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I've just received a molder set and dado set; I'm planning to use them on my Shopsmith Mark V/500. I'm wanting to build a rip fence (vertical) extension which can also be used as a sacrificial for work right up against the fence. Right now I'm planning to use a 1 x 8 x 2' piece of lumber and dado out a 3/4" wide x 3/8" deep slot lengthwise where I can mount a pair of featherboards to help control the work as it moves past the heads. I have one featherboard from Shopsmith already; I was planning to mount that horizontally before the blade. Last I checked Rockler had some featherboards on sale; I was going to get two from them and then cut my slot so that they come down within 1/2" of the saw table at maximum extension. First question: Does this sound like a good plan? Second question: What kind of wood would the more experienced hands here recommend? I should be able to get poplar for $7.88, oak for $11.28, and then of course there's always whitewood or softwood. I'm new at this and I'll always be able to go back and re-do it in the future if necessary, but what would the old hands suggest to a beginner?

I'm just getting started in this hobby, but one of the things I know I'll need for the projects* I want to build is a router and router table. My funds are modest, but I'd rather save my pennies for another month or two and get something which will be good for the long haul than just get whatever's on sale at the local big box. I do want quality, but I'm not big into bells and whistles. I generally prefer used and US-made to Cheap Chinese Crap, but good older equipment may be hard to find at a reasonable price and it's possible that I'll want or need some features that the older models may not have. Can anyone make recommendations about what has worked for them and what they might advise for me? * (Immediate projects: General home repair carpentry and cabinet making. Longer term, want to build some custom furnishings. There's a plan for a DIY grandfather clock up on the Shopsmith website that I'm salivating over, but that will be a couple of years down the road.)

I just learned I got a slow speed grinder built into my Shopsmith! How cool! Keep your woodworking, gardening and other household cutting tools sharp with Shopsmith's Grinding Wheel Guard and Grinding Wheels WWW.SHOPSMITH.COM Keep your woodworking, gardening and other household cutting tools sharp with Shopsmith's Grinding Wheel Guard and...

I knew it! In order to be a Shopsmith owner, you must be logical about your woodworking! Except, Spock is using the tablesaw backwards?

Yesterday son and I made some Pull Out Shelving for mama, see proceeding link. And while cutting down the panel for the shelves, we had to do some cross cutting of ply on my Shopsmith. I was pleasantly, actually, very very happy, to see the quality of cut that was produced on the smith with the blade I used. Also this cut was made without a zero clearance insert, I just had on the factory insert, and the quality was perfect, I was very impressed. I don't remember getting this good a cut even on my 12" 5hp Grizz cabinet saw using an 80 tooth Amana Blue melamine blade. I am not sure what happened here, but really, I was not expecting such a great cut, so there are several factors in play here. And I'll list them. Quality of ply, the ply we are using is excellent, prefinished maple ply Made in the USA. Just great stuff. So the finish is binding the maple veneer which may be preventing tear out. Shopsmith 60 tooth 10" blade The variable speed on my smith, I had it set at "R" or 3500 RPM, (not sure if that is arbor speed or tooth speed) Given that, I am sure the factors created a concert for a perfect cut, I'll have to test the cut on some less desirable ply, and see if that makes a difference. But boy was I happy. Again, no zero clearance insert here. Something really cool about the smith, is the variable speed, so I could have done some test cuts, and played with the speed a little to get the best cut, but in this case the first cut was perfect. I just used the Shopsmith speed chart, they did not list ply in the chart, so I chose the setting for softwood thinking ply is equivalent possibly to soft wood. My Shopsmith keeps giving me surprises like this frequently, just when I think I have pushed the limits of the smith, something like this happens, and it just makes me feel better about giving up my dedicated machinery as I had, and the smith in its place. I am not advocating the idea that the smith can take the place of dedicated machinery, I don't wholly agree with that, machinery made for a specific use is going to be much better and more efficient, typically, but for those who are considering a Shopsmith in order to save space, or you moved to more confined quarters, or just to add one to your arsenal of machinery, the cut quality on ply, may not have to be a concern during your deliberations. That being said, for my use, and my tight quarters (car in garage at night) I could not imagine another machine in my shop, or needing another machine, I have had this machine for two years now, while I needed to adjust my brain around it, and the sequence of work, yes there was an adjustment period, and a honeymoon period, and a disappointment period that was due mainly to my own ignorance on how the machine works, and its capabilities. But at this time after using it for two years, and learning its operations, I am happy. And it keeps surprising me, pleasantly. Image below is the top side of the cut Image below is the underside of the cut I used this Shopsmith 1 1/4" arbor 60 tooth cross cut blade. The blade below is from their website, but I used this exact same one.

