Built with a Shopsmith

[cincinnati]

I purchased a DVD called "Classic Plane Making. Hollows and Rounds" by Tod Herrli. Very detailed video on plane making. Anyway.......He uses a Shopsmith model 500 to do the power work. Hand tools for the rest.

[bettyt44720]

i recently watch a video called "basic bowl turning" by bill grumbine. while he used an english built lathe you could clearly see a shopsmith 500, a shopsmith power station and a shopsmith belt sander in the background. had more shopsmith tools than any other in his shop.

[kd6vpe]

Hello folks,
Yes I do still lurk here. Great ideas you guys have and showing the tool in action. I have been playing around on youtube.com for a while trying to do just what you guys are talking about. What I like about it is it is free and in the spirit of sharing and learing free is the best way to go. Hope you like what you see there let me know. The link is still part of my signature. I am
just a regular novice woodworker learning as I go. My methods may not be the right way but it is a start.

[Nick]

"...had more shopsmith tools than any other in his shop."

Sort of flies in the face of some posts in another thread about there being no Shopsmiths in proffessional shops. My response from that thread:

***

When I was writing the Workshop Companion book series for Rodale Press, I was privvy to the surveys done by their marketing department. (They were a study-happy lot. Rodale Marketing wouldn't go to lunch without taking a survey or conducting a focus group.) One of the surveys that I was shown was one on the popularity of tool brands in which Shopsmith was listed along with Delta, Powermatic, Grizzly, etc. The survey was divided up into into various demographic and psychographic segments -- men/women, rich/poor, priests/rabbis, and so on. One of the segments was novices/serious amateurs/professionals. The percentages of most of the big names held relatively steady across the columns, although names like "Cummings" went up because they don't market to amateurs. For a similar reason, names like "Wolfcraft" went down because they don't target professionals. One of the few that defied logic was Shopsmith, whose percentages actually edged up ever-so-slightly slightly from novice to professional.

In discussion with the Rodale folks, they explained it this way. As a woodworker advances from inexperienced to experienced, he discards "novice" and "amateur" tools and acquires tools of higher quality. The exception to this rule is the Shopsmith. Although it is pitched at the novice, it represents a significant investment (which, psychologically, makes it harder to sell) and offers sufficient quality to be useful in a professional shop.

Novices that start out on the Shopsmith learn that there are some things you can do on this tool that can't be done as well (or at all) on stand-alone tools. Furthermore, because the Shopsmith is a convertible tool that takes up little space, it can be kept on hand in a pro shop to do those things for which the craftsman may have only an occassional need. I know of several woodworkers who have kept their Shopsmiths because they occassionally need a lathe. They keep it set up as a drill press or a sanding station -- two functions in which it holds it's own even against the most expensive professional tools -- and convert it to a lathe for those rare jobs in which they need to do some turning. Others chop it up and make it into a "mini" with a single purpose. I personally have built Shopsmith minis for both sanding (belt/disc/drum) and sharpening (strip sander/polishing wheel).

To every rule there are exceptions. Yes, weight offers stability and hysteresis for the absorption of vibration. But so does good engineering. Yes, it makes sense that a dedicated tool may do a specific job better than one that will perform several functions, but that also depends on engineering. And yes, the Shopsmith sells mostly to novices and amateurs. But it's engineering makes it equally valuable to the professional -- if they have the savvy to ignore popular mythologies.

***

Go see Jim's videos -- love the one about the twisted candle stick. May steal it.

With all good wishes,

[timster68]

Jim - please put up part 3 of the candlestick video. It looks really interesting. :)

[kd6vpe]

Tim,
Sorry but it will have to wait till Tuesday when I get to work. I can only do it from work I don't have high speed internet at home just dial up. I have already recorded that part so it will be ready Tuesday. Glad you like it.

[cincinnati]

What do you think of the idea tagging our woodworking projects "Made on a Shopsmith" When we sell or give a project they will know it was made with the best and get the Shopsmith name out there. Thinking of a tag like an return address label with the Shopsmith Logo to one side. Then in writing "Made on a Shopsmith" By John Doe.

[cincinnati]

Looking at the wood plane video I was thinking the Shopsmith Mark V is the perfect complement to the hand tool woodworker.

John Economaki, of Bridge city tools said they have seen an notable increase in sales in hand tools. Due to the fact people are living in condos and do not have the room for a Shop full of tools. A hand tool woodworker would still want a power tool from time to time but not need a Cabinet saw or the like.