other multi purpose machines

smartsailer · Post by **smartsailer** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:38 pm

does anyone know of other multipurpose power woodworking machines like the shopsmith? thank you.

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:26 pm

smartsailer wrote:does anyone know of other multipurpose power woodworking machines like the shopsmith? thank you.

Are you talking about something like this Chinese Rip Off?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/C ... pricetype=

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:58 pm

There's also the Smithy Supershop.

http://www.smithy.com/products.php?cid=18

EDIT: The Smithy Supershop and the "Central Machinery Industrial" at Horrible Freight that curiousgeorge linked to actually look like the exact same machine with different brand names stuck on them.

alaskanexile · Post by **alaskanexile** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:35 pm

Seem like a lot of money for a boat anchor.
Roger

john · Post by **john** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:52 pm

Wood Magazine did a review of the ShopSmith and The Supershop several years ago and while they found many similarities, the ShopSmith came out ahead on fit, finish, and quality.

I suspect that would still be true today.

Happy with my SS!

John

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:24 pm

Yep, they look the same to me also. I didn't see any jointer, belt sander, bandsaw, and etc. That you can buy. BET it won't last as long as a SS either.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:14 pm

A while back, Nick told us the story on how these two machines came about. Does anyone have that post? The story was something like - The smithy was being produced overseas to save costs, but didn't have the proper copyright or trade mark/patent protection.

P.S. I think I recently read where the Smithy Co. went belly up.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:21 pm

charlese wrote:A while back, Nick told us the story on how these two machines came about. Does anyone have that post? The story was something like - The smithy was being produced overseas to save costs, but didn't have the proper copyright or trade mark/patent protection.

P.S. I think I recently read where the Smithy Co. went belly up.

If you really want to know try calling them 1-800-476-4849. They still have a website up.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:23 pm

dusty wrote:If you really want to know try calling them 1-800-476-4849. They still have a website up.

No!!!! I don't want to know - was just interested in seeing Nick's post again - refers to the first post on the thread.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:31 am

I recently acquired a Total Shop for $20. The Shopsmith SPTs will mount on it and can be used. It has a very heavy cast iron main and extension table top. The way and bench tubes are smaller and every part in the headstock is a different size than the Shopsmith. No internal Shopsmith part will work in the Total Shop headstock and vise versa. The Total Shop has a 1" longer 1 1/2 HP motor with a 56 mount that supports either 110 or 220 VAC input which was my reason for buying it.