shopsmth

[Thad Nickoley]

Any opinions and shopsmith mark v

[Rick Potter]

Thad,

Go to Battles Hardware in Whittier. Ask for Jack. He sold, repaired, and demonstrated them for years. I am sure he can help you.

Rick Potter

[James Hart]

Thad,

I've had a Shopsmith for nearly 30 years. Depending on your circumstances, it can be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I started out in a 2 bedroom condo and put the shopsmith in the small bedroom. Made a full set of raised panel kitchen cabinets among other things. Had to cut sheet goods out on the balcony, which was a big hit with the neighbors. I remember ripping a long board where I had to open the window and screen and push the board almost 6 feet out the window.

Over the past 10 years space and finances have enabled me to move to dedicted tools and the SS is used once in a great while as a disk sander or lathe.

If you are tight on space and/or money a SS is really hard to beat. New it's pricey. Used it's really reasonable and it will run forever.

Jim

[Jim Becker]

If you do a search at SMC on ShopSmith, you should get a lot of previous commentary. There are folks who favor and folks who do not. There are some advantages and some disadvantages to this format of machine so carefully weigh your situation as you consider it for your woodworking activities.

While I have not used a ShopSmith, I have certainly seen a lot of very fine work come from folks who use them. Over time, however, folks tend to migrate to other machines for many of the functions, keeping the SS for some things or selling it off. The table saw is probably the weakest function in my view, both because of workpiece support issues and it's height. But that's an uneducated and unexperienced opinion based on pure fantasy... ;)

[Randy Cohen]

I've had a shopsmith since the mid-80's. the table saw is fine for ripping as long as you set up enough support for outfeed. a tilting table saw is kind of awkward to use though for those kinds of cuts. crosscutting anything but the smallest pieces is a struggle.
I like the drill press but having to go through the changes in configuration will make you think twice about bothering to use it. The disc sander is very nice and not such a big deal to change over from table saw mode. i've used the lathe and had fun with it but can't really comment on how good it is having not much experience with lathes.
I have the bandsaw attachment and i've used it quite a bit but i'm thinking that other dedicated bandsaws would make this seem like a cheap toy.
all in all its a compromise tool but has held up well for me all these years.

[Mike Hess]

A used Shopsmith was the first "big" power tool I ever purchased. As time goes by, I'm accumulating more single purpose tools that make a lot of the Shopsmith's features redundant. But redundant can be a good thing: Even with a shop full of dedicated machines, it's nice to have a backup in the event that something's out of service, or so that you can have two different setups running at once - like a dado head and a regulard blade, two different drill presses for through bore and countersink, a coarse grit and a fine grit for disk sanding, etc. etc. etc.

[Joe Cunningham]

The table saw is probably the weakest function in my view, both because of workpiece support issues and it's height. But that's an uneducated and unexperienced opinion based on pure fantasy... ;)

Quite accurate. The bandsaw attachment is great and cuts VERY well, but the table saw is a pain in the butt to use. I do use it for ripping, but for crosscuts I use my Disston hand saw.

Since I don't have a proper bench yet, I actually use the shopsmith mostly as a bench for my hand tool use (with various configurations of bench hooks).

The SS is a legacy from my dad so I doubt I will ever get rid of it, but starting out I would not purchase one unless I got a good deal on it.

[Dave Verstraete]

Nick
I started my woodworking hobby on a SS. I continue to use it as a drill press or a lathe. It sets up as a good drill press IMHO.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm not a big fan of the SS as a table saw. But I spent a total of about $900 and it serves as Drill Press, Jointer, Band Saw, Belt Sander, Lathe, and Lathe Duplicator. Add in the options I wouldn't have spent money to get, like disk sander and horizontal boring machine, plus I have plans to use it to power my future shop build thickness sander. In conjunction with my table saw, Incra Fence/positioning system, and the table saws router table extension wing, it fills out most of my shop needs and I think I got a lot of bang for the bucks. Of course things like the jointer and lathe will be replace one of these days by more capable standalone machines, but for now it serves my purposes.