Shop Smith

dragoneggs · Jan 1, 2016

I always wanted one because of all it can do in a small space. Now I am so glad I didn't make the purchase after years of building out my shop and acquiring dedicated tools. It works for small projects and small materials. Played with one a couple times and they just are not very fun to use on big stuff. I definitely didn't like the tablesaw. If you have room I recommend you buy a decent tables and go from there with other dedicated tools as you need them. Planer, jointer, drill press, compound mitre saw if you are targeting wood.

RSKY · Jan 2, 2016

My wife had a cousin in Louisville who had two or three ShopSmiths in his wood shop.

He was completely blind!

Scary feeling to walk into his shop and hear a saw cutting wood and the lights off. He tuned pianos for a living, also taught piano tuning at the Ky Blind School. If he needed a wooden part he would make it.

Watched him several times and what amazed me was that he had a set procedure for doing everything. No shortcuts, no hurry, might take thirty minutes to make one cut.

Amazing!

RSKY

dragoneggs · Jan 2, 2016

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RSKY said:
My wife had a cousin in Louisville who had two or three ShopSmiths in his wood shop.

He was completely blind!

Scary feeling to walk into his shop and hear a saw cutting wood and the lights off. He tuned pianos for a living, also taught piano tuning at the Ky Blind School. If he needed a wooden part he would make it.

Watched him several times and what amazed me was that he had a set procedure for doing everything. No shortcuts, no hurry, might take thirty minutes to make one cut.

Amazing!

RSKY

Very cool. Would be an interesting episode on a DIY show.

Code54 · Jan 2, 2016

I have one and like it. Not the greatest tool for everything but it will do everything I need in a very small package. I mainly work with metal but sometimes do some woodwork so it is great for that. Many many years ago I went with my father to a shop smith school (3 day) in Ohio and learned the machine. I think I was maybe 11, to this day I still am able recall the course and use what they taught us.

Threepoint · Jan 2, 2016

OP, what projects do you think you'll want to use for? How much space do you have for dedicated bench tools? If you're hoping to do fine woodworking, a Shopsmith can certainly do it, but IMO that's because the skill is in the woodworker, not the tool. I have a friend who made a lovely dining table and chair set on a Mark IV (V?), before he could afford a full shop of dedicated tools. That said, constantly having to change things around to use the various tools will get old real fast if you're trying to do very much and don't have a great deal of patience. Several decades ago, Shopsmiths were the rage. Not so much, now, as the listings on CL suggest. Reasonably priced bench machines from Asia make it much easier to fit up a very serviceable shop of dedicated tools these days, if you have the space.

HCJtractor · Jan 2, 2016

I had my shop in a tiny basement. But I had a small cabinet table saw, a planer/jointer combination, a sliding compound miter saw, and drill press, and a small band saw. I could not handle full sheets of ply, and was limited to 8 foot boards. But in that shop I could do any fine woodworking project. So I know you can over come a small space. From what I've seen of a Shopsmith, every function would be inferior to what I had. Every task would be a compromise over a dedicated tool. The switching of functions would limit your productivity and speed enormously. I would never consider one. Yes with patience you could slowly generate a project, but if at all possible, go with dedicated tools. The most important is a good tablesaw and accurate fence. Start there.

What are you planning to build? That matters in your selection.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

Walt 2002 · Jan 2, 2016

"Bear in mind that no tool designed to do everything does any one thing especially well."

Good advice, my advice is get individual tools if you have room then you won"t constantly be spending your time changing from one thing to another.

Walt Conner

dragoneggs · Jan 2, 2016

Walt 2002 said:
"Bear in mind that no tool designed to do everything does any one thing especially well."

Good advice, my advice is get individual tools if you have room then you won"t constantly be spending your time changing from one thing to another.

Walt Conner

This is so true both on changing/monkeying around and precision.

Code54 · Jan 3, 2016

Walt 2002 said:
"Bear in mind that no tool designed to do everything does any one thing especially well."

Good advice, my advice is get individual tools if you have room then you won"t constantly be spending your time changing from one thing to another.

Walt Conner

While this is true you need to figure out if you are going to use it a lot or a little. I do two or three things a year where I use my ShopSmith - it is perfect for that. Could I buy a nice table saw, better jointer, better lathe - yep but then I would need to park my new truck and side by sides outside and have them sitting in the weather so I would have room for a wood shop I use 8 hours a year.
Just depends on your plans and what YOU really need. If you are starting a cabinet shop it is one thing, if you are going to rip a board and drill a hole here and there it is entirely another.

Sawyer Rob · Jan 3, 2016

Code54 said:
If you are starting a cabinet shop it is one thing, if you are going to rip a board and drill a hole here and there it is entirely another.

Thing is, lots of us are in between those two!

And, it's a PITA to want to use the band saw to make "a" cut one day, then use the table saw for a cut the next day... It's just too much time monkeying around to do a set up for one cut... OR having to go back to a tool, because you forgot to do a cut on what ever you are making.

AT LEAST that's where I find myself...

SR