Shopsmith Forums

In the latest E mail if you order a Power Pro Headstock Replacement upgrade and Mark 7 upgrade you get the Shop Deputy all for $2365.

The Shop Deputy supplies a cut in half way tube that you can mount between the two end caps you took off the Mark 5 to convert it to a Mark 7
then using the headstock you replaced with PP you have in effect a Power Station. Of course you have to supply the mounting base and work.

A Power base is about $600.

Shopsmith supplies hardware to mount the Shop Deputy but I think I would rather secure some mounting blocks to my mounting base that line up with existing leg screw holes in the ends. Then set the Deputy on the mounting board and secure with screws ran into the mounting blocks.

I would be tempted to mount the whole thing to a Sear roll around drawer cabinet with the mounting base over hanging the cabinet enough to give clearance to completely lower the aux table.

In another thread I also wondered if you couldn't mount SS Universal lathe tool rest to the mounting base and use the whole thing as a mini lathe.

I could see me leaving my Bandsaw and sanding disk always mounted so I could sharpen and use the Bandsaw whenever needed. The Mini lathe would be fun to play with. Plus you could do horizontal boring and anything you can do with the headstock horizontal. Sawing might be problematic since there isn't a good way (YET) to mount the main table.

I see this as getting PP, Mark 7 and Power Station for the price of the PP and Mark 7. Not bad. Now if they has only priced the whole thing to a more realistic price of $1800 I would be jumping all over it.

Add to this the realities that owners like myself face (Vintage Mark V with the larger 1 7/8" bench tubes and no 505 + upgrade.) By the time I get done getting everything else I need, I may as well just get a whole Mark 7, It winds up being about the same cost. And I will still have full size Mark V to do with whatever I wanted.

I am not aware of any Mark V that came with 1 7/8" bench tubes.

Greenies and early Goldies did. That changed before 1962 when the poly-v belt and 1 1/8hp motor was introduced.

I think SS has their history/dates confused again.

Wow I'm surprised I really expected a lot more comment on the
Shop Deputy. Perhaps everyone didn't read the email yet.

The reality here is - when working on a larger project, there just isn't room for a Deputy and for me to move around.

Like many Shopsmith add-ons - they fit only a relatively small portion of the SS population - however when they fit shop, work style, and $ - they are wonderful!

We got different 'situations' here.

Some folks have already done the PP update.

Some folks have already done the DT upgrade.

Some folks have already done both.

All of them must part with another $100 to get the tubes and hardware.

Many of them have already dispersed the 'spare' parts.

That makes this less of a go go thingie.

Add to that that those who were most likely to upgrade have already done so.

So that leaves very few(here on the forum) whom this might appeal to.

All that said, this appeals to me! 'Problem' is, I already got parts to build one if I wanted!;)

$50 or even $100 seems much more reasonable. For $150, I would expect the headrest and pivot base with it.

[quote="JPG40504"]We got different 'situations' here.

Some folks have already done the PP update.

Some folks have already done the DT upgrade.

Some folks have already done both.

All of them must part with another $100 to get the tubes and hardware.

Many of them have already dispersed the 'spare' parts.

That makes this less of a go go thingie.

Add to that that those who were most likely to upgrade have already done so.

So that leaves very few(here on the forum) whom this might appeal to.

All that said, this appeals to me! 'Problem' is, I already got parts to build one if I wanted!]

You are probably right most everyone that was going to upgrade to a Power Pro has probably done so. I figure the PP was the fundemental in keeping SS alive.
I wonder what SS is going to do now to stimulate sales?

I think they should do a price reduction and bring the PP down to a realistic price. That would probably stimulate sales for another 5 years or so.

Ed in Tampa wrote:You are probably right most everyone that was going to upgrade to a Power Pro has probably done so. I figure the PP was the fundemental in keeping SS alive.
I wonder what SS is going to do now to stimulate sales?

I think they should do a price reduction and bring the PP down to a realistic price. That would probably stimulate sales for another 5 years or so.

It might do wonders for "SALES" but what would that do for "THE BOTTOM LINE".

Sales that are not profitable lead directly to the poor house. We have absolutely no way of knowing what what sort of price reduction Shopsmith could live with.

I have a feeling that the reduction you would like to see wold be disastrous to their bottom line.

dusty wrote:It might do wonders for "SALES" but what would that do for "THE BOTTOM LINE".

Sales that are not profitable lead directly to the poor house. We have absolutely no way of knowing what what sort of price reduction Shopsmith could live with.

I have a feeling that the reduction you would like to see wold be disastrous to their bottom line.

No sales at all is even more disasterous.

I have seen a lot of businesses bull headedly go out of business because they refuse to live within the budget their sales provided. Even though it was more than possible to do so.

I think I have a pretty good idea what SS is paying for the PP and I think they are trying to solve all their financial problems instantly instead of trying to build the company back up.

I think they could reduce the price almost 40 % and see their sales triple ending up with more profit they they have now. This woud also expand their active customer base by many times what it is now. Once you stir a customer to buy unless you mess them over they will keep buying.