Shopsmith Forums

A few days ago I posted a series of blog segments about my take on how get the most out of a small shop space and a small budget on Lumberjocks. Another of the members who is also on this forum thought I should post a link. It's basically a heads up to those who don't get the SS advantage.

shipwright wrote:A few days ago I posted a series of blog segments about my take on how get the most out of a small shop space and a small budget on Lumberjocks. Another of the members who is also on this forum thought I should post a link. It's basically a heads up to those who don't get the SS advantage.

Very impressive presentation. Even though I have been in the shop and was fully aware of its attributes and what some would consider its shortcomings, I am still impressed. You do much to bring credibility to a small shop and to the Shopsmith set of tools. What comes out of that shop is amazing and says much for you as a professional.

shipwright wrote:Another of the members who is also on this forum thought I should post a link.

Paul is too nice to name names but I'm fessin' up as guilty as charged!

It has been about a year and a half since I discovered Shopsmith quite by accident on the web by looking at one of Nick's Sawdust Sessions on Youtube (he was showing how to accomplish something I was trying to do; don't recall what anymore).

Intrigued, I began reading up about Shopsmith on the internet. I don't need to tell the members of this forum that there was a lot of negative information out there on the web about how terrible the Shopsmith was.

But what I noticed was that the negative information was largely anectdotal and (mostly) from people who either had never used or owned a Shopsmith but knew a friend who did. Moreover, other than the fact that the saw blade didn't tilt (gasp!) but, rather, the table did (double gasp!), none of this negativism was backed up by photographic proof of the deficiencies alleged.

Then I found this forum and read a ton of stuff from you folks who actually used this equipment day-to-day and in many instances literally for decades -- people who backed up their positive and enthusiastic endorsements of Shopsmith's capabilities with actual photographic proof of what it could do or be made to do.

Whom to believe? Ultimately I decided to give the Shopsmith a try and after a couple of months of looking I found a pretty good deal on Craigslist and bought my first Shopsmith (a 520 with bandsaw and dust collector). (I'm with Paul and the rest of you, Craigslist is a great place to find deals on tools).

It is a year later and, needless to say, I haven't regretted the decision to buy my used Shopsmith one day. In fact, I wish I had done it about 10 years earlier rather than throwing my money away on a then-new and top-of-the-line Craftsman contractor saw that was so utterly terrible that I had to invest hundreds of dollars more on upgrades (aftermarket rip fence, aftermarket miter guage, aftermarket blade, and PALs alignment doohickey) just to get that dang saw to do what it should have been able to do out of the box -- cut straight lines in moderately sized stock and sheet goods without burning and binding.

My used Shopsmith did that, and a lot more too, from the moment it came home, proving the naysayers wrong and the members of this forum right. I wouldn't try to argue that the Shopsmith is flawless or right for everyone or that there aren't other good tools to be had out there; but for a lot of people a Shopsmith should be at or near the top of the list of things to at least consider buying for the home workshop, rather than something to be causally dismissed out of ignoranance and for the wrong reasons.

Sorry to sermonize!

Also this is about the friendliest forum on the net...
We may disagree and an ocassional bark may occur but it chugs along nicely without some of the outright feuding that is so common on some sites.
We also don't have those folks here that think that they know it all when in fact you quickly discover that they know nothing... If you want a prime example of them join a forum for horses. Or any animal based forum for that matter.
Another nice discussion group (email list) I belong to is the Classic RV list. All helpful stuff almost no crap. Very friendly. Then again rebuilding an old RV will really teach you patience.


.

robinson46176 wrote:Also this is about the friendliest forum on the net...
We may disagree and an ocassional bark may occur but it chugs along nicely without some of the outright feuding that is so common on some sites.
We also don't have those folks here that think that they know it all when in fact you quickly discover that they know nothing... If you want a prime example of them join a forum for horses. Or any animal based forum for that matter.
Another nice discussion group (email list) I belong to is the Classic RV list. All helpful stuff almost no crap. Very friendly. Then again rebuilding an old RV will really teach you patience.


.

I attempted an RV rebuild. It was old Airstream and the walls became my Waterloo. I believe that there are no straight lines in an Airstream.

I did not gain much patience in that job but it sure made me humble.

[quote="algale"]Paul is too nice to name names but I'm fessin' up as guilty as charged!

It has been about a year and a half since I discovered Shopsmith quite by accident on the web by looking at one of Nick's Sawdust Sessions on Youtube (he was showing how to accomplish something I was trying to do]



Hal lelujah!
Hal lelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hal le E ee lujah!


That's the choir you were preaching to!:D

robinson46176 wrote:Also this is about the friendliest forum on the net...
.

Quite true.

The other unique thing is that on the other woodworking forums almost all the reviews are of brand new equipment recently acquired. Many times the review reads like this (only a slight exaggeration): "I just got my new Whatchamacallit delivered yesterday and I am giving it five out of five stars! As soon as I got it I ran down to the shop and set it up and made 10 test cuts with it and I ran back upstairs to my computer (I'm still out of breath!) to tell all my friends that my new Whatchamacallit was perfect out of the box, is built like a tank, will never break down and, even though I've never had one of these before, it does what it does better than any other of its kind -- including that one made by that other company that I don't own but was seriously thinking about buying, but thank goodness I bought this one instead because now I can see the one I bought is the best based on 24 hours of usage! I may not be able to afford to send my kids to college now, but it was totally worth it!"

In contrast, most of the comments here are from owners who have owned and used the same machine for years if not decades. When you are still singing the praises in 2012 of a machine you bought in 1986, or 1976 or 1966 or 1956, I'm going to listen a little more carefully to what you are saying about it.

Algale, I agree completely. Reviews of machines have become so repetitive. You just can't trust the average review. Of course, everyone mentions Norm as a reference, but of course that has it's dangers. He had sponsors, every machine out there and tons of space. Almost comical how important people think others reviews are without any trace of their experience level. I participate on a machinist forum as well. Don't say much but read a lot. Reviews there tend to be from far more experienced people than your average woodworker.
I sell reconditioned hand planes. Tons of time goes into them for very little reward. I even train people when they come to buy them. All for very little profit. But every once in a while I can tell something aired on some show about a technique and then the experts show up. They want a #6 for a shooting board. I say "really, you want a shooting board for what? What are you going to use it for?" knowing full well, as I give them a few minutes on the bench that they'd be better off simply putting a fine blade on their miter saw. I still sell it to them though.

algale wrote:Quite true.

The other unique thing is that on the other woodworking forums almost all the reviews are of brand new equipment recently acquired. Many times the review reads like this (only a slight exaggeration): "I just got my new Whatchamacallit delivered yesterday and I am giving it five out of five stars! As soon as I got it I ran down to the shop and set it up and made 10 test cuts with it and I ran back upstairs to my computer (I'm still out of breath!) to tell all my friends that my new Whatchamacallit was perfect out of the box, is built like a tank, will never break down and, even though I've never had one of these before, it does what it does better than any other of its kind -- including that one made by that other company that I don't own but was seriously thinking about buying, but thank goodness I bought this one instead because now I can see the one I bought is the best based on 24 hours of usage! I may not be able to afford to send my kids to college now, but it was totally worth it!"

In contrast, most of the comments here are from owners who have owned and used the same machine for years if not decades. When you are still singing the praises in 2012 of a machine you bought in 1986, or 1976 or 1966 or 1956, I'm going to listen a little more carefully to what you are saying about it.

That's the funniest thing I've heard this week:D