Wixey Laser being sold by Shopsmith

[jsburger]

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.

Yes, you are correct. It will go back with being opened. I think I will ask for a refund since I already have a laser on my MK V drill press. The bracket looks really nice but Ed had problem with it so...

[RFGuy]

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.

Yes, you are correct. It will go back with being opened. I think I will ask for a refund since I already have a laser on my MK V drill press. The bracket looks really nice but Ed had problem with it so...

Yeah, once you know the failure mode, it is a little easier to spot. Sorry yours is broken too. It isn't Shopsmith's fault that the Wixey design is weak in this area. Since it is hard to tell inside the clamshell that it is bad, I am sure this is why Shopsmith is insisting on pics and requiring a return for the defective item. My guess is they have already seen a few defects from customers and will be sending these back to Wixey for refund.

As for the Shopsmith bracket, etc., I can't really comment yet since I have no laser to test with it yet...maybe I can hack it to get it to stay in place better.

[jsburger]

I just got off the phone with Shopsmith CS. Brook answered the phone in less than 30 seconds and was very pleasant and helpful. I asked for a return label and a refund. Absolutely no problem. I just printed out the return label.

I asked if SS knew about the problem and she said yes and that it is a Wixey problem which it is. She said that they are working to resolve it. She said she thought they are going to remove it from the web site until the issue is resolved. I just checked and it is still there but, it is a very recent development and it is the day after Christmas after all.

This is the second very pleasant experience I have had with Shopsmith CS in the last month.

[reible]

in case you got one of these and kept it.... and have some thoughts or needs for some 20mm parts and don't mind them being a loose fit in a 20mm hole and wanted some reason to save these two extra parts.... in case someone comes up with a use....

20mm ish.jpg (58.52 KiB) Viewed 18504 times

I was about to toss these in my recycling bin for metal bits when they felt familiar, like as in 20mm dogs. Tried them in a couple of holes on the MFT like drill press table and sure enough they are pretty close. Close enough that I think I will keep them, well at least for a while just encase.

Ed

[RFGuy]

I am still waiting on my replacement Wixey laser from Shopsmith. Fedex seems to have a mind of their own these days as my packages often tend to languish when they are involved. The Wixey could have come in handy today as I had a bunch of holes to drill with my Mark V. Oh well, on the plus side, I finally got to try out my new Shopsmith keyless chuck. I finally picked one up last year when Shopsmith put it on sale. Yes, I know it is expensive, even on sale, and I know there have been prior posts on the forum for it, but...I have to say I am a fan of this keyless chuck. Yes, it weighs a ton, but it is very well built. Some keyless chucks are well built and some are kind of cheap and don't work as good. On my Milwaukee cordless drill, I tossed the stock keyless chuck and special ordered a ROHM keyless for it that I love to use. Similarly, the Shopsmith keyless chuck works great and requires little effort to tighten or loosen bits. I had a bunch of holes to drill in some steel C channel for a project today and the bit didn't come loose once. Also the keyless makes it fast to switch between bits, which came in handy since I had to drill countersinks to recess the flat head screws into it. I am keeping the old keyed chuck, but will use it on the tailstock arbor for making lathe bore holes...

[Billdit]

I have not heard a word from SS... but yesterday late I received from SS the Wixie part of this deal... it is in good shape...
I followed the instructions and installed it... discovered that it is critical to align the Wixie thingie at 90 degrees to the tubes of the SS or it will not align properly... hard to do until I made spacers to get it 2” from the headstock on each tube... then did “OK”...

Conclusions:
Why didn’t SS put the thing together and repackage it?

Why did SS introduce this POS when they should be spending their time getting their act together?

I am 76, trying to work out of a 12’ x 28’ basement area, and scared I have made wrong decision on the SS machine... if the powerpro goes bad, I guess I’ll just find a new hobby... in the mean time I’ll just use the machine as it is intended... this ain’t what I signed on for...

[jsburger]

I have not heard a word from SS... but yesterday late I received from SS the Wixie part of this deal... it is in good shape...
I followed the instructions and installed it... discovered that it is critical to align the Wixie thingie at 90 degrees to the tubes of the SS or it will not align properly... hard to do until I made spacers to get it 2” from the headstock on each tube... then did “OK”...

Conclusions:
Why didn’t SS put the thing together and repackage it?

Why did SS introduce this POS when they should be spending their time getting their act together?

I am 76, trying to work out of a 12’ x 28’ basement area, and scared I have made wrong decision on the SS machine... if the powerpro goes bad, I guess I’ll just find a new hobby... in the mean time I’ll just use the machine as it is intended... this ain’t what I signed on for...

What would repackaging the Wixey laser have done to make it better?

If you think it is a POS send it back and get a refund. SS will do that.

As far as the Power Pro, I bought mine in Dec 2012 and received it in Jan 2013. I have never had a problem with it. You only hear about the problems not all the owners that have no problems.

[Billdit]

If they had assembled them they would have found the problems...also it would have been sorta professional.

It is working now, just not as well as I expected... I only return stuff I order on line that was misrepresented... this was just poorly presented .

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it

[RFGuy]

Success! I got my replacement Wixey Laser today from Shopsmith. It appears to be undamaged this time. Also got this letter from Shopsmith that I figured I would share with everyone. Unfortunately, I just finished up a bunch of drilling on a project, so I will have to set the laser aside for now until I am ready to drill again...so testing it in action will have to wait. Apparently Wixey has acknowledged they had a problem, so I don't have to return the defective unit.

WixeyLetterShopsmith.jpg (274.47 KiB) Viewed 18285 times

[jsburger]

Success! I got my replacement Wixey Laser today from Shopsmith. It appears to be undamaged this time. Also got this letter from Shopsmith that I figured I would share with everyone. Unfortunately, I just finished up a bunch of drilling on a project, so I will have to set the laser aside for now until I am ready to drill again...so testing it in action will have to wait. Apparently Wixey has acknowledged they had a problem, so I don't have to return the defective unit.

WixeyLetterShopsmith.jpg

Very good indeed!

Hopefully SS purged their stock (if they had any). I think I will wait a few months before I order one.