I have heard that a new Shopsmith machine now costs $3,000. Knowing what good quality Jet, Delta, and Grizzly equipment costs, this leads me to ask three questions. (1) Are the people at Shopsmith completely out of their minds in their pricing?, (2) How is it that Shopsmith is still in business with that kind of pricing?, and (3) Does anybody actually buy Shopsmith machines at this sort of price?
I mean, it's a fairly nicely made machine, pretty compact, and pretty durable, but $3,000?
Am I missing something?
- GRL
"It's good to want things."
Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist, Visual Basic programmer)
I've seen them for sale for many years. IIRC, they wre always advertised in Popular Science and the like. For the price, you can get a nice collectionof individual machines, but the space is a selling factor.
I read the local shoppers paper looking for tools. The most popular tool for sale is the Craftsman table saw, Craftsman RAS, and the Shopsmith. I've have never seen a Delta or Jet and only once saw a Grizzley. I don['t know what conclusions you can draw from that, b ut my guess is that people buy them with good intentions and find woodworking is not a good hobby for them. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
I watched a demo a couple of weeks ago at the local borg. The guy doing it was really good and made the machine sound irresistable. However I have a shop full of better tools so I was truly just a spectator. I did notice that he rolled the price out without so much as a cough. I couldn't have done that. In fact, I coughed myself.
One spectator mentioned the possibility of buying one for his son. I am SO glad that my family knows better than to buy me tools without checking first. I would have been very disappointed if my parents had popped almost 3 grand for a Shopsmith for me.
Later, I looked at several ebay auctions and felt sick that the one guy was close to writing a check at the borg when he could save more than $2K by going online and buying used.
Of course that's just me. Maybe he would have liked a Shopsmith.
One I'm guessing was 13 years old (manual had a pub date of '91) went for $700. It looked like it had never been plugged in. I mean it no saw dust in the cracks, no scratches anywhere, the table ways looked perfect, and the installed saw blade had never been used.
They seeem to follow the Lee Valley model of customer service.
The equipment is well made and you can get parts for and all upgrades fit the 40 to 50 year old models.
It's a niche market.
They seeem to follow the Lee Valley model of customer service.
They are "American Made" for all those of you willing to pay mightily for that honor.
They have been losing money for a number of years (although I think they may have posted a small profit last year) and have retrenched to just one store (in Dayton, OH). They used to have a number of retail stores and used to be sold through Woodcraft (in fact many of their retail stores were bought by Woodcraft when they closed them). They have always used demos (malls, county fairs, etc.) and recently began a demo relationship with Lowes - you can buy through Lowes during the demo.
7.They seeem to follow the Lee Valley model of customer service.
The base unit (model 505) sells for I believe ,995. That includes some tooling like a couple of saw blades, lathe tools, etc. and I believe includes one major attacment such as the bandsaw or strip sander. (I guess they follow the Lee Valley pricing model too).....just a joke Robin - while I have never purchased anything from Lee Valley I do drool over the catalog periodically.
Dave Hall
(PS I bought my 1992 model 510 with the bandsaw, jointer, strip sander, DC3300 dust colletor, numerous blades, bits, sanding disks, belts, lathe tools, etc. etc. - along with a downdraft sanding table, Dewalt ROS, a bunch of non-shopsmith stuff- for $1,250 a couple of years ago. I then sold my 1982 model 500, bandsaw, jointer and a bunch of related tooling (but less than what I had just bought) for the same $1,250.)
My second major power tool was a new Shopsmith. Now that was a couple or so decades ago so I imagine, COLA being what it is, what I paid then is relatively what they cost now.
I bought it then because I believed the advertising about the unit being good for a small area shop, which my first one was, quality, and customer support.
You know something, every bit of that advertising was true.I got major, stand alone, brand quality with what I can only describe as, over the years, world class service. The machine never let me down nor failed to do what was asked of it. Too date the only thing on the machine that has needed replacement was the power switch.
As the years went by my shops grew in size and my requirements changed and I have some heavier metal in my shop. But you know, the Shopsmith is still there and frequently in use. I've never bought another lathe, drill press or half a dozen other major tools because that old Shopsmith is still pulling it's weight for many different functions.
If memory serves, I have a mental image of some of Norm's early shows . . . he was using a Shopsmith. I don't think it was just a 'demo', that was what he had, or only had a little space.
If you don't mind me asking, what is the accuracy like? It's one thing to be able to change from one use to another, but what about tuning it after the change over.
