If you are limited in space they are great to have. Pain in the ass sometimes when you have to switch a lot between this and that. You lose your set up. They have a lot of adjustments to keep things square and true, but you have to keep an eye on them. The bandsaw sucks, at least mine did. The lathe is fine. Table saw is fine, but a bigger table would be nice. Jointer is fine. Drill press is fine, especially liked the ability to do horizontal boring. Comes in handy when you have something too tall to get under the drill press.
You have to think your process through to save yourself a lot of operational switching. All in all it’s a fair machine. Pretty pricey these days, a used one can be found cheap on Craigslist and the like. All in one machines, be they woodworking, welding or machining are usually just fair to good, but they will get you through the learning process and production until you can buy dedicated machines. Dedicated machines are always better to have, especially for repeated projects and finished quality. Buy the best you can afford when you can so that you can enjoy what your doing with minimal frustrations. I made a lot of nice shit with my Shopsmith back in the day in the spare bedroom of a condo. I still have it, but it doesn’t get a lot of action except to save a set up on a dedicated machine sort of thing.
Like I say, they are alright, just got to check your set ups for true and plan out best you can the operations needed to complete something to save yourself time re-set ups. Oh yeah, one of the features I like about them is the ability to control the speed of the machine. Some woods like fast some slower. Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass to dial up and down to start and finish, but that’s just the how that machine has to be run because of its different capabilities. Not good to turn off and on at a set speed, always have to dial down to shut off and dial up to the specified operation to start.
Try to find a used one with as many accessories as you can, they are pretty bombproof unless they were owned by an idiot. Most of them used are usually in good shape due to people losing interest or stepping up to dedicated machines. Hope this helps….
That's awesome, thanks for the great reply. I appreciate that.
You’re welcome fren!
Woodworking machinery has gotten ridiculously expensive for the really good stuff. You can save some money looking for 1940-60’s Craftsman in the dedicated machines. They are cast iron ( heavy as fuck) and built like tanks. Motors that keep on keep’n on. I have a few and they’ve all performed very well for years with no issues or regrets.
I'm liking the shop smith for the space savings. They sure seem very versatile too.
(post is archived)