New to this site and have questions

[terrydowning]

Yea, I've seen a couple of those storage units here somewhere that really look good. Besides, all that space under the SS is wasted otherwise.

Unless you plan on using a Lift Assist which some on here do. I don't and have a rather ugly cabinet attached to my bench tubes. Someday I'll make a pretty one. Time and resources allowing.

[fjimp]

I believe the discounts are about 10%. May I suggest calling customer support at shopsmith (800) 543-7586, telling them you are interested in taking part in one of Doug Reids online demo's with interest in both learning more and potential ownership. I have a sneeky suspicion they willl assist you. Jim

[pieceseeker]

I believe the discounts are about 10%. May I suggest calling customer support at shopsmith (800) 543-7586, telling them you are interested in taking part in one of Doug Reids online demo's with interest in both learning more and potential ownership. I have a sneeky suspicion they willl assist you. Jim

Thanks Jim, I'll do that. In the meantime, I called them today and requested their info pack that they send to interested parties. I'll look that over and then see if there is any reference to that online demo you speak of. Thanks again!

[jimthej]

I sort of gathered that you are in the Atlanta area, and are planning to enclose what is now a screen porch. Something you need to put into your thinking, is the effects of humidity on tools. All equipment that has metal work surfaces and sliding surfaces needs regular scheduled maintenance. You also need to think of controlling that humidity if possible.
I live in Bakersfield, CA, normally a very dry area. Right now during the cool weather, humidity is very high in the shop as I don't have enough ventilation. I find myself waxing tables and way tubes every other day. Takes me about 3 minutes. Biggest problem is the jointer tables. They are cast iron and rust easily.
Welcome to the forum, no matter what you decide.

[backhertz]

If you happy to have a Lowe's Demo near you, you might get lucky and be eligible for an 18-month interest-free financing. It really takes the bite out of a huge purchase. Lowes will also give a 10% discount to members who have an active/retired military ID, as well as a VA ID card. They apply the 10% off to the items and the shipping. As I recall last May, the demo items & shipping prices were both reduced by 10%. At the Lowe's in Plymouth Meeting, PA, on Memorial Day, the demo prices were still the lower pre-increase prices before Shopsmith's large increase on April 30th. The Webinar prices went up right away, but the Demo prices were still low.

So I did what I had to do & got a second DIY Power Pro and I have 18 months to pay for it. I had picked up a Mark 520 & a new bandsaw for a very low price and bought everything for transforming it into a Mark 7.

As soon as the warm weather comes, I will start sorting out all my Shopsmiths. I got carried away and have far more than I need. Imagine that! I plan to upgrade all to new condition and hopefully find buyers who will appreciate them.

But for those of you starting, I warn you BEWARE! It can really get out of control when people start giving them to you or have Mark Vs for $150 or less. Then I picked up 5 10E/ERs which each have a speed changer an jig saws. I have to set up and them find homes for I'll need use.

But I will inventory on a spreadsheet. Yes, I have that much stuff! Eye, ye, ye… Good luck.

[edinbako]

Welcome to the forum. I have a '56 Greenie and it is a solid machine. I've made some nice stuff on it for the women in my extended family and they are enjoying my hobby as much as I am. There is a frequently asked question asked of the Shopsmith and you, like others, have asked it. The question deals with the accuracy of the SS. If you study the set-up and alignment of the machine and like you said, experiment with making jigs, you will not be disappointed in the SS. The SS is limited, however, in that it isn't a large anything kind of tool. It is made to fill a niche for the hobbyist with limited room to work and I think it does that really well. I haven't done anything but clean and oil my Greenie for the 4 years that I have owned it and it has never failed me. I paid $400 for it and would pay that amount for it again tomorrow. The SS lasts for generations if it is maintained properly. Shop around in your area and I bet you can get a good deal on one with lots of bells and whistles.

[BuckeyeDennis]

A year ago, I had never heard of a ShopSmith. I needed something better than my old Craftsman tabletop saw, but the Great Recession had seriously cut into the take-home pay from my business. So I started checking out Craigslist for deals on a good used table saw. A couple of used Shopsmith ads caught my attention right away, and I was intrigued. The ShopSmith sites, this forum, and a few other sites provided a wealth of information.

With about 300 square feet of walkout-basement workshop space, I probably had some options for stand-alone tools. But the elegance of the ShopSmith design tantalized my engineer's brain, much like my son's reaction to a Transformer toy when he was six years old.

Scouring Craigslist daily for several months, plus a few timely bids on eBay, netted me a shop full of late-model ShopSmith equipment for 25 cents on the dollar. Some of the items needed a good cleaning and a few dollars worth of bearings and such, but are now as good as new. All this activity was good for Shopsmith as well, as I've spent several hundred dollars with them on parts and consumables.

The strange thing is, the best deals that I found on Craigslist tended to come with power stands. Jigsaw on a power stand ($55), bandsaw on a Power Station ($150), Pro Planer ($225). So I actually wound up with mostly standalone tools -- I'm still trying to figure out which special-purpose tools should get the dedicated stands!

Now I'm getting to the fun part, learning how to use all the tools. The careful alignment work is paying off big-time. I invested in good used Mitutoyo dial calipers, plus some inexpensive machinist squares, and followed all of the alignment procedures in the Shopsmith manuals. To my amazement, every cut is accurate to within 0.005" on the saw. Results on the jointer and planer are even better. This is good quality machinery.

