Shopsmith Forums

So, Wixey patented the drill press laser back in 2017. This is why we don't see any other aftermarket devices to do this, unless you hand build something.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20170282321A1/en

I received my SS laser locator this past Xmas. The instrument fits tight and was very easy to calibrate. Repeat usage to date has not required any readjustment. I was concerned with one of the wave washers applying too much pressure, however, to date it has not adversely altered the locator in any way.

Saltwater wrote:I received my SS laser locator this past Xmas. The instrument fits tight and was very easy to calibrate. Repeat usage to date has not required any readjustment. I was concerned with one of the wave washers applying too much pressure, however, to date it has not adversely altered the locator in any way.

Glad yours is working better than at least mine has. If it arrived intact, then you should be good. I suspect Wixey had a bad batch and the plastic got a little too thin where the retaining ring attaches. This combined with the force from the wavy (spring) washer on top caused the bottoms to snap off...or at least this is what happened to the first one that got shipped to me. If you didn't get this "bad" manufacturing batch then you should be good, I would hope. So, with regard to the mounting hardware, it stays firmly in place on your Mark V and doesn't come loose at all?

RFGuy wrote:

Saltwater wrote:I received my SS laser locator this past Xmas. The instrument fits tight and was very easy to calibrate. Repeat usage to date has not required any readjustment. I was concerned with one of the wave washers applying too much pressure, however, to date it has not adversely altered the locator in any way.

Glad yours is working better than at least mine has. If it arrived intact, then you should be good. I suspect Wixey had a bad batch and the plastic got a little too thin where the retaining ring attaches. This combined with the force from the wavy (spring) washer on top caused the bottoms to snap off...or at least this is what happened to the first one that got shipped to me. If you didn't get this "bad" manufacturing batch then you should be good, I would hope. So, with regard to the mounting hardware, it stays firmly in place on your Mark V and doesn't come loose at all?

Is this a common occurrence on this forum where a user logs on, posts one thing and is never heard from again? I ask because on this thread Saltwater posted to say that their Wixey laser with Shopsmith mounting bracket is working well. I checked and this forum member hasn't posted any other item on the forum since then. I would like to believe that if they are another Shopsmith owner that eventually they would login and respond to my question. Since they haven't, I have to assume they are perhaps a Wixey/Shopsmith employee posting a fake review of this product. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

Has anyone else (who owns a Shopsmith) purchased the Wixey laser from Shopsmith and had good/bad results with it? I am just wondering if the issue that Ed first highlighted, and that I am also seeing, is an anomaly or a common problem for all with this Wixey drill press laser using the Shopsmith mounting bracket. Anyone else own it and used it???

RFGuy wrote:

RFGuy wrote:

Saltwater wrote:I received my SS laser locator this past Xmas. The instrument fits tight and was very easy to calibrate. Repeat usage to date has not required any readjustment. I was concerned with one of the wave washers applying too much pressure, however, to date it has not adversely altered the locator in any way.

Glad yours is working better than at least mine has. If it arrived intact, then you should be good. I suspect Wixey had a bad batch and the plastic got a little too thin where the retaining ring attaches. This combined with the force from the wavy (spring) washer on top caused the bottoms to snap off...or at least this is what happened to the first one that got shipped to me. If you didn't get this "bad" manufacturing batch then you should be good, I would hope. So, with regard to the mounting hardware, it stays firmly in place on your Mark V and doesn't come loose at all?

Is this a common occurrence on this forum where a user logs on, posts one thing and is never heard from again? I ask because on this thread Saltwater posted to say that their Wixey laser with Shopsmith mounting bracket is working well. I checked and this forum member hasn't posted any other item on the forum since then. I would like to believe that if they are another Shopsmith owner that eventually they would login and respond to my question. Since they haven't, I have to assume they are perhaps a Wixey/Shopsmith employee posting a fake review of this product. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

Has anyone else (who owns a Shopsmith) purchased the Wixey laser from Shopsmith and had good/bad results with it? I am just wondering if the issue that Ed first highlighted, and that I am also seeing, is an anomaly or a common problem for all with this Wixey drill press laser using the Shopsmith mounting bracket. Anyone else own it and used it???

