Shopsmith Forums

Hi this is kind of a strange question, but, I recently bought a total shop all in one but it's missing the drum sander, for 50 dollars and it works great. I got it from the son of the original buyer, which by chance the grandson knows more than the dad, are there any people still using these tools and are there any forums to help with diagnostics besides the owners manuals and parts manuals I recieved with the unit itself?

dave6390 wrote:Hi this is kind of a strange question, but, I recently bought a total shop all in one but it's missing the drum sander, for 50 dollars and it works great. I got it from the son of the original buyer, which by chance the grandson knows more than the dad, are there any people still using these tools and are there any forums to help with diagnostics besides the owners manuals and parts manuals I recieved with the unit itself?

I have added the Shopsmith clones (Total Shop, Multi Craft, etc.) to equipment that I try to repair and rebuild. I have a few clones for parts but had to convert/machine Shopsmith parts to fit several TS headstocks. The Speed Control Assembly failures are what I am seeing from clone customers. Contact me off-line with any questions, wants or needs and I will respond. Thanks.

Dave

TotalShop was headquartered in Greenville SC. I bought one of their units new in about 1988 or 89. Although it has been in storage since July it has served me well and was used a lot. I also still have one of their dust collectors in service. All of the TotalShop products were imported . Unfortunately the company folded several years ago and new parts are non existent.

You can bet your bootie that many of us love and use our Shopsmiths, the original and longest lasting to date. I now have two and I use them often as I can. Use one with two band saws and sometimes change out one for a jointer. Have seen advertisements for the other machines listed which I always considered as copies. Just my 2 cents worth.

Dave - I recently retired and my wife and son found a Total Shop for me to bring back to life. It was in pieces and the owner forgot how to put things together. Right now I have a mitre guide bar I ordered from Shop Smith. It seems to be too wide. The Total Shop has a cast iron table and Shop Smith I hear is aluminum. Any ideas of where I could get the right size guide? I understand after the leagal dust cleared Shop Smith took all of the Total Shop invetory.
rex

rexmaddy wrote:Dave - I recently retired and my wife and son found a Total Shop for me to bring back to life. It was in pieces and the owner forgot how to put things together. Right now I have a mitre guide bar I ordered from Shop Smith. It seems to be too wide. The Total Shop has a cast iron table and Shop Smith I hear is aluminum. Any ideas of where I could get the right size guide? I understand after the leagal dust cleared Shop Smith took all of the Total Shop invetory.
rex

A ss bar is too WIDE?

I think Bill Mayo would be the main man to contact as he might have exactly what you need.

rexmaddy wrote:Dave - I recently retired and my wife and son found a Total Shop for me to bring back to life. It was in pieces and the owner forgot how to put things together. Right now I have a mitre guide bar I ordered from Shop Smith. It seems to be too wide. The Total Shop has a cast iron table and Shop Smith I hear is aluminum. Any ideas of where I could get the right size guide? I understand after the leagal dust cleared Shop Smith took all of the Total Shop invetory.
rex

Shopsmith did not take any of the Total Shop inventory. The Total Shop used a different size for all their hard measurements like way and bench tubes, quill housing, idler shaft and bearings so there is no parts interchangeability between the Total Shop and Shopsmith headstocks. The Total Shop headstock is about an 1" longer than the Shopsmith headstock making all the internal parts longer. All the table legs ODs and SPTs holes are the same size so any Shopsmith SPT will fit on the Total Shop. The steel Total Shop main table with extensions and trunnion will fit in the Shopsmith carriage.

billmayo wrote:

dave6390 wrote:Hi this is kind of a strange question, but, I recently bought a total shop all in one but it's missing the drum sander, for 50 dollars and it works great. I got it from the son of the original buyer, which by chance the grandson knows more than the dad, are there any people still using these tools and are there any forums to help with diagnostics besides the owners manuals and parts manuals I recieved with the unit itself?

I have added the Shopsmith clones (Total Shop, Multi Craft, etc.) to equipment that I try to repair and rebuild. I have a few clones for parts but had to convert/machine Shopsmith parts to fit several TS headstocks. The Speed Control Assembly failures are what I am seeing from clone customers. Contact me off-line with any questions, wants or needs and I will respond. Thanks.

I bought a TS but I want to convert it to the SS is that possible?

Yes, the Shopsmith headstock will fit on the smaller Total Shop tubes and will lock down OK. Alignment is the same as you do for the Shopsmith. I have replace at least 6 Total Shop headstocks with Shopsmith headstock and had no negative feedback from the owners. No Shopsmith parts will fit or work in the Total Shop headstock other than the belts. The Total Shop motor has a 56 base so can be used to power other tools. I was not able to reverse the Total Shop motor.

I have used Shopsmith parts to repair and rebuild the Total Shop SPTs. The Total Shop has a nice 6" joiner.