Shopsmith Forums

ashbury wrote:Dusty, my opinion from using and observations of new products and models entering the market is that until a product gets well into the hands of consumers, problems arise. A new product can be tested in the factory and in the field until the fat lady sings but when they reach the masses, problems start to pop up. Look at what is constantly happening in automobile recalls. I promise, it won't be long before the second so called generation of the PP will be in the works and all of todays little problems will be resolved. I'm glad I don't have your delima heehee. Remember too though that you only have one life to live on this old earth so you might as well enjoy what you love while you can.

You make a good point to someone in his seventies. My problem is that I enjoy so many different activities and can ill afford all of them. The primary competition for money is my RV. It was operational (almost new) when I parked it in the driveway, way back when, when I entered the hospital for knee surgery. During that time of inactivity, the pack rats moved in and really did a job on the unit. I have eradicated the pack rats. Now I need to recover the RV. Right now it is my environmentally controlled dog house.

dusty wrote:You make a good point to someone in his seventies. My problem is that I enjoy so many different activities and can ill afford all of them. The primary competition for money is my RV. It was operational (almost new) when I parked it in the driveway, way back when, when I entered the hospital for knee surgery. During that time of inactivity, the pack rats moved in and really did a job on the unit. I have eradicated the pack rats. Now I need to recover the RV. Right now it is my environmentally controlled dog house.

Forget selling anything.

Order a Mark 7.


You will then have plenty of time in the RV to repair it!:D

P.S. It does have a kitchen and 'facilities'?

Seriously I think you should consider the upgrade route. Like Ed said, selling both current machines will still leave you 2k short. So 2k out of pocket would then leave you with a single new M7.

Upgrading one of the current stable will slide in under 2k(DIY option) and leave you with a spare power train set of parts for the second.

BTW the difference between asking forgiveness vs permission is what you end up with.


Yes there are two ways to look at that. No permission and no goodies. Forgiveness and less goodies.

Personally forgive and forget is non-functional in my 'domain'. LOML has a memory resembling an elephant! And all those attached strings that pop up later!

You guys are talking about selling two machines (siding with my wife) to get the money required to buy a new machine. If I did that, I would be down two machines, need to spend $2000 to make up the difference and have a Mark 7.

It sounds good but why not just upgrade a headstock to PowerPro with the $2K and keep my original machine.

OOhhh, I forgot. The rebuilt machines has a lot of new parts. Maybe I should tear down both machines, rebuild my old machine with all of the new parts I have (and slightly used new parts in the rebuild), rebuild the other machine with what is left and then spend $2K on the Mark 7 upgrade.

No. That's no good. If I have the choice of putting the PowerPro in one of the two headstocks, it'll go into the later model headstock.

Nah. If I do this at all, I'll buy a new headstock. No DIY for me. With the warranty situation the way it is, if any work is required on the headstock, I would have to send it to Shopsmith anyhow. This means that I don't need to know how to repair a PowerPro. Let Shopsmith do it. Boy, that does not sound good to me. At least half of my satisfaction comes from tinkering.

Man what a dilemma.

dusty wrote:You guys are talking about selling two machines (siding with my wife) to get the money required to buy a new machine. If I did that, I would be down two machines, need to spend $2000 to make up the difference and have a Mark 7.

It sounds good but why not just upgrade a headstock to PowerPro with the $2K and keep my original machine.

OOhhh, I forgot. The rebuilt machines has a lot of new parts. Maybe I should tear down both machines, rebuild my old machine with all of the new parts I have (and slightly used new parts in the rebuild), rebuild the other machine with what is left and then spend $2K on the Mark 7 upgrade.

No. That's no good. If I have the choice of putting the PowerPro in one of the two headstocks, it'll go into the later model headstock.

Nah. If I do this at all, I'll buy a new headstock. No DIY for me. With the warranty situation the way it is, if any work is required on the headstock, I would have to send it to Shopsmith anyhow. This means that I don't need to know how to repair a PowerPro. Let Shopsmith do it. Boy, that does not sound good to me. At least half of my satisfaction comes from tinkering.

Man what a dilemma.

