Drop in Forum Activity

[JPG]

I imagine part of the reduction in activity is the drift of younger people to different platforms. This forum format is great as far as I'm concerned, but it's definitely old-school.

Indeed. A clue is the competence of it's 'members'.

[DLB]

Click on the wheel in the far upper right hand corner of the main page and follow the instructions to search on an author.

An alternate way to get to search is click on Quick Links on the upper left side.

Thank you both. Old dog, new trick. An advanced search for me has involved heading for Google I'll try this next time.
-David

[chapmanruss]

We may have lost some activity due to the difficulty signing up as expressed by some recent new members. I believe that has been corrected. Hopefully we haven't become the dinosaur of the Shopsmith Forums. I believe we have the best source for assistance to new users with the experience of the members posting here. We also have a strong sharing of ideas. Maybe we are just seeing a drop in Shopsmith activity as I have noticed in the last couple of months based on Shopsmiths available for sale near me. One of my favorite suggestions when talking to anyone about Shopsmiths is to check out this forum if they want to know more about these tools.

[RFGuy]

We may have lost some activity due to the difficulty signing up as expressed by some recent new members. I believe that has been corrected. Hopefully we haven't become the dinosaur of the Shopsmith Forums.

Thanks Russ. Okay, maybe I am too new here, but are there other forums for Shopsmith besides this one? I know there were some Yahoo groups around in the past but didn't those go away? Other than the Facebook groups, I thought this forum was it. I agree this one is the best one, but just curious if I missed some other groups out there.

[Hobbyman2]

something new and inexpensive to the industry may bring more people to the company ? I dont look at the new products on the website all the time but when ya mention SS it seems folks attribute it to the older equipment or something they dont want to invest so much in . a lot of folks buy a saw they will only use once or twice , on another topic , the cost of materials is crazy ? I was talking about lumber prices last week with another hobbyist , we both felt lucky that we had stocked up on lumber some time ago , and how a few local wood mills are now busy milling private lumber and people were bypassing the big box prices , how going green may mean getting back to saws made with real metal bodies and products made from biodegradable materials and away from all the throw away plastic junk we see today . its up to people like us to keep the hobby going with new innovative ideas .

[dusty]

I was dead set against using Facebook but I have relaxed my opinions on that subject. I have visited both the Shopsmith Owners Group and the Shopsmith Sales Group on Facebook and I see a lot of very good information being posted there by well qualified Shopsmith users AND the traffic is much greater than here.

The FB sites, however, have some issues that I believe are now the norm of social media. I'll hang in here until there is no other way.

[chapmanruss]

I think, as Dusty points out, Facebook is the other main option and most people already belong to it for one reason or another.

[RFGuy]

something new and inexpensive to the industry may bring more people to the company ? I dont look at the new products on the website all the time but when ya mention SS it seems folks attribute it to the older equipment or something they dont want to invest so much in . a lot of folks buy a saw they will only use once or twice , on another topic , the cost of materials is crazy ? I was talking about lumber prices last week with another hobbyist , we both felt lucky that we had stocked up on lumber some time ago , and how a few local wood mills are now busy milling private lumber and people were bypassing the big box prices , how going green may mean getting back to saws made with real metal bodies and products made from biodegradable materials and away from all the throw away plastic junk we see today . its up to people like us to keep the hobby going with new innovative ideas .

I think you bring up a good point and I have wondered this as well in the past. Shopsmith doesn't publish their financials but I wonder the breakdown of their business between selling new parts, SPT's and replacement parts. I think they are going the Apple route of trying to sell what is perceived as a high end brand with no low or mid tiers underneath. This works when you have carved out a niche and/or have a loyal customer base that follows you no matter what. I am not sure Shopsmith has as strong of a position for that these days so perhaps a mid tier product would be a good option for those with smaller pocketbooks. Isn't JET and RIKON the same company? I believe so and JET is the premium option and RIKON the less expensive one (correct me if I am wrong). Shopsmith could do something similar with a mid tier I think. I believe the low tier has been ceded to Asian manufacturers unfortunately and would likely be difficult to compete against.

P.S. With lumber prices what they are right now, I wonder if this will dissuade potential newcomers to woodworking for a while as well. This only reinforces the American trend of buying from the Walmart & IKEA's of the world rather than build it themselves.

[Hobbyman2]

I dont know about the markets but point in hand I bought a 1/4 of cowhide from a world renowned leather company and it had a made in brazil tag on it . seems like we have shot the country in the foot so to speak with all of the shipping issues we see . JMO

[wa2crk]

I don't text, I don't face and I don't twit. Don't have to. This is one of the best forums and also one of the most civilized.
Bill V