john
10-06-2008, 08:20 PM
As expected, there was absolutely no work in the shop this past week due to hockey and travelling.
Our trip took us first to visit some friends we hadn't seen in over a year and while there I was able to visit the Canadian Shopsmith distributor. For the second time in two months, I could not get a fence mounted feather board due to a lack of stock. They were still "on order". The distributor expressed his concern over lack of supply from SS. The order he placed in July was still not totally filled and only about ten percent of the August order was in. Shopsmith represents about five percent of his business but it is mostly in repairs and parts but he is concerned about continuity of supply. I initially wasn't going to mention the negative feelings but when I returned and caught up with the forum news, I guess it is not really news.
Knowing my interest in woodworking, my friend said he had some pieces of plywood left over from a repair job that I might be interested in. He didn't know what it was but it cost him a lot. Well, it turned out to be several pieces of 3/4" baltic birch plywood. I gladly took it but don't know yet what I will use it for.
Next stop was my son's place in London, and as mentioned last week on to a visit to the Woodstock Wood Show on Saturday. Another bit of a downer as the show was much smaller than previously, with fewer good vendors. Even so, I did enjoy the thinner crowds which allowed us to get a better view of demonstrations. The only purchase was some new "cool blocks" for the bad saw though I almost bit on a "gripper" push block and a couple of other gadgets but managed to keep my hands in my pockets.
My son's father-in-law used to teach woodworking and they had to move him into a retirement home recently. Most of his tools had gone to his son, but I came home with more aniline dyes than I will ever use.
The Shopsmith situation is certainly discouraging to read. It is doubly discouraging not to be able to do any thing that can really help. I hope some how they can get back on track and we can get back to making sawdust without worrying about the future of SS.
Have a Safe and Fun week!
John
Oh yeh, that is a nice looking tool box that Chuck is making, eh.
Our trip took us first to visit some friends we hadn't seen in over a year and while there I was able to visit the Canadian Shopsmith distributor. For the second time in two months, I could not get a fence mounted feather board due to a lack of stock. They were still "on order". The distributor expressed his concern over lack of supply from SS. The order he placed in July was still not totally filled and only about ten percent of the August order was in. Shopsmith represents about five percent of his business but it is mostly in repairs and parts but he is concerned about continuity of supply. I initially wasn't going to mention the negative feelings but when I returned and caught up with the forum news, I guess it is not really news.
Knowing my interest in woodworking, my friend said he had some pieces of plywood left over from a repair job that I might be interested in. He didn't know what it was but it cost him a lot. Well, it turned out to be several pieces of 3/4" baltic birch plywood. I gladly took it but don't know yet what I will use it for.
Next stop was my son's place in London, and as mentioned last week on to a visit to the Woodstock Wood Show on Saturday. Another bit of a downer as the show was much smaller than previously, with fewer good vendors. Even so, I did enjoy the thinner crowds which allowed us to get a better view of demonstrations. The only purchase was some new "cool blocks" for the bad saw though I almost bit on a "gripper" push block and a couple of other gadgets but managed to keep my hands in my pockets.
My son's father-in-law used to teach woodworking and they had to move him into a retirement home recently. Most of his tools had gone to his son, but I came home with more aniline dyes than I will ever use.
The Shopsmith situation is certainly discouraging to read. It is doubly discouraging not to be able to do any thing that can really help. I hope some how they can get back on track and we can get back to making sawdust without worrying about the future of SS.
Have a Safe and Fun week!
John
Oh yeh, that is a nice looking tool box that Chuck is making, eh.