Shop Fox Machinery. Positive or negative experiences appreciated.

[Kevin Blunt]

Hello,

After reading the post by John below and his new 8" jointer (w1741) from shop fox it has prompted me to post this.

I was actually about to put a deposit on the same jointer yesterday but decided that since I could not here it running I wanted to do a bit of research first. The second thing that i am sort of mildly hesitant about is that I am located in Canada and am not sure what kind of service (if I ever needed it for warranty etc.) would I get from Shop Fox. I have the Shop Fox w1741 all ligned up for a great price but the salesman will only hold that price until Monday morning.

So my real question is this. What is your opinion Shop Fox equipment? I am very interested to here from anyone who has any sort of opinion of their machinery lineup. I have truly never done that much research on them because until now I never was able to purchase them.

Do they have a good parts and service Dept?

Any opinions are truly appreciated and thank you very much for your help. Being up here in Canada, I am relying on my American friends to help me out.

Kevin

[Jim Fox]

Well, I have been looking at the Shopfox myself because it is local. I thought about the powermatic because I can get that local too, but it doesn't appear to be onsale anymore at Woodcraft (thought it was). I thought about the Yorkcraft too, but that would have to be delivered.

I have a both a Shopfox Cabinet Saw and 2hp Dust Collector. I like the fit and finish of them both. Both strong performers. Hence my thoughts on getting the Shopfox Jointer aswell.

[Bart Leetch]

I wouldn't hesitate for a minute. The same people that make Grizzly make Shop Fox. I have a Shop Fox Mortiser & a number of Grizzly tools & they all work great. I know a number of people with Shop Fox tools that are very satisfied.

[Steven J Corpstein]

I've seen comments from new owners about the motor shutter on shutdown and going to link belts to fix, tightening the belts more, caster wheel tilted incorrectly and getting a different one, final grinding passes not cleaning up the casting, etc..

Maybe I'm not the norm, but when I purchase a new machine I expect it to work out of the box and not have to debug it for the manufacturer regardless of price, and then praise how well their Customer service took care of the problem. My idea of a good product is to NEVER have to call CS.

I just recently purchased a Steel City 15" planer and it was perfect out of the crate. Table was less then .001 of being parallel to the cutter head, knives were within .001 across the 15", motor smooth and quiet, feed rollers adjusted correctly and evenly. Those things should be. Just my $0.02 worth.

[William Addison]

I have the 8" jointer, 3hp shaper, and 20" planer and have a friend who has the same. We have had them for several years with almost no problems. Out of the box, one of the jointers fence wasn't at quite 90 drgrees to the table and aside from that they were as they should have been.

The only problem was that the motor on the planer went out after about an hour of use. I called tech support and three days later had a new 90 pound motor on my front steps.

I think they're as good a value as you will find, both my friend and I are satisfied.

[Jim DeLaney]

I've had the Shop Fox table saw for about five years now, and really like it. Can't speak for parts or repairs, because I've never needed any.

I also have the SF radial drill press, which I also like a lot. It has more flex in the head - due solely to the radial feature - than my Powermatic, but still is very solidly made, and has proven quite useful and reliable. Again, no repairs or parts required yet.

Other than those, I also have several of the SF mobile bases, and a 120 volt SF remote control for a DC.

So far, I've been completely satisfied with all my Shop Fox equipment.

[joseph j shields]

I have the Shop Fox 8" jointer & it needed about 1 hour to tune it up.

I just wanted to make sure it was dialed in.

No problems... but it has the infamous "belt-slap"... no big deal for me.

The Shop Fox also comes with a 2year warranty... twice what Grizzly offers.

-jj

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Steven, I agree on your position however I think that some of the belt issues are related to the removal of the motor from the shipping mounts and placement of the motor on the motor mounts. Just like everything else it needs to be aligned properly. I personally am going to put a link belt on my SF W1741 that I have had for about a year to see if I can get rid of the shudder, though it has had absolutely zero impact on the performance of the unit. However, comparing a $1,499 Steel City 8" jointer to a $650 Shop Fox 8" jointer just seems a little off. If you are willing to put a link belt on the SF instead of the supplied belt you can get a jointer that has a superior magnetic switch, a 3hp motor v. a 2hp motor AND a 4 cutter head versus a 3 cutter head.

[Kevin Blunt]

Gotta say that I am thinking the same way as Jeffrey here.

I just can't understand why there is such a cost difference between the Two. That being Steel City vs. Shop Fox vs. Delta.

That being said, I have only heard good things about the Steel City Lineup and I am happy that The former Delta staff may put a good sized dent in B&D and their empire but I still just don't see the difference that justifies that kind of money differential. One thing that may cause this is that I believe the Steel City "dj20" is manufactured in Brazil.

[Mike Hedges]

I have a shop fox spindle sander and have been well pleased ---excellent machine. Mike

[Jim Holman]

I have the moulder. Great machine, I have successfully cut 6" crown in one pass. Love it.

[Bart Leetch]

I've seen comments from new owners about the motor shutter on shutdown and going to link belts to fix, tightening the belts more, caster wheel tilted incorrectly and getting a different one, final grinding passes not cleaning up the casting, etc..

Maybe I'm not the norm, but when I purchase a new machine I expect it to work out of the box and not have to debug it for the manufacturer regardless of price, and then praise how well their Customer service took care of the problem. My idea of a good product is to NEVER have to call CS.

