How many tools combs do you have in your shop?

[reible]

Soooooooooooo say you own 5 shopsmiths. Given each of the 5 have these 5 functions, so at any one time you could have
5 table saws
or
5 drill presses
or
5 lathes
or
5 disk sanders
or
5 horizontal boring machines

of course you can have
1 table saw,
and
1 drill press
and
1 lathe
and
1 disk sander
and
1 horizontal boring machine

or how about

2 table saws
and
2 drill presses
and
1 lathe

Now I know some of you have the math back ground to provide the answer right now but I'd like to see some guesses as to how many combinations there are.

If you would rather then use the 7 functions of the newer models or even add a few more using a set of SPT..... and even feel free to have two shopsmiths or a shopsmith and power stand/etc.

Go have fun with it!

Next time you want to brag on how many could have think about what you might answer.

Ed

[robinson46176]

I don't have any "combs" in my shop. My hair has thinned out enough in the top front that it no longer falls down in my face at all.
No... Wait... I see, your are abbreviating "combinations"...

I don't know the number and I am too lazy to figure it out but you are making the point that I constantly try to make. Even if you buy a $4000 tablesaw you still only have "ONE" tablesaw... With several Shopsmiths (5 as an example) you have 5 tablesaws. You also have 5 lathes and so on. The possibilities are almost endless and that is why that as I was buying for this final retirement woodshop and could have bought about any combination of stand alones I wanted (within a possible $10,000 or so total) but I bought a good sized herd of Shopsmiths (I lost count at 25. note that some were organ donors) instead. Flexibility, flexibility and flexibility.
Go to Sears or anyplace else and try to buy a Push-me Pull-me double drillpress... Yet is has become a much favored tool in my shop.
As my sig line says, I didn't buy them in spite of the set-ups but because of them...
At this stage I have absolutely no regrets about my choice.


.

[JPG]

Two Mark 5 / V 25 combs. Five = 3125

Two Mark 7 49 combs Five = 16807

Two Mark VII 36 combs (DC/vacuum available with all combs!) Five = 7776

[heathicus]

If I remember my math right, wouldn't five Mark 5/Vs result in 3,125 possible combinations? (5*5*5*5*5)

Five M7s would be 7*7*7*7*7 = 16,807 possible combinations.

Three M5s and two M7s would be 5*5*5*7*7 = 6,125 possible combinations.

Two 10ERs, two M5s, one M7s, and a Delta Unisaw would be 5*5*5*5*7*1 = 4,375 possible combinations.

[fiatben]

OK, shouldn't we all be out making sawdust instead?

Of course, tonight in Arkansas it's 36-degrees and blowing so my uninsulated tin barn is also unoccupied (except for the shop cat).

Gonna glance thru the forum then go read back issues of American Woodworker.

Besides, the shop is undergoing a drastic reorganization so no sawdust for awhile I'm afraid.

[Ed in Tampa]

Actually you would have 25 combinations 5x5.
But you could vary the set up to have 3125 different variations of those 25 combinations.

[garys]

I like simple math. I have 1 Shopsmith..............so total here is ONE

It does everything I need so I'm not in the market to add to my 1

[dusty]

I like simple math. I have 1 Shopsmith..............so total here is ONE

It does everything I need so I'm not in the market to add to my 1

In its simplest form, you actually have five (5).

table saw, drill press, lathe, horizontal boring machine and disk sander

which could easily be stretched to include a polishing wheel, and a drum sander

[heathicus]

Actually you would have 25 combinations 5x5.
But you could vary the set up to have 3125 different variations of those 25 combinations.

Math is not my forte (there's a reason I majored in English Lit. in college), so it took me a few minutes to figure out what you were saying here, but I think I understand now.

By my math (5*5*5*5*5 = 3,125 combinations) you would have duplicate "real world" combinations.

Example:
Machine A: table saw
Machine B: drill press
Machine C: disc sander
Machine D: horizontal drill press
Machine E: lathe

Machine A: table saw
Machine B: drill press
Machine C: disc sander
Machine D: lathe
Machine E: horizontal drill press

Two different combinations as far as the math goes, but the same thing in a "real world" situation.

So 25 (5*5) is the right answer.

[billmeyer]

I thought the formula for 5 is:
5x4x3x2x1. Of course I studied that before the pocket calculator was invented.

Bill