bobh@teklabs.UUCP (Bob Hubbard) (07/06/85)
Yes fritz, the general impression WOULD be that a combination tool should be a compromise but as I stated, I am still convinced after several years that Shopsmith is of higher overall quality and accuracy than the other brands I mentioned. An important point for me is that after heavy use the accuracy of cuts and general alignment of the parts is excellent. Cheap workmanship drives me nuts! I agree that the Shopsmith accessories run 10-15% high but I have found the quality at least matches that. I dont give a damn that Sears will replace a cheap piece of ----! An initial investment of $900+ is high but at least you get it over with. I'll disintegrate before it does. Worth consideration at least.
christensen@apollo.uucp (Wendy Christensen) (07/22/85)
I saw part of an exchange about Shopsmith, whether a combination tool is a compromise, etc. My father was an engineer by profession, a excellent woodworker by avocation, and a perfectionist by temperament. He bought his Shopsmith in the early sixties (might have been late fifties - I remember it as always being in his shop). He used it heavily, never had any trouble with it, and recommended Shopsmith to anyone who would listen. I started with woodworking by using the jigsaw when I was about eight or nine years old. My younger brother, who is a carpenter by trade, inherited the machine, and uses it daily to this day. He has never had any problems with it either, and, like my father, he is something of a perfectionist. I recently bought my own Mark V (with the bandsaw) and am eagerly waiting for it to be delivered. I never heard anyone say anything negative about Shopsmith, other than quibblings about accessory prices and such. As far as I am concerned, the few extra dollars are more than worth it. There is nothing more depressing than poor-quality tools. As far as a combination tool being a compromise, I sometimes think that this is an opinion that tends to come from the "golden-ear" snobs (to use a phrase from net.audio) for whom nothing is quite good enough, ESPECIALLY if it is used and appreciated by anyone else. w. christensen
ell@linus.UUCP (Edward L. Lafferty) (08/03/85)
In article <27e04fd2.a51@apollo.uucp> christensen@apollo.uucp (Wendy Christensen) writes: > >I never heard anyone say anything negative about Shopsmith, other than >quibblings about accessory prices and such. Just don't try to crosscut a long (6' or greater) with it. Since it is a tilting table (rather than a tilt arbor) mechanism you will foul the board on the ways (the rods that the saw/drill carriage ride). There are other difficulties with tilt table saws having to do with holding the material firmly on certain difficult cuts, too. I find that a radial arm saw is very nice for x-cutting and a table saw (tilt arbor) is nice for ripping. ....but tastes differ. Ed Lafferty MITRE
toma@tekchips.UUCP (Tom Almy) (08/08/85)
I bought my Shopsmith about a year ago, and wished I bought it years ago! Let's face it, it appears to be awfully expensive, but its utility and quality more than make up for it. I don't have any add-on tools, but I am planning to buy the band saw sometime within the next year. I also own a Craftsman radial arm saw and jig saw (the latter about 30 years old). Also a wide variety of hand tools, powered and not. Here are my comments about the different functions: General--Speed control is a big win. Sturdy and machined well, but I wish the table was cast iron instead of aluminum. Some operations need extra bracing for accuracy, the experts at the store have lots of tips, but no mention of this is made in the manuals. Speaking of which, if you are in an area with a factory store, the support is great (a big selling point!). They have free short classes as well as reasonable cost hands-on 1 3 or 4 day classes. Excellent set of manuals come with the machine--includes a basic course on using the Shopsmith. They don't want you to fail -- their customers are their best salespeople! Table Saw-- I feel that this is its weakest function. The table is really too small for crosscutting, and the tilting table makes beveling real tough. But then I use my radial arm saw for that, and it peforms the job better than a table saw would anyway (no flames, please!). If I didn't have a radial arm saw, I might have thought more about the wisdom of a Shopsmith. Adjusting the cutting depth by moving the table up and down is a disadvantage because any extension table(s) (btw, I bought an additional one) or rollers must be readjusted as well. On the plus side, its footprint is smaller than any **good** table saw (with extensions) and it does a fine job of cutting sheets of plywood. With a 5/8" arbor you can use standard (non-Shopsmith) blades and accessories. I have made my own table inserts. Sander-- Nice big sanding disk. Very flexible since you can use just about any table-saw-like setup. Can mount a disk on each side (different grits). Lathe-- Never used a lathe before; I even took their one day class on how to turn wood. Great fun. Can't compare with other's except it does seem to have greater capacity (esp. for bowls). I think tool rest could be easier to adjust and wider as well. Drill Press-- Large capacity. Uses the table saw's table so you can tilt it and use the mitre gauge and rip fence to allign the work. Disadvantage is that it is the most radical change of the five so takes longest set-up time (and I tend to use this alot). Horizontal boring machine-- Some may not count this as an extra tool since it is the drill press lying horizontally with the table horizontal! But boy is it a big win for me. Great for drilling dowel holes for gluing up table tops. I do alot of this (I am making some solid wood furniture), and this function was worth the cost of the machine for me. Conclusion -- Unless you have both lots of money (to buy professional quality stationary tools) and lots of space, BUY IT! (You also get a 30 day trial period--return it if you don't like it).
toma@tekchips.UUCP (Tom Almy) (08/08/85)
An additional note. I talked to a fellow who owned a Mark VII. This machine was made for a period of a year or two in the late 1950's. The Shopsmith info shows a picture of it and mentions that it had a built-in shop vac. Actually it had other clever inovations: 1. The "V" means 5-in-1, "VII" means 7-in-1. What is the seventh? It is a shaper. Aha, you say, there is already a shaper attachment. But the Mark VII was capable of tilting up at either end! This way the motor can be under the table as well as the (Shopsmith) method of above the table! Much better for router/shaper operations! 2. The VII's motor was reversible! Needed for shaper, but also nice for final sanding of wood turnings.