Shopsmith Forums

Thanks and sorry about that. I’ll add those links now. There are actually two videos on that topic. Scott

thedovetailjoint wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 10:58 pm It turns out that Shopsmith beat this conical disc to market by roughly 55 years when they introduced their original conical sanding disc. In this video, we'll dig into a little bit of history and put the current Shopsmith conical sanding disc to the test on some gnarly wood edges.

Very interesting to see this video. I never focused on how the conical disk worked but correctly assumed it was similar to the old trick of using the regular sanding disk to edge boards. A couple of things in this video stood out, the center of conical disk is positioned below the table and can be used in the table saw slot, and the original Model 10 version was two-sided, flat on the front and conical on the back. So I ask, "why isn't a two sided conical/flat disk made now?". That is outside the scope of the video I suppose but it was enlightening to see and I think Shopsmith will get an order from me soon. I think I'd need at least 2 in different grits to avoid griping about the paper changes.

Ed, good question. There are actually two double-sided conical discs made today. One from Woodworker’s Supply under their WoodTek brand and is flat on one face in tapered on the other. It is quite reasonably priced around $40 but would have to be mounted on a Molder/Dado arbor to work on Shopsmith. The other has two tapered faces and is sold by a gentleman on YouTube named Mike Farrington. I actually linked to his webpage in my video description. His is far more expensive and would also need to be mounted on an arbor. It’s an interesting idea though to be able to have two different grits installed on one disc. Both of these discs are much thinner than the Shopsmith version, which has a wide rolled edge. That would make them better suited for passing through the saw table slot. Scott

Scott, is the Shopsmith conical sanding disk molded plastic, or stamped steel? Looks like plastic from my house.

Chad wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:06 pm Scott, is the Shopsmith conical sanding disk molded plastic, or stamped steel? Looks like plastic from my house.

Steel. How it's formed, I couldn't tell you.

algale wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:16 pm

Chad wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:06 pm Scott, is the Shopsmith conical sanding disk molded plastic, or stamped steel? Looks like plastic from my house.

Steel. How it's formed, I couldn't tell you.

Yes, and very heavy gauge. About as thick as the flat disk.

Formed with a hydraulic press I would guess. Kerchunk

Thanks, guys.

The WoodTek version has a much lower price than Shopsmith's. However, you lose some effective sanding area. The disc is only 10" diameter with a 3-1/2" diameter hole leaving a sanding zone 3-1/4" high as compared to 4" with the Shopsmith disk. The effective sanding area is almost one dimensional, a thin vertical line, so that sanding height is main measurement of these disks. The WoodTek also has a 3° taper as opposed to 4° for Shopsmith (and 2° for the Mike Harrington disk). The lower angles thicken that line of effective sanding area and slightly lower the angle the piece is introduced to the sanding zone, but those factors may not produce any noticeable difference in results.

My Growth Rings with Scott Markwood

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/y50vprW9eH8

This past weekend we introduced the Shopsmith Joint/Planer Knife Sharpening Jig for use with the conical disc sander and this video addresses the Questions, Comments, and cheapshots from that video.

If you missed it you can catch it here: https://youtu.be/gqegXQGNeqE

Also, here's the video on how to modify stock abrasive discs for use on the Shopsmith conical sanding disc might come in handy: https://youtu.be/KAuJQSs1U8E

I’ve done two videos on installing and aligning The Shopsmith 4” jointer knives: https://youtu.be/TeEXQ5tQj-M & https://youtu.be/G3FOXuctD2M which covers the use of an inexpensive ($20) digital gauge.

My Growth Rings with Scott Markwood

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/mXMhBdZtaQo

Yes, I know that this is a LONG video, but trust me, even if you need to speed this up to fit it into your day (You know you can do that with Youtube videos, right?) you'll thank me for it later. Jim is one of my favorite people on the planet and knows more about Shopsmith tools and production than anyone I have met. There's more to come, and things really get interesting, so be sure to subscribe and check back.

WELCOME New MGR Chairman of the Board member David Carpenter! I realized that you had become a Chairman only after I edited this video and began the upload, so I apologize for leaving you off the end credits!

A few of the videos we reference in this one:
Here's Jim's shop tour with Nick Engler: https://youtu.be/O8-fU850MZg
Here's the H. Gerster & Son's video: https://youtu.be/5ownz8FSapo and there's LOTS more on their channel.

Please consider joining the 100+ other channel members in supporting the channel and get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGsm...