reible wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 6:51 pm
The first thing you will need to do is find out just what is coming in this purchase. It should have both the lower and the upper blade guards, it should have extension tables and tubes and other things like the drill press chuck, sanding disk, blade with arbor and well the list goes on. If any of these items are missing they can be replaced but add to the cost to purchase.
Ed
Fair enough! I definitely want to get a list of everything included for the price. He just kind of said, "Hey, by the way, I'll sell you my Shopsmith for cheap if you want it" as we were walking past it in his garage. I didn't really get a chance to look at it for very long cause we were trying to do something else and just walked through the garage to do it
Most of what intrigues me about the Shopsmith are all the accessories. The jointer would probably be too small for me, but the bandsaw, belt sander and planer are all things I planned to buy soonish, regardless, and I imagine the attachments for the SS are higher quality than the cheaper individual tools I was looking at buying. I'm by no means a professional, so I don't really see myself NEEDING dedicated stations for all these tools - obviously, it'd be nice, but the amount of time I have to dedicate to woodworking probably wouldn't have me changing out pieces multiple times in a day.
RFGuy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 7:09 pm
Opinions vary on this, but let me try to give you some things to consider to help you make your decision. In many ways, a Shopsmith 510 tablesaw is better than the DeWalt DWE7485. However, keep in mind that bevel cuts on the 510 are a PIA because the table tilts, NOT the saw arbor. In my opinion, the DeWalt DWE7485 is superior to the 510 in this regard. IF it is a 510 and there is no lower blade guard then that is missing and would need to be replaced. I would NEVER use any Shopsmith in tablesaw mode without a lower saw guard. The on-off switch is just too close to the blade that reaching under the table risks coming into contact with the blade. There should be a lower saw guard with a 510. Honestly, you would probably enjoy the drill press function on the 510 way more than you will enjoy using that WEN table top drill press. The 510 drill press is much better. You mention having a deep 1 car garage. I have a standard size 1 car garage and it is still tight in it even using my Shopsmith 520. IF you have lots of space, then I recommend individual tools because you can get as much quality/features as you can afford for each, not to mention not having to break down a station to do another function (as a Shopsmith requires). However, if you are tight on space, like I am, then a Shopsmith system is a great option. Speaking of small spaces, there are some good ideas in the video below.
Interesting. To be totally honest, I have no idea if his has the blade guard or not, I just watched a bunch of videos of people using these and almost all of them had the saw exposed on the bottom of the table. If there's a guard that's supposed to come with it, that makes me a lot less uneasy. I'll definitely have to verify that with him! I'm not super concerned with the miter function of the TS, I've only used it once on my DeWalt and that was because I didn't have my sliding miter saw. I don't really work with large enough pieces to need the TS for a miter, I think my miter saw can cut a 14" board, which is plenty for me.
My 1-car garage has two large popouts on each side of the window, which gives me a ton of extra storage space. I have the whole back wall lined with work benches and then the rest of the space (enough to still park a truck inside it) completely open, so I have a decent amount of space to work with. Definitely not a professional size shop, but enough to have multiple stations. I was planning to build a ~7x4' table with slots for my table saw and miter saw, which would still give me plenty of walking space around it. I'm mostly just concerned that I'd have to spend a lot more money to get the same quality tools as individuals compared to the Shopsmith. The attachments seem to be a lot less money than buying standalone tools, but they're also generally smaller as well.
I've also not heard a ton of people really rave about that feature and I'm not sure that I'd get a ton of use out of the boring system or lathe (though, both would be cool to have). There's a bandsaw attachment for sale locally for super cheap I'd likely pick up as well.
RF Guy
