Well, shut my mouth! I didn't know about this doozie.
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$2500 (less $500 with standard 20% off coupon and a free flashlight)
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14 years ago
Harbor Freight Shopsmith
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- posted
14 years ago
Craigs list is littered with the real ones. I kind of don't hold them in very high regard. I suppose as a lath they look pretty good but all the other setups seem to be pretty farcky, xept maybe the bandsaw but never seen it up close.
Does anybody here like shopsmiths?
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- posted
14 years ago
Fit and finish has certainly changed in the last ten years. At one time every piece of HF machinery of that type was rough as a cob, covered in cosmoline, and you'd better be handy with a file and/or machining parts that were supposed to mate ... basically it was DIY "fit and finish".
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14 years ago
I have seen where they didn't even bother knocking all of the dross off a casting and paint right over it. And that farking cosmoline of which thou speaketh is the most foul-smelling tenacious shit on the planet. And then there's their rubber...we have discussed that before...... oh.. and their cardboard. What *is* that smell? Panda piss?
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14 years ago
I bought one of their mallets---what is it with their rubber??? It's been 2 years and it's no longer as strong as it was at first...
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14 years ago
Back years ago anyway, they were quite adequate for the hobbiest-type individual imo.
My uncle used one for his cabinet/flooring shop for several years when first getting started after the war and it served the purpose...I used it some as a kid and other than the hassle of setup and that it isn't large tables, they were serviceable.
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- posted
14 years ago
Craigs list is littered with the real ones. I kind of don't hold them in very high regard. I suppose as a lath they look pretty good but all the other setups seem to be pretty farcky, xept maybe the bandsaw but never seen it up close.
Does anybody here like shopsmiths?
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I bought a used one about 18 years ago because I always wanted one when I was a kid. I discovered that the lathe was too low and I got a back ache using it. The table saw, when properly set up, was too high and any kick back was liable to hit me directly over the heart. I used it as a drill press for a long time, but now I'm looking to unload it. Portland, OR area if anyone is interested.
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- posted
14 years ago
But the machinery you're talking about was going for under $1K. This thing is $2,500.
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- posted
14 years ago
I have seen where they didn't even bother knocking all of the dross off a casting and paint right over it. And that farking cosmoline of which thou speaketh is the most foul-smelling tenacious shit on the planet. And then there's their rubber...we have discussed that before...... oh.. and their cardboard. What *is* that smell? Panda piss?
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CatPee Glue (TM)!
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- posted
14 years ago
I have seen them for much less than that. I picked up two of them for about $250. I did not use them myself. I was buying some machinery at the time and a couple friends wanted them. I owed them favors so bought them when I saw a good price. One never used it. The other used it all the time. I never liked them myself.
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- posted
14 years ago
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Does anybody here like shopsmiths?
******************************************************* I have one, a Mark 5, built in the early 50's, which I bought used in the 70's along with a buch of lathe tools.It has served its purpose well as a variable speed lathe for plates and bowls. I have a sharpening stone mounted on the other end.
I also use it a lot as a horizonal boring machine.
There is a learning curve in setting up your order of work, but now that I am used to it, I really do like it.
One last thing, living in Southern Arizona I can work outside under a porch so I just drag it out and do all my rough turning there where the wind can just carry off the shavings.
Works for me.
The table saw aspect is its weakest point. Anne
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14 years ago
I have one. Got it for pulling out some tree stumps with my back hoe.He hardly ever used it. I updated the table since it was the older one. Used it for sometime until I got tired of the table saw setup and bought a Jet cabinet saw off ebay for 400.00 that was used twice and 10 miles from the house. I still use the Shopsmith for odd things, vertical boring, concealed hinge boring, 10" sanding disk is handy, lathe is handy too. I have most of the other stand alone tools so it's only used for odd setups. When I first started with woodworking it was the only thing I had and I thought it was the cats meow...
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14 years ago
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14 years ago
When I first read that I thought damn these things are versitile... pulling out stumps!
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- posted
14 years ago
$185
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14 years ago
hahaha It kinda looks like that, thanks to my writing style....
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14 years ago
ITEM 96067-0VGA $1999.97
When I followed the link, it had been reduced to 2,000 so, with the coupon we are talking $1,600 which is likely MUCH less than the SS tool which, as I recall, considers the lock and lower wheels and the shelves on the stand as extras.
I bought a used one, too. Sold it shortly thereafter. The Demo Guys (who are very accomplished) can dazzle you with the setup and task switching as they make four little table legs with feet on the band saw and then turn them on the lathe. But, I suspect that, if they earn enough money, they have some pretty conventional tools at home in addition to their practice SS's
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- posted
14 years ago
I have a friend who has one; his is sitting unused --has been for a couple of years since its in the way-back of his garage and you can't really get to it. :) He's offered to bring it out to my shop to get his space back --- but he doesn't really want to part with it 'cause he might need it again someday. I had an uncle who had one many years ago -- he ran a sawmill and got it in some sort of trade; he used it in all the different configurations when his regular tools were set up for something; for example if the good lathe was setup for copying spindles and he needed a one-off turning it went on the SS; table saw setup just right for a set of tenons then rip a one-off board on the SS. My opinion on ShopSmith is that it's great for the micro-shop where you can't spare the space for single purpose tools. You can do about anything with one except I guess pulling stumps. The down side is that if you have something that requires a multi-step production you have to think real hard about order of operations or you would forever be changing and re-setting tools -- slow, tedious and inefficient.
In response to the drive-by gloat on the saw --- you suck.
hex
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