Shopsmith Forums

Well, my OPR arrived last week. The shipping box was in great shape. I know others have had problems with FedEx but my experiences have been best with them to date.
Opening the box, the arm is very well packed. No problems everything in perfect condition.

Taking the arm out and looking at the various pieces, this thing is built!
The quality of the parts is what we have come to expect from SS.
Except for bolting the arm to the brackets, and screwing in the depth stop everything is assembled ready to go.

Watching the Sawdust sessions is a big help in getting the most out of the OPR
The instructions barely mention joint making. Making the fence and sliding table are next on the to do list. So far I have put the grooves in the table.
I have found a router alignment pin, to be a great help in positioning the router to the table or work.
Having a jack or some means of raising and lowering the table, as demonstrated by Nick in the Sawdust session is a must, at least for me.
A 2-ton hydraulic bottle jack from HF is overkill but it works fine.

There was some discussion on a previous thread about the need for the table to be part of the package..
I agree it’s best to have the table at the same time as the arm. The table is well made, better than I would have made.

Overall I think the OPR is a bargain.

Next on the back order list is the lift assist.

Greg

Who is the table made by?

shydragon wrote:Who is the table made by?

Don't know! The entire box, with everything packed inside, including the table, came from the orient somewhere. You can tell by the color and texture of the corrugated cardboard. I suppose the whole thing including the table was made over seas.

As said earlier, the machine in it's entirety is very well made. There are a couple of minor weak points I've found with use:
1) the "pads" that shield the router motor from the metal mount, were held on with some questionable glue. Looked and felt like the stuff that comes under all those unrequested credit cards you get for free.
2) I think the same type mucilage is under the thin tin slides between the edges of the router adjustment faces. One of my tin pieces has broken free.

charlese wrote:Don't know! The entire box, with everything packed inside, including the table, came from the orient somewhere. You can tell by the color and texture of the corrugated cardboard. I suppose the whole thing including the table was made over seas.

As said earlier, the machine in it's entirety is very well made. There are a couple of minor weak points I've found with use:
1) the "pads" that shield the router motor from the metal mount, were held on with some questionable glue. Looked and felt like the stuff that comes under all those unrequested credit cards you get for free.
2) I think the same type mucilage is under the thin tin slides between the edges of the router adjustment faces. One of my tin pieces has broken free.

Hi Charlese,

Are you saying that you think the OPR is entirely made overseas?

BTW; mucilage; you made me look that one up! Thanks for the new word.

[quote="a1gutterman"]Hi Charlese,

Are you saying that you think the OPR is entirely made overseas?

BTW]

I am saying that the packaging was done somewhere in the Orient. I have never run across a U.S. manufacturer that uses oriental packaging.

Where were the parts were machined? I don't know!, and do not assume anything. Didn't Nick say (about a week or so ago) something like this, when referring to Shopsmith and American made: - "... it's all made in America, except for the OPR which is (made) (assembled) in ....."?

Now I don't know if he said made or assembled. I also cannot remember the other country he referred to. I looked for the post today, but could not find it.

P.S. Happy to help your vocabulary! Mucilage was a word we had to spell when in Grade School. I was sometimes used as a synonym for paste. I looked it up after your post - got a kick out of the fancy wording of the definitions.

charlese wrote:I am saying that the packaging was done somewhere in the Orient. I have never run across a U.S. manufacturer that uses oriental packaging.

Where were the parts were machined? I don't know!, and do not assume anything. Didn't Nick say (about a week or so ago) something like this, when referring to Shopsmith and American made: - "... it's all made in America, except for the OPR which is (made) (assembled) in ....."?

Now I don't know if he said made or assembled. I also cannot remember the other country he referred to. I looked for the post today, but could not find it.

P.S. Happy to help your vocabulary! Mucilage was a word we had to spell when in Grade School. I was sometimes used as a synonym for paste. I looked it up after your post - got a kick out of the fancy wording of the definitions.

Found it! Post 31 of this thread: https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=15858#post15858 Taiwan it is. ( Better then China. Yes, yes I know: According to China, Taiwan is part of China; but, dokn't tell that to the Taiwanese)

All Right! I've ordered my new toy, the OPR.

Also, lately I had got a 1960 "greenie" Mark V carcass. As advertised, the motor was indeed shot with stuck bearings. But the base and carriage and table remain, like a tank. I've got all the pitch and rust taken off now, so I'm planning to use this thing just for the OPR at one end and SPT storage at the other end.

Can't wait . . .

Thought I'd pass along a tip I used for the OPR table.

Since the innards of the OPR table is MDF - I was a bit afraid that the square shoulders on the carriage bolts would wear away at the edges of the shoulders of the slots and counter bores (bottom of table after making slots). So I inserted (glued) solid oak into over-sized counter bores and re-made them. Now there is a nice hard oak shoulder at the bottom of the slots.

Don't really know if this was necessary, but it makes me feel better, and I love the hard feel when tightening fences to the table.

Another tip - is to get/make a couple of small drawers where you can store the wing nuts - allen wrenches, etc. Makes it a lot easier to keep track of them.