Shopsmith

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

My son and I have been turning for about a year on a Shop Fox mini lathe. It has served us well for turning pens, bottle stoppers and the like, but My son wants to start turning bowls. I have quickly found that an adequate full size lathe can cost 500-600 dollars, a good one 2K, and the best are 5K plus. I'm paying $7,800.00 a year for his high school tuition, so funds are a bit tight in our house. I have seen the Central Machinery 34706 at Harbor Freight, and it seems like a clone of the Jet 1236 for half the money. What's the concensus on this product?

Also, I have been lookig at Shopsmith tools on ebay, and I'm wondering what the quality of this tool is for turning?

I appreciate all of your input. have a great day!!!

Thanks,
Dan Heine

[Andy Hoyt]

Daniel - Welcome to SMC - it's a great place to hang out while ignoring responsibilities!

If I may, you might find better values on larger machines if you were willing to consider a used one. And that said, if we knew where you are located someone could possibly point you towards such a lathe.

I turned on a Shopsmith once. And once was enough.

[Rich Stewart]

The only thing I have ever heard about a shopsmith is DO NOT GET IT!! No explanations but very emphatic DO NOT GET IT!! New, used, free or otherwise. Anybody know what it is with this machine that gets that sort of reaction when mentioned? Sounds like a good idea in theory.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have heard the same thing as the above two comments. When I was looking for a lathe at the time I was told NO SHOPSMITH!!! Don't know why but if a dozen people tell me I steer clear. I have heard a lot of good comments on the 34706 and think it would be good starter lathe especially if money is tight. I know 2 people who have that lathe and are extremely happy with it for the money. Just my $1.298.

[John Miliunas]

Hi Daniel. Welcome to the Creek. While Andy is ignoring his own responsibilities, he also failed to mention one of our unwritten rules here at SMC: We love...No...We require pics!!! Many, many pics to include accomplishments, tools, special occasions, pets, family, vacations, closeups of charge cards, blank checks,...Oh..Just about anything! :D

As for your lathe decision, Andy does bring up a great option. If you can, seek out a used one, as it will usually give you the most bang for your buck. :) Otherwise, that HF lathe you mention would probably do you pretty well, as long as you still keep in mind that it's pretty much a "starter" lathe. I've got a similar one (different brand) and I know a lot of folks who have started (or still use) on that lathe. A few things to pay attention to with it: Be sure to build a platform under the bed and weigh it down well with sandbags or similar. I have close to 200# on mine! :rolleyes: Also, when starting on larger items (bowls, etc...), try to be sure you get your blanks rounded as well as you can on a bandsaw (or similar) and center them really well on the face plate. It's only a small motor on those things and the "rounder" you start with, the less chance for stalling the motor. BTDT, didn't get the T-shirt! :D Lastly, if you have no choice but to get the HF one, a little patience can probably score you that unit for a pretty substantial savings, as they go on "sale" quite often.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Again, welcome! Come often, stay long!:) :cool:

[Rob Nolan]

Daniel,

I own a shopsmith and I'm currently replacing it with single machines. It's a good tool to start out with if you have nothing like I had. I bought it used for real cheap. Soon enough I got real tired of change overs and it did have it's accuacy problems. Other quirks like changing the depth of cut on the table saw required the table to be adjusted up and down and that was kind of a pain too.

Anyway ... I'm not a turner but I have used the lathe and it's ok for the once a year turning i'll do but I wouldn't want to use it often for turning. The way it's setup your work is way to low ... about belt height .. gives me a back ache. Also the slowest speed it will do is 700 rpms (i think) unless you buy the speed converter for it. Again I'm not a turner but I'd think you'd want slower speeds at times.

If I were you I wouldn't buy a shopsmith to use as a lathe. Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Sorry Daniel didn't realize that was your first post. Welcome to SMC. Come early and stay late. Lots of good folks here and lots of knowledge.

[Keith Burns]

Welcome to the dark side Daniel. If you are patient you can pick up a good lathe used at a good price. Check ebay, papers, schools etc. Like Andy (the responsibility schucker) said if you post your location someone here might be able to help.

[Bob Noles]

Welcome to the crazy farm Daniel.

[Michael Stafford]

I have owned three Shopsmiths over the last 30+ years. My first was a hand-me-down 10-ER that my FIL gave me and it was my first shop tool except for portable drills, saws and such. It had an 8 inch blade and had exposed belts and pulleys for speed changes and was mounted on a wooden table with casters. I used it for a number of years. In the early 70's I bought a used Shopsmith Mark V. It had more horsepower, a larger table, was mounted on a metal stand with wheels. I used it for more than 20 years. Countless wooden toys, small boxes, a few tables and several end tables came off of that machine. The last Shopsmith I bought about 10 years ago is the one I currently have, a Shopsmith Mark V 500 with a larger table still, better fence, more horsepower and a lot of new features at least to me. I purchased it used as well and it came with a 4" jointer, jig saw, mortising attachment, bandsaw, 6 X 48 inch sander on a power stand. I sold off my old Shopsmith, the bandsaw and jigsaw for more than I purchased the 500 for. I used it for years as my primary woodworking tool. I had bought a bandsaw in the mid-70's and didn't need the Shopsmith version.

The Shopsmith was my first lathe, still serves as my disc sander, drill press, horizontal boring machine, mortiser, light shaper/router, drum sander and much more. I still use the 4" jointer and 6X48 sander on the power stand. I have a full sized cabinet saw now, a router table, a lathe, and several other stationary machines. But the Shopsmith is still an integral part of my shop. You can look down your nose all you want at the humble Shopsmith but it serves my purposes and I don't need $25K worth of tools to do what I do. It works quite well if you keep it aligned and use it for smaller projects.

