Bill Pentz Woodworking Tool Discussions

I was talking with one of my pretty successful friends about his new woodshop and tools. It seems we both had a very similar evolution in the growth of our woodworking and compliment of tools. Well, he has outdone me by buying himself top of the line Felder separates with all the goodies. They are absolutely wonderful with electronic accuracy to the nearest ten-thousandth of an inch. He is also a retired machinist/engineer so he has added really incredible electronic measurement sensors. Regardless, our discussion came around to what we have really built, and strangely both of us came to the same realization. Just about the time we gave up our ShopSmith systems, we became more tool collectors than woodworkers. That of course led to a trip down memory lane figuring who had been working with the ShopSmith the longest. It seems I "won" that one and he said I should share on the Internet. Well here goes.

My first exposure to a ShopSmith was with my father not too long after my father finished an Air Force assignment in Japan in 1957. Before volunteering to serve in WW II as a fighter pilot he earned his union master carpentry ratings in frame, finish, and cabinetry, went on to become the chief building inspector for the city of Denver, Colorado, and was part of the team drafted to help rebuild Pearl Harbor. His apprenticeship in the old hand styles of European woodworking got tossed in favor of rebuilding right now. He wanted me to know the old ways, so before I was ten, I could sharpen and set saw teeth just right, tune a scraper into something dangerous, and sharpen a chisel or plane blade into something that could split a hair with ease. Throughout my father's woodworking he always favored doing things with hand tools, but also was not afraid to use the big iron when time or volume required. After tiring of having to replace his heavy-duty shop iron with every military move, he went looking for an alternative that could follow us on our frequent moves. We caught one of the early ShopSmith demonstrations.

That demonstration was an incