"BillinGA" wrote in message
...

I bought one in 1978. I was limited to keeping my woodworking equipment in
a 4x 8 carport storage room. When needed, I would roll it out onto the
carport and cut/turn away. Shopsmith offered classes at a very reasonable
rate and the training projects made one familiar with the different
configurations. The variable speed motor is plenty strong and doesn't rely
on expensive electronics. Still runs well after all these years. The ease
of dado adjustment comes to mind as the blades are right there and you
lower the table over them for use. I've never taken 20 minutes to make any
setup change and that includes going from a "table saw" (not much table)
to a drill press....more like 5-6 minutes. Since then I was able to have a
larger shop and , like most others, acquired a table saw, radial arm,
router tables, etc. The Shopsmith met my financial and space needs at the
time of purchase. It doesn't do any one function particularly well when
compared to dedicated tools but I've never regretted the purchase.


My father got a new in the crate Shopsmith with a jointer and scroll saw
from a retired Boy Scout Scoutmaster around 1960... His troop gave it to him
when he retired but he had no interest in woodworking and sold it at a good
discount off retail. The Shopsmith still resides in my father's shop. I
started using it when I was very young making jig saw puzzles at first and
then moved on to using the drill press, jointer and table saw. Switching
between options isn't a big deal... I was doing it as a kid (though the
jointer seemed to weigh a ton to me back then!).

After using my big stationary tools I find the Shopsmith inadequate but it
has served my father well for nearly 60 years... and he can still get parts
for it! He upgraded the motor to a larger one when Shopsmith had a sale on
them. That was a good move as the original was grossly underpowered for
table saw use... It doesn't look a whole lot different from the Mark 5 they
sell today.