@Jim from Easy Wood Tools, or anyone in the know, does EWT make a lathe chuck for the Shopsmith? I thought it was discussed at one time, or perhaps considered for development? Thanks guys.

Just a little tech tip, the one thing I absolutely dislike about my Shopsmith bandsaw, is later on in their infinite wisdom, they decided to remove the convenient band saw access door knobs with allen screws. So when you need to get in and change a blade, you have to break out the allen wrench and unloosen three screws, a tad time consuming, not horribly, but why? So I was goofing around a couple days ago and just happened to look at the table saw fence knobs, and a rare flash of light materialized in my lil ol pea brain, and I thought to self, hey self, those fence knobs sure look like they'd replace those allen screws on the bandsaw very nicely. Because one of the cool things about the Shopsmith, is everything seems to fit everywhere else, in many regards, so why not these knobs? Allen screws for access door, gotta be taken out to access for cleaning, adjustments and blade changes. Not a deal breaker, but why not knobs? These allen screws go into the band saw access door. These knobs are the ones on the tables saw fence to hold the extension tubes in place And now those knobs above, are in the bandsaw access cover below So now that I know they fit, I am purchasing additional knobs from Shopsmith for my bandsaw. Just in case any owners out there are dealing with the same frustration, this is one solution of many I am sure.

Learn something new every day, a Shopsmith table saw! I have also seen a Shopsmith traditional work bench too that looked pretty robust. Found this saw on the Shopsmith sales group on Facebook. The owner says this one has the under-table Radial Arm Saw capacity. Huh!!!! Who woulda thunk!

I was wondering, if I could expand the turning capacity of my Shopsmith, by installing longer way tubes, if I had way tubes say a foot longer, or even 6 inches, I wonderful if there would be a negative by doing this, will the rest of the machine work well? As long as I have the ceiling height for Drill Press mode? Will the longer way tubes sag? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

@Artie or any Shopsmith owners, just curious, do you have the surface planer? And if so, how do you like it?

For years I have tried to find a slow grinder that I could afford. Well, another factor raised it's head called space. So, Shopsmith had an advertisement that I found to be plausible, not perfect. https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/sh_grindingwheelguard.htm So sorry you have to click on the link to see the item, but pictures of mine will spare you. Like the normal attachments for Shopsmith, you have to attach the arbor to the quill and then attach the housing to the housing. This is the stone dresser that I purchased from someone else. This is a necessary tool for grinding. Here it is turned so the stone is turning away from you for honing. Picture of label on top of unit.

When I bought this farm I found an old Shopsmith lathe and got to running. It had few parts for it around so I have kind of cobbled things together, it is a tad redneck but it works. I have yet to buy a 5/8 shaft adapter to allow me to use lathe chucks and I have yet to buy a lathe chuck, but I do have a faceplate and a redneck driver mechanism made from a bolt and lag bolt welded together with a nut slipped over and welded in place and then a washer welded to the nut and bent into a "u" shape. I just drill out a 3/4 inch by 3/16 inch deep hole and run the drive mechanism into the wood and rives the long branch pieces that I use to make handles quite well. It also drives the short branch pieces that I use to make dowels quite well also. It does not drive much of anything else though, well not safely anyways... lol... I realized a couple days ago that the tailshaft was just a regular morse taper so I stole the taper and drill chuck out of my old floor drill press and put that in the tail. I built a "very" redneck tool rest today but it works. This is what I have setup so far... With the addition of the faceplate and the tool rest today I was able to try my attempt at an actual project. I figured I might try a simply vase to test out the Western White pine wood and the faceplate attachment and lastly the ability to drill with the stationary tailstock drill chuck. I was sent to town to go the store earlier so I was unable to complete the project but I will get back to it tomorrow and see if I can get it drilled out. I have to haul another load of willow and poplar logs back home to feed the mill but I should have time to play around on the lathe I hope. This what I have so far on my simple vase test. I sanded up a little bit some sandpaper and when I noticed the shine I grabbed an old piece of leather I removed from a saddle repair and ran that over it a bit and increased the shine a little bit more. I got a little carried away with the pressure, the leather actually started smoking. I wasn't concerned about until I stopped the piece and noticed how hot the wood got and then noticed a small hairlinf crack in it. So one wants to watch how much heat they create in sanding and polishing apparently. I found some large Western White pine logs that I had forgotten about down below my dam yesterday and I have a some decent pile of branches as well, I am going to get those collected before snow falls and get them in the shop to practice on this winter. I have dead dry willow out along the county road I want to get as well that should be turnable as well. I have a several; trailer loads of green willow and green poplar right now, I am going to try to learn how to dry it and I will go ahead and set aside a few dozen logs to dry out over the next year or so. I also cut down a dead apple tree yesterday that my goats ate and killed about a year and a half ago, still a little green in some of it but most of it is pretty dry. Anyone ever try to turn spruce? I have a fair bit of dead standing spruce, I don't much like milling it as it is about pitchiest wood I have ever seen, it literally just oozes out while I am cutting boards. But the dead dry trees might actually work for turning, they have that severely twisted grain that does a 306 circuit about every 3 to 5 feet and often half natural splits in the center that could make for some interesting looks in a turned piece. Can I cut wood into lathe blanks green and then paint the ends for drying? This is the setup I made for my mill to cut lathe blanks, I cut a few dozen poplar blanks a few years back but most of them cracked to badly to useable. If I paint the ends will that solve the cracking issues or should I leave them in log form and cut the lathe blanks when dry? Might as well throw in a picture of my dowel turning setup, I make dowels to use as fasteners on the private bridges that I build, store bought dowel material is expensive so I made this simple little setup from an old cross slide vice and an old flat file. Handy little bugger, makes dowels quick and easy..

