The Big Announcement

[heathicus]

While hopeful, I'm not sure that the PowerPro is going to bring in a flood of new buyers. The Shopsmith is still going to have the same "problems" that the general woodworking community has with it - whether those "problems" are true or not. The small table, being a "jack of all trades, master of none," lack of accuracy or repeatability, going through changeovers, etc. Those ideas, right or wrong, that the woodworking community at large has with the Shopsmith aren't going to go away with the PowerPro headstock.

But I really hope I'm wrong.

[Ed in Tampa]

I believe the Power Pro is going to appeal the tunners first and gismo crowd second and the people that would like the Shopsmith to have a higher or lower speed ranger third.

My fear is if the price it too high the lathe turnners will just go buy a variable speed machine for what I expect will be far less than the SS price.

For the gizmo people, there will always be those that must have the latest and greatest. However their ranks are thinning as economy keeps going south.

Lastly there are those that want a slower slow or a faster fast and Power Pro will appeal but they will weigh the cost against living with what they got now, buying speed reducer or increaser.

As for the home hobbiest/DIYer the cost of the Mark V has pretty much priced itself off the market. Read any forum and you will see they recomment "buy yourself a table saw first" philosophy. So a new guy runs down to the local Home Depot/Lowes and prices out a nice table saw for $500-$600 perhaps a bench drill press for $200 and maybe a bench grinder for $100 and looks at lathes and band saws and says maybe one day I will get one.

An experienced turner looks at the market and says I can get a first class band saw and Lathe for $1500-3000 range I don't need more.

That is world Shopsmith is competing in today with a machine that every wood working forum poopoos and costing $3500 plus with SPT's.

Dusty is right I don't know the actual cost but I can compare the material, casting and machining in a Shopsmith to what I see in a Lathe or Tablesaw and say there is no way the SS should cost what it does.

There is no way a Shopsmith Bandsaw without a motor or a stand should cost what a Rikon Bandsaw with motor, stand, fence, utility light costs. If their production cost are that high they need to find less expensive production methods.