Thinking Shopsmith and woodshop this morning
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:28 am
When you lose family or good friends it makes you start thinking about a lot of different things (at least it always does me). It usually has me looking back and also makes me look at the future trying to be more prepared as I get older.
I was sitting here only half awake with a lot of things running through my mind and the memory came back of buying my first Shopsmith. I had become aware of Shopsmiths back in high school. I thought that they were a great idea then (and still do). My next experience was at BSU in 1961. In the large woodshop there they had a nice shiny Shopsmith sitting in the back of the room. I never saw it used or even plugged in. The Prof just didn't like them and I gathered that it had been there longer than he had. Still I wanted one very badly. I kept reading ads and watching demos for 28 years wanting one so bad I could taste it but it was just never in my budget. There were times when I could have bought one but I just couldn't justify putting that much money in an item that was just for hobby use and would not be productive.
Finally in 1988 I inherited a fair sized chunk of money and decided that I was damned well going to have the woodshop I had always wanted. I always had a shop but it was nothing to brag about. Mostly a collection of yard sale finds and pretty cheap stuff.
I have very clear memories of walking into the Shopsmith store on the north side of Indy with my list and buying that new 510.
Let me say part of that again, "walking into the Shopsmith store". How I wish I could use that phrase today...
I bought the new 510 and a batch of giblets like extra arbors, face-plates and different adapters that I had been thinking about for those 28 years. I even remember the box. I remember us sliding that box into the back of my pickup truck and putting the rest of the stuff in the cab. That new 510 was a very big deal in my life. Getting it home and putting it together was a real party.
Several years later I bought a second one, a decent older one, at auction for $200. Some of you will remember the Shopsmith buying spree I went on in my early retirement when I bought at least 25 used Shopsmiths, some very nice and some just for parts. That also gave me a lot of accessory items and a number of SPT's.
None of the rest really mean that much to me, they are just machines, but I still have a very high level of attachment to that 510.
Just reminiscing and rambling.
I was sitting here only half awake with a lot of things running through my mind and the memory came back of buying my first Shopsmith. I had become aware of Shopsmiths back in high school. I thought that they were a great idea then (and still do). My next experience was at BSU in 1961. In the large woodshop there they had a nice shiny Shopsmith sitting in the back of the room. I never saw it used or even plugged in. The Prof just didn't like them and I gathered that it had been there longer than he had. Still I wanted one very badly. I kept reading ads and watching demos for 28 years wanting one so bad I could taste it but it was just never in my budget. There were times when I could have bought one but I just couldn't justify putting that much money in an item that was just for hobby use and would not be productive.
Finally in 1988 I inherited a fair sized chunk of money and decided that I was damned well going to have the woodshop I had always wanted. I always had a shop but it was nothing to brag about. Mostly a collection of yard sale finds and pretty cheap stuff.
I have very clear memories of walking into the Shopsmith store on the north side of Indy with my list and buying that new 510.
Let me say part of that again, "walking into the Shopsmith store". How I wish I could use that phrase today...
I bought the new 510 and a batch of giblets like extra arbors, face-plates and different adapters that I had been thinking about for those 28 years. I even remember the box.
I remember us sliding that box into the back of my pickup truck and putting the rest of the stuff in the cab. That new 510 was a very big deal in my life. Getting it home and putting it together was a real party.Several years later I bought a second one, a decent older one, at auction for $200. Some of you will remember the Shopsmith buying spree I went on in my early retirement when I bought at least 25 used Shopsmiths, some very nice and some just for parts. That also gave me a lot of accessory items and a number of SPT's.
None of the rest really mean that much to me, they are just machines, but I still have a very high level of attachment to that 510.
Just reminiscing and rambling.
