Interviews with the new Shopsmith USA CEO Andrew Deutsch

[chapmanruss]

For those who may not have seen them yet the links below are to interviews of the new Shopsmith USA CEO Andrew Deutsch.

Interview with Scott Markwood at My Growth Rings. For some reason the link is joining the interview mid-way through for me. If the same happens for you scroll it back to the beginning.

https://youtu.be/dewh_HWK4Ek?si=k1LnIA0W0mqdB1_h

Interview with Matt Outlaw from the @731Woodworks YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/live/GL6STpmMzd ... _dmNqUOB9e

They are long but I feel worth a look.

[GetterDone]

I watched both of them all the way through.

I sure have missed this forum.

I tuned in everyday for a month or so out of habit and hope.

Glad to what Andrew can do for the future of Shopsmith.

[RFGuy]

Thanks Russ and thanks Scott for that interview. I am glad this forum is back. I don't think the new owner of Shopsmith truly appreciates how valuable a resource this forum is/has been. First it is a data/knowledge repository with many invaluable older posts regarding Shopsmith equipment, how-to's, do's and don'ts and so much more. Of course, it is a social media type gathering place, which is more or less what Andrew alluded to in the interview. I just want him to understand that many of us, or at least I do, go back and search for specific Shopsmith related questions on this forum. When I want to know about a specific topic I search it and can often find the one best answer to a problem, but also sometimes many detailed and nuanced varied opinions as well. I find all of them very useful and I appreciate everyone's contributions over the years. Of course, any forum member can ask a new question here too, but I think the wealth of past information gets too often ignored/overlooked about this forum. Another minor point is that some of us on this forum loathe modern social media, e.g. Facebook, TikTok, etc., etc. For those who prefer the forum, it is this forum or nothing for connecting with Shopsmith. IMHO, Shopsmith should connect with as many of their owners as possible, so why exclude a portion of their client base - who might be interested in making future purchases??? Enough about that and hurray that this forum is back online. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Regarding the interview, I want to say that I liked almost everything that Andrew had to say. For me, he clearly seems to have a firm grasp on what Shopsmith's target market is and has a plan for how to go after it. Given his background, this shouldn't really be any surprise, but it was nice to hear him explain his views on all of these areas. I know they have some work to do to repair things, from vendor relationships to customers who had pending orders and etc., but I wish them success in all of their efforts. We all want a successful Shopsmith and with Andrew and Alex taking over, I have higher confidence than I had before with the previous acquisition. Also, I really like the idea of them having more content available for novice woodworkers through that touchscreen display as discussed. Not something I need or want, but they have that display on the PowerPro so why not use it? Guided operations could be a real niche for a woodworking machine, at least in this price category, i.e. it could really entice that newbie woodworker to buy Shopsmith. I do wish they would retool that headstock to make a PowerPro 3 with a bigger and more useable LCD display, which would better reinforce this. The idea of copying Woodpeckers OneTime Tool deals is a good one for certain Shopsmith accessories and makes sense to me. Lastly, he seems to get that the existing model is overpriced relative to the target demographic. Providing the lower entry point machine that can be upgraded, as he discusse,d is the way to go and we have discussed that ad infinitum on this forum before. Well, in summary, from that interview I became very optimistic about the future of Shopsmith again and that is no small feat so I will just once again reiterate that I wish them much success with this new business called Shopsmith USA LLC. Long live Shopsmith...

P.S. Haven't made it to Matt's interview of Andrew yet. IF anyone has, were there any additional insights from that interview that didn't come up in Scott's interview?

[RFGuy]

I did get around to watching the Matt interview of Andrew which gave a few more interesting tidbits. He was asked about pricing and while he did say none of this is firm just yet as they restart the company, he did give guidance of where he wants to see it. He mentioned that the Mark 7, which includes the PowerPro Gen 2 had topped out at around $6k under the former Shopsmith company. He seemed to indicate that would be a good starting point for it going forward, but wanted to bring costs down for it in the future. However, he did specifically state that a "mechanical headstock" version would be sold as an entry point at around $3k. I don't know about everyone else, but I think that is great news IMHO. Presumably this entry model would be a bare bones setup, so one would need to purchase additional accessories depending on the task, but I think that is reasonable. Another interesting discussion was with regard to a new federal government program to get shop, and other vocations, going again in schools. So, he is looking at engaging with this to hopefully sell Shopsmith into school programs. Supposedly there is a new grant program from the government to help fund schools setting up shop classes. I don't know how new this is or true this is, so if anyone knows anything I am curious about it. I loved that he talked about bringing back the planer, possibly with helical head. Also considering adding the capability to make the planer into a thickness sander. He mentioned that they are working on getting Shopsmith back into a retail location, i.e. Shopsmith products in actual brick and mortar stores. I wonder if this might be placement at Woodcraft stores or even Lowes? IF they can make something like that happen, I really think it could help them with sales. So, a few more details in the Matt interview which helps to give a more complete picture of where they hope to take the new Shopsmith company.

[cooch366]

Also considering adding the capability to make the planer into a thickness sander.

Maybe a prototype for Shopsmith USA to consider down the road. A thickness sander & sand flea in one.