Shopsmith Forums

I've read a lot of posts in the forum and I've watched Nick's presentations. I'm sold on the benefits of the OPR. More than the pin routing capability, I like being able to see what you are doing although I've long ago gotten used to having the cutting bit under the wood. I know I will have to go through a learning curve to get proficient with the OPR.

I like the benefits of the new system and the fact that I can opt to use it horizontally. I don't like the setup time and effort, although it's not much different than going into drill press mode, and would want to get an old MKV frame to have it permanently mounted as Nick has done. Obviously, there is an additional cost for that convience.

On the other hand, I can find and buy the old standalone unit and have most of the conviences in that unit, including an under table mount if I so desired. I have read many posts on the forum where those of you who have the standalone unit seem very pleased with it. This option should be less expensive but does not give me the horizontal capability and parts may become an issue since it is no longer supported by Shopsmith.

My question is "Which version of the OPR should I get?" Any thoughts, comments, and/or recommendations along with your rationale or experience are solicited. Thanks for your help.

seajay62 wrote:I've read a lot of posts in the forum and I've watched Nick's presentations. I'm sold on the benefits of the OPR. More than the pin routing capability, I like being able to see what you are doing although I've long ago gotten used to having the cutting bit under the wood. I know I will have to go through a learning curve to get proficient with the OPR.

My question is "Which version of the OPR should I get?" Any thoughts, comments, and/or recommendations along with your rationale or experience are solicited. Thanks for your help.

Joe,
I have two of the old Standalone OPRs and they have served me well, but the table is far too high to use them with a under table router in my opinion. You will see the old Standalone OPRs for sale on occasion, but the price will be higher than you expect and they may need repair or even be un-repairable. Build or buy your under table system and take advantage of the new Shopsmith OPR with it's added capabilities. My experience with Shopsmith has been when they make a change it is for the better and I think the new OPR is the better choice as far as a OPR.
ldh

Joe,
I like your idea of using another Mark V to use the OPR on permanently. You might even find one real cheap that is incomplete. It woodkn't even matter if the headstock worked!

seajay62 wrote:I've read a lot of posts in the forum and I've watched Nick's presentations. I'm sold on the benefits of the OPR. More than the pin routing capability, I like being able to see what you are doing although I've long ago gotten used to having the cutting bit under the wood. I know I will have to go through a learning curve to get proficient with the OPR.

I like the benefits of the new system and the fact that I can opt to use it horizontally. I don't like the setup time and effort, although it's not much different than going into drill press mode, and would want to get an old MKV frame to have it permanently mounted as Nick has done. Obviously, there is an additional cost for that convience.

On the other hand, I can find and buy the old standalone unit and have most of the conviences in that unit, including an under table mount if I so desired. I have read many posts on the forum where those of you who have the standalone unit seem very pleased with it. This option should be less expensive but does not give me the horizontal capability and parts may become an issue since it is no longer supported by Shopsmith.

My question is "Which version of the OPR should I get?" Any thoughts, comments, and/or recommendations along with your rationale or experience are solicited. Thanks for your help.

Hi Joe! First of all, my best wishes for whatever choices you make, but here's my two cents - - There are quite a few small, but strategic parts to the arm assembly in both the Mark V mounted and the fixed overarms. For a simple design, it is surprising how the various screws and shafts can change the adjust-ability of the arm. Nothing real big, but a smoothly operating arm can be somewhat upset by a loose screw (or nut).

On an old used machine I would seriously wonder about the condition of the movable/sliding parts. There is the Depth Control Handle that can have a mis shaped (damaged) end. There is the cross arm that the control handle locks onto - If the arm itself gets loose because of the nut on the fixed end of the arm is loose, the router may dive into the workpiece. What is the condition of the knurled end of that shaft? Are there smoothed parts to the knurl? There is also the condition of the gib to consider. Is it straight (not bent) and are the small adjusting screws in good shape? There is also a consideration of the condition of the stainless shims that act as glides for the other three faces of the dovetail geared depth bar.

On my new OPR, I found a couple of small, but surprising rough spots. Nothing I couldn't fix, but I'm glad there weren't any more! If you feel confident you could find methods and the parts to fix what might be mis-shaped or broken in a used machine, then a used one may be the way to go.

