MARK V PowerPro®

[backhertz]

I haven't been here in a while. I have like 10 Shopsmiths- mostly 10ERs. But I can wait some more if I can get one thing. Some idea of the price. Anyone, anyone? I might just buy a good table saw, but I need something other than a good news. Got that last year.

Tony

[paulrussell]

I haven't been here in a while. I have like 10 Shopsmiths- mostly 10ERs. But I can wait some more if I can get one thing. Some idea of the price. Anyone, anyone? I might just buy a good table saw, but I need something other than a good news. Got that last year.

Tony

Well, that's the $500, $1,000, or $2000 question. All a matter of opinion but like yourself, we are all anxious to hear the answer.

[backhertz]

I have mine pre-ordered. I learned from Jan the Power Pro will run on either 240 or 120 VAC & senses it as soon as it is plugged in. I opted to do my own conversion as I've rebuilt all my headstocks.

[paulrussell]

I have mine pre-ordered. I learned from Jan the Power Pro will run on either 240 or 120 VAC & senses it as soon as it is plugged in. I opted to do my own conversion as I've rebuilt all my headstocks.

Awesome. I'm gonna do my own as well, in part because of the cost, in part because I like doing that sort of thing, and in part because I want to take this as an opportunity to repaint the headstock.

[still_waters_43]

Does the PowerPro come with two power cords (i.e. including one for 240v)?.

I ask because some of you seem surprised that the machine is dual power capable and seem to be planning on using the 240v?.

[backhertz]

I am doing my own headstock modification. The plug is the only thing I would think would need changing as 220-or depending on if you have a delta or wye step down transformer and all the losses in between. A device draws half as much current as 120- or etc when connected to 220. It's be almost 40 years since I studied or calculated basic electricity principles.

There are many ways to accomplish the circuit, but the safest is to use a socket designed for 220 VAC. The Power Pro as I understand from talking with Jan will sense the voltage and automatically adapt like most electronic appliances made today.

But I do not know the circuit for a fact and will defer to someone else who does. But I suspect this is simply a DC motor & the differences between 120/240 (whatever) are moot.

[dusty]

I'm waiting to see all of the photo images that all of you lucky dogs take and post just to tease those of us who are finding it necessary to wait.

Building codes come into play here so the plug on the power cord is one of the things I am waiting to see.

I am also curious about the pulleys. I think there are four of them; I think three rotate at the same speed and the fourth (the motor) may be different.

[backhertz]

Lucky dog? lol If my wife finds out.... I need this in addition to the hole in my head, but I figure it will help the company. I have no idea if the factory will ever produce the quantities of Shopsmiths in years gone by, but there is a huge market in catering to the needs of users like myself who have many Shopsmiths- of which I paid no more than $300 for. There are so many that people purchased on a whim which was combined with Shopsmith's excellent marketing strategy in the 80's. From my observation, the purchasers were people who kinda grew up with the ads in the old magazines of the 50's who always wanted a Shopsmith. The last initiative from my viewpoint was a flop. I was happy to spend half a day at Lowes where the Shopsmith rep set up by the door. He spent a day there & sold one unit to one guy who went hog wild & demonstrated one lathe operation- to me. I watched the system when he went to lunch & not one person came by the display to even look or ask a question. I think that initiative was DOA. I'm not sure if the guys were allowed to get customer's attention as they strolled into Lowes, but since I just about live in my local Home Depot, I see very few large tools sold except for when there might be a special sale & even then, I have never seen a large tool go out the door other than maybe a Shop Vac. It seems people are more attracted to the wholesale 'clubs' or Internet businesses. I am surprised Shopsmith doesn't have an Ebay presence. I often see choppers (people who buy a Shopsmith & sell the pieces) often selling parts for more than Shopsmith does! I know one person who has been extremely successful in his Ebay business & there are people like him all over the country. Unbelievable, but true. I think Shopsmith could make a fortune if they hired these guys to sell stuff as these guys have some really great marketing & no overhead except some time to buy the Shopsmiths which usually come with all the accessories & take em apart & clean em up. I realize this might effect the customer service staff in transitioning to a different way of doing business, but I think Shopsmith, unfortunately may have missed the boat despite my spending a small fortune on sale items. But I purchased most of my stuff on Ebay & Craig's List. A friend of mine who worked for a small company that really grew- A C Moore said the secret to their success was on volume, not individual item profit along with buying in bulk from China and other Far East countries. Buying items made in America simply can not compete with the low cost and sorry to say, quality of many imported things. Look at Costco. You buy something there at a really low price & it breaks. Costco will gladly refund your money or replace it. I saw one guy bring in a Dewalt 12" mitre saw that looked like it had barely survived a nuclear blast. As I stood in line he said he bought it the week prior & it broke... Costco gave him a new one. How on Earth can a company like Shopsmith compete with that? Whew, I really went off topic. Sorry.

[JPG]

For those contemplating wiring a 230v branch for the power pro, the following is 'dedicated'.

Your house electrical system is Single phase.

You need a two pole breaker for the circuit to the power pro.

If you are only connecting the power pro to this circuit, you need not run the neutral wire, thus 12-2 with ground is adequate. In this case a single receptacle is recommended.

20A two pole breakers are easier to find than 15A two pole.

Do not use wire less than 12 ga on a 20A circuit.

The receptacle may be either a 230v 15A 'tandem' blade or a 230v 20A (not sure the correct description, but one 'blade' vertical, one blade horizontal.

A 'standard' 115v 15A plug/receptacle has 'parallel' blades(vertical).

A standard 230V 15A plug/receptacle has tandem blades(horizontal).

The 115v 20A and 230v 20A plug/receptacle both have one vertical and one horizontal blade, but they are reversed.


IF you want to include the ability to connect 115v appliances to this circuit. you may run a neutral(12-3 with ground) and attach the appropriate 115v receptacles. Realize that any fault on the 115v part will cause the two pole breaker to trip shutting off the 230v as well.

[nuhobby]

[quote="dusty"]I'm waiting to see all of the photo images that all of you lucky dogs take and post just to tease those of us who are finding it necessary to wait.

Building codes come into play here so the plug on the power cord is one of the things I am waiting to see.

I am also curious about the pulleys. I think there are four of them]

Well, I look forward to finding out! But I think the YouTube videos give enough clues if you watch them over and over. The motor-pulley is the biggest one, so the motor turns relatively slow compared to either output shaft. The idler-shaft has 2 pulleys; that is, 2 places for Poly-V belts. These are the smallest diameters so the idler/jointer-shaft does turn fastest, as before. It looks like the Drive Sleeve poly-V pulley is basically unchanged.