I'm sure that happens, generally those "members" join and post on the same day. and they will often get flagged as spam.
In this case I think he/she is a lurker and doesn't come by that often. Their profile shows they joined in May 2019, posted once in at the end January 2020, and was last active (logged in) Feb 23, 2020. Which seems legitimate. Sometimes people just don't do the polite thing and report back there results, or respond to questions. If they don't log in that often they may have missed your post.

rpd wrote: I'm sure that happens, generally those "members" join and post on the same day. and they will often get flagged as spam.
In this case I think he/she is a lurker and doesn't come by that often. Their profile shows they joined in May 2019, posted once in at the end January 2020, and was last active (logged in) Feb 23, 2020. Which seems legitimate. Sometimes people just don't do the polite thing and report back there results, or respond to questions. If they don't log in that often they may have missed your post.

Thanks Ron. I really don't want to assume the worst, so I appreciate you pointing that out to me. It must just be that very few members bought this item from Shopsmith (who visit this forum). After the issues that I had, I decided to build a new and improved one, but unfortunately I am waiting on some parts from China. With the COVID-19 lockdown, who knows when I will see them to finish this little project. At the same time, if I am doing something wrong in using the Wixey w/Shopsmith mount, it would be good to know so I could address it and make use of it. For now, I assume it is a design defect in the mount so I will continue with building my own improved version of drill press laser (with higher power).

Take a look at the member list.

The vast majority of them NEVER EVER post.

RFGuy wrote:

RFGuy wrote:

Saltwater wrote:I received my SS laser locator this past Xmas. The instrument fits tight and was very easy to calibrate. Repeat usage to date has not required any readjustment. I was concerned with one of the wave washers applying too much pressure, however, to date it has not adversely altered the locator in any way.

Glad yours is working better than at least mine has. If it arrived intact, then you should be good. I suspect Wixey had a bad batch and the plastic got a little too thin where the retaining ring attaches. This combined with the force from the wavy (spring) washer on top caused the bottoms to snap off...or at least this is what happened to the first one that got shipped to me. If you didn't get this "bad" manufacturing batch then you should be good, I would hope. So, with regard to the mounting hardware, it stays firmly in place on your Mark V and doesn't come loose at all?

Is this a common occurrence on this forum where a user logs on, posts one thing and is never heard from again? I ask because on this thread Saltwater posted to say that their Wixey laser with Shopsmith mounting bracket is working well. I checked and this forum member hasn't posted any other item on the forum since then. I would like to believe that if they are another Shopsmith owner that eventually they would login and respond to my question. Since they haven't, I have to assume they are perhaps a Wixey/Shopsmith employee posting a fake review of this product. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

Has anyone else (who owns a Shopsmith) purchased the Wixey laser from Shopsmith and had good/bad results with it? I am just wondering if the issue that Ed first highlighted, and that I am also seeing, is an anomaly or a common problem for all with this Wixey drill press laser using the Shopsmith mounting bracket. Anyone else own it and used it???

I'm sorry but I see absolutely NO REASON to assuyme that this is a fake review posted by "an employee".

RFGuy wrote:

Saltwater wrote:I received my SS laser locator this past Xmas. The instrument fits tight and was very easy to calibrate. Repeat usage to date has not required any readjustment. I was concerned with one of the wave washers applying too much pressure, however, to date it has not adversely altered the locator in any way.

Glad yours is working better than at least mine has. If it arrived intact, then you should be good. I suspect Wixey had a bad batch and the plastic got a little too thin where the retaining ring attaches. This combined with the force from the wavy (spring) washer on top caused the bottoms to snap off...or at least this is what happened to the first one that got shipped to me. If you didn't get this "bad" manufacturing batch then you should be good, I would hope. So, with regard to the mounting hardware, it stays firmly in place on your Mark V and doesn't come loose at all?

A "bad batch" --- you come to this conclusion for what reason - based on what facts? Facts are important.

Dusty read back farther in the thread, shopsmith sent information out so it is indeed a fact as far as we can tell and shopsmith is not telling a fib.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/view ... 38#p266238

Ed