Bought a ShopSmith MKV today

[dkerfoot]

It is a model 500 from 1991. They were asking $425 on CL, I offered $200 and I couldn't pass on the $250 counter offer. Seems to be in good shape, runs reasonably smooth, etc. The seller told the typical story of having inherited it 5 years ago and just never using it.

I bought it mostly for the lathe capabilities. I love my CM 21829, so I doubt I'll ever use the table saw portion of the SS at all. I do have a pretty good drill press already - I'll just have to see which I like better.

[DUD]

Doug

I longed for one of those long ago, at the time it really looked as it was the answer to

limited space. Didn't buy one, sounds like You got a deal. Bill

[os1kne]

When I saw the title, my first thought was "I hope you didn't pay $3,200 for it." That's what they were trying to sell them for new a few years ago. I remember seeing the demonstration (which was surprisingly good) and the demonstrator saying that "the table saw features of the ShopSmith are much better than a $2,200 Unisaw". After that, I didn't pay too much attention to what he said.

I think that you have the right idea by getting it for the VS lathe and drill press features. I may buy a used one someday, if I can find the right deal.

[cgallery]

Additional handy features: Horizontal boring. Variable speed table saw (maybe handy for cutting metal?).

[L. D. Jeffries]

I had one way back in the late 80's when I first started playing with wood. Great piece of machinery, EXCEPT, every time you changed the function the saw part had to be realigned. Kind of a pain in the butt. I finally sold it and went with individual tools. Guess you got a great deal and as long as you have a stand-alone saw the rest of the features are neat. Especially the horiZontal boring feature.

[dkerfoot]

As I have been digging into the ShopSmith website, I am very impressed with their commitment to owners. Even when they have made significant improvements, they have done them in ways that will still work with all but the very oldest models (think 50 years or so!)

New replacement parts are not cheap, but because they have remained the same for so long, there are lots of available parts on eBay.

I just watched the 1st of three free 30 minute online videos showing how to buy a used ShopSmith and bring it back to nearly new condition. They even provide paper documentation. Can you imagine Delta or Ryobi ever committing resources to something like that?

I agree that $3000 is probably too much to pay for a new SS and that the "table tilts around the saw blade" is a flawed concept, but I am beginning to think a $500 used SS would be a great place to start for guys like me with limited shop space.

The table saw is a compromise no doubt, but it is better (tilting table and all) than most of the $100-$200 TS that guys walk out of the BORG with. A whole lot of woodworking can be done before you NEED to tilt the table. When the TS becomes a limitation, add a CM 21829 with a router in the aux table and you have a remarkable amount of woodworking ability in a very small footprint. At that point you can decide if you want to continue with the all-in-one philosophy and buy a used SS bandsaw for $200 - $250 or start to get dedicated tools.

If you eventually decide to get rid of the SS you can sell it - probably for the $500 you bought it for!

[dbhost]

The limited capacity of the SS machines is what has kept me away from them. When you think of it, typically speaking, I see a ShopSmith Mark V on CL every so often, and the ads typically read something like...

Shop Smith Mark V functions as table saw, lathe, drill press, band saw, jointer and more! Your entire workshop in the corner of the garage. $650.00 (have seen as low as $350.00 for a no accessories version, as much as $1800.00 for a 2 year old model fully loaded up...)

I love the idea of the machine, I just wish it had the capacity of bigger machines, and didn't require so much setup / tear down time. I bet they could make a mess of money off of folks if they really bumped up the capacity of their stuff... Then again, I have seem some completely amazing projects come off of a Shop Smith as well, and they have a following not too unlike the BT...

[dkerfoot]

I bet they could make a mess of money off of folks if they really bumped up the capacity of their stuff...

Just curious what you see as the lack of capacity? I assume you mean the table saw, because the specs are really very good for the Lathe, Drill Press, Disk Sander and Horizontal Borer.

The 1 1/8 HP Variable Speed Induction Motor is downright impressive for all but the saw. More than a full HP for a disk sander or drill press???

