Power Pro Alternative -- SuperShop

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Tue May 24, 2011 9:56 am

Over the weekend I picked up a Smithy SuperShop with bandsaw in a great deal. While not up to the Power Pro capabilities, it operates at 32 to 7,200 RPM and requires some shifting of the drive belt to accomplish that, but it's quite simple to adjust with a couple of levers. It's quite heavy and has a built-in lift assist spring, which requires special care when releasing the tension to disassemble the machine for moving. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to do that safely before having to do that again as my left hand would be extremely pleased to avoid another round with a wrench rotated by a powerful spring. All in all it could have been worse.

It has a huge spindle/quill assembly that runs smoothly through the various speeds. It uses R8 collets and a draw bar to attach tooling to the spindle, but also has 2 1/8" x 8 threads per inch for mounting chucks and faceplates. It also came with a heavy 6" 3 jaw metal-working chuck and a 10" cast iron faceplate.

The motor doesn't reverse, but that seems to be only a matter of adding a DPDT switch to make it happen.

Interestingly, the bandsaw looks from the outside to be a Taiwanese knockoff of the Shopsmith bandsaw but with an aluminum front cover. At first glance inside it also looks the same, but it lacks the third support bearing mounted near the tensioning mechanism on the Shopsmith saw. The upper wheel on the SuperShop saw tilts like most bandsaws so that the blade tracks in the center of the wheels. Instructions for adjusting the upper wheel are on the last page of the owner's manual, but they appear to be incomplete. Elsewhere in the manual it says no adjustments are necessary. Clearly it was built to fit on something like the Total Shop as there are a set of tubes that are sized and spaced appropriate to fit that machine (or a Shopsmith I'd guess) as well as an adapter that extends the distance between the tubes so it fits the SuperShop. In any event it cuts wood and can be run at a slow enough speed to cut metal with the appropriate blade. The power coupler looks identical to Shopsmith's except it doesn't say Shopsmith.

When I called Smithy about accessories and parts, I learned that apparently there's been little interest in the machine of late and they only have a few accessories available. The only accessory tool they have is a 6" jointer. They no longer have any adapters that would allow you to mount Shopsmith tools on the SuperShop. They're selling the current machine at a substantial discount to what they had been asking, so I'd guess it's on it's last legs (although I wasn't told that).

All-in-all, it seem like a decent machine. The previous owner had a complete workshop for making custom moldings and used the SuperShop as a lathe for making the circular plinths for the columns he made. He had another full-sized lathe with all the attachments, including a Vega duplicator, as well as one of those Legacy Ornamental Mills for making the columns.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Thu May 26, 2011 8:28 pm

Any pics of this wonder machine? I'm having a hard time imaging this. Sounds great.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu May 26, 2011 8:33 pm

As you wish!

http://www.smithy.com/index_inside.php?id=232

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Thu May 26, 2011 8:44 pm

Is this the same machine that Harbor Freight was selling some time back?
Bill V

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Thu May 26, 2011 9:11 pm

I am not sure which version Art got, but I had the opportunity to work with one of the original Fox SuperShop machines. It was a nice machine. Heavier, quieter and smoother running than the Shopsmith. The torsional lift assist compensated for the extra weight. It even had power feed on the carriage. Though I did not try it, you were supposed to be able to do some light duty metal work with the machine.

I cannot speak to the Smithy version nor the Horror Freight version, but the original Fox version was sweet.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Thank you for the link. I do remember a similar machine from about that time. It was both a woodworking and metal working machine. Very impressive, looks more stable and heavier than a Shopsmith. Thanks again for educating me.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Fri May 27, 2011 10:07 pm

Here are a couple of photos of the machine I have, which the previous owner said was about 10 years old. Don't know if there have been any changes since this one was made or if the Harbor Freight model is identical to the Smithy, but they're all based on the Fox machine of some 30 years back.

I've finished aligning everything, but not tried it out yet. Hope to do that over this weekend. The lift assist spring has been tensioned and it's now harder to lower than lift, but it was quite a chore getting it there so I'll leave it as is for the time being.

Smithy doesn't have many accessories for the machine, so I've fashioned a spindle out of 5/8" drill rod with a tapered flat that will fit a 5/8" R8 collet and will allow me to mount Shopsmith accessories of the SuperShop.

In the first photo, you can see the size of the spindle on the SuperShop.

The second photo shows the pulley and belt system. You have to shift the belt in order to cover the entire speed range of the machine. The speeds for the three sets of pulleys are 32-900, 1200-3600, and 4000-7200 RPM. A couple of levers allow you to move the lower pulleys, so it's a simple process to change speed ranges. The motor is variable speed, 1.5 HP, 90 volt DC, 2,800 RPM.

The Third photo shows the 6" metal chuck mounted to the spindle, together with a chuck key, tommy bar, lathe drive center, R8 collet, and Shopsmith spindle/quill assembly.

[ATTACH]13184[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]13185[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]13186[/ATTACH]