As a lathe, it only has a 5/8" spindle, a poor tool rest system, and is short for people of my height (6'3"). But it will turn perfectly satisfactory spindles and bowls within reason. The variable speed drive is excellent. In the proper hands it will do great work. Today they are very expensive and it is probably cost effective to buy a combination of bench top and stationary tools to do the same jobs for less money. However if you are new to woodworking and can find a used Shopsmith in good condition you can do woodworking on them despite all the negative comments voiced earlier. I see lots of folks with shops full of tools who can't saw a board straight. It is not the tool that is important, it is the craftsman.

[George Troy Hurlburt]

I have A Shopsmith I brought it in 1980. I used it for a lathe and saw. Since the last 20 years It is used for a bandsaw, drill press, belt sander, disc sander, drum sander, I also can hook it up to a carving machine I have. In my opinion the Shopsmith even as a lathe would beat any low price import machine out there. There is many used ones on the market, If I had room for it I would buy one. These machines and the parts for it will be still out after the low priced imports are broke in my opinion again. Yahoo has a Shopsmith group with 3,847 members ask them what they think about the machine as a lathe, etc.

Moderator removed direct link to another public forum - TOS Violation

[Kurt Forbes]

The Harbor Freight lathe is very decent for the money. catch it on sale for $169 to $189 and look for coupons. I walked out the door for less than $160 after the coupon. My son and I have been pretty happy with it.
By all means stick to pretty well ballanced blanks on it though. Out of round large chunks of wood are scary and the motor is placed darned inconviently on it.

[Mike Ramsey]

HF was my first lathe also, paid 179.00 for it. It is quitely sitting
in the corner behaving itself at the moment.. :D until I convert it
to something else. If you get the HF take the drive belt off the
Reeves drive pulley and take it to the auto store and have them
match it because that will be the first thing to go...Over all
it is good for a first lathe if funds are an issue.

[Bill Stevener]

Hello,


Also, I have been lookig at Shopsmith tools on (the unmentionable chanel) edit by WHS, and I'm wondering what the quality of this tool is for turning?

I appreciate all of your input. have a great day!!!

Thanks,
Dan Heine

Hi Daniel, Welcome to the Creek, lots of great folks, and the encyclopedia of wood turning.

As several have noted there feelings about the Shop-smith equipment, I can not give my hands on evaluation of one. However I will note this, at the age of 4-5 years old I was introduced to wood turning, by standing for hours on end watching my Grandfather turn forms on one. He produced some outstanding turnings and everyone in the family got something, as well as, all of his friends. As I remember he had a very limited area to work in, no more than a back closet of sorts. I think he was about 42-43 years of age at the time. He worked with it up until his passing at 85.

Cant say I really comprehended anything at that young age, just watching was enough of an inspiration to get me started. Seems as though the old Shop-smith served him quite well.

Now for your question, Shop-smith tools. Never tried any, they may well be equal to Craftsman, or I would think a tad better. They might be made with hss today. If they are at a good price, I would think they would be suitable for starting out.

Ya know, two nails, one each driven in opposing fence posts, a dog power, with a good stout dog and a long flat belt makes a good lathe, if one knows how to use it.

Happy turning, now back to the "IT"

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[Daniel Heine]

How's this for a starter picture? This is a tissue box cover I craved for my mother-in-law for Christmas this year.

Thank you for all of the great advice.

Thanks,
Dan Heine

[Bob Noles]

Daniel,

That is a great looking box. I like both the detail and the design.

Thanks for sharing.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I have a ShopSmith and find it to be an adequate lathe. Yes, there are lathes of higher quality. I use mine as a lathe infrequently and have had no problems with it. I also use it as a drill press and disk sander. I find the drill press to be its best use. I never use it as a table saw, it's weakest suit IMHO.

[Jim Davenport]

I thought I'd add my two cents. When I was a kid in the fifties, I learned power tool woodworking on a shopsmith that my neighbor had. When I took woodshop in school, I already had a foundation in the basics.
I went in the Navy for twenty years in 1963. In about 1972 when the shopsmith was reintroduced, I bought one. It worked great for me, because it didn't take up much room, and was was easy to ship the many times I was transfered. After I retired in 1983, and life became more stable, I upgraded to individual tools. I still have that shopsmith. I use it to run a Belt/disc sander. It makes a great horizontal boring machine.
But back to the main theme of this thread. I'm not a dedicated turner by any means. I've made a few bowls, a couple of lamps and a bunch of spindles. I think the shopsmith is a satisfactory lathe. I think it's main drawback is it's mininum speed 540 RPM for large bowls etc. I think I'm happier with mine, than I would be with a HF, or grizz lathe. I looked at the Hf at their store, and it seemed to be roughly finished, and I've read a lot of actual problems with it. One of these days I'm going to get a good lathe, after seeing all the really beautiful work done by the "inmates" here., I'm kinda getting an itch to do some more lathe work. I'll just stumble by on my old shopsmith.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Nice starter pic, Daniel. Excellent work. Musta had a devil of a time doing that on the lathe. ;)

(Welcome to the Creek, BTW.)

- Vaughn

[Corey Hallagan]

Welcome Daniel. The box is very nice. When I first got into wood working I would have loved to find a used Shopsmith. Never could find one, knew several guys that owned them though and loved them. When I was a kid, I used to love watching the Shopsmith Infomercials and a few years down the road they started doing demos in the malls. I would go and spend several hours watching but I couldn't afford one. Anyway, I know guys that swear by there Shopsmiths. I used one several times and I liked it. None of the guys I knew were turners though. They made mostly small furniture projects.

Corey

[John Hart]

Welcome Dan! I hope you and your son have a great adventure and I look forward to seeing the results of all your fun.:)
As far as lathe choices go....Can't help ya. I don't know anything.:o