I just recently purchased a Steel City 15" planer and it was perfect out of the crate. Table was less then .001 of being parallel to the cutter head, knives were within .001 across the 15", motor smooth and quiet, feed rollers adjusted correctly and evenly. Those things should be. Just my $0.02 worth.

If you think you won't find these same problems with other manufactures your sadly mistaken. It just depends on who, what, where ,when, how & why. So do your research make your decision & roll the dice spend your money & hope for the best. Thems the facts Jack.

[Kevin Blunt]

Thanks for the replies so Far guys.

Kevin

[Jake Helmboldt]

I have the SF 1729 19" bandsaw and it has been a solid performer. The one thing I have not figured out is why the blade wants to move front to rear slightly (i.e. looking at the blade profile it moves in and out of the kerf, but not by a huge amount). It doesn't seem to really impact the cut quality, and I'm guessing it is due to the tire, perhaps on the upper wheel. I may try to true the tire as Mark Duginske describes in his book. The wheels themselves are true, radially and laterally.

I just bought the 1741 planer, and it is great for the money. As for quality; I have looked at two DJ20s and they were virtually identical and no better in terms of fit and finish. I will say that the finish on the Chinese made SF jointer is not quite as good as that on the Taiwanese SF bandsaw. Not bad, but just not quite as "crisp". The fence has one small spot where it is off by about 0.003" over a few inches. Otherwise it is flat. I ran a piece of birds eye maple across it yesterday and there was virtually no tearout.

The belt slap is a red herring. It slaps on startup due to the load of a 3hp motor coming to life instantly and the belt expands and whacks the shroud. I have a similar thing on my PM tablesaw. On shutdown it gets a harmonic shudder for 1-2 seconds and then is gone. There is minimal vibration when running and would be even less with a better belt.

NOTE: If you are thinking about putting a link belt on the 1741 (and probably a DJ20) there are a couple problems you will run into. I just tried doing so yesterday.

1. Link belts sit higher in the groove of the sheave so there is not enough clearance between the belt housing/guard (it will rub).
2. The fence carriage mount has two bolt holes that are not symetrical (one is closer to the belt). The washer on this bolt must be ground down so that the belt doesn't rub against it.

Even witht the link belt there is still a bit of slap and shudder, but it does run smoother. A higher quality v-belt might be a better solution since it will fit without mods to the belt shroud.

I have to echo the comment regarding the Steel City and DJ20 prices. Twice as much for a virtually identical product. But the cheaper (Shop Fox and Grizzly) come with more HP and more knives, and a magnetic switch.

I think for the money SF is a strong buy. And I like the option of buying from a local dealer, so if there is a problem you can go back to them.

JH

[chris del]

Kevin,

Whats this xxxx about only being about to hold the price untill Monday? Sounds like a used car salesman tactics... That would turn me off instaintly. Most manufacturers base their price list on the calender year.

Pick

[Jake Helmboldt]

Chris, that price is below retail, so I'm guessing that is the reason; a low price if you buy soon type of thing. But I'm only guessing. I tried haggling when I bought mine. They wouldn't budge, but I think 8 beans was still a good deal.

JH

[Barbara Roberts]

I'm with Burt on this. Verry good products for the money,great service and support. I believe you will be very happy with any of the ShopFox products. Have 3 sanders, 1 planner, 1 jointer and no problems. ( 4 years ).

Unfortinatly some people expect and demand they get a Mertz for Buick Pricing. They need to get in the real world, but never will because they are are always looking for a free ride. M2C also.

[Kevin Blunt]

Kevin,

Whats this xxxx about only being about to hold the price untill Monday? Sounds like a used car salesman tactics... That would turn me off instaintly. Most manufacturers base their price list on the calender year.

Pick

Hi Chris,

I actually just lucked out with this price. The whole story in a nutshell was that I called the dealer and the co-owner misquoted the product but the problem was that by the time he realized that it was quoted too low I was basically on his doorstep wanting to come and look at it and I was expecting it at that price. Basically, Because I had driven a fair distance he and I discussed it and I told him that I would be back today to put a deposit on it based on the research That I found and as long as it checked out I would purchase it. The other thing was that he told me that in order to have it stay the same price he would have to order it by the end of Monday so it could be added to the already placed order. By doing this the owner would not incur any more freight costs and therefore he could stand by the misquote a little easier. I do believe what he tells me because another loaction quoted $300 more and they basically told me that they were getting hammered at the border for duty fees. This was told to me without them knowing about the other locations quote.

[Keith Outten]

I have the ShopFox molder/planer. An excellent tool, it is on my best value list.

.

[Terry Bigelow]

I have the 8" jointer and a 2hp DC. Love 'em both. Yes, my jointer has the infamous "belt slap" as many here have mentioned. But, as many have said: no effect on performance. My jointer is a real workhorse and does a great job. The DC is great too. Got "show prices" on both. The jointer from the big wood show and the DC from the little show. I would reccomend either, great value for the price!

[Ted Miller]

I have only owned one item from Shop Fox, the 6x12 sander, for the life of me I cannot keep the belt tracked right, I have to adjust the tracking every time I turn it on. My old PM Houdaille combo sander is 20+ years old and I have never adjusted it. I looked at Shop Foxes jointers when I was upgrading this last year and went for the 12" Wilke instead...

[Kevin Blunt]

Well, I have decided to purchase the Shop fox W1741 8" Jointer based on the specs and reviews that were provided to me from you folks. Thanks to all that replied with SF experiences. I will post pics and a full review when the jointer arrives and is set up.

Kevin