I've never owned one, not looking to buy one, but always wondered how well things were set up (square fences/blade, runout etc...)
Was that just before NYW took on DELTA TOOLS as a "corporate underwriter" or whatever the term for advertiser is with PBS. Back then, I think he used several other brands of tools. When "DELTA" came on-board, all other tools disappeared. Probably just a coincidence though.
I wonder what tools Norm uses in his personal shop?
I have had one for 50+ years and still use it all the time. Accuracy seems very good, although I do have to "tune" it every several years. Back then, they didn't have all the attachments they do now so I do have a separate band saw and planer. Working on the second motor but other than that it performs great.
"A Dubya" wrote in news:DhK%b.20273$ snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com:
I'm not Mike, but I'll chime in here:
The biggest problem I had with mine (Model 520) was that there was always SOMETHING that hadn't been fully tightened, readjusted, squared, calibrated or tweaked on a changeover. If I left it as a saw, or a sander, or a drill press or a whatever, got it right, and used it, it was just fine. I seemed always to miss something in the changeover that compromised accuracy.
What got the crowbar to the wallet, and a new Unisaw in the garage/shop, was trying to build a relatively simple bathroom vanity with the Shopsmith as the tablesaw. Amazing how just a couple of not-dead-square cuts will screw up a cabinet.
The Shopsmith went to my son's place at college last summer. He's enjoyed learning with it, on small projects. The instruction guides are really good for a beginner. The machine will likely return in May, when I anticipate that I will try my hand at woodturning.
I have a good number of friends who have done many, entirely acceptable projects on their Shopsmiths.
Mine was purchased new, at a home & garden fair. ("I've learned that lesson now", he says, chagrined.)
Enjoy the journey.
Patriarch, who has almost as many tools, and probably has paid just as much, if not more, than Bay Area Dave, for the privelege. Not complaining, though.
There were nine (sort of) Shopsmith tools used, mostly in the first season. Interestingly, never the saw. Of course that's because there's been a Unisaur there from the very first episode. It was a Rockwell originally, but a Delta replaced in '84 (6th season). Space was never the issue. The shop has been the same building since episode #1.
I have been given to understand that Shopsmith sought an underwriting deal with Morash in the beginning, but apparently there was too wide a gulf in the $$$ asked vs $$$ available.
Well, I don't know if you're talking about major tools or any power tools, although it doesn't matter, because the oscillating spindle sander he uses (as recently as episode 1606, the dower chest, which many of you haven't even seen yet), for example, is not a Delta, and Delta makes one.
It's just not a given that when Delta/Porter-Cable came in all the other brands disappeard. Does Bosch jigsaw, Lamello biscuit joiner, and Senco brad nailer ring a bell? How about the granddaddy of all non-Delta tools: the Timesavers wide belt sander? And although it hasn't been used in years, the Makita D-handle router is in the top nine of tools used in over 200 episodes.
I will concede that there are more Delta and Porter-Cable tools used today than there were ten years ago. I suppose that's a benefit of the underwriting of the show.
LRod, recheck your records, IIRC you are correct that the Shopsmith was never used as a TS but I do remember a Delta Contractors saw being used before the Unisaw.
While I'm picking on you. You have a type-o, the 6th season was in 1994. This year is the beginning of the 16th season. I don't know where the 90's went either.. ;~)
MY wallet got pried open after several cabinet projects that were just too uncomfortably big for the table on my '88 Model 500. They got done, but it was too much of a balancing act. Second drawback was the lack of a scale for the fence - measuring for every cut with a tape or rule introduced too many opportunities for errors. Still, I managed to build quite a few nice projects in a 8'x10' basement shop, where there simply was not room for individual machines.
I do not feel that changing functions causes any need for tuning type adjustments (square, parallel, etc). I can switch it around all day and still get square, smooth rips and crosscuts You do need to remember to tighten all the appropriate clamps (motor, table base, table height, table tilt, auxiliary tables, etc).
I've since moved to a bigger shop (and lot and house and mortgage) where I have room for a stand alone cabinet saw, RAS, band saw and jointer. The Shopsmith is still used for nearly every project. The table that is too small as a saw table is fine for a drill press, and generous for a disc or drum sander. The lathe is fine when I need it, and the 4" jointer is OK for shorter pieces.
If you lack space, the Shopsmith is great, but look for a used one. $3K is too much.
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