Shopsmith, Are there shortcomings?

[dusty]

I looked at that too. I don't see how it changes anything. Stock still tends to slide down the table toward the blade. If you tilt the SS table and mount the rip fence (with a sacrificial face) don't you have the same thing.

You might have to use a floating table on the top side to extend the main table surface.

If I had a lot of bevels to cut, I'd build a "sliding bevel table". This would allow the stock to be clamped to the inclined table surface while putting the SS back in normal TS configuration.

Having said that, I have to go back and look at the bevel table that was suggested. Maybe that is what is being offered.

[easterngray]

I like the tilt table. If you are concerned about heavy stock above the blade you can clamp a board onto your stock that will ride against the edge of your table. Cheers, Alec

[Ed in Tampa]

Someone mentioned raised panels, that is something I forgot about. To me cutting raised panels on a tilting table is preferrable to cutting them with a tilting arbor. The panel lays against the table/jig rather than trying to hold it against a vertical fence.

Also some one mentioned using router to cut 45degree bevels. Another excellent idea. Makes a super edge with little chance of a mistake.
Adding a 45 locking bit makes it even that much better.

Frankly I don't see the down side of the tilting table. Unless of course you trying to cut a a 45 bevel on the end of an 8 foot board but then I would question your wisdom of doing this on any table saw titling arbor, tilting table or whatever.
Ed

[a1gutterman]

Hi dusty,

I was recently enticed to read a series of posts by critics of the Shopsmith. Nearly all of the stated shortcomings are, in my opinion, nothing more than preferences (biases) of the critic.

Without having the benefit of reading what you did, I wood have to agree with you that preferences are what guide a person to be critical or offer approval of a tool, or anything else, for that matter.

However, there is one that may have merit. I must emphasis MAY HAVE MERIT..........The critics claim that a tilting table...............Do any of you agree that the tilting table is a serious shortcoming?

I personally do not feel that the tilting table is a shortcoming of any kind. The way the Mark V is set up, with PROPER PLANNING, cutting a bevel with the tilted table allows you to continue on the same work piece, with other operations that require the same bevel, without having multiple set-ups. What other tool can you do that with? I do not feel that the materials being worked will slide into the blade/sanding-disk/drill-bit/etc., as long as adequate and proper supports, jigs, fences, clamps, etc., are being utilized. Although I have never seen one, I was under the impression that a proper cabinet-makers saw had a tilting table.

But my opinion of the tilting table does not really answer the question in your subject line: Shopsmith, Are there shortcomings?

Of course there are shortcomings! (I will assume that you are referring to the machine and not to the company:D ) The ShopSmith Mark V is very versatile. It is capable of many operations, and can do them well, all in a small area of space. That is what it is designed to do. There are many tools, stand-alones if you will, that have features designed into them that you do not get with the SS MV. That is because they were designed to do a job that does not require changing operations, and they were designed to sit in one place permanently. I LIKE my Mark V. I have never regretted buying it. I think that it can do just about any operation that I need it to, especially with all the add-ons that you can get for it. BUT.....

I will give one example, of what I feel is a major, shortcoming of it: When using it in saw mode, the infeed/outfeed table area is wanting. Yes, you can build infeed/outfeed tables; you can use roller stands; you can use tubes and floating tables; but a stand alone table saw can have permanent infeed/outfeed tables that do not require setting up; do not require adjustment; and therefore, can and do, save a lot of time. That set-up takes a lot more space then a Mark V, but IMHO it is a better set-up. It is not for every one. That is where the preference part can come in to play.

[dusty]

Ed, if wisdom was one of my assets, well......

This is developing into still another interesting thread. I need the kids to come over again. When they get here, typically, the first thing they ask is "Grandpa, is there anything we can do for you"? Normally the answer is no. Maybe I'll just surprise them with a to do list.

Two of them are becoming respectable woodworkers. The other is about to graduate and she doesn't allow herself any time to make sawdust. Too bad. She is in the mental health program and just doesn't seem to understand her need for an occasional change of pace.

The answer to the opening question is....NO, not really. You can do anything on the Shopsmith that you can do on a Unisaw. Sometimes the procedures are just a bit different.

No, that's probably not true. The Shopsmith really doesn't work to well on what should be called timber rather than lumber.

[Ed in Tampa]

[quote="a1gutterman"]....I will give one example, of what I feel is a major, shortcoming of it: When using it in saw mode, the infeed/outfeed table area is wanting. Yes, you can build infeed/outfeed tables]

Tim
I have a friend that has a unisaw sitting literally in middle of a 18 foot by 10 foot island. It gives him something like 8 feet on each side of the blade and I think about 4 feet front and back. The Unisaw sitting there looks lost. However he does a lot of sheetstock work and this is what he feels he needs.

A Shopsmith owner could do the same thing. Build a table as big as you want front to back side to side but cut a hole big enough to fit the SS table. The bottom of the table you build has to be higher than the headstock. Then you could wheel the SS in place raise the table and start cutting.

However I think most people simply don't have the room for this, in fact many don't want to give up the space for table saw with a 52 inch fence so they get a SS.

Incidently my friend finally admitted the saw island was taking too much space. He then tried a $30K panel saw, a $10 slidding table european saw and after a visit from his insurance man, went with a guide saw setup. The guided saw setup while expensive was far cheaper than the panel or slidding table saw. And after selling the Unisaw and getting the insurance price reduction he got for going to the guided saw system, he was able to pay for the guided saw system.

[brown_hawk]

Well, I said I would try to get pictures of that coffee table where I used the tilting table to get a bevel cut. Here they are, but remember that this was a first project, and it has been around a long time. I finished it in tung oil, and I should have gone poly. One of these days, maybe I'll get around to refinishing it.

All of the cuts were rip cuts, so I rested them against the fence for the cuts using the miter gauge in the left hand and the right on the wood below the gauge.

Hawk

[a1gutterman]

Tim
...............A Shopsmith owner could do the same thing. Build a table as big as you want front to back side to side but cut a hole big enough to fit the SS table. The bottom of the table you build has to be higher than the headstock. Then you could wheel the SS in place raise the table and start cutting.

However I think most people simply don't have the room for this, in fact many don't want to give up the space for table saw with a 52 inch fence so they get a SS............

Hi Ed,
I absolutely agree with you, and my post does not have anything in it that is contrary to your thoughts here. One thing that a SS owner can not do with that big table that he slides his Mark V into is cut bevels, unless he makes/buys a jig or sled that is made for bevel cutting.

Members on this forum have either been silent or they agree that the Mark V is NOT made for cutting large panels. It is possible to do, but not easy. I have not seen any posts that say otherwise. The stand alone TS, with adequate table space, is perfect for it]can[/I] do very well. I LIKE my Mark V!!!

On the flip side, I can not do things on my stand alone TS that I can do on my Mark V. That does not mean that I am criticizing my stand alone either. They are two different pieces of equipment and both do their jobs well.

[cincinnati]

On the flip side, I can not do things on my stand alone TS that I can do on my Mark V. That does not mean that I am criticizing my stand alone either.

I agree. My Jet cabinet saw is not very good at drilling holes.

[a1gutterman]

On the flip side, I can not do things on my stand alone TS that I can do on my Mark V. That does not mean that I am criticizing my stand alone either.

I agree. My Jet cabinet saw is not very good at drilling holes.