shop smiths
 

i see a lot of shop smiths on craigslist

they must have sold well and the pitch was working

but i always thought they just were not up to par

anyone have one or used one

maybe they are adequate in the right hands

shop smiths
 

In article ,
Electric Comet wrote:

i see a lot of shop smiths on craigslist

they must have sold well and the pitch was working

but i always thought they just were not up to par

anyone have one or used one

maybe they are adequate in the right hands

My first lathe was a 1953 greenie.

They are light, and the low speed is too fast for a lathe (OK if only
working with small spindles or very well balanced bowl blanks, but
generally it's too fast) the 5/8 plain spindle size is also a little
wimpy. The newer replacement spindles have better bearings. The
odd-sized Gilmer belt likes to spew teeth - if you spend a good bit of
money you can upgrade the whole drive system to newer quill, and poly-V
belt (unless they are out of business again, in which case sourcing the
parts will be a pain - I have not kept track of the status, and they go
in and out of business semi-regularly.) That money might be better put
into a better lathe, if it's lathe you are after.

Still a good drill press, horizontal boring machine, 12" disk sander, 6
x 48 belt sander (accessory).

Rather scary as a table saw, shaper or router. Jointer (accessory) is no
gem, either.

I would not suggest getting one as a lathe, particularly - there are
better options; still, it beat no lathe at all and got me started. I'd
rate it above a Sears monotube, for instance, or the godawful things
with stamped sheet metal ways.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

shop smiths
 

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 16:06:05 -0400
Ecnerwal wrote:

Still a good drill press, horizontal boring machine, 12" disk sander,
6 x 48 belt sander (accessory).

just for these above it could be a great buy for a beginner or a small
shop for doing little stuff

Rather scary as a table saw, shaper or router. Jointer (accessory) is
no gem, either.

i have looked at them and felt that i would not use the table saw
unless i was just doing small stuff like doll houses or trains maybe


I would not suggest getting one as a lathe, particularly - there are
better options; still, it beat no lathe at all and got me started.

i just take a walk around craigslist once in a while but cannot help
noticing that in every locale there is always at least one shopsmith
listed

they sold a lot of those

shop smiths
 

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 11:30:43 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

i see a lot of shop smiths on craigslist

they must have sold well and the pitch was working

but i always thought they just were not up to par

anyone have one or used one

maybe they are adequate in the right hands


I'm on my 2nd one, this one since 1980...
Great when I was living in an apartment and didn't have room for a
shop...
Learned to turn on it, as well as other woodworking skills...

It's set up now as a drill press and is the best I've ever used...

shop smiths
 

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 15:32:00 -0700
Mac Davis wrote:

I'm on my 2nd one, this one since 1980...
Great when I was living in an apartment and didn't have room for a
shop...
Learned to turn on it, as well as other woodworking skills...

It's set up now as a drill press and is the best I've ever used...

did you ever have it setup as mentioned by the other poster for sanding

i have my drill press setup like a spindle sander but a combo sander
that has a belt and disc would be good and shopsmith usually are priced
low

i will have to keep my eyes open for one with the sanding extras

shop smiths
 

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 20:51:41 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 15:32:00 -0700
Mac Davis wrote:

I'm on my 2nd one, this one since 1980...
Great when I was living in an apartment and didn't have room for a
shop...
Learned to turn on it, as well as other woodworking skills...

It's set up now as a drill press and is the best I've ever used...

did you ever have it setup as mentioned by the other poster for sanding

i have my drill press setup like a spindle sander but a combo sander
that has a belt and disc would be good and shopsmith usually are priced
low

i will have to keep my eyes open for one with the sanding extras


I used to have it set up as a horizontal drill press, with the 12"
sanding disk on the rear spindle...
Changed to vertical for better centering of my pen blank vise,
later...

I also use it for heavy routing...

shop smiths
 

Mac Davis wrote:
On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 20:51:41 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 15:32:00 -0700
Mac Davis wrote:

I'm on my 2nd one, this one since 1980...
Great when I was living in an apartment and didn't have room for a
shop...
Learned to turn on it, as well as other woodworking skills...

It's set up now as a drill press and is the best I've ever used...

did you ever have it setup as mentioned by the other poster for sanding

i have my drill press setup like a spindle sander but a combo sander
that has a belt and disc would be good and shopsmith usually are priced
low

i will have to keep my eyes open for one with the sanding extras


I used to have it set up as a horizontal drill press, with the 12"
sanding disk on the rear spindle...
Changed to vertical for better centering of my pen blank vise,
later...

I also use it for heavy routing...

Hey Mac. Are you still living in the southern state?

--
GW Ross

It is fatal to live too long.

shop smiths
 

On Thu, 21 Apr 2016 08:42:39 -0700
Mac Davis wrote:

Changed to vertical for better centering of my pen blank vise,
later...

i know of a guy that had to do a lot of horizontal boring and he
ended up buying a smallish metal lathe to get better results in
the wood

forget what he was working but it was not pens

I also use it for heavy routing...


another use case is always good

what is max rpm on these

shop smiths
 

In article ,
Electric Comet wrote:

i will have to keep my eyes open for one with the sanding extras

The 12" disc is standard (if not lost). The optional 6x48 belt has an
accessory shaft that you could probably hang a 6" disc off of. The 12"
disc in combination with the tablesaw table and being (therefore)
mounted on the quill-feed end is very useful.

Max RPM is 5000 stock (10000 on the jointer driveshaft) Min is either
750 or 550. Only adjust while the machine is turning, and proper
procedure is to always turn to low speed before shutdown.

In the later years they made (at times, not always) both a speed doubler
and a speed reducer accessory, but they were overpriced and looked
flimsy as heck to me - I never tried one.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

shop smiths
 

In article ,
Mac Davis wrote:

I also use it for heavy routing...

You are a braver man than I am, Gunga Din.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

shop smiths
 

On Thu, 21 Apr 2016 12:33:30 -0400, "G. Ross"
wrote:

Mac Davis wrote:
On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 20:51:41 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 15:32:00 -0700
Mac Davis wrote:

I'm on my 2nd one, this one since 1980...
Great when I was living in an apartment and didn't have room for a
shop...
Learned to turn on it, as well as other woodworking skills...

It's set up now as a drill press and is the best I've ever used...

did you ever have it setup as mentioned by the other poster for sanding

i have my drill press setup like a spindle sander but a combo sander
that has a belt and disc would be good and shopsmith usually are priced
low

i will have to keep my eyes open for one with the sanding extras


I used to have it set up as a horizontal drill press, with the 12"
sanding disk on the rear spindle...
Changed to vertical for better centering of my pen blank vise,
later...

I also use it for heavy routing...

Hey Mac. Are you still living in the southern state?
SI!
I guess you could call Baja "Southern"...
I think of your neighborhood as Southern, though

How ya been, amigo?