Scotchman-Turner
Member
Has anyone used or heard of a Smithy brand 10 in 1 Super shop, looks a lot like a shopsmith but a lot more rugged.
Small shop
- Thread starter Scotchman-Turner
- Start date
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Paul in OKC
Member
Heard of it, but don't know anyone that has one.
KiltedGunn
Local Chapter Leader
I love my ShopSmith but that's...WOW! 
seawolf
Member
Looked it up I had never heard of it. The price is not bad. Maybe someone has one and will coment on it.
Mark
Mark
johnnycnc
Member
Someone recently asked about Shopsmith and someone else
brought up that there were copies on the market that
were of substadard quality.They look alike, and were named close enough that
you could have people buying them, thinking they were getting
a Shopsmith, when in fact they were not.
Point is, the quality.Take a close look before you buy.
Just something to watch out for!
brought up that there were copies on the market that
were of substadard quality.They look alike, and were named close enough that
you could have people buying them, thinking they were getting
a Shopsmith, when in fact they were not.
Point is, the quality.Take a close look before you buy.
Just something to watch out for!
Jgrden
Member
I had a Shopsmith. It was just tooooooo much machine for making pens.
hilltopper46
Member
I have a Smithy SuperShop - and I modified it to make pens on it - what do you want to know?
It has digital variable speed and three belt ranges - I leave mine on the middle belt range all the time which lets me turn at about 3600 and sand at less than 200 if I want to.
As a table saw it is no good. The band saw is identical to the Smithy - it's so-so, and you have to change it over to if you want to use it both as a band saw and a lathe. As a horizontal drilling machine it is great. I can't recall ever using it as an overhead router or shaper. The problem with OH shapers/routers is that if the board floats up off the table, you route too deeply - as opposed to through-the-table routers where you can make a second pass to take more material off.
The biggest problem with making pens is the minimum length that you can turn is about 10 inches. So, I made an auxiliary tail stock for mine which bolts to the work table, that gives me a minimum turning length of 0 inches. It's been in lathe mode now for over three years.
The other issue with it is that you move the powerhead, and not the tailstock, whenever you set up to turn.
That being said, I've made a lot of pens with it and of the three lathes I have is the most consistent at giving me a none OOR pen. I drive the A-mandrel with a 1/4-inch R8 collet and the B-mandrel with a 5/16-inch R8 collet.
Any other question - just ask. If I had it to do over again I would have saved my money - since I bought it I have bought two additional band saws (both used), two table saws (one new and one used), three lathes (one used and two new) and a planer and am thinking about getting a nice router/router table combination. I should have spent the money on the individual pieces.
It has digital variable speed and three belt ranges - I leave mine on the middle belt range all the time which lets me turn at about 3600 and sand at less than 200 if I want to.
As a table saw it is no good. The band saw is identical to the Smithy - it's so-so, and you have to change it over to if you want to use it both as a band saw and a lathe. As a horizontal drilling machine it is great. I can't recall ever using it as an overhead router or shaper. The problem with OH shapers/routers is that if the board floats up off the table, you route too deeply - as opposed to through-the-table routers where you can make a second pass to take more material off.
The biggest problem with making pens is the minimum length that you can turn is about 10 inches. So, I made an auxiliary tail stock for mine which bolts to the work table, that gives me a minimum turning length of 0 inches. It's been in lathe mode now for over three years.
The other issue with it is that you move the powerhead, and not the tailstock, whenever you set up to turn.
That being said, I've made a lot of pens with it and of the three lathes I have is the most consistent at giving me a none OOR pen. I drive the A-mandrel with a 1/4-inch R8 collet and the B-mandrel with a 5/16-inch R8 collet.
Any other question - just ask. If I had it to do over again I would have saved my money - since I bought it I have bought two additional band saws (both used), two table saws (one new and one used), three lathes (one used and two new) and a planer and am thinking about getting a nice router/router table combination. I should have spent the money on the individual pieces.
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