Shopsmith Forums

Hey guys! Still looking at used equip on CL.

What do you all (yaw'll) think about SS's jig saw and/or strip sander. The jig is very different from the scroll saw is it not? The strip sander, I'm guessing is most useful on inside curves? I would like to know of your experience with these 2 items. This will help me decide on which SS to buy depending on which SPT's it comes with. Thanks!

pieceseeker wrote:Hey guys! Still looking at used equip on CL.

What do you all (yaw'll) think about SS's jig saw and/or strip sander. The jig is very different from the scroll saw is it not? The strip sander, I'm guessing is most useful on inside curves? I would like to know of your experience with these 2 items. This will help me decide on which SS to buy depending on which SPT's it comes with. Thanks!

You and several other members of this forum may not agree with me on this but then you asked for opinions. I have a belt sander, a drum sander and a disk sander and a couple different types of hand sanders. I also have a bandsaw and a scroll saw.

I also DO NOT have unlimited shop space and therefore already have some items relocated "to the shed".

Therefore, I am unable to justify a strip sander or a jig saw being added to this menagerie. Furthermore, I don't feel a need for those SPT. I can already do the work that they would do.

If you want those items, it is my opinion that you should just get those items. Don't worry, you can justify them to yourself if you want to and anyone who disagrees doesn't count anyhow.:)

BTW I don't think there is anything wrong with either one of them. They work well doing what they are designed to do. I fully understand why those who have them swear by them.

I can't speak to the scroll saw as I don't have one and can't justify the expense (new or used) for something I'd rarely use. I do have two of the Magna jig saws -I bought one for ~$50 and the other was given to me. they can be found fairly cheap and at least the two I got were in excellent shape. It takes care of any of my fairly infrequent needs in this Dept but probably doesn't have the intricacy potential of the scroll saw.

I was in Dusty's camp about the strip sander, as I have numerous other sanding devices (SS belt and disc sanders and several potable sanders) and I couldn't justify the high price (new or used) for a strip sander. this changed recently when I found a cheap strip sander on E-Bay and couldn't resist another toy for the collection. I haven't received it yet, so can't speak to its performance or how much I'll use it in the future.

I guess my advice for these items (or any of the SPT's for that matter) is to determine your level of need and balance with the cost.

dgale wrote:I guess my advice for these items (or any of the SPT's for that matter) is to determine your level of need and balance with the cost.

Are you kidding?
Need doesn't even enter into it... Only want and affordable opportunity.


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Thanks guys! From the few responses I've gotten so far, It sounds like a scroll saw is better to have than a jig saw. The strip sander sounds like it may be a last choice as a SPT. Is that correct?

What I am trying to achieve when buying a used MarkV, is getting the most bang for my buck as far as SPT's are concerned. Buying SPT's individually used may be more expensive than if bundled with a MarkV.

Most used MarkV's out there are coming with a bandsaw and jointer, but a few are coming with up to 4 SPT's and priced anywhere from $850 to $1200.

If a 510 in very good condition came with a:
Bandsaw
Jointer
Planer on pwr stand
Scrollsaw

would $1200 be a deal, a steal, or keep looking?

Personally, it sounds like a deal to me!

What do you think?

I would say it is reasonable and if you can negotiate it a hundred or two lower, even more reasonable. I wouldn't say your stealing it, but I wouldn't say you are getting ripped off.

The thing that makes the price somewhat fair is if the planner is a standalone Proplanner. Let's say that thing alone usually goes for $300-$500. I was able to get one for really cheap, but in a year of reading Craigslist I saw 2 come up for less than $250 and one Of the selers tried to raise the price when he got a lot of interest.

The three SPTs that tend to go for most money are the planner, scroll saw and the belt sander.

Joking aside, I guess I use my bandsaw as much as anything SPT wise. The jig saw vs scroll saw thing depends on what you want to do. A scroll saw is for scrolling, fine stuff. The jig saw properly sat up can do much of that work except for the very very fine work. It can also do some pretty heavy work and can be useful if you don't have a band saw. What I am saying is don't dismiss it as near useless, it can be a good tool. I have and use all three (my scroll saw is not SS).
I keep an SS jointer as a backup for my 6" long bed stand-alone. The SS jointer is a good quality tool.
The SS 6" x 48" belt sander is extremely useful.
I really use my SS's the most using all of those more common accessories... Stuff like the dado head, molding heads, shaper attachment, drum sander, wire wheels, grinding accessories etc. on to near infinity.
Pretty much anything that needs to be turned under power.
I even have attachments that will do a number of functions in the shoe repair craft.

On rare occasions I even use one of them as a table saw.


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letterk wrote:I would say it is reasonable and if you can negotiate it a hundred or two lower, even more reasonable. I wouldn't say your stealing it, but I wouldn't say you are getting ripped off.

The thing that makes the price somewhat fair is if the planner is a standalone Proplanner. Let's say that thing alone usually goes for $300-$500. I was able to get one for really cheap, but in a year of reading Craigslist I saw 2 come up for less than $250 and one Of the selers tried to raise the price when he got a lot of interest.

The three SPTs that tend to go for most money are the planner, scroll saw and the belt sander.

Yea, the planer I think would be a very useful SPT to have around. You talked about the pro-planer being the better choice on planers.

Is there any difference between the pro and the MarkV mount style planer other than the pro on its own stand having a 1 3/4 hp constant speed motor and slightly different feed speeds. What about the SS mounted one if you had the PP headstock running on 240v, would that have as good of performance?

Hi,

When I started out my first two SPT's were the belt sander and jig saw. I still have them and use them.

The jig saw has some features that the scroll saw doesn't, the ability to remove the arm and it that way, it also holds files and sanding products in the lower mount. I use it for more coarse projects as a jig saw. (I have a scroll saw as well so I use that for more scroll type work.)

Early on the belt sander was a real go to tool. As time went on and I gathered more and more sanding options and the belt sander got heavier and well I use it still it is not necessary my go to machine like it ones was.

The bandsaw is really one of my favorite extra tools. I had a bandsaw before I had a shopsmith and until a very short time that worked out well. What changed for me was setting up a second shop about 400 miles north. I got a shopsmith for it sans bandsaw. It was then I actually realized how much the bandsaw had become for me. Picked up a shopsmith bandsaw to fix that.

The strip sander is far lighter then the beltsander and it will do for a lot of projects. When I got the sharpening I ended up liking it even better for that. I added a second strip sander so I can have one for sanding and one for the jig.

I had a jointer before I got a shopsmith, and the shopsmith one reminded me of the one we had at home that I really disliked due to the difficulty of setting the knifes. (No doubt unfounded comparison.) I added a 6" jointer later so I have no shopsmith jointer in my future that I can see. But yea you will want some jointer in the shop.

The planner was a bit to rich for me. It is also large. At this point in life I don't do a lot of work requiring a planner so I went with one of those bench top versions for about 1/4 the price and it works for me. Just staring out you can do without one of these.

If you can find an OPR I would pick that up, it would be a valuable addition to the shop and expands the capacity of things you would be able to do.

Well enough of my perspective.

Ed

I will argue the jigsaw over the scroll saw. Far more versitile, able to do everything I need. Plus, I don't have the scroll saw.