Bandsaw Table email special

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:45 am

Hi Gang;
Sometimes in the manufacturing/retail process strange things occur. I am thinking that SS gets a few orders for the bandsaw table and they don't have any in stock so they put them on backorder. The problem may arise from the fact that these items on back order need to be manufactured in order to complete the orders and the subcontractors require a larger order to tool up. So in order to meet the order requirements SS puts the items "on sale" in order get enough of a demand for a production run.
In the current business climate in this country, companies have to keep inventory low in order to avoid inventory taxes and such. I was searching the "Net" some time ago for pen making supplies and more than one site were resellers for Rockler or Penn State Ind. One even advised that they would ship from Amazon.
Just some thoughts.
Bill

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:13 am

Well after 2 months I finally received my bandsaw table retrofit kit today almost exactly 2 months to the day that I ordered it. I am happy I finally got it but sheesh 2 months to send me an item I ordered in the beginning of July??? They really need to rethink the way they do the email specials. Plus the fact that they charged my card several times along the way getting me excited and then credited the accoount back again. Really makes you wonder if they really know what they are doing at Shopsmith. I am sorry guy's but I don't agree with this policy of putting things on special that you don't have any of and then having them made to fill the orders. Not a big deal if you can get them made in a week or two and out the door to the customer within 3 weeks but 2 months is just not acceptable to me. Damn good thing I didn't expect this for something special I wanted to do. Live and learn and if I ever order another email special again (highly unlikely) I guess I will know that I won't get it for several months.

The kit looks to be pretty nice. The bandsaw blade insert is machines aluminum and held in place with a couple of tiny allen screws and it came with very detailed instructions for everything related to the bandsaws operation i.e. circle cutter, table extension, etc. so I am going to install it tomorrow and see how my Kreg Bandsaw fence fits on this new table. I had to do some serious modifications to the cast iron table to get the Kreg fence to work on that table i am hoping this table will work better with the fence.
I will take a few pics of the table for your perusal.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:22 am

wannabewoodworker wrote: . . .
The kit looks to be pretty nice. The bandsaw blade insert is machines aluminum and held in place with a couple of tiny allen screws and it came with very detailed instructions for everything related to the bandsaws operation i.e. circle cutter, table extension, etc. so I am going to install it tomorrow and see how my Kreg Bandsaw fence fits on this new table. I had to do some serious modifications to the cast iron table to get the Kreg fence to work on that table i am hoping this table will work better with the fence.
I will take a few pics of the table for your perusal.

Sure they are not height adjustment screws?

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:43 am

Here are a couple of pics of the retrofit kit in case anyone is wondering what it looks like and what it comes with. The last pic shows a different way of closing the gap for changing the bandsaw blade. Just a single thumb screw which is nice and no tools required. Although it looks as though you do need to use a little allen wrench to get the throat plate off......

Pretty nice table but won't know how nice until I install it and try it out.

wannabewoodworker · Post by **wannabewoodworker** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:55 am

JPG40504 wrote:Sure they are not height adjustment screws?

I should have checked a bit closer before posting. The insert just pops out and is held in place with a couple of spring clips underneath it. So no tools to remove.......

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:08 am

wannabewoodworker wrote:So I got an email on 7-7-11 advertising a special on the aluminum bandsaw table retrofit kit. Well I have wanted that item for quite a while so I went ahead and ordered the kit. I also ordered the table extension as I already have the circle cutter and needed the extension to use the cutter.

So my first disappointment in this saga was as soon as I finished the order I get an email order confirmation which also extends a new offer of 20% off any regularly priced item purchased within 5 days. Well damn it if I had known that I would have waited to purchase the extension table and used the 20% off offer.

So I go today to check the status of my order and it says it has not shipped yet???? What the heck it was on the 7th that I ordered it? So I call them and it takes 5 tries before I get someone on the horn. The lady then proceeds to tell me that the order is on back order status because they had an overwhelming response to the offer. She said there were 20 table kits on back order and she had no idea when they would ship? She couldn't even check the back order status as the system was down or something. So then I ask her about the 20% off email offer after I had already purchased the table extension. She tells me she can go ahead and redo the order and create a new order for just the extension which is not on back order and give me the 20% off. So I tell her to please do that.

So at least i got the 20% off on the table extension kit but I still have no clue as to when the table retro fit kit will be shipped to me. And people wonder why Shopsmith had/has problems??? Before you run an email special you should make sure you have plenty of said item in stock before you run the special because if you don't then you are going to have a bunch of really unhappy customers. What a joke!

P.S. How many of you here took advantage of this email offer just curious???

------------END of RANT-----------

That really is not the question to ask while "How many of us believe that the Email Specials are good deals" might be.

Getting something that one wants at a discounted price is always a good deal. But - when I jump at these email specials I do so knowing full well that I am going to have to wait. That is no big deal and cannot be avoided. This is the way it is and that is not likely to change (for the better) in my remaining lifetime.

The other option that one has is "don't take advantage of the email special" because it will likely be "back ordered". You won't have to wait, you will not have spent that money and you won't have the item in question.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:17 am

Is it accurate to say the small screwdriver in the hardware bag is for adjusting the throat plate height adjustment screws????

One other scenario not discussed is that back ordering is also quite likely when purchasing it when not a 'special' and the duration of the wait periiod can be much longer than that e-mail special wait.

Actually the wait time may have been reduced by the special for anyone already on backorder.

P.S. I hope you will reconsider'this'!:rolleyes:

P.P.S. Rethis. You had no need for the extension without the table, so you should have requested them to ship it with the table.

dan1999 · Post by **dan1999** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:58 pm

You guys are lucky you get to have specials from Shopsmith. They don't even notify me if there is a special, why you ask, because I live in Canada and they won't send anything to us here. No parts, catalogs, or any material whatsoever
a long time ago back in the 90's they did but no more. We have to order items from one supplier in Toronto has it mailed to him who also adds a little to the cost of the item plus the extra cost of the shipping to him and then ships it out to us. So we get 2 shipping costs, his profit margin, and then the price of the article, plus inflated customs duties.

End of pissed off rant ( not at you guys but at Shopsmith)

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:05 pm

dan1999 wrote:You guys are lucky you get to have specials from Shopsmith. They don't even notify me if there is a special, why you ask, because I live in Canada and they won't send anything to us here. No parts, catalogs, or any material whatsoever
a long time ago back in the 90's they did but no more. We have to order items from one supplier in Toronto has it mailed to him who also adds a little to the cost of the item plus the extra cost of the shipping to him and then ships it out to us. So we get 2 shipping costs, his profit margin, and then the price of the article, plus inflated customs duties.

End of pissed off rant ( not at you guys but at Shopsmith)

I think the DOC would be a more 'deserving' target. But then that be a guess!

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:36 pm

I feel compelled to ask, "Is there a method whereby this could be accomplished that would be better for all involved"?

Example: "If one of us had a few parts that you needed in Montreal, could they be shipped to you from here in the lower 48 and still be reasonably priced"?

In other words, if there was a friendly middleman involved, would that middle man be doing anything that government officials would take exception to?

Shopsmith Forums

Bandsaw Table email special

Update

A couple of pics

Specials