I would not (and did not) buy a new machine. The only difference between the Mark 7 and my newer machine are the headstock and the bench ends. I splurged and went for the double tilt, new casters and the power pro diy upgrade. I just could not bring myself to get the lift assist, yet.

As others have noted, I can sell off the motor, quill drive sleeve and speed control. Also, I have the speed increaser and speed reducer (possibly) to sell to defray the costs. There are a number of Shopsmith accessories that do not seem to get used that could also be sold off.

SDSSmith wrote:I would not (and did not) buy a new machine. The only difference between the Mark 7 and my newer machine are the headstock and the bench ends. I splurged and went for the double tilt, new casters and the power pro diy upgrade. I just could not bring myself to get the lift assist, yet.

As others have noted, I can sell off the motor, quill drive sleeve and speed control. Also, I have the speed increaser and speed reducer (possibly) to sell to defray the costs. There are a number of Shopsmith accessories that do not seem to get used that could also be sold off.

That would be 'new ground' for you!:D

I'm waiting for a PowerPro to show up on Craigslist posted by a little old lady who is getting rid of her husbands stuff and has no idea what anything is worth. Just make me an offer, she says

dusty wrote:You make a good point to someone in his seventies. My problem is that I enjoy so many different activities and can ill afford all of them.

Yeah, I've got that T-shirt...

Just this morning I was looking at some low cost reloading equipment. And my old 4 cylinder Honda should have both tires and definitely needs a battery. That doesn't count plates and Insurance.
All 4 horsies are due for a visit from the hoof fairy.
I wouldn't even want to write down what it would cost to finish restoring the rest of my old tractors... Suffice it to say that it would buy a new 3/4 ton 4x4 extended cab pickup (wish list) with a good bit of change.
Dang! doing almost nothing gets expensive...


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SDSSmith wrote:I would not (and did not) buy a new machine. The only difference between the Mark 7 and my newer machine are the headstock and the bench ends. I splurged and went for the double tilt, new casters and the power pro diy upgrade. I just could not bring myself to get the lift assist, yet.

As others have noted, I can sell off the motor, quill drive sleeve and speed control. Also, I have the speed increaser and speed reducer (possibly) to sell to defray the costs. There are a number of Shopsmith accessories that do not seem to get used that could also be sold off.

Interesting choice on what to upgrade, I could not lift my PowerPro to drill press mode with the Lift-Assist but I did not get the double tilt because I don't see myself using the shaper.

If you actually sell all the extra stuff your DIY PowerPro upgrade should run a few $100, unless you have a reason to run the PowerPro at 35 RPM the speed reducer is not of much use.

I too feel for you.

I have my original purchased new 1976 that has sentimental attachments. It has been upgraded except for the newest things like casters, powerpro, etc. It is still my main go to machine.

If I were to do the powerpro upgrade I don't think that I would upgrade that machine mostly cause it still works so well. Yes it has had a few replacement parts, frankly a lot less then one might guess after so many years.

In fact I purchased my second shopsmith thinking have a backup or spare would be a good idea. It turned out that that was this has been unnecessary but having a second one gave me so many more workability options that I would not want to be without it.

The second machine is in worse shape headstock wise then my first one. It was a basket case when I got it and now I have a fraying belt that needs to be replace, a few other internal parts are near end of life so this headstock would make since to be the one to be upgraded.

The other two machines are in at least as good of shape as my original I'm happy to say.

For me I would not want to get rid of any of my machine but if upgrading were to be in my price range I get the do-it-yourself one and save all/most the parts coming out of the old one as spares. If possible perhaps rebuilding the motor etc in time.

This second machine would them become my main machine.

If this sounds like like I've been thinking about this it is because I have. Baring any jink caused by posting this I may be going this route soon myself. Perhaps as soon as the middle of next month. I will not be able to go full boat on the upgrades but we will see.

I'd also like to see how the new double tilt ends work with the alignment issues. I could even see this being done at sometime later to a second machine if it solves various issues.

Now a real shocker, I might even want to add the red wheels! Most of the time I need wheel my machine out to the driveway to provide enough space to work. I do that now with the small wheels but I could see that making my life easier perhaps.

And yes I have the approval needed, if you know what I mean.

Still a dream so all of this might change in a few weeks.

Ed