Shopsmith Forums

I was wondering if there is anyone from out of town who needs directions for the Local SS User Group meeting?

BPR

ryan:

I'm originally from Richmond Indiana and know your area well, and often pass thru/around Ft. Wayne on trips back and forth between Gainesville and the U.P.

Darn! If your meeting had been one week-end later I could have attended. Best wishes and keep up the good work.

The Tri-State Shopsmith User Group serving Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan met last night and is alive and kickin'!! Nick Was a great help and source of information. We'll keep you posted on further meetings/events.

BPR

BPR - Do you have, and are you allowed to post, more details about Nick's, "great help and source of information"?

With the members who attended and our location, we decided on the name of our group in order to cast our net as wide as possible. Nick was able to give us a sense of direction and suggestions of how our group could work. Nick was also able to explain to us how the proposed Power-pro headstock would work. All in all, it was a very productive meeting. I would also like to take the time to thank the local Woodcraft store for hosting us. All in all, it was a very productive meeting. I, for one, am excited to get this going.
BPR

ryanbp01 wrote:With the members who attended and our location, we decided on the name of our group in order to cast our net as wide as possible. Nick was able to give us a sense of direction and suggestions of how our group could work. Nick was also able to explain to us how the proposed Power-pro headstock would work. All in all, it was a very productive meeting. I would also like to take the time to thank the local Woodcraft store for hosting us. All in all, it was a very productive meeting. I, for one, am excited to get this going.
BPR

Now you KNOW everyone is really interested in NICK'S information re the Power Pro. We ARE glad he helped with the organization of the group, but how about some DETAILS re Power Pro! When? What variations?

JPG40504 wrote:Now you KNOW everyone is really interested in NICK'S information re the Power Pro. We ARE glad he helped with the organization of the group, but how about some DETAILS re Power Pro! When? What variations?

First, please remember I'm not an engineer. Nick did take the time to explain how the technology works and what will be replaced in the headstock as an upgrade (which is everything but the quill). Headstock speeds will be up to 10,000 rpm. The touchpad will take the place of the speed changer. When will it be available? I'm not sure I want to speculate and give inadvertant misinformation since that timetable is up to the company.

I am now going to offer a few observations of my own on this. First is the cost of the upgrade. It will have to be affordable to the customer. Second, in order to do the upgrade, four holes will have to drilled into the headstock pan where the new motor is to be attached. These holes will have to be exact. Third, is how reliable will the electonics be, especially in an environment that is dusty. When on the touchpad went out on the dishwasher, the cost was enough for my wife and I to seriously consider whether or not to just replace the dishwasher rather than just the touchpad. Fourth, how comfortable are owners going to be in doing this upgrade on their own. My philosophy is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The corollary to that is, "if its already broke, you may as well try to fix it, since it's broke anyway". From the information presented, there is no room for error in performing this upgrade on your own. Fifth, and perhaps this is the most important question to consider, especially in light of other threads relating to backorders, is what the downtime would be if something went wrong with the Powerpro after it is installed? Like it or not, Shopsmith is going to have to get the issue of back orders under control especially if the owner screws up on doing the installation (has that ever happened here to anyone?).

Anyway, as I had stated earlier, the first meeting was a success. It gives me a great feeling to see a group of Shopsmith owners get together and discuss their machinery. One of the members had a machine that was built locally and even provided the location where Magna was located in Fort Wayne!

ryanbp01 wrote:First, please remember I'm not an engineer. Nick did take the time to explain how the technology works and what will be replaced in the headstock as an upgrade (which is everything but the quill). Headstock speeds will be up to 10,000 rpm. The touchpad will take the place of the speed changer. When will it be available? I'm not sure I want to speculate and give inadvertant misinformation since that timetable is up to the company.

I am now going to offer a few observations of my own on this. First is the cost of the upgrade. It will have to be affordable to the customer. Second, in order to do the upgrade, four holes will have to drilled into the headstock pan where the new motor is to be attached. These holes will have to be exact. Third, is how reliable will the electonics be, especially in an environment that is dusty. When on the touchpad went out on the dishwasher, the cost was enough for my wife and I to seriously consider whether or not to just replace the dishwasher rather than just the touchpad. Fourth, how comfortable are owners going to be in doing this upgrade on their own. My philosophy is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The corollary to that is, "if its already broke, you may as well try to fix it, since it's broke anyway". From the information presented, there is no room for error in performing this upgrade on your own. Fifth, and perhaps this is the most important question to consider, especially in light of other threads relating to backorders, is what the downtime would be if something went wrong with the Powerpro after it is installed? Like it or not, Shopsmith is going to have to get the issue of back orders under control especially if the owner screws up on doing the installation (has that ever happened here to anyone?).

Anyway, as I had stated earlier, the first meeting was a success. It gives me a great feeling to see a group of Shopsmith owners get together and discuss their machinery. One of the members had a machine that was built locally and even provided the location where Magna was located in Fort Wayne!

Thank you for the time and effort that you have provided to this topic. It has been enligthening. I wish that you could have informed the group that the first unit would be available for delivery on the 30th of September, 2009 but we all know that is impossible.

I guess what we have to trust is that as soon as Shopsmith has one to make a profit on (to sell) we will know it.

May all of your future meetings come off as planned.

Thank you again for your efforts.

RYAN: As Dusty has already said Thank You!

You HAVE answered my primary question!!! I wanted to determine IF an UPGRADE(modifying an existing headstock by the customer) 'kit' would be made available.

From your comments, the answer IS yes

Since this is probably a modified version of the teknatool lathe motor/etc. I believe your dust/reliability concerns are less important. Teknatool has a few years of shake-down experience already.

Since the switching method used(pulse on/off only) does not create a great amount of heat, I think the electronics will be very reliable.

Interesting comment re "everything but the quill". We will be getting a few 'spare parts' for older versions out of an 'upgrade'.

IMPORTANT QUESTION!!! Do the "four holes" need to be drilled in the current sheet metal motor pan, OR the cast aluminum headstock itself?

TIA

P.S. What gets mounted into the four new holes(the new motor or control 'stuff')?

Back to the original topic for a second, how big of a turnout did you have for your meeting?