Shopsmith Forums

fredsheldon wrote:Good news. I just reinstalled my PowerPro after receiving a repaired controller and it seems I'm back in business. My PP gave up the dust 2 years ago and I just got around to sending it in to the mother ship a couple of months ago. After a few phone calls the service department sent my parts back to the manufacture for repairs. Since I installed the PP in 2010, the repairs were on me. Total cost including shipping came to $350.00. It would have cost me $1,000 to buy a new power supply and display unit, which they said both were bad. I hope to get another good 6 years of heavy use out of it now.
Fred

I'm happy for you but really - only six years??

Dusty,

I think we might have gotten spoiled with our SS equipment. I wonder how long these electronic motors last in other equipment. I wouldn't be surprised if 6 years is the norm. Anything electronic that I have owned, including $5,000 computers, seemed to bite the dust in 5 years. My 5 year old 65" TV just quit on me last month.
Fred

I’ve only had good experiences with SS, but this thread has me wondering...

If SS went out of business, they would probably hire a liquidation company to close out the stock and physical “plant”... no employees would be left to answer questions ,etc.

They would shut down this forum withou any. Notice. How would we contact each Other?

We would be shut off from the vendors that furnish SS parts... Powerpro being the biggest problem.

Has anyone recently been to the SS facility? How big, how many employees, From posts on this thread, sounds like there is only one repair man. Do they manufacture anything, assemble anything, etc.

In my shop, all my eggs are in the SS basket... so I am concerned...

Billdit wrote:I’ve only had good experiences with SS, but this thread has me wondering...

If SS went out of business, they would probably hire a liquidation company to close out the stock and physical “plant”... no employees would be left to answer questions ,etc.

They would shut down this forum withou any. Notice. How would we contact each Other?

We would be shut off from the vendors that furnish SS parts... Powerpro being the biggest problem.

Has anyone recently been to the SS facility? How big, how many employees, From posts on this thread, sounds like there is only one repair man. Do they manufacture anything, assemble anything, etc.

In my shop, all my eggs are in the SS basket... so I am concerned...

I think this is a big fuss over nothing. Other than the fact that Shopsmith is sometimes slow in filling orders we have seen absolutely nothing that indicates they are going out of business. They have recently recovered from what had been a financial crisis. They restructured and introduced the PowerPro at about the same time. All indications are that the PowerPro market is good and growing. Yes, the PowerPro is experiencing growing pains but that should be expected with any new high tech device.

Relax. Go back to your shop and "make sawdust safely".

I suspect there would be a booming business in spare parts on e-bay if SS were to go out of business. Most likely, someone would buy up all remaining inventory and do a good business providing parts for years to come. The basic machines will be around for many years and, as long as parts or repair stations are available, will be performing their tasks as usual. I'm hoping SS will inform us where to send Power Pro parts for repairs if necessary. From a financial standpoint I don't think any of us have invested large sums of money into SS equipment over the years since they have been available on the cheap on the used market. There will always be replacement tools that will do the job our SS have done so I don't lose much sleep worrying about if and when they may shut their doors.
Fred

fredsheldon wrote:I suspect there would be a booming business in spare parts on e-bay if SS were to go out of business. Most likely, someone would buy up all remaining inventory and do a good business providing parts for years to come. The basic machines will be around for many years and, as long as parts or repair stations are available, will be performing their tasks as usual. I'm hoping SS will inform us where to send Power Pro parts for repairs if necessary. From a financial standpoint I don't think any of us have invested large sums of money into SS equipment over the years since they have been available on the cheap on the used market. There will always be replacement tools that will do the job our SS have done so I don't lose much sleep worrying about if and when they may shut their doors.
Fred

I thought that when I purchased my Mark 7 NEW, that over $4000 was a good chunk of money. No regrets, but is is quite a sum...

I thought that when I purchased my Mark 7 NEW, that over $4000 was a good chunk of money. No regrets, but is is quite a sum...[/quote]


I’ve bought several thousand of “stuff” from SS... never a back order or a long wait...
But i’d Still like to know how stable they are... so I ask again... has anyone been to their present location? How many employees are there? Where is the majority of items manufactured? China...Poland... downtown Detroit?? Who owns SS and is SS their main income source...

Most companies have pictures of their facilities on their website... SS is a mystery...

Just wondering...

Billdit wrote:I thought that when I purchased my Mark 7 NEW, that over $4000 was a good chunk of money. No regrets, but is is quite a sum...

I’ve bought several thousand of “stuff” from SS... never a back order or a long wait...
But i’d Still like to know how stable they are... so I ask again... has anyone been to their present location? How many employees are there? Where is the majority of items manufactured? China...Poland... downtown Detroit?? Who owns SS and is SS their main income source...

Most companies have pictures of their facilities on their website... SS is a mystery...

Just wondering...[/quote]

It is a family owned company and has been since the early 70's. SS is owned by the son (Robert) of John Folkerth who resurrected the the company in the early 70's. The original company was Magna Engineering. The Shopsmith was invented by Hans Goldschmidt after WW II. The first machines were built in 1947.

I bought my Power Pro head stock in December 2012 from Bob Folkerth (the owner) at Lowes in Salt Lake City during a demonstration he was hosting.

Everett Davis has been to the SS headquarters and manufacturing plant in the last few months for research for his upcoming book on the history of the SS since 1947. You can contact him with your questions but I doubt he will give any answers as to the SS status.

There is a very active Facebook site for thousands of Shopsmith users that will take up the slack as far as communications goes. SS will live on, there will always be somebody willing to provide services and parts to the thousands of SS users.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6844615 ... =bookmarks

Fred

jsburger wrote:

Billdit wrote:I thought that when I purchased my Mark 7 NEW, that over $4000 was a good chunk of money. No regrets, but is is quite a sum...


I’ve bought several thousand of “stuff” from SS... never a back order or a long wait...
But i’d Still like to know how stable they are... so I ask again... has anyone been to their present location? How many employees are there? Where is the majority of items manufactured? China...Poland... downtown Detroit?? Who owns SS and is SS their main income source...

Most companies have pictures of their facilities on their website... SS is a mystery...

Just wondering...

It is a family owned company and has been since the early 70's. SS is owned by the son (Robert) of John Folkerth who resurrected the the company in the early 70's. The original company was Magna Engineering. The Shopsmith was invented by Hans Goldschmidt after WW II. The first machines were built in 1947.

I bought my Power Pro head stock in December 2012 from Bob Folkerth (the owner) at Lowes in Salt Lake City during a demonstration he was hosting.

Everett Davis has been to the SS headquarters and manufacturing plant in the last few months for research for his upcoming book on the history of the SS since 1947. You can contact him with your questions but I doubt he will give any answers as to the SS status.

Sure it wasn't his brother Dave?