First of all, let me preface this by saying (yet again) that I am not a Shopsmith collector. (I’m not a plane collector, either, but that’s another story)
I did, however, trade some carving basswood for a non running Shopsmith. Since I already have 2-10er’s (if you’re not a Shopsmith guy, you can check my previous tool review of a 10er for reference) and an old “greenie” mark 5 shorty in the shop (cut down tubes) that I use mostly for running the jointer & bandsaw, I really didn’t feel I needed another in my fairly small shop.
My first thought was to simply upgrade from the greenie to the newer, 1983 model to run the peripheral tools, but the 1958 greenie runs every bit as well as the 1983, so it seemed a shame to relegate it to parts storage, so I decided that if one headstock is good, then two would be better. The result saves space, but still satisfies the “Tim, the toolman Taylor” in me.
I mounted the headstocks opposing each other so that I have a left side power coupling at each end of the machine. (The right side couplings still work for the table saw & disc sander) That way the bandsaw & jointer can stay hooked up if I choose. This is the way it will get the most use. I give up the lathe & drill press functions, but one of my other machines will handle them.
By the way, if you wonder why Shopsmith owners get less woodworking done than separate tool guys, it’s not because of the change over time…it’s because, instead of woodworking, they spend too much time playing with their tools. (yeah, I know, but I just couldn’t resist) -SST
