Inheritance of a Mark V

[pontarn]

I inherited an early sixties Mark V today from my Uncle who inherited it from his Father, my Grandfather. With some tinkering I got it running and made a few cuts and gave it a cleaning. Now I have a few questions for the veterans.
(1) What type of maintenance should I complete prior to starting it's first project in probably 15 years? (2) What type of saw blades are required? Can I use non ShopSmith saw blades and dado blades? (3) Any advise for safe operation?

Thanks and looking forward to passing the Mark V to my children.

pontarn

[mickyd]

Welcome to the forum. Congrats on your ShopSmith.

There are several Sawdust Session videos that you need to watch and follow religiously to ensure that your machine is ready to go. The last thing you want to do it trash it because it wasn't ready to be run.

These are the sessions you want to see
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS121/SS121_Shopsmith_Reborn_Pt1.htm
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS122/SS122_Shopsmith_Reborn_Pt2.htm
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS123/SS123_Shopsmith_Reborn_Pt3.htm
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS124/SS1224_Shopsmith_Reborn_Pt4.htm

They will get you familiar with the mechanics of your machine.
Good luck and ask if you have any questions. There's plenty of help here.

[a1gutterman]

I inherited an early sixties Mark V today from my Uncle who inherited it from his Father, my Grandfather. With some tinkering I got it running and made a few cuts and gave it a cleaning. Now I have a few questions for the veterans.
(1) What type of maintenance should I complete prior to starting it's first project in probably 15 years? (2) What type of saw blades are required? Can I use non ShopSmith saw blades and dado blades? (3) Any advise for safe operation?

Thanks and looking forward to passing the Mark V to my children.

pontarnHi and welcome pontarn,

Yes, you may use non-SS sawblades and dado sets. Any type of circular saw blade 10" or less in diameter will work. Watch ALL the Sawdust Sessions and use ALL recommended safety devices.

[bobgroh]

A few notes on saw blades - in addition to the many different teeth patterns for different uses (e.g. cross cutting, ripping, cutting plywood, etc), blade construction, quality, etc - there is one fundamental difference important to the SS owner - the diameter of the hole in the middle of the blade.

The normal SS blade uses a 1-1/4" diameter hole. Most conventional saw blades use a 5/8" hole. For either size, you will need a saw blade arbor. The arbor holds the saw blade and allows you to mount it on the SS shaft - take a look at the SS catalog for examples:

<http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/swd_sawbladearbors.htm>

SS sells very good blades. You can also use conventional blades such as Freud, etc. With, of course, the appropriate arbor in any case.

Hope this helps. And welcome to the Shopsmith world!