Shopsmith Forums

My Fellow Geniuses,
Please read every word of this. I bought (2) Two cans of new JPW on eBay. I paid $100.00 plus free shipping. $50.00 bucks a can. I was planning on giving one can to a friend but he declined. I need to sell off a can so I can buy stock for turning. I came up with a Grand Idea. Please understand this is NOT about making money. To all you folks on the forum I make the following offer. Minimum Bid is $20.00 bucks plus a flat Shipping fee of $12.50. I think thats a really good deal looking at what others are selling it for on eBay. When I have multiple offers I am going to put all your names in a hat. Mix them up and then pull out (1) name. I will then pull out a second name as a back up. Sound good? If by chance I hit $50.00 bucks the over $50.00 bucks will be donated to MDA Portland. (Muscular Dystrophy Association). Yes! I will guarantee you an official MDA donation receipt. Yes I have photos but dont know how to post them up. If I can figure it out I will post them up. How does this sound so far? I also had the can sealed in a freezer Vacuum Seal bag. When I received the cans I opened the cans to inspect the wax. If you are the lucky winner the only marks on the wax is from my fingers. I hope this is ok with the forum? I just want to pass the wax onto someone who loves the stuff like I do. I have never used anything except JPW and I am to beat up to think about switching. So there you have it. Next Sunday June 25th is the cutoff. Good Luck!
Your Ever So Frendly Shopsmith Pal,
Thom Schuck
Portland, Oregon

I tried to post up more or different photos of the open can. It did not work. Let me know and I can send you additional photos. I hope I am in bounds with the Forum. I usually find myself outside the lines.
Regards,
Thom Schuck

I don't quite understand the infatuation with Johnson's wax. When I needed wax for my Shopsmith, I ordered a can from Shopsmith themselves. Shopsmith sent me a can of Trewax. That was over 30 years ago so I've forgotten what I paid for it, but I see Ace Hardware still sells it for $13. It is the only kind of wax I've used on my Shopsmith all these years so I can't compare Johnson's with Trewax, but I can't see that one is better than the other.
If people want to pay more for the name, so be it, but if you simply want to get the job done, you don't need Johnson's wax.

I agree with garys on this one... I got my Shopsmith this year, so JPW was already history when I started learning how to maintain it. I use a can of Minwax from the local Ace. Gets the job done.

Other than as a nostalgia thing I don't see any point in stressing using Johnson's vs any other brand name of paste wax.

I have a an 8 year old can of Minwax Paste Wax which came from Shopsmith with the help kit 515325 Shopsmith Help Kit and is still shown in the picture in the product catalog. Other than the slightly stronger smell of Johnson's, they are indistinguishable from one another functionally. I have both in the shop and grab whichever can is closest when I need it. If there is an advantage of one over another, it escapes me

At the moment, the Menards near me has 6, 1 pound cans of the Minwax in stock for 14.98 a can less the interminable Menards 11% rebate.

I don't understand the obsession with JPW I can not imagine why anyone would pay $50 for a can of JPW when Tree wax or Minwax is available for around $15. SS has not provided JPW with the machine for over 30 years. When I bought my machine new in 1994 it came with a can of Tree wax. I still have 1/2 can left and it works fine.

Does anyone remember when SS actually sold JPW if ever?

"Does anyone remember when SS actually sold JPW if ever?"


YES

I think it is more akin to the Coke vs. Pepsi or Bud vs. Coors or Mustang vs. Camaro, etc., etc. debates. It is ALL personal preference. Shopsmith got me onto JPW and I know there are equal products out there, but sometimes one wants to stick with what one knows and perhaps support brands one loves. That was the case for me. I reported previously on how I secured a new can of JPW online a while back. I paid a slightly elevated price for it because it was out of manufacture, but nothing like $50/can. Keep in mind the OP was sharing their experience and wanting to support a charity by auctioning a can off to anyone who wants it on this thread.

Picked up a couple cans right after it became scarce at hardware store. 50 bucks a can is quite a bit. Wonder why it’s discontinued?

It is probably just a simple problem of supply and demand. With Trewax, Minnwax, and Johnson's all making similar products, the demand just doesn't justify 3 different companies making this product. If you don't sell much of a product, it makes dollars sense to stop producing it.