Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.
Billdit wrote:Received mine by Fedex Thursday afternoon... not good news...
Wixey part is broken, wires to one laser light are broken, adjust knobs are loose in package, no way to put it back together.
No assembly instructions or any paper work on SS part .
Called SS and they want “pictures of damage”... I thought they would send me a return shipping label. I said “do you want pictures because you think I am lying about the problems?” They said “yes, that is the reason for pictures”! I was disappointed, to say the least, in their customer service..
A better response would have been to say 'no, we simply need to evaluate the damage'. Evaluate, not verify!
I got instructions with mine that just arrived today. I can scan them and send to you if you are able to get a replacement.
Probably the exact same problem for me though. All of the packaging was intact and the box looked good, but inside the Wixey clamshell the plastic rotatable mounts for the laser modules were broken on both sides. Kinda hard to align and set the lasers up if their mounts are all broken. I will picture it up and contact Shopsmith. Not looking forward to talking to them though after hearing about your experience. I guess I can always stop payment on my credit card charge (if they are a problem).
I had an odd problem with my other laser, the one that I built the bracket for. I ended up thinking the battery had gone bad and it had but when I put in a new battery it still wasn't working. When I pulled the battery, a 9V out it checked out as being 9V, put it back together and it wasn't working...... I found if I pushed on one of the terminal it would work but when I took the pressure off it stopped.
Simple repair I thought as I had to replace a 9V plug on another tool about a year ago and the ends come 5 to a package. So today I replaced the plug and had the same issue, if you pushed down on the end it work, let go it stops.
Turns out it was the battery! Brand new but something inside is not right, you have to apply pressure for it to work. So my plug was more then likely fine but since I have a new one on now it really doesn't matter. Put another new 9V in and it works fine.
I don't ever recall a battery problem like this but it could have bit me before.
So a plus for the new wixey one that uses AA batteries!
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
Since I didn't get instructions I'd like to get a copy to make sure I'm not doing something wrong, I doubt it but you just never know.
If you could scan it and post here that would be great or let me know and I will provide an email address if that is more to your liking.
I did play with it some more today. I still cannot get it to be stable, the fit is just not good enough. I am hoping it just mine but I have a feeling that it might be a design flaw.....
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
Sorry, not the best quality, but this was the best I could get. The manual was very bent in the shipment. I placed a heavy weight on top just to get it to lay flat for the scan. Even with this, there is a noticeable distortion down the centerline of each page. Still, it should be readable.
The Amazon one star review below pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Wixey laser after looking at the failure of mine that Shopsmith shipped. The spring washer seems to be too stiff to me. The black plastic mounts that the laser modules mount in seems to be very cheap. I could see that with time and maybe only a little vibration that the plastic would snap and pop off because that wavy washer has too much spring force which pushes against this plastic mount. Inside the clamshell it looked okay when I got this. It wasn't until I opened the clamshell that I could see these were falling out because it had already been broken. Bottomline, this Wixey laser could have been broken when it arrived to Shopsmith and they wouldn't necessarily be aware of it because it looks "okay" to anyone inexperienced in this product. Even if I get a replacement from Shopsmith, I would have to likely modify or hack this to a) get good repeatable alignement and b) get it to last any length of time.
Amazon Review: Junk. I got it in May first; it is now June 22nd and it broke on its own. The plastic piece that holds the laser diode has a metal spring to pull the piece out so that there is some friction and the laser doesn't spin freely. Guess what: metal spring constantly pulling a plastic piece, metal wins and breaks the plastic. What a stupid design.
RFGuy wrote:Sorry, not the best quality, but this was the best I could get. The manual was very bent in the shipment. I placed a heavy weight on top just to get it to lay flat for the scan. Even with this, there is a noticeable distortion down the centerline of each page. Still, it should be readable.
Shopsmith_LASER_Locator.pdf
I guess one is supposed to 'know' to use the 7/16" wrench on the keps nuts.
╔═══╗
╟JPG ╢
╚═══╝
Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
UPDATE: After sending pics of the broken Wixey laser, Shopsmith is sending me a box for it with return shipping label. Once they get this one back, they will replace it. Fingers crossed that a new one will not be broken this time.
jsburger wrote:I got mine yesterday. I have not unpacked the Wixey yet but all looks good. Packing from SS is typical of what I have gotten in the past.
John,
If you look at the Wixey pic you posted, the top laser has dropped down and you can see the spring on top. Pretty sure that top mount is broken, but the bottom one might be fine. Mine looked similar to this in the clamshell and it was only upon opening the clamshell that I found one spring down inside the metal assembly. Any movement of the unit after taking it out of the clamshell, I could see that the plastic mounts were broken BEFORE I even touched them. I would inspect it closely before even opening the clamshell. I highly suspect the top one is broken on yours.
The clamshell is a tight fit and holds everything in place, so until you take the cardboard off the back, you can't easily see it is broken inside. I was really looking forward to using mine since I am about to drill a bunch of holes in some steel C channel. Unfortunately, it will probably be weeks before I get my replacement.
RF Guy
