), the Power Station or the Crafters Station. It can be used for sanding in tight spaces, and is AWESOME for sharpening your lathe tools and knives!

The strip sander does have one accessory which is for sharpening. It allows you to guide lathe tools through the sharpening and honing steps. It's a bit hard to see in the second photo, but note that when this accessory is mounted on the strip sander that it then must run in reverse. That means that you are driving it with the quill side of the Mark V not the SPT hub on the back side. Imagine yourself in the middle of some spindle turning when you realize that you need to sharpen your skew. Now you must remove your work, your spur drive center and your tailstock. Mount your new drive hub, your strip sander (which hopefully have the sharpening jig in place) and sharpen your skew. Now, reverse that and you're ready to go again. Oops! You dropped your skew! Do you get my drift? I'd pass on this one.

Click here for Shopsmith Stripsanders For Sale

Here's a video showing the Shopsmith Strip Sander being used for sharpening Plane Irons
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Speed Reducer and Speed Increaser Information, Review and History

2008-01-19T14:18:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Speed Reducer is $278.31. The MSRP of the Speed Increaser is $280.88.

These two tools went extinct for a couple years and the used prices went through the roof! FYI, You can use the Shopsmith Speed reducer on the Mark I (For Disc Sanding and Lathe Turning only), and on the Mark II, Mark V, Mark VII for Sanding, Turning and Drilling! The Speed Increaser can be used for Shaping and Routing on the Mark I, Mark V Model 500, 505, 510, and 520. Click here for Shopsmith Speed Reducer and Speed Increasers For Sale

Ya what more? OK, here goes...
Did you know:
The Shopsmith Speed increaser was inspired in part by a Lawnboy lawnmower.
The Shopsmith Speed increaser contains two common parts that you wouldn't suspect: A 3 3/4" faceplate (Yes, a faceplate that you'd use for turning) and a water pump bearing assembly like the one found on the Mark V, the Shopsmith Bandsaw and several Shopsmith tools.
There is a thin plastic disc on the above mentioned faceplate that must be occasionally replaced. It's life can be extended if you make sure to turn the speed down before you turn your Mark V off (It doesn't need to go all the way down to slow though) and make sure that it's running at full speed before your plunge the wood into the cutter.
Even though it will raise the speed to 10,000rpm's, keep in mind that this is still half the proper speed for a router bit. That said this is just right for shaper cutters because they have three cutters as apposed to two, and they are usually a larger diameter than router bits. This makes their tip speed much faster than a smaller dia. router bit.
The Shopsmith Speed Reducer is an amazing device that contains two Poly-V belts, four pulleys and five bearing assemblies! You can't make out much from the one patent drawing that I've included, but the patent even covers several other possible designs that could have used chains and sprockets or engaged gears.

Most people don't know that the Shopsmith Speed Reducer can be used to drive the Shopsmith Bandsaw at slow speeds for sawing plastic and metal? Watch this video to see how.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Jigsaw and Scroll Saw Information, Review and History

2008-01-18T15:24:00.000-08:00
First off, don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Mark V-Powered Scroll Saw is $699.99. The MSRP of a new Shopsmith Free-Standing Scrollsaw was $849.99 in early 2008, but it looks like this may no longer be available from Shopsmith.
Most folks don't know that there have been two models of Jig Saws sold under the name "Shopsmith"; One for the original 10er, and later one made to be powered by the Mark V and Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw.

Likewise there have been two Scroll Saws. (Three if you include the short-lived SS mounted Hawk from RBI). One scrollsaw was made to be powered by the Mark I, Mark II, Mark V Model 500, 505, 510 and 520, as well as the Power Station, Crafters Station and an STP Stand. The other is a self-contained Free-Standing unit with integrated Variable Speed.

