Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone Online Introduction

Add the Major Accessories--Jointer, Bandsaw, Belt Sander, Scroll Saw, Jigsaw and Planer--to your workshop and increase your capabilities even more. The Major Accessories mount on the Mark V and are connected to the power plant by a power coupler (Figure 1-6). The major accessories can also be mounted on Shopsmith Power Stands (Figure 1-7) if you desire freestanding machines. The Professional Planer comes with its own power stand and a model of the Scroll Saw comes with legs and a motor.

Jointer - As you might guess from its name, the jointer (Figure 1-8) is extremely useful for making many woodworking joints because it will produce a very smooth, straight edge on a board. This edge will be square to the face of the stock or any other angle between 45° and 90°. This kind of high-quality edge is essential for joining stock together edge-to-edge to make wide workpieces.

The jointer's capabilities also permit you to straighten the edges and surfaces of warped stock; remove minor cups; surface rough stock; cut edge rabbets, tenons, bevels, chamfers; and make tapers and special shapes used in furniture designs.

Bandsaw - The bandsaw (Figure 1-9) gets it name from the continuous loop or "band" formed by the flexible blade. The blade cuts with a downward motion, toward the table. Because it cuts continuously, you'll find the bandsaw is one of the fastest cutting tools in your shop.

The bandsaw will perform a wide variety of workshop operations. The two most common uses are cutting curves and irregular shapes, and resawing (slicing thin boards from thick ones).

You can also crosscut; rip cut; cut bevels, miters, compound curves, duplicate parts; and make many other special cuts as well. You can cut materials other than wood. With the proper blade installed, the bandsaw will cut plastic, plastic laminates, particle board, and even soft non-ferrous metals such as copper, brass and aluminum.

Belt Sander - The belt sander (Figure 1-10) is extremely useful for doing many different finishing jobs. It will produce a smooth surface on a board in less time and with less work than hand sanding.

The belt sander also offers an important advantage over disc sanders and orbital sanders: The abrasive belt travels in one direction only, leaving no "swirl marks." With a belt sander, you can sand parallel to the wood grain.

The belt sander's capabilities permit you to sand edge, end, miter and bevel cuts quickly and accurately. You can also sand convex and concave shapes and create compound curves in workpieces. The belt sander can also be used to sharpen tools by using the sharpening guide.

Scroll Saw - The scroll saw (Figure 1-11) cuts curves and other irregular shapes in wood, plastics, and soft metals. Fine-toothed blades leave fewer millmarks; thus requiring less sanding. Thin blades can cut small radii, allowing you to cut small details accurately.

The scroll saw can make piercing cuts enabling you to saw internal curves and designs in a workpiece without cutting through from the outside. In addition, it cuts at any angle between "0" and 45°.

Jigsaw - The jigsaw (Figure 1-12) performs the same operations as the ones mentioned for the scroll saw, plus it converts to a sabre saw to cut large workpieces. Also, the lower chuck will hold machine files so that you can shape and smooth the edges of wood, plastic, and metal workpieces.

Note: The jigsaw is no longer manufactured by Shopsmith, Inc. However it is mentioned here as a reference for those woodworkers who already have a jigsaw. Thickness

Thickness Planer and Professional Planer - The planers (Figure 1-13) are used to plane stock to a uniform thickness, reduce thick boards to thinner ones, surface rough lumber, plane boards to identical thicknesses, true up boards that have been glued edge-to-edge and can be used with the jointer to square up stock. The planer gives you the versatility to plane lumber for any number of applications, from ultra-thin stock for musical instruments and toys to thick stock for furniture and carpentry projects.

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Introduction | Starting Your Shop | Adding Major Tools | Adding Accessories | Safety