Like others, I'm not thrilled about having to tilt the table for bevel cuts. But I have a decent compound miter saw, which helps with that issue. Just this last weekend, I discovered that using the compound miter saw to rough-cut joints, followed by disk sanding on the 520 to the precise angle and length, gives far better results that I could get on the miter saw alone.

What I really like about the ShopSmith, though, is the versatility. I've decided that if I can't figure out a way to set up an operation on a ShopSmith, I'm just not being creative enough. In which case, the real experts on this forum are all but certain to have a solution. It appears to me that the possibilities are limited only by your skills, and more importantly by your imagination.

[pieceseeker]

I sort of gathered that you are in the Atlanta area, and are planning to enclose what is now a screen porch. Something you need to put into your thinking, is the effects of humidity on tools. All equipment that has metal work surfaces and sliding surfaces needs regular scheduled maintenance. You also need to think of controlling that humidity if possible.
I live in Bakersfield, CA, normally a very dry area. Right now during the cool weather, humidity is very high in the shop as I don't have enough ventilation. I find myself waxing tables and way tubes every other day. Takes me about 3 minutes. Biggest problem is the jointer tables. They are cast iron and rust easily.
Welcome to the forum, no matter what you decide.

Yes, I'm well aware of the humidity problem. I recently discovered rust on my Forsner bits. Brass brushed them and used WD-40, stored on z-loc bags. All ways clean and oil my hedge trimmers and pruners. I still have the original garden hose I purchased 20 years ago because I drain it and store it indoors. Things can last a long time if properly taken care of. Thanks!

[pieceseeker]

If you happy to have a Lowe's Demo near you, you might get lucky and be eligible for an 18-month interest-free financing. It really takes the bite out of a huge purchase. Lowes will also give a 10% discount to members who have an active/retired military ID, as well as a VA ID card. They apply the 10% off to the items and the shipping. As I recall last May, the demo items & shipping prices were both reduced by 10%. At the Lowe's in Plymouth Meeting, PA, on Memorial Day, the demo prices were still the lower pre-increase prices before Shopsmith's large increase on April 30th. The Webinar prices went up right away, but the Demo prices were still low.

So I did what I had to do & got a second DIY Power Pro and I have 18 months to pay for it. I had picked up a Mark 520 & a new bandsaw for a very low price and bought everything for transforming it into a Mark 7.

As soon as the warm weather comes, I will start sorting out all my Shopsmiths. I got carried away and have far more than I need. Imagine that! I plan to upgrade all to new condition and hopefully find buyers who will appreciate them.

But for those of you starting, I warn you BEWARE! It can really get out of control when people start giving them to you or have Mark Vs for $150 or less. Then I picked up 5 10E/ERs which each have a speed changer an jig saws. I have to set up and them find homes for I'll need use.

But I will inventory on a spreadsheet. Yes, I have that much stuff! Eye, ye, ye… Good luck.

No demo's in my area in the near future sadly.

[pieceseeker]

A year ago, I had never heard of a ShopSmith. I needed something better than my old Craftsman tabletop saw, but the Great Recession had seriously cut into the take-home pay from my business. So I started checking out Craigslist for deals on a good used table saw. A couple of used Shopsmith ads caught my attention right away, and I was intrigued. The ShopSmith sites, this forum, and a few other sites provided a wealth of information.

With about 300 square feet of walkout-basement workshop space, I probably had some options for stand-alone tools. But the elegance of the ShopSmith design tantalized my engineer's brain, much like my son's reaction to a Transformer toy when he was six years old.

Scouring Craigslist daily for several months, plus a few timely bids on eBay, netted me a shop full of late-model ShopSmith equipment for 25 cents on the dollar. Some of the items needed a good cleaning and a few dollars worth of bearings and such, but are now as good as new. All this activity was good for Shopsmith as well, as I've spent several hundred dollars with them on parts and consumables.

The strange thing is, the best deals that I found on Craigslist tended to come with power stands. Jigsaw on a power stand ($55), bandsaw on a Power Station ($150), Pro Planer ($225). So I actually wound up with mostly standalone tools -- I'm still trying to figure out which special-purpose tools should get the dedicated stands!

Now I'm getting to the fun part, learning how to use all the tools. The careful alignment work is paying off big-time. I invested in good used Mitutoyo dial calipers, plus some inexpensive machinist squares, and followed all of the alignment procedures in the Shopsmith manuals. To my amazement, every cut is accurate to within 0.005" on the saw. Results on the jointer and planer are even better. This is good quality machinery.

Like others, I'm not thrilled about having to tilt the table for bevel cuts. But I have a decent compound miter saw, which helps with that issue. Just this last weekend, I discovered that using the compound miter saw to rough-cut joints, followed by disk sanding on the 520 to the precise angle and length, gives far better results that I could get on the miter saw alone.

What I really like about the ShopSmith, though, is the versatility. I've decided that if I can't figure out a way to set up an operation on a ShopSmith, I'm just not being creative enough. In which case, the real experts on this forum are all but certain to have a solution. It appears to me that the possibilities are limited only by your skills, and more importantly by your imagination.

Unfortunately, I only have about half that much space, so I won't be doing any collecting SS machines. The best I can do is one new machine and hang any accessory units on the wall. Floor space is premium....woodworking/assembly/painting/staining table...dust collection....etc.