(Grey) Scroll Saw broken hold down foot/guard assembly

[JimFarmer]

FYI: I have a Grey colored MK5 mounted scroll saw 555220. The pot metal hold down/guard clamp assembly has fallen apart making the saw almost unusable.No way to fix it it is in so many pieces. I called and was told that Shop Smith no longer sells parts for Grey Scroll Saws only the TEAL ones. I asked if the new Quick Clamp Upgrade Kit for the Teal one would work on the Grey one and was told that they no longer sold parts for the Grey saws. I asked if the Hold down upgrade would work on the Grey saw and was emphatically told that they did not sell parts for the grey saw. I asked to speak with a technician and was told that she could help me. So I asked if the hold upgrade kit for the teal saw would work on the older grey saw and was again told that they did not sell parts for the Grey Saw. Not what I asked. NO HELP from ShopSmith customer service (or NO service). I went ahead and ordered a Quick clamp UPG 555706. It works just fine on the Grey Saw (555220) (as a matter of fact) they include the parts list diagram for the 555220 in their upgrade instructions.The saw is now upgraded and is back in working order. I thought this might help someone else who has a GREY COLORED scroll saw with a broken hold down foot/guard assembly.
Jim Farmer

[JPG]

Not good news.

It seems there is some stupidity(ignorance) going on there due to new personnel in the CS department(both worker bees and management of same).

I feel sorry for the bees!

Really!!!! In the area mentioned above, there is no difference between the two different colored versions. Instructions says it all.

Come on RLF! Get back to what thee did best a decade(and longer) ago!

[dusty]

Stupidity and ignorance "due to lack of experience" are definitely two different things.

We must remember that the personnel in CS now are there without having had years of experience behind them as their predecessors did. They also do not have a full blown active assembly line, a warehouse of parts or an experienced engineering staff to go to for assistance.

More than once I have had one of the ladies in customer service tell me "Hold on, I'll go out on the production floor and check and then return with an answer". More than once, I was put on hold while they switched my call over to the Engineering Lab. Back then Engineering and McCann were not synonymous.

Let us face it. Those days are gone!

[JPG]

Stupidity and ignorance "due to lack of experience" are definitely two different things.

We must remember that the personnel in CS now are there without having had years of experience behind them as their predecessors did. They also do not have a full blown active assembly line, a warehouse of parts or an experienced engineering staff to go to for assistance.

More than once I have had one of the ladies in customer service tell me "Hold on, I'll go out on the production floor and check and then return with an answer". More than once, I was put on hold while they switched my call over to the Engineering Lab. Back then Engineering and McCann were not synonymous.

Let us face it. Those days are gone!

It is the future I worry about!

Yep all those adjectives do not simultaneously apply to a single 'entity'.

[dusty]

The future is what we all worry about but "que sera sera.

We can only hope that as time passes on the staff in CS will gain the same level of expertise as was once typical of CS.

I am just thankful that they are still there to complain about.

Now, back to the broken part. I am pleased to hear that you have been able to repair your scroll saw. I am just as pleased to hear that at least some of the older parts (pre-Teal) are compatible with the newer parts.

It might be interesting to do a side by side comparison of the various parts lists; especially those for models that Shopsmith no longer markets.