I was on the Shopsmith web site the other day and noticed that they have a bunch of free plans. Well, almost. Most of them are 404. I decided to order a catalog while I was there. First off, the address was hand-written. They I saw the prices. They want $1700 for the tables only to upgrade from the Mark V to Mark 7 version. Cripes, that's more than I paid for my whole Unisaw. Many aging boomers and older dying or giving up the shop due to health or other reasons after owning them for decades. Most (realistically priced) ones I have see go for $300-500 with a couple of the extra tools (bandsaw, jointer, or belt sander). I go by the old plant regularly and it seems every time I see it, it's getting less and less of the building. They don't even have a storefront any more and I have not heard of the on the road sales/demos in a dozen years. A friend of mine was actually one of those guys and was a top performer until he got laid off.

Great time to pick up a brand new drum sanding kit for your Shopsmith! This Week's Deal! WWW.SHOPSMITH.COM Special Limited-Time Savings From Shopsmith

Perusing Craigslist and found this wonderful example of a Shopsmith 10ER here in So Cal. And it's sister sitting beside it, both for $350.00. The ER in front was restored, if only I was ready to go down that road, I'd a snapped it up in a heart beat! Love the way they look.

I was browsing a 1936 Popular Science magazine (Google has digitized them way back) and saw an ad for a 6-in-1 tool by General Electric. Very interesting. Unable to post the ad, but here's one for auction. https://woamadison.hibid.com/lot/69457-57111-18857/general-electric-5kh29da3-workshop-combo/

Just received an email for Shopsmith dado stacks, not bad on the pricing! Considering the high quality of their regular table saw blades, I bet these dado sets are pretty nice too. See here at: This Week's Deal! WWW.SHOPSMITH.COM Special Limited-Time Savings From Shopsmith

Since I purchased my Shopsmith last Summer, it seemed to lack a bit of power for what seemed to me to be regular ripping tasks of hard wood. It seemed to bog down a tad, and I just figured that issue would be fixed when I decide to get a dedicated outlet for it, as Shopsmith highly recommends. Over the last few months I'd turn the SS on and the garage lights would dim briefly, so I figured man I really need that dedicated outlet. Two weeks ago, our Washer and Dryer stopped working, and our stove/oven stopped as well. Long story short, the stove/oven circuit board got fried, and the Washer and Dryer fortunately has some pretty good protection for wonky power surges etc, so they just needed to be reset. But before the repairman fixed our range, we had an electrician come out and see what the heck is going on. It took him all of 3 minutes to track the issue down to a loose neutral at the box outside. The neutral wire even had some crusted burn marks on it, through conversation with us and his years of experience, he came to the conclusion that the last guy (another electrician who wired my garage for 220v machinery over 10 yrs ago) must of left the job incomplete. The rest of the job was fine, but he did not get it all tightened back up. Our current electrician replaced the neutral, and inspected all the wires in the box, went through them, made sure they were all tight, and closed it all back up, did his testing at our home outlets that seemed affected, and meanwhile I asked him for an estimate to run a dedicated outlet for my Shopsmith. He told me, "sir, run your Shopsmith for a few days, I bet after the work I just did, you'll see a good improvement in your machine, and your lights won't dim anymore when you start it up, and if you don't see an improvement call me back, I'd be glad to wire you up". He also explained to me that "dedicated" only means that you aren't running anything else on the outlet, I told him the only thing I run on that outlet is the garage door opener, and he stated, as long as the garage door isn't opening at the same time I'm running the Smith, then I got a dedicated line already. Ok, I'll buy that. He walked out the door 90 bucks later, and I gotta say, it was the best 90 bucks I ever spent! The next day I fired up my Shopsmith and put some oak through it, and it ripped so clean and quick, and I put a few more pieces through my Smith that typically would bog it down, and she worked like a champ! Sliced through my material like butter. Just like on the Shopsmith videos. And my lights did not even flicker. I am very happy, and I have a family electrician I'll call when I need one again. And spread the word.