Concerning horizontal operations - - I have found the horizontal set up of my OPR is one of the most important of my uses. In fact this morning, in about a half of an hour I was able to mill out four mortises in the ends of 26" rails for a shutter. For me I've now found it to be easier and a lot faster to make loose tenon joints than to make mortise and tenons. They both serve the same purpose just as well and the tenons always fit exactly.

If you end up with a new MKV mounted OPR - I recommend you get an adjustable stop collar. It is almost indispensable is adjusting vertical table movement.

I have two standalones. The base, legs, etc. -useless. Wobbly to the point where I tack welded it to take the wobble out. Both of mine have excellent critical working parts. As I have repeated ad nauseum, I use Jessem table, and I have shown the setup with upper and lower routers in place- the big Freud under-table - has a Router Raizer conversion and so adjusts from above. Fact is, I use a centering pin in the Freud as the guide pin for the upper. It won't go horizontal but I have not felt hampered by that. The whole unit stands too high but I recently got two Rockler steel router table stands and I am moving the OPR's to those, bringing the setup to a good working height.

I have two MK V's -one has the Incra Miter Express permanently on it. But, of course, the left end will run SPT's. The second is the one that sees more changeovers, especially the various disc sanding configurations and horizontal boring. I use the Horizontal quite a bit, doing my drilling of pen blanks and mill/squaring the ends. I also have a simple miter gauge and clamp set up for sawing pen blanks. So the saw setup comes into play on #2 but in a very simple configuration.

The only downside I see to the new model is changeover is lengthy and I suspect that my big under router would be more difficult to use. I wanted to try the new version, but SS doesn't sell the arm/clamp parts separately.mt

I am doing a second reply because the info here is quite valuable for intricate and delicate OPR use. Lee Valley sells 1/4" shank router bits down to 1/16"- maybe even 1/32nd-memory a bit foggy there. Anyway, these are stout and delicate at the same time. If not forced, they will not snap off. Having the cut on top makes it much more practical to use these tiny cutters.

The centering pin I use for a guide pin is conical pointed. With careful test cuts one can use the smaller and variable guide pin diameter offered by the cone to guide cuts to very precise dimensions. The benefit is that a precision border cut can be done with the tiny bits, using gradual depth of cut increases. Then, a 3/32nd bit can be used to expand the border. Once the cut can be expanded to 1/4" clearance, then the waste can be relatively quickly cleaned out ; and once confidence builds, depth of cut can be changed within the same pattern in a series, thus offering more than just a flat bottomed cut out shape. The process requires precise repeatable patterns and I have used little pieces of 1/16th inch stainless tig rod to keep re-positioning of the workpiece on different patterns identical(when the patterns were made they were stacked with double stick and all drilled at the same time). For the routing, the pins and the very thin double stick are still used to prevent shifting. That takes care of a significant problem when the piece and pattern are subjected to the side forces of the actual routing cuts.

These are just a few techniques I learned the hard way- especially by snapping off a few of the small bits- learned finesse. But, your own experimenting with this will amaze you with the variable depth cuts and blends that can be done.

In the relatively near future, I will do a tutorial. Right now, professional obligations are eating me up- feeling guilty spending this much time on this info. But, the OPR's do seem to fascinate and mystify many folks here. Throwing out food for thought.mike

First, I want to thank those who provided input to help me decide for the new or old standalone OPR. It was a very tough decision for me but I went the way of the used standalone unit.

I gave serious consideration to purchasing a new unit but ultimately, it was a decision greatly influenced by my personal economic situation. I was able to obtain an older standalone unit for less than half of the cost of a new unit which is currently on sale. For me, the short term economics became the deciding factor. I hope the unit is stable and doesn't need any real repairs for quite a while.

I am looking forward to getting the standalone unit and being able to use it. After I have a chance to set it up and use it, I'll provide feedback to let you know how it turned out for me. I heard the warnings about the standalone unit and will work through the issues. Hopefully, the problems will not be great and easy to overcome.

Again, your input was really appreciated.