On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 20:13:19 -0800, "Don" <dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet>
wrote:
>As I am about to retire, I'm considering making woodworking one of my
>hobbies. I'm a bit limited in space for setting up a shop so my question is
>... is the Shopsmith a good unit?
Very good for limited space. It can be a pain to change setups, but
that's the tradeoff. Quality hand tools and hand power tools will be
a focus too. Think about sharpening and tools to do it (natural
lighting is best).
In article <[email protected]>, "Don"
<dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet> says...
> As I am about to retire, I'm considering making woodworking one of my
> hobbies. I'm a bit limited in space for setting up a shop so my question is
> ... is the Shopsmith a good unit?
>
You'll get a lot of conflicting responses on that question!
I've owned a Shopsmith, now I don't. My shop is an 11' by 13'
storage shed that I insulated and wired.
If your shop space is limited more than that, or you have to
share it with the family car, go with the Shopsmith. Or, if you
live in a congenial climate, go with conventional tools you can
wheel outside on a nice day.
My main complaint with the Shopsmith was the table saw function.
Since the blade doesn't tilt, it can be a pain with large
pieces.
And the price is quite high. I got mine used and suggest if you
do buy one that you also try to find a used one.
Since I've retired, I find myself using hand tools more and
more. Mostly planes, chisels and hand drills, but I've done a
bit of crosscutting by hand as well (with a Japanese-style saw).
--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?
Don, if you type "shopsmith" in Google newsgroups, you'll get 7,300 hits.
Type "shopsmith reviews" in regular Google and you get 1,910 to choose from.
It's a pretty well-worn subject.
"Don" <dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As I am about to retire, I'm considering making woodworking one of my
> hobbies. I'm a bit limited in space for setting up a shop so my question
is
> ... is the Shopsmith a good unit?
>
> --
> Don
>
>
It's a great tool. Bought mine a bunch of years ago and it has always done
what I needed done. It gets used almost daily and the only thing that has
needed repair was the power switch. A five minute operation.
Because it is a combination machine there are some compromises in it but
none of them are in quality or accuracy and none are insurmountable. Their
customer service is world class.
As space and requirements have grown I've had to upgrade to stand alone
tools for some of the functions but the Shopsmith is still a useful tool for
all it's other functions.
Try the Yahoo ssusers group. http://groups.yahoo.com/ to find it and sign
up.
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Don" <dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As I am about to retire, I'm considering making woodworking one of my
> hobbies. I'm a bit limited in space for setting up a shop so my question
is
> ... is the Shopsmith a good unit?
>
> --
> Don
>
>