A nice sale going on for those in the market for a new motor. This Week's Deal! WWW.SHOPSMITH.COM Special Limited-Time Savings From Shopsmith

@Gene Howe what do you see in this machine? Taking the machine images at face value, assuming everything works, would this be a good deal? https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/tls/d/shopsmith-mark-5-tablesaw/6645360301.html

Boy these Cornhole games sure are popular. Our neighbor's daughter is getting married this May and they asked me if I could build a couple Cornhole boards for them, they are going to have games at the wedding reception. I only first heard of this game because of @John Moody, John is the resident Cornhole builder in our community. So I know what little I do know by John's work, and I just scanned the internet really quick to get the regulation sizes of everything and I set to building their boards from wood I had left over from other projects. I have not had a full day in the shop in two years, really, no kidding, life has been quite a challenge and I was so happy to just get this day to make some dust on such a basic project, I loved it. I had my folk music going in the shop, a little bit of Johnny Cash, some Del McCoury and Bill Monroe, and tapered the day off with Hank and Waylon, man what a joyous day. It was just one of those days that lined up perfectly to do some "me" time and the family was completely ok with it. Also, I got to really get into my Shopsmith! And what a blast I had with it. So, I know they are just Cornhole boards, but what's more important, is that I had a day of fun, so if you want to see some boards, read on! I set up my outfeed table configuration to handle some mid size panels for the Cornhole boards. Ripped a couple pre-prefinished 3/4" panels I had left over from a prior project, I am getting used to my Shopsmith today. I then set up my outfeed table to handle ripping some narrow boards, the table needs to be set at the center of the table saw or in line with the blade, it was a quick operation, part of using these Shopsmith's is knowing what they are capable of, and how to maximize their ability, I am not there yet, I am only discovering the surface of what these machines are capable of. I pushed the oak boards through with minimal effort. Then I joined each board just to clean up the edges and to have a nice mating edge to the underside of the surface board. I need to align my Shopsmith fence as you can see a tad burning on the oak edge. I have not adjusted my Shopsmith yet since I purchased it, the gent I bought it from had it sitting in his garage for 15 years with no use, so no doubt I need to tune up the alignment. I have however oiled the sheeves and other areas and I tensioned the drive belt to specs before I used it. I used good ol pocket holes to mount the sides of the boards up to the surface board. I drilled out all my pocket holes first. Then I set to screwing the boards to the underside of the Cornhole deck. I swear Shopsmith and Rigid have a secret relationship, because my Rigid Shopvac hose is the perfect size for the table saw dust port, and the jointer dust port. I cut a small radius on the end of the back cornhole board legs, so they'll fold up and down easily. This bandsaw is really nice, I can't believe how something small and seemingly very simple in design, is so accurate and easy to use. I aint kidding folks, I like it better than my 15" Grizz I had. A very strong feature of the Shopsmith is the Drill Press operation, it's sweet, I like it, I am happy. Quiet, accurate, with an adjustable table for in and out, and up and down and of course since the power head operates the Drill Press, it's variable speed. Drilling the holes out for the carriage bolts. The back folding legs are mounted, you flip them up and lock them down by tightening the wingnuts, I used a 5/16" carriage bolt, washer and wingnut. Legs up. I still have to cut out the 6" diameter Cornholes, but mission basically accomplished. Our neighbors should like them, she is going to paint a mural on the deck of the Cornhole board, I think the LA Dodgers symbol. Any my baby put to sleep, she did well today, I was please with the operations, and I became more efficient at the changeovers, I am getting good at operating my Shopsmith, and it's turned out to be a great machine for my purpose, and, mama gets to park her car in the garage now! I hope John Moody approves of the way I made these boards, and if anyone has any tips on the building Cornhole boards I am all ears, I may do some for my family as well, not sure yet, depends if the kids want them or not. If you want to build your own boards, here is the site that John Moody directed me too, they have all the information and specs for them there. https://www.playcornhole.org/ Thanks for sharing a part of my day with me folks.

I found the Achilles heel of my Shopsmith, the casters, they are horrible! They are a beast to roll around. Any Shopsmith folks with any advise, I'd sure appreciate it.