algale wrote:Ed in Tampa wrote:They looked at commercial production machines.
And PRODUCTION is the operative word here. They looked at machines that were built to handle thousands of board feet a month.
Interestingly I know many commercial Production shops that use lesser machines process hundreds if not thousand of board feet a month and do it day in and day out.
I had a feeling you would respond to this, Ed. I suspect you are right but I'm curious how you know that they looked at production machines.
Nothing negative here just fact.
They had to be production machines. The price tells you that.
I think many people miss the point when someone says production machines.
Production machines are manufactured for one purpose PRODUCTION. They usually have motors rated for continuous service, more metal to dissipate heat, thicker castings to resist bending when product is power feed.
Production machines are often confused with accurate. Not always the case.
In the wood working community people have confused production machines to mean better, highter quality, more accurate etc. etc. etc.
Many home shops have production machines in them which is total over kill.
Why would any hobbiest need a 5 hp saw that was meant to be used to cut hundreds of board feet of lumber a day feed with a power feeder? So the sound pitch doesn't change when you feed in a piece of 3 quarter 1x8 pine?
The Shopsmith was built for two reasons. Space savings and elimination of multiple motors and frames to accomplish common hobbiest tasks.
It was not built as a production machine, that is not to say it is any less accurate, or less capable. It simply means it was never intended to used ina production shop where it would 8 to 16 hours a day doing nothing but sawing hundreds of board feet of wood.
A common idea in this country is bigger is better. The more horsepower, the bigger the table, the more capacity, the more rooms, more bathrooms, more chrome you name it bigger is better. However if nature used that concept bees would have 3 feet wing spans.
In my opinion the SS fills the bill of what it was designed for perfectly.
Does this mean the SS is the answer to everyone's question? No!
The SS has done everything I have asked of it. Is it perfect. NO!
If I was going to commit funds to build a stand alone work shop I would also commit the funds to buy stand alone machines. However I never made the commitment to a standalone shop so the SS is perfect for me.
It also allows me to do things I would never do otherwise. I have no inclination to turn yet when the urge hits me I can turn on my SS to see if a new interest may be birthed.
In a standalone shop I would probably never have a horizontal borer. I rarely ever need one. Yet now if the need arises I have one.
So just it is not a production machine does not mean it isn't accurate, very usable, excellent design or well executed. It simply means it was not designed for production work.
Nothing negative here
