New to woodworking- possible purchase

[Beave2012]

I understand your attraction to a cabinet saw. I have long wanted a Delta Unisaw but have never had the space for one. As long as you do have room you most likely never regret the decision. Now that I am further downsizing I have to give even my current shop more though.

My problem though is not the Shopsmith gear, it is rather the "other stuff" that I keep and how I keep it.

Ohh Dusty, its all in your organizational skills that will determine how much room you have.

I do have a 3 stall garage, with 2 cars, so I get the 3rd stall. for the shop that i share with a mower, kids bikes, snow blower, gardening stuff, etc... and I still manage to fit 2 shopsmiths, a 52" sawstop, 2 workbenches, a dust collector, stand alone planer, router table, sander on a stand, and a slew of other stuff. Organization is the key...

[JPG]

I understand your attraction to a cabinet saw. I have long wanted a Delta Unisaw but have never had the space for one. As long as you do have room you most likely never regret the decision. Now that I am further downsizing I have to give even my current shop more though.

My problem though is not the Shopsmith gear, it is rather the "other stuff" that I keep and how I keep it.

Ohh Dusty, its all in your organizational skills that will determine how much room you have.

I do have a 3 stall garage, with 2 cars, so I get the 3rd stall. for the shop that i share with a mower, kids bikes, snow blower, gardening stuff, etc... and I still manage to fit 2 shopsmiths, a 52" sawstop, 2 workbenches, a dust collector, stand alone planer, router table, sander on a stand, and a slew of other stuff. Organization is the key...

I do not think Dusty's 'problem' is lack of organization, but rather it is the amount of 'things' to organize.

[reible]

I started woodworking with both a cabinet saw and a combo tilting table saw/jointer so having learned early how they work was a given. When it came time for me to put my own shop together, after the army and school, I went with a rockwell table saw. I had tried to find a shopsmith, the only option at the time was used, and I had no luck finding one.....

Then shopsmith ads starting appearing, they were reborn! Having spent the money just a few years before I did not jump on the band wagon until 1976 when I got my first shopsmith. I kept the rockwell for maybe a year or two but decided I'd go full time with the shopsmith only. I've had no regrets.

A lot of the "limitations" of the shopsmith are mental ones. There are many ways of doing things and if you have not done so already either buy or use the online version of the "Power Tools for Everyone" to see some of them. The more creative you are the more interesting ideas will come to you.

The other thing to keep in mind is what kind of projects you expect to do. This will/might change over time but it might well let you focus on what tools you will want to start with. The five tools built in are a good start and give you a lot of capacity and functions that "just" a table saw. Of course you then have the option of getting the add on tools. If you buy new from a demo I think they still offer a free spt with the purchase.

Having the 5 tools lets you explore, may be you will find that making pens interests you, well you have a lathe included. Having a drill press, having a disk sander, having a horizontal drill press, you can get a lot of options to learn on. Sure maybe someday you will want a $3000 lathe or maybe a few other tools but then maybe not. Not everyone who things they are going to be a woodworker will end up being one, time and other considerations come it to play that are beyond our control.....

For me, and I do a fair amount of wood working I just don't do many tilted table cuts. In the last 3 years the only time I did use that function was when I was making some french cleats, basically a ripping operation with the table tilted to 45 degrees. Other then that over all these years most of the operations were smaller things like boxes and the like, nothing all that large. This would amount to such a small percent of the cutting that it would be hard to figure out, a fraction of a fraction of a percent?? And it has done all that I have asked.

I worked with the smaller 500 version for many many years, made jigs to make it easier and even cut up full sheets of plywood with the aid of stands and or helpers. It can be done and I know it because I have done it. But now comes the shopsmith feature that makes it a real winner. I was able to upgrade that 500 to a 520 and get the new larger table, the tubes to expand the shopsmith into a really large table saw. I was also able to use the old headstock and stick a powerpro in it. I still have a few pieces that are from the old saw but most of it is now new. Not many tools have this upgrade path nor the ability to not have to repurchase all the tooling.

I no longer attempt to cut full size sheets of plywood on the shopsmith, age and a bad back have taken there toll. I have sense to gone to a guided saw system. Much easier to bring a small tool to a large sheet then the other way round. With my Festool set up I can say without any hesitation I have the best of both worlds. I'd go this path before I'd even think about another table saw, hands down. I still have the shopsmith for the things its best at and I have the track saw for things it is best at. The areas where they overlap in function just gives me more options on how to do the project.

With a shopsmith you have many ways of doing things, I love that. After many years of owning only one I began to worry that it might break down and I'd be stuck waiting on parts in the middle of a project. It was then that I got a second machine. At the time not many people seem to see the advantage of that but now there are a lot of us multiple shopsmith owners. Used machines are very reasonable priced but often have conditions that need to be repaired/replaced and if it is a second machine you can work on it while still maintaining your woodworking. But with two machines you can then do things like have one set up as a drill press and the other a table saw or well any of the combinations. Or you can use one with bandsaw and disk sander or well lots of options.

I've already used up more then my allocated time on this but one last thing is that shopsmiths do wear out, but the good news is most people and fix them on there own. With a little PM and a few belts and bearings being 30 or 40 years old is not old at all. Most parts can still be gotten from shopsmith or the ebay market, not many tools can say the same.

Ed

[chapmanruss]

Besides using my Shopsmith's for projects, I restore old Shopsmith as a hobby. When I sell a restored machine I include this in the ad.

The Shopsmith 5 in 1 Tool may be the best Drill Press ever made. On your average drill press a small worktable rotates left or right but the Shopsmith's larger table tilts forward from 0 to 90 degrees. You can drill multiple holes at an angle perfectly in line without changing your setup. Just slide the work piece left or right along the fence to each spot. Besides getting a great Drill Press you get a Horizontal Boring Machine (drill press laying down), a 10” Table Saw, a 12” Disk Sander and a 34” Lathe. The variable speed of 700 to 5200 RPM means you can use the right speed for the job at hand. No more burning wood edges or ruining blades and bits. Other accessories allow you to do even more. All this fits in just 12 square feet of floor space.

What other tool can do so much with in a small workshop or garage? If you go with the Mark 7 you will have even more abilities built in to the machine than the Mark V's. Our imagination may be our most limiting factor in using the Shopsmith.