Mental meanderings on Shopsmith past, present and future

[wlhayesmfs]

This all sound really good and I agree. Even though I have some of these items I really don't feel they need to continue to make, Just because they came with a deal, I will never use them. Like the biscit jointer. Since I just picked up this 520 with the jointech saw train. I am really seeing what I was missing using the 510 and regular fence I can also see why you guys said to up grade to the 520. If they would advertise the 520, fence system and also look at the upgrading to other fences I can really see this machine be popular with woodworkers wanting percusion work. People are also not going on line to shop all the time. I like to have paper in my hand to study and look at.
I really hope they start advertising and getting cataloge out available to the public.
I bought my first SS a 510 at a Mall after watching a show seeing all it could do. I had see advertisements but seeing it work was the selling point.

[dusty]

This all sound really good and I agree. Even though I have some of these items I really don't feel they need to continue to make, Just because they came with a deal, I will never use them. Like the biscit jointer. Since I just picked up this 520 with the jointech saw train. I am really seeing what I was missing using the 510 and regular fence I can also see why you guys said to up grade to the 520. If they would advertise the 520, fence system and also look at the upgrading to other fences I can really see this machine be popular with woodworkers wanting percusion work. People are also not going on line to shop all the time. I like to have paper in my hand to study and look at.
I really hope they start advertising and getting cataloge out available to the public.
I bought my first SS a 510 at a Mall after watching a show seeing all it could do. I had see advertisements but seeing it work was the selling point.

You make a real good point with your comment about the Pro Fence Upgrade; Shopsmith would do well to high light this fence along with the enlarged table system that was introduced earlier. These two features eliminate nearly all of the complaints (tilting table excluded) I hear about the earlier (500) models.

[Ed in Tampa]

As for the fence I really liked the 510 fence better. Before you jump up and down on this read what all of what I'm saying. I loved the 520 fence rails and concept of the how the 520 system works. What I don't like about the 520 fence is the fact that it is hard to keep the fence parallel to the blade until it is almost totally locked down.
On the 510 fence mine remained nearly perfectly parallel during the whole adjustment process.

I still have one main table (which I use for my router table) that has the old 510 tubes and fence and I love it for adjustment.

However the newer 520 fence rail system is far far superior to the 510 system which I hated the minute I added an aux table or a floater.

I'm not effected by color so my grey SS is just fine.

My concern on is still price. Since none of the SPT have motors their price should reflect that. However the SS bandsaw is half again the price of most 10" bandsaws presently on the market. The jointer is nearly that same price of every 6+" jointers presently on the market. Even the biscuit jointer is nearly the cost of the others on the market.

I think Shopsmith should have made all their SPT prices be competitive with what is presently on market minus the cost of the motor and drive train.

In other words their bandsaw should be priced the same as a delta 10" bandsaw minus the cost of the motor/stand.
Likewise the biscuit jointer should be cost of the Porter Cable or Dewalt unit minus the cost of the motor. I think you all get the picture.

Then Shopsmith could market their tool as competitive way to get into woodworking that saves space and not having to keep buying motors you already have. Sort of like the multi base router concept.

[riot_nrrd]

Then Shopsmith could market their tool as competitive way to get into woodworking that saves space and not having to keep buying motors you already have. Sort of like the multi base router concept.

Hear, hear!

[woodburner]

A larger bandsaw and larger jointer? Na, keep them as they are. I'm having enough trouble lifting the ones I have on and off my Shopsmith as I get older, and my back hurts a bit more (after having three back surgeries, I wonder why). To me, making them larger equals "heavier". And isn't one of Shopsmith's goals "ease of use?"

Can you imagine trying to put a 14" bandsaw on your SS? Just trying to line up the mounting tubes so it will slip into the mounting hole brackets would be a heck of a balancing act. And a 6" jointer with a longer cast iron table? I sure wouldn't want to lift a +100 lb. jointer onto my Shopsmith.

And keep the paint gray. Red? Black? Red and black? I will have to repaint my whole shop just so the colors match.

[JPG]

FWIW, there are other saw blades with 1 1/4" arbor holes. They are not 'proprietary' to ss. Granted those blades a considerably larger than 10". You won't find them in typical retail stores either.

[8iowa]

Shopsmith does have a marketing "vacuum". I'm still getting use out of my 2006 catalog. They are in danger of loosing their mailing list, which made the company strong through the 80's and 90's. I hope that they can get back to their Father's Day and Holiday sales promoting flyers.

This is a tough economic climate, and at least they are still in existance, many other companies aren't. They have probably slipped back to a service type existance, with major products being built on special order. Some of their products, like the jointer and bandsaw, are older dsesigns that should be upgraded, but at this time they cannot afford the engineering and tooling expense.

