Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.
This may sound dumb but I never look at any bearing brand/number that I have to replace. They are covered with crud so I toss them in the customers return box for them or in the trash can. I am currently buying Fafnir (C1) bearings for the quill and Fafnir and/or other high quality (C3) bearings for all other bearing replacements. Shopsmith replacement bearings will meet their specifications. I have always used what I believed was higher spec bearings for my projects so did not change suppliers when I started working on Shopsmiths.
I only use stainless steel bolts and screws when repairing or rebuilding Shopsmiths. I use 1/4" flat surface SS machine screws, SS lockwashers and SS nuts for attaching the legs to the retractable casters and to the base and headstock with no problems even when the original screws had countersunk heads. I use #10 SS screws in place of the #8 steel screws for the motor pan and belt cover.
bettyt44720 wrote:if your 50's vintage machine had japanese bearings in it my best guess is that someone has already replaced them. i have two 50's machine's and they have fafnir 205k bearings clearly marked "made in usa". i hope that bill mayo jumps in here as he has many more apart than i. bob
Bill Mayo bill.mayo@verizon.net
Shopsmith owner since 73. Sell, repair and rebuild Shopsmith, Total Shop & Wood Master headstocks, SPTs, attachments, accessories and parts. US Navy 1955-1975 (FTCS/E-8)
Yeah most my old woodworking tools came from Ohio, or MI, and I love them all. I bet that area is a gold mine for old rusty tools. I love getting basket cases and trying to make them new. You just can't do that with todays home depot type tools. I was talking with my dad the other day about old tools and he made a comment, that he feels american will always be better, but some of the old imported items where also high quality. I myself prefer cast iron. Maybe I'd be happier with a 10er
[quote="Nick"]Yes, they are cast in America. And a few more things: For most of the twentieth century, Dayton was the third largest manufacturing center in America, behind Detroit and Flint. We pioneered four industries -- automobile, aerospace, refrigeration, and business machines. Together those now account for about a third of the global GNP. So we have more than enough talent in this town to nail together a few power tools. Seventies-vintage Japanese bearings were never junk]
Nick wrote:For most of the twentieth century, Dayton was the third largest manufacturing center in America, behind Detroit and Flint. We pioneered four industries -- automobile, aerospace, refrigeration, and business machines.
Don't forget restaraunt equipment! I have 4 HOBART Mixers that run 8-14 hours a day. They're almost as durable as my SS
I dont know how many of you have already watched the ABC World News this evening (6/24/08), but they are having a report about how manufacturing businesses (they showed a furniture company doing a lot of handcrafted woodworking) are moving back to the USA because of the high cost of shipping the items from overseas, which means more jobs are coming back.
Partly to blame (if you want to call it that) is the high cost of fuel. Can you believe it, what seems like something bad is actually starting to help the country. Go figure.
And Hooray!!! for the jobs coming back. Not for the high gas prices.
It has been done before, but I wood like to, once again, thank Nick for participating on this forum. I am sure that it makes a lot of us feel better that we actually get such nice response directly from a representative of ShopSmith!
Thank you, Nick!:D
Tim
Buying US made products will help keep YOUR job or retirement funds safer.
It's wishful thinking that production will shift back from offshore due to fuel costs. It really doesn't cost much to float stuff overseas. When fuel is cheap, it may get pushed a little faster, but even if it had to sail over, if it were just machine parts, that would be fast enough. The cost of fuel affects air freight a very great deal more I imagine.
In respect to quality, offshoring hurt because the capability was less developed. The opposite is becoming true - with industrializing nations rapidly gaining capability and post-industrial nations losing it. Not only do the post-industrial nations lack a source of (cheap) labor, they are also losing a generation of trade skills. What they do have is a big advantage of capital. US businesses can afford to buy all-CNC factories, whereas developing nations are still more dependent on human capital.
But CNC, robotics, and automation are not always the answer. They do require a huge capital investment and investors are always looking for a return. The returns typically come from products with high-volume production (widgets) or high-margins (think military, medical, semi-conductor mfg).
Nick, you cannot convince me the speed-changer quadrant is state-of-the art anything. I hope you were being facetious, because an aluminum casting was never state of the art for worm gears. The part is cheap junk and it always has been. "User error" is the golden ring of the manufacturer's apologetic. But I've said enough. I'm not trying to assail Shopsmith. It's great.
I don't really understand how you come to this conclusion Benjamin. Junk usually doesn't function well for long periods of time like the quadrants seem to be doing. Anyone who has experienced premature failure of a quadrant, not caused by misuse, please report in.
To pass such harsh judgement, you must have some very convincing evidence. Please post some pictures of the junk parts you have experienced.
In your humble opinion, what would you do to eliminate the characterization of "JUNK" as it applies to the quadrant? Is it junk because it is cast aluminum, if that is what it is. I actually don't know that to be the case. Maybe others do.
"...because an aluminum casting was never state of the art for worm gears."
The worm gear is bronze. If you set out to criticize someone's choice of materials, your argument carries more weight if you can actually correctly identify the materials.