By the way, we utilized the motor and speed control from a Shopsmith Free-Standing Scroll Saw to power our famous Six Cheese Nacho Cheese Fountain which is shown on our blog: http://cheese-fountain.blogspot.com/

Click here for Shopsmith Jigsaws For Sale

Click here for Shopsmith Scrollsaws For Sale
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Why Magna? Shopsmith Jigsaw Ad from 1958

2008-01-18T15:00:00.000-08:00
Now, this is a cool old ad! In the late 1950's Magna Power Tool Corporation was trying to reach-out beyond the Shopsmith Mark V owners with an appeal to DIYers who preferred stand-alone tools. The Jigsaw shown in this ad, like the Magna/Shopsmith 4" Jointer, 6" Belt Sander, 11" Bandsaw and the Sprayer could be mounted on either the Mark II or Mark V, or as it was shown here it could be mounted on one of two motorized stands called SPT stands. (SPT = Single Purpose Tool)

The stand shown here had a 1/2 HP motor and could accommodate the same retractable casters that were used on the Mark V. The second stand that Magna produced is be shown in my Shopsmith Table Saw post, and could accomodate two SPT's, or as shown in the Table Saw post, a tilting arbor saw and a jointer.

This stand is no longer available in the current Shopsmith line, but the single SPT stand is still made.

If you click on the pic to Biggie-Size it, you'll be able to get a better look at the little silhouettes. Notice that among them is a lathe and a drill press. I have some info on these that I'll share soon, but in the mean time if you happen to have one of these I'd love a picture of it.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith 12" Pro Planer & Mark V mounted Planer Information, Review and History

2008-01-17T13:42:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Mark V-Powered 12" Planer is $1199.99. The MSRP of a new Shopsmith 12" Pro Planer is $1449.99

Most folks don't know that there have been three models of 12" sold under the name "Shopsmith"; One was made to be powered by the Mark I, Mark V Model 500, 505, 510 and 520, and the Mark VII, and can be fitted to a SPT Stand. This tool was offered with a manual crank for feeding the lumber through the tool, but that option didn't last for long. Now the Mark V Powered 12" Planer has a Variable speed feed motor. The other is a self-contained Free Standing unit with integrated Variable Speed known as the Pro Planer.

Click here for Shopsmith Pro Planer and Mark V mount Planer For Sale

Watch this video for Shopsmith Pro Planer Maintenance tips

Precising planing on a Shopsmith Pro Planer

This is the first time I've done this on this blog, but I'm going to make a recommendation that if you can't find the SS planer at a reasonable price, or if it is out of reach of your wallet, that you consider the DeWalt 13" DW735 Heavy-Duty 13-Inch Portable Planer. This planer is available for less than $900 (Under $600 for reconditioned) and has features that rival stationary planers in a semi-portable design. I'll blog a bit more about this, but for now if you are in the market for an excellent planer at a great price, take a look at the DW735 at Tool King. Click the link below and search "DW735".

Click here to see the DW735 and DW735R for Sale on eBay.

Click here to see the DEWALT DW735 15 Amp 13-Inch Benchtop Planer
on Amazon.com

Also, if the idea factory reconditioned tools doesn't scare you away, you can save some bucks with a fully warrantied unit that DeWalt themselves have reconditioned. At this moment Tool King is having a sale on their reconditioned DeWalt tools, so your timing is excellent! Click this link: Take 10% off all reconditioned DeWALT products. Discount will apply automatically at checkout. I've just purchased one myself through this sale and will give a full report on my DeWalt Tool Hunter Blog.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings

Shopsmith Lathe Duplicator Information, Review and History

2008-01-16T20:21:00.000-08:00
Don't get so excited with eBay prices that you pay more than the price of a new tool! The current MSRP of the Shopsmith Mark V Lathe Duplicator is $461.99.

Most folks don't know that there have been two models of the SS Lathe Duplicator; The first version used Uni-Strut for the horizontal template support on the top of the unit, like the one in the photo at right. A few years back SS made an improvement to the unit by incorporating a custom extruded aluminum "I-Beam" member, that made adjustments and fine tuning a breeze! This later version is the one I would buy. This unit was designed to fit the Mark I, Mark II, Mark V Model 500, 505, 510 and 520. I used this great accessory to turn about a hundred custom rosettes for a "This Old House" type show in Dayton called "The House on North Main Street" and it worked like a champ!

Click here for Shopsmith Lathe Duplicators For Sale

Another video of the Shopsmith Lathe Duplicator being used for freehand turning.
Visit http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com for hard to fine Shopsmith woodworking tool listings