Shopsmith tools, the great and the not-so-great

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Thu May 06, 2010 9:56 pm

charlese wrote: Having done a bit of routing using the SS, I've found it is do-able! Shopsmith sells router bit chucks (holders) for 1/4" and 1/2" shanked bits. They are safer than using a drill chuck. http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/rm_routerchuckshield.htm
Using this chuck and a spiral bit is an excellent way to make mortises or shallow grooves.

Agreed, with both. The router function's not the best, but it wasn't meant to be, and the cost of the chuck and shield is somewhat less than the cost of a router and router table. (You have to buy the bits anyhoo.)
But as a simple OPR duplicator and occasional edge trimmer and mortiser, it comes in very handy for small $$.
The use of the fence/table combo, and the overhead mode, are great.

ryanbp01 · Post by **ryanbp01** » Fri May 07, 2010 9:08 am

I don't worry about it, I have the OPR. So far I haven't had an issue with anything offered by Shopsmith.
BPR

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Fri May 07, 2010 12:51 pm

foxtrapper wrote:It's not so much that there is a dud or two, as much as there simply are limits with an all in one machine. Routing is a fine example. The bit is going to spin slowly in a Shopsmith, making it perform poorly compared to a router in a table. It's not a dud, it works, but it's darn limited. So much so that I'd much rather get out my cheap router and cheap table and use that instead.

Well put, and rounds out a point that Dusty made well also, that (paraphrasing) perhaps ShopSmith the 5X Multi-Tool should have stayed just that. Most criticisms seem to reach the "if I had a choice" level and thus depart the baseline mission. In addition to space limitations I have another serious problem that makes SS accessories more attractive.
I'm a slob.

It occurred to me as I was feeling a grumble coming on near the end of an install of my newly acquired lathe Universal Tool Rest that No, it was really Not a cumbersome and overly time consuming changeover / setup considering the alternative. If I had a stand-alone Lathe, instead of the 4 or 5 minutes it took to switch SS modes, I pictured the agony of unstacking piles of cut-offs, tools, coffee mugs, waxing rags, (oh! That's what happened to that bowl of oatmeal last week!), drawings, miscellaneous hardware and discarded packaging, etc. from the machine, then moving whatever stuff away from it to drag it out from the corner, locating its accessories, hooking up power and the DC system, cleaning, waxing, rust-proofing (I have approximately 13.6 seconds to Boeshield any surface just uncovered before the red rot sets in), et cetera.
Goes for the router table too, and to a much lesser extent to the Band Saw and Joiner.
So sometimes using that admittedly less than ideal SS add-on is the differrence between getting it done, or not.

To the question: the Conical Disc is great. Drum sanders. Master Tenoning Jig. Maybe the best: synchronized compound angle operations using saw, disc sander and boring modes together. (I kind of think of the ability to use three different major tools with one setting, say, as an "accessory".)

Just my $0.0123, adjusted for inflation.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri May 07, 2010 2:32 pm

Keakap: I can relate to ALL of the above!:D

Well maybe except the 13.6 second part!

paulrussell · Post by **paulrussell** » Fri May 07, 2010 8:36 pm

Excellent post. Thank you.

keakap wrote:Well put, and rounds out a point that Dusty made well also, that (paraphrasing) perhaps ShopSmith the 5X Multi-Tool should have stayed just that. Most criticisms seem to reach the "if I had a choice" level and thus depart the baseline mission. In addition to space limitations I have another serious problem that makes SS accessories more attractive.
I'm a slob.

It occurred to me as I was feeling a grumble coming on near the end of an install of my newly acquired lathe Universal Tool Rest that No, it was really Not a cumbersome and overly time consuming changeover / setup considering the alternative. If I had a stand-alone Lathe, instead of the 4 or 5 minutes it took to switch SS modes, I pictured the agony of unstacking piles of cut-offs, tools, coffee mugs, waxing rags, (oh! That's what happened to that bowl of oatmeal last week!), drawings, miscellaneous hardware and discarded packaging, etc. from the machine, then moving whatever stuff away from it to drag it out from the corner, locating its accessories, hooking up power and the DC system, cleaning, waxing, rust-proofing (I have approximately 13.6 seconds to Boeshield any surface just uncovered before the red rot sets in), et cetera.
Goes for the router table too, and to a much lesser extent to the Band Saw and Joiner.
So sometimes using that admittedly less than ideal SS add-on is the differrence between getting it done, or not.

To the question: the Conical Disc is great. Drum sanders. Master Tenoning Jig. Maybe the best: synchronized compound angle operations using saw, disc sander and boring modes together. (I kind of think of the ability to use three different major tools with one setting, say, as an "accessory".)

Just my $0.0123, adjusted for inflation.

bdeweese · Post by **bdeweese** » Mon May 17, 2010 11:47 pm

I guess for right now we can only imagine what more power and speed will do for the many many SS accessories available ... i.e. ProPower Headstock. Of course that will come at an added cost which could also detract from the overall sweet spot pricing point of SS. I for one am hoping that they can somehow bring it in at a point that still keeps the SS as an affordable option for many garage woodworkers like myself. Time will tell ...

While the headstock improvement won't likely counter any flexing issues of the table when it comes to mortising, I would think it would help with many fo the issues when it comes to routing, shaping and molding. Seems like the biggest knock on those accessories is lack of rpms. Maybe the PowerPro will address that.

Bob

dewey2me1mothyme · Post by **dewey2me1mothyme** » Tue May 18, 2010 3:02 am

The good news is, with this new model coming on the market, there are those who will be in a hurry to be the first kid on the block to own one, end result = lots of 500 series going cheap on E-bay!

jdramsey · Post by **jdramsey** » Wed May 19, 2010 2:35 pm

Speaking of duds, I have one for you. I bought one of the SS maxiclamp systems a couple of years ago on Ebay. I did not see it in the catalog and it looked like it might be handy. It turned out that SS stopped making them some time ago. Basically, it's a series of threaded shanks, a variety of nuts, and "feet" for the corners or to push or pull a project. It's difficult to hold your project and the clamps. Even the longest shanks are too short for most of my projects. Many times I had to have my wife or one of the kids come out of the house to hold or twist something for me. Very interesting concept. Obviously intended to give the hobbist a variety of clamping options, but it was too unwieldly to be practical. Probably why SS discontinued it. It was simplier to go out and get some cheap clamps.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Wed May 19, 2010 3:20 pm

jdramsey wrote: It was simplier to go out and get some cheap clamps.

Back when SS first made those there were very few decent cheap clamps. Now they are everywhere.
I have been accumulating pipe clamp sets where you supply the pipe. I chopped the gas service to my large house and when I tear the lines out of the house and farm shop I am going to have a "LOT" of like new black pipe in both 1/2" and 3/4". It should make lot of clamps of all different lengths.
.
I think part of the secret to using the Maxi-clamp to an advantage is having it laid out much like in the original cardboard box but in a special spot on the wall or in a drawer with NOTHING piled in on top of it.