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I was on FB market place and someone listed a shopmate 5-1 tool. I’ve never seen this before. Anyone heard of this before? I have searched all over Google and have found nothing about this tool.

That is a Chinese knock off of a Shop Smith Mark 5.

Interesting,
Looks old. When was China making these things?

Miltinker wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 9:52 am Interesting,
Looks old. When was China making these things?

Maybe Taiwan. There were a number of Taiwanese clones of the Shopsmith Mark V (later known as Model 500) in the 1980's when most of the Shopsmith patents ran out. Most were made by one company but sold under various names. My guess is that this is one of those. It would be hard to put a value on it, an actual Shopsmith Mark V from this time frame is not particularly valuable and a clone introduces some challenges. Maintaining it today would depend a lot on how faithfully it was cloned, Shopsmith parts are readily available but other brands are not.

- David

Good to know

I have two shopsmith 10er. I don’t plan to move in to the 500 or mark v. Don’t have the room!
Thanks for the information

Definitely a clone but the first I recall seeing named Shop Mate. Notice the power switch location on the lower front of the Headstock in the third picture from Miltinker. Also, it appears to have a smooth top cast iron Extension Table like the one pictured below with a Mark 5 Extension Table from the 1950's. Both are a single cast type that include the fence rail.

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The name used in this case is interesting since Shopsmith used the ShopMate name on some of their accessories for a time. An example is the Lathe Chisel set below.

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The above set of Lathe Chisels were the last Shopsmith sold with their name and/or the ShopMate name. In July 2017 Shopsmith began buying an 8 chisel set from Savannah Woodworking Tools & Accessories as their basic Lathe Chisel set. In March 2022 Shopsmith changed to a set from Benjamin’s Best.

The clones are largely compatible with Shopsmith machines, although minor differences are found. The main problem with them is the lack of quality. Good enough for an owner who didn't use it much if it came in good condition but I've heard stories about them never working quite right. Considering the low price of used 500s even if it's free and you have extra space to keep it in, extra time on your hands, and extra gas in your truck, you still might be overpaying.