The other basic specs are pretty impressive too:

16 1/2" swing (Lathe & drill press)
34" between Centers (lathe)
Outboard capable (lathe & horizontal boring)
Big tilting table plus fence (drill press)

The biggest issue I see is that it is all a bit light, but pretty much in the way a BT3 seems too light compared to "real" saws...

For the saw, the motor is perhaps undersized and the "tilt the table around the blade" scheme is truly bad, but with the 510 and 520 series machines, you get an amazing amount of table space and even more cross cut capacity than the 21829, which is very impressive.

As for setup, I am finding it isn't as bad as I imagined it might be. It would frustrate folks who have the shop space for all permanently placed dedicated tools, but for those of us who have to roll out and roll in our tools anyway, it is pretty much a non-issue.

I may soon be very annoying, being both a BT3 and ShopSmith convert! Thankfully I have proven immune to the Macintosh bug which seems to affect so many. That would be a truly ugly combination!

[dbhost]

Just curious what you see as the lack of capacity? I assume you mean the table saw, because the specs are really very good for the Lathe, Drill Press, Disk Sander and Horizontal Borer.

The 1 1/8 HP Variable Speed Induction Motor is downright impressive for all but the saw. More than a full HP for a disk sander or drill press???

The other basic specs are pretty impressive too:

16 1/2" swing (Lathe & drill press)
34" between Centers (lathe)
Outboard capable (lathe & horizontal boring)
Big tilting table plus fence (drill press)

The biggest issue I see is that it is all a bit light, but pretty much in the way a BT3 seems too light compared to "real" saws...

For the saw, the motor is perhaps undersized and the "tilt the table around the blade" scheme is truly bad, but with the 510 and 520 series machines, you get an amazing amount of table space and even more cross cut capacity than the 21829, which is very impressive.

As for setup, I am finding it isn't as bad as I imagined it might be. It would frustrate folks who have the shop space for all permanently placed dedicated tools, but for those of us who have to roll out and roll in our tools anyway, it is pretty much a non-issue.

I may soon be very annoying, being both a BT3 and ShopSmith convert! Thankfully I have proven immune to the Macintosh bug which seems to affect so many. That would be a truly ugly combination!

Lack of capacity is the motor, and some of the add on pieces. Not sure what size the band saw is, but it simply looks small, like maybe 10", and the jointer with a 4" capacity leaves a bunch to be desired...

The lathe and drill press are certainly well worth it tools though. I am not completely offended by the tilt the table to the blade approach. A bit screwy, but not a deal killer...

Honestly, if I didn't have a shop full of equipment, this would be a GREAT way to get a lot of shop into a very small space..

[dkerfoot]

Lack of capacity is the motor, and some of the add on pieces. Not sure what size the band saw is, but it simply looks small, like maybe 10", and the jointer with a 4" capacity leaves a bunch to be desired...

The Bandsaw is 11" with an impressive 6" re-saw capacity. I figure it is probably a good compromise. I don't have one, so I am just sort of theorizing, but I'd hate to try to mount a 14" every time I wanted to use it! The nice thing is that even though the capacity may be a bit less than you'd hope, you have enough motor behind it (1 1/8 HP Induction) to actually use all that you have. For sure better than the 9" or 10" most small shop people are going to end up with (actually pretty comparable to the GO555!). Everything I've read about the BS has been pretty positive.

The 4" jointer is for sure on the small side.

[ironhat]

Actually, all of their add ons get good marks and limited capacity is determined by the project. Although, there's an elderly brother at church who makes beautiful china cupboards with his. I've had mine since 1974 paid $550 which was a fortune for newlyweds) and did a lot of remodeling as well as built an entire kitchen with it. It wasn't much to brag about but it was sure an upgrade from the two steel cabinets that were there. I now use mine as a dedicated sander and lathe. I hope to get a used belt sander attachment for it so that it's a more versatile sanding station. I don't know that $3000 now equates to $550 then inside my head but I guess that's what they need to stay in business.