Old Shopsmith

[Branson]

Does anyone here speak Shopsmith?  Last Friday morning, my wife and I went to the Recycle Town area of the dump in Sebastapol.  I had just picked up a Delta benchtop saw for ten bucks (needs a new switch), when a truck came in and unloaded a Shopsmith.  Now, I need a lathe, so I walked over with the yard man and asked how much they wanted.  $40.  It came with everything but the sanding plate it seems, plus a few extras (like 4 shaper cutters still in their boxes).  It also came with a box that held 6 nearly unused lathe tools and a file ground into a lathe skew.  And a folding draw knife, two 1 1/2 inch socket gouges, a pair of old Stanley chisels.  And the original manual -- 1949. 

It's still in Santa Rosa since it wouldn't fit in my wife's Taurus.  We're going to Santa Rosa this weekend and I'll get some pictures.  I may have to disassemble it, at least in part, to get it into my van, and I have to get rid of a lot of surface rust.  Hope the motor works...  I promise to get pictures this weekend.

It's a 10 er Shopsmith.  Looks like it just got put in the barn about 40 years ago. 

[keykeeper]

I think you did well.

On the old site, Papaw had a thread detailing a shop smith he bought at a yard sale. I believe he paid well over $40 for it, though.

Maybe someone can resurrect that old threads contents about the shopsmith.

Congrats on a nice find.

[Papaw]

Yes. I bought a Shopsmith at a yard sale for $100. Working and in good condition. I bought it to give to my BIL who is a woodworker, and delivered it to him that day. He decided it needed rewiring, and I think it still sits where he put it! I am sure I can dig up pictures, but it will be tomorrow.

[Nolatoolguy]

I love a good shopsmith. Never owned one myself but used several. They are great machines. I keep checking craigslist and ebay but just havent found a deal sweet enough or one like you found with all the atachments.

By the way good find.

[Branson]

I love a good shopsmith. Never owned one myself but used several. They are great machines. I keep checking craigslist and ebay but just havent found a deal sweet enough or one like you found with all the atachments.
By the way good find.

Heh!  Come out to California.  The dump near Sebastapol gets them with some regularity, enough so that the yard man told me he prices them at $40 if they look like they still work.

I almost had one 6 years ago, but the deal fell through.  This will be my first, and my first opportunity to use one.  I need the lathe right now, but getting the sanding disk will be necessary in the future.  The saw guards are not there, and I don't think I'll miss them.  The belt guard is not there, but it turns out a lot of people tossed them -- including one fellow who worked for Magna.

[Papaw]

Here are the pictures of the Shopsmith I bought for my BIL.

[Branson]

That's a newer one.  Mine looks like this picture, only with more rust on the ways.  I should have pictures this weekend.

[Uncle Buck]

Shopsmiths are supposed to be made with bearings that are hell for stout. FYI.....

[Aunt Phil]

2 allen wrenches, a couple skotchbrite pads, a quart of Diesel fuel and a decent mallet will have a Generation 1 Shopsmith fitting in a Taurus in under an hour.

[Branson]

2 allen wrenches, a couple skotchbrite pads, a quart of Diesel fuel and a decent mallet will have a Generation 1 Shopsmith fitting in a Taurus in under an hour.

I'm gonna cheat anyway.  I'm taking the van this weekend.  And a can of break free, and some kerosene, and some tri-flow, and allen wrenches and a bunch of assorted wrenches.  Gotta have the wrenches -- the machine is fastened to the bench with old square head bolts and square nuts.  I'll bet they haven't been turned in 50 years.  On the way to Santa Rosa, we'll stop in Napa, where the younger boy has bought an old Arcade game cabinet (that's what he collects -- old electronic games and arcade machines).  Even my wife wouldn't be able to fit it in the Taurus -- 73 inches tall for starts.

I'll also be testing the motor... I sure hope it runs!

[Branson]

Another thing at the dump.  When I was trying to do some disassembly, the yard man brought out a bucket of old tools they kept for such things.  In it, along with a lot of barely usable junk, was a Wizard #9...  I asked if they could part with it.  Well, that was the only adjustable wrench they had...  I'm taking an unremarkable crescent style with me, and hope they will be willing to exchange.  Wizard... Maybe I should look for a Hogwarts stamp on it.  Was it possibly used by Harry Potter's father?

[Aunt Phil]

One of the nicest features of that generation ShopSmith was that only 2 allen wrenches were required to assemble and or adjust the machine. 

As they age the locking clamps that hold the head and table tend to get a bit less than fully operable. 

[Branson]

Here she is!  And all the stuff that came with that was specifically for the ShopSmith.  The second pic shows the shaper/jointer fence and the lathe tool rest.  Third pic shows the shaper cutters and their original SS boxes, as well as a circular "planer" to be used in the drill press (anybody ever use one of these?

More in the next post.

[Branson]

There was another box of stuff that came with the machine.  It held a set of 6 C-man lathe tools with the C-man decal still on the handles, and one skew made from an old file.  First picture.

The second picture shows the misc. tools also in the box.  Folding drawknife, two elderly Stanley socket chisels, a Speares gouge, a Swedish 3/8 chisel, and two large (1 1/2 inch) gouges.  The gouge on the left is a Marples Hibernia.  I can't (yet) read the maker of the other gouge.  The tin snips aren't much to talk about -- probably good wall hangers.

[rusty]

heh, I think the extras covered what you paid for the Shopsmith.
You stole it ; P