Shopsmith Forums

Thanks for all the responses, I think that I am going to go ahead and get the SS and the jigsaw attachment from the second seller. If I can get them both for under $500 total I will be ecstatic considering that there are quite a few accessories/blades/bits/etc included with the SS.

I am really excited about working with the SS and am sure that I will be back here regularly to glean from all the wisdom and knowledge that is available here on this board.

Thanks much!

Well, had a monkey wrench thrown into my plans. Got a call from the ShopSmith seller and he said that when his son heard he was selling the SS, he got upset and said that when he finishes high school this spring, he wants to take some woodworking classes and use the lathe to turn bowls and such. So, its not looking likely that he is going to be selling it after all.

So, on to plan B. Did a little bit of looking and found another SS about 85 miles away, this one includes the bandsaw, jointer, miter gage, and a table extension, all of which the first one did not include. The asking price is $675, but might be well worth it considering I would have been getting the bandsaw with the other one for about a total of $500, but not the jointer, miter gage, or table extension. This one doesn't have as many blades, and bits and such, but has more of the bigger features.

The pictures on it aren't great, so will have to see what kind of condition it is in. It doesn't look too bad, but its hard to tell if there is rust on the pipes and such. Anyway, I am still hoping to be able to get a SS and get back into woodworking. I'll keep you all posted on how the goes, hopefully this one will be in good condition and I can get it for a good deal.

Pessen;
I would go for the second one if it is pried right and in good condition.
Some people say that you can't do small projects on a SS
[ATTACH]12028[/ATTACH]
OK nuff said
Some folks say that you can't do large projects on a SS
[ATTACH]12029[/ATTACH]
OK nuff said
Some folks say that the SS is not Accurate
[ATTACH]12030[/ATTACH]
OK nuff said
Bill V

robinson46176 wrote:I would not hesitate to build a house or a barn with one. Is that big enough.
.

I echo that...

Get a couple of roller stands for in and out feeds, set the auxilary table height to match the main table height and your effective table size is enormous. I have built a dinghy, a canoe, two full size armoires, small tables, little chairs, big chairs, candlesticks, little boxes, big boxes etc etc. No limits...go for it!

Thanks Bill! I have been doing some looking through the SS forums and have seen many picture so all the things (both large and tiny) that members have made. From reading what people have said on other sites, the sense I get is that most of the people who bashed the SS had never even touched one themselves. Just got it into their head that multiple tools in one machine couldn't be very good.

Planning on going to look at the second SS tomorrow. If all goes well hopefully we will be bringing it home with us! One question I would have, I read on other threads where people said it was easy to take apart to better fit it in a vehicle. How long are the pipes? We have a Honda Pilot, and the space from the back of the front seats to the back of the vehicle is barely under 6 feet. I am thinking that if the SS is taken apart the bars will be under 6 feet, is that correct? I was hoping to have enough room to take my wife and two kiddos with me, so was planning on leaving one seat in the middle row down to have enough room for the bars (leaving the other two seats of the middle row for the kids), and leaving the third seat completely down. I'm thinking it should fit fine, but wondered if anyone else had an opinion on this. We will be driving about 1.5 hours one way to see it, so I want to make sure it is gonna fit so we don't have to make a second trip up there with a different vehicle.

If you take the sheet metal legs off of the castings (5 screws each) the upper assembly of the castings and head stock is less than 6 foot. I have transported more than one this way. in fact I moved a 510 from near St. Louis to Dallas that way in a GEO Tracker with the rear seats folded up. It was a little noisy with some parts rattling but every thing fit.

Good Luck and welcome to the forum.

Buy it. To get the first one and then add the additional tools would have cost you the same or more.

mikelst wrote:If you take the sheet metal legs off of the castings (5 screws each) the upper assembly of the castings and head stock is less than 6 foot. I have transported more than one this way. in fact I moved a 510 from near St. Louis to Dallas that way in a GEO Tracker with the rear seats folded up. It was a little noisy with some parts rattling but every thing fit.

Good Luck and welcome to the forum.

I use the Nicolas Cage gone in 60 seconds approach. I show up armed with a 9/16" socket and ratchet, T handled allen wrench and a 2' length of 2x4. I slide the head stock all the way to the left and position the carriage assembely about half way between the head stock and the right hand end. I slide the table into the carriage and crank it down onto the 2 x 4 raising the way tubes high enough to slide the head stock off. Using the Allen wrench I then remove the tie bar, slide off the headstock wrap it in a quilt and into my truck it goes. I then fold the table into drill press mode,center the carriage and tighten it down again. I raise the tubes into drill press mode and remove the table and the 2 screws that hold the way tubes into the base arm. The carriage makes a great handle and keeps the tubes together as I remove them from the machine and slide them into the truck. I then flip the base over and with the 9/16 socket I loosen the bolts in the tube lock bars and slide the ends off of the bench tubes. All this while I load every thing to one side of the truck leaving room for all the tables and misc accessories.


The seller is usually dumbfounded and bedazzled as I drive off.

mbcabinetmaker wrote:I use the Nicolas Cage gone in 60 seconds approach. I show up armed with a 9/16" socket and ratchet, T handled allen wrench and a 2' length of 2x4. I slide the head stock all the way to the left and position the carriage assembely about half way between the head stock and the right hand end. I slide the table into the carriage and crank it down onto the 2 x 4 raising the way tubes high enough to slide the head stock off. Using the Allen wrench I then remove the tie bar, slide off the headstock wrap it in a quilt and into my truck it goes. I then fold the table into drill press mode,center the carriage and tighten it down again. I raise the tubes into drill press mode and remove the table and the 2 screws that hold the way tubes into the base arm. The carriage makes a great handle and keeps the tubes together as I remove them from the machine and slide them into the truck. I then flip the base over and with the 9/16 socket I loosen the bolts in the tube lock bars and slide the ends off of the bench tubes. All this while I load every thing to one side of the truck leaving room for all the tables and misc accessories.
The seller is usually dumbfounded and bedazzled as I drive off.

That is pretty much how I handled them except I always had a rubber mallet and spray lube along because I was buying some that were a little rusty. I was also hauling most of mine in a Lincoln Town Car.
One guy was going to call some friends to help carry one out of his basement and up a steep narrow outside path. I told him to not bother. He was absolutely flabbergasted when I carried my little handful of tools down to the basement and started knocking it down. By the time the few minutes had passed that it took me to get it apart my wife had already carried most of it up to the car. I grabbed the headstock and he brought up the table still looking dazed.
Many said that they had wondered when I drove up in a car if I was nuts.

FWIW, the tubes are 52" and 52 3/4" long by them selves. With the end castings attrached and the legs removed, the combination is less than 6'. Barely over 5'!

Mark's procedure is good since it breaks it down into reasonably sized(weight also) assemblies.

Consider: he removes 4 setscrews(way tubes), loosens 4 bolts(bench tubes).

That's IT!

Not the way I hauled one(I merely removed the legs), but then I had to remove 10 screws/nuts!

And his pieces were smaller/lighter!


I think I could put his pieces in my festiva!