How can we help Shopsmith?

[Gampa]

I can not help but think thier is a lot SS could do to improve sales. I know I pretty much just stumbled upon SS while walking through the mall one day. For U.S. sales a well done Infomercal (yes I know most are cheesy but I did say well done). Sales to Europe and Asia a necessity. If you think our workspace is limited checkout the postage stamps they have around the rest of the world. The sales potential for this fantastic machine is just at the beginning. Better and more promotion combined with the great customer service has the potential to make sales and popularity sky rocket.

[8iowa]

Getting back to what "we" can do.......................

Increasing sales through "word of mouth" can be very effective if enough of us participate. We all have friends and relatives who perhaps know that we have a Shopsmith - but have never seen it or seen it in operation. Why not invite some of them over on a Saturday morning with coffee and donuts mixed with a little sawdust. Make it a couple of hours of casual no pressure demonstration with perhaps a little bit of "hands on" as well. This could even develop into a regular session. After all, the gals have their quilt night so fairs fair.

This would be a lot different from the "canned" demo's at Lowes

You will know when someone is beginning to "get the bug" when they ask to come over to saw or plane some boards. Sometimes the spark takes a while to generate but once someone sees what a Shopsmith can do they don't forget.

I'm planning to do this once I get finished with the re-model job on my garage/shop. Heck. I might even invite the tool manager from the local Lowes as well.

[chiroindixon]

If all the folks on this blog site are counted as "We", to include "Nick", here are perhaps simple and doable things.

First....go to, and forward Shopsmith review(s) done by "Dan". They are excellent and he does a terrific job of outlining the case for having a Shopsmith. His "head to head" comparisons with other tools, especially a well rated table saw and band saw are well thought out. These, coming from a guy who makes his living at his craft, are fabulous testimonials.

http://www.songofthegreatlakes.com/shopsmith.htm

Second....maybe another section in this website for our projects and shops. Seeing what is actually accomplished by we owners would be advertising that SS couldn't put a price on. I will grant you that some editing by the administrator might be in order to ensure a degree of quality. Some of the backgrounds of Shopsmith items sold on ebay would have SWMBO cringing...and any disciplined shop teacher. Clean and neaten shops before photos, please.

As Nick pointed out in another post, the Internet is an ever growing research tool. I use it every time prior to making a serious purchase. A person surfing here to research a Mark V should be impressed with all our comments. But, projects with well done photos are what the visually oriented prospective buyers want to see.

Plus, we get to brag a bit. And why not? Ever surf "Norm's" home page and see the photos of projects that his happy viewers send in? Ever consider that viewers would love to do that stuff too, but do not have the shop space Norm has? We have the answer....

Oh, this criticism/suggestion applies to "the other site" as well. While it's nice to see refurbished and well maintained Shopsmiths of all vintages, I would be sorely pressed to find pictures and projects that would encourage me to explore owning one.

Third...get this type material in the magazines. To include some of Nick's. An article about that Wright Brothers reproduction done by school kids in Ohio, using Shopsmiths would be dynamite. Hard to believe that a project like that, assisted by such an authority, would not be accepted.

..Followed by a full page ad. (I had to stick that in. having spent an hour or so leafing through my stacks of various wood working magazines. It would be tough to prove that Shopsmith even existed.)

Here's to many more years of Shopsmith success......and owner loyalty.

Doc

[john]

This last post echoed one of my thoughts.

Posting pictures and details of projects produced on a ShopSmith would be an easy way to promote the equipment, to say nothing of giving us a bit of bragging rights. I am a member of several WW forums and all seem to have members who are proud to post pictures either to show their skills, or to ask advice on how to improve the project. I'm sure many non-SS owners or beginning woodworkers probably visit this site to see what is going on, but with no evidence there is not much motivation to explore SS equipment when there is so much out there on the floor with easy access.

I have only joined recently so I'm not sure if there is a reason members don't post pictures. I know I would sure be interested in seeing other peoples successes.

Happy woodworking

John

[butcherboy]

UOTE=reible]After reflecting on the postings about the financial problems at Shopsmith I began to think of what changes they might plan... bad things come to mind like changing the customer service, not stocking parts, higher prices, and well it is not to hard to come up with a lot of things that I would not like to see haB][/I]Ed

Other ideas?[/QUOTE]
I am a begginer in woodworking, and my first intro to shopsmith was a demo
in Omaha, Ne and at the state fair. I wound up buying a used one out of the
wantads in the newspaper, bad mistake. It was a model 10er. If Shopsmith
wants sales they should engineer their attachments to fit the older models
as well as the newer models. There is alot of the older ones still in use today
and we would like to buy some of the accessories and other equipment.
I just retired this spring and am looking forward to projects with my old
10er. Whats the view on this suggestion. Will it be possible?
butcherboy.

[rcartmetal]

Wow. How to respond to this. The ER model has not been produced since 1953. It was never made by Shopsmith, but by their predecessor. The E/ER has it's own cult like following, but to compair it to the MkV is like compairing a new Ford to a '53 Victoria.
I have a 1963 model MkV, and every Special Purpose Tool being made today slides right in. All of the upgrades of the last 4 decades bolt right on.
Sell your ER and get a MkV.

[billmayo]

The Shopsmith 10ER is an excellant woodworking machine. It is not a mistake to buy one unless you pay too much for it. It will outlast most of us reading this post. Since I have brought several 10 ER10s, I find the bracket listed in Ebay Item number: 250102698427 ($94.95 total) will allow the bandsaw, belt sander, joiner and jigsaw to used with the proper belt speed. Since Skip Campbell changed one of his 10ERs to a DC motor and controller, I did the same conversion with excellant results. No changing of belts and I have a DC motor with 2 CHP ( 4 times the 1/2 HP motor) plus variable speed from 0 to about 5000 rpm.

Since the 10ER sleeve with the pulleys is .810" OD, the drive metal hub for the Shopsmith power coupler is .625" ID, I used my metal lathe to turn the inside of the hub to .810" ID. I used my grinder to put a flat area on the sleeve for the set screw and tighten the set screw with red Lock-Tite. I used the 4" grinder to make the set screw flat with the hub. The person with the above mount will sell you a pully and coupling together for the same price.

Bill Mayo www.billstoolz.com

[/QUOTE] I am a begginer in woodworking, and my first intro to shopsmith was a demo in Omaha, Ne and at the state fair. I wound up buying a used one out of the wantads in the newspaper, bad mistake. It was a model 10er. If Shopsmith wants sales they should engineer their attachments to fit the older models as well as the newer models. There is alot of the older ones still in use today and we would like to buy some of the accessories and other equipment. I just retired this spring and am looking forward to projects with my old 10er. Whats the view on this suggestion. Will it be possible?
butcherboy.[/QUOTE]

[ctslacker]

Norm has a Shopsmith in his shop. Why not wrote him and ask him to do a project on it?