Just got a 10E

[JPG]

That looks like Skip's chart.

[jsburger]

Yes it is. I have used it to date my model 10's. Not sure why he shows some S/N as 10E after the 10ER came out.

[JPG]

I believe Skip's chart is totally dependent upon owners providing info. Therefore accuracy is somewhat questionable.

[chapmanruss]

That is Skip's chart and one confusing part of it is checking column 3 labeled Prefix. Those are the prefix letter(s) that preceded some of the serial numbers. As JPG said the information was provided by the owners of each of those Model 10E and 10ER Shopsmith's. I have seen inaccuracies in the information provided there. Understand that most of the information is accurate but sometimes needs a little careful reading to get the correct info from it. Other information that appears to be incorrect may be from changes made to a Model 10 over the years using different era parts as replacements.

The explanation of how serial numbers differ between those with prefixes and those without and how they fit into the timeline when the Model 10E and 10ER were being made from 1947 through 1953 is as follows from my topic titled "Shopsmith Model 10’s what when and where" in the Community section.

We know it was a “work in progress” throughout it’s time in production from 1947 through 1953. So, what changed when. A lot of that is hard to pin down. I know from the Model 10’s I have owned and restored that there were many changes from the first Model 10E’s to the last Model 10ER’s. I do or have owned serial numbers from 1077 to 76928 along with seeing many others. The newest (highest) serial number I have seen is 102459 and is probably very near the end of the Model 10ER’s production. The Shopsmith Sales History document lists that 117,197 Model 10ER’s were sold and that doesn’t include Fiscal years 1947 - 1948 and 1948 -1949. Why the big serial number difference vs. number sold? That answer is in how the serial numbers were handled when the Eastern Plant started production. Tools made in the Eastern Plant began their own serial number series with the prefix E and later ER. The lowest I have seen is E-1921. I don’t believe that E-1921 was made in the Eastern Plant the same day as S/N 1922 from the Western plant or that the Eastern Plant was even in production yet. I have not seen anything to indicate exactly when the Eastern Plant started production but I believe the Western Plant had made more than 922 Model 10E’s before the Eastern Plant started production. The original Western Plant continued their series of serial numbers and at a point added the prefix R to them. The lowest R prefix serial number I have seen is R26114. Keep in mind I live in Oregon so I have seen more Model 10’s with the R prefix than ones with E or ER. Out of the ones I have owned they had either no prefix or the R prefix. By April 1951 the Western Plant was at serial number R53198 and the Eastern Plant was at ER40908. It was the use of each plants series of serial numbers that changes appeared to occur at different times between the East and West but not actually true. In the 69,000’s the prefixes for the serial numbers were dropped and the two Plants used the same series of serial numbers until production ended in 1953. Fewer changes were occurring by this time too. Three of the last changes were the Table rods changing to hollow ones, the Way Tubes becoming thinner walled and the Carriage being trimmed up on the lower side. A 10ER made near the end of production weighed less than one of the first 10E’s. Less weight from the Base, Carriage, Way Tubes and Table Rods all contributed to that. I remember someone once asked how much does a Model 10 weigh.

Since posting that in my first post of that topic in May 2020 I have learned a few things and also have a wider range of Model 10's I own or have owned. Serial number 1033 is the lowest serial now and part of the original 250 made and shipped to Montgomery Ward stores on the west coast in 1947 that started it all. 101291 is the highest serial number I have now owned. There is a lot more information in the entire topic "Shopsmith Model 10’s what when and where" in the Community section at the link below.

viewtopic.php?t=23647