I like the idea of informal Shopsmith "get togethers" on a regional basis, similar to the one held in Fort Wayne Indiana last year. We can also help somewhat by participating in other forums, and not being afraid to mention our Shopsmith products when appropriate. My "Workshop in the Woods" blog, a virtual tour of a Shopsmith shop, on the Lumberjocks forum is now approaching 1900 "reads". http://lumberjocks.com/8iowa/blog/6298

[Gene Howe]

Lots of ideas here.
My opinion, FWIW, is to leave the decisions to ShopSmith.
We can all bitch, gripe and complain and offer our advice and well meaning suggestions but, in the end, it'll be SS's decisions that will dictate their future.
I simply wish them the very best.

[riot_nrrd]

A larger bandsaw and larger jointer? Na, keep them as they are.

I'm challenged by the SS tools as far as my desire to resaw and surface lumber. The SS bandsaw doesn't have enough capacity to resaw a decent sized board (maybe they should redesign the bandsaw to have a riser block?). The jointer is good for surfacing smaller pieces and that's about it. I'm working on a table, and I'm going to have to make an adjustable MDF sled for the planer if I'm going to glue it up from anything larger than 4" boards. Of course, I guess I'll have to worry about that anyway once I get bigger than 12"... hello, hand plane!

[paulrussell]

I've really been learning a lot here about Shopsmith - both about the machine and about the company. Thanks to folks like Dusty, 8iowa, BillMayo, and (insert your name here), I've gotten a feel and a sense of all things Shopsmith, and a knowledge that I have much more to learn.

I've thought much about some of Shopsmith's problems which include:
1) Trying to sell a premium priced machine in a market flooded with fully functional low-cost used machines.
2) Getting Shopsmith back into the mainstream market with very limited or non-existent advertising budget.
3) Overpriced (in my opinion) accessories and add-ons (and the Mark V itself?)

I'll address these one-by-one. Please know that I do not consider myself an expert on any of these topics - but maybe among all my ramblings there might be a single good idea:

1) Competing with used machines
I think this negative could be turned into a HUGE positive. Shopsmith should offer a "Shopsmith Certified Used Mark V." This machine would carry a warrantee (perhaps 1/2 the standard warrantee) and include everything that comes with a new Shopsmith.

To keep their supply of used parts flowing, Shopsmith would have a program where a customer could barter used parts or full machines toward the purchase of Shopsmith.

They could also create a network of "Authorized Used Shopsmith Sellers" -- qualified people who restore Shopsmiths to full functionality.

Now that the PowerPro is in the pipeline, there will (hopefully) be a lot of great-condition motors and drive assemblies that could be rebuilt into "Factory Certified" used machines.

This would create three markets: a) "take your chance" used market, b) "Shopsmith guaranteed" used market, and c) a new Shopsmith. If a factory restored Shopsmith had been an option when I was shopping, I believe I would have jumped at it.

2) Advertising.
This is the toughest. Bill Mayo has explained why the idea of private Shopsmith demos won't work, but I still think that the army of satisfied users would be the best tool. The question is how to utilize this wonderful resource.

I would first suggest a referral program giving Shopsmith parts/accessory credits for each referred customer who purchases a Shopsmith.

I would have a You-Tube video competition -- Show us what you can do with your Shopsmith. Prizes to be Shopsmith parts/or accessories. Get the smiling faces of satisfied users out there to the buying public.

The last one is something we can all do. Do an internet search on Shopsmith. Locate the forums where people have unfairly criticized the Shopsmith and post your honest opinions. (When I Googled "Shopsmith" I found an overwhelm ing number of negative comments about the table saw. They centered on being under-powered, and completely missed the quality and accuracy which are the hallmarks of the Shopsmith. )

3) Overpriced.
There has been much worthy praise about Shopsmith being made in America. I am in no way discounting the value of investing our dollars buying American.

HOWEVER... An American company that goes out of business by trying to stay 100% "Made in America" in effect helps the foreign market by reducing the competition.

In other words if it takes parts made in China, Korea, India, or Japan to keep the price of a Shopsmith reasonable, the company solvent, and Americans employed, then I am all for it. (Feel free to take aim and shoot, but I stand by this opinion.)

Of course if things begin to turn around and new Shopsmiths are being sold more often, prices will have a natural ability to be reduced due to quantity purchasing etc.

Paul

PS: These opinions, along with a buck, will buy you a coffee.

edit: PSS: I'm not bitching or complaining -- I wouldn't be here if I wasn't a happy camper. Maybe (probably) most of my ideas have been thought of before, tossed around, and then tossed out for one reason or another. But other than perhaps wasting the reader's time, putting my ideas out there doesn't really have a down side, and I needed to let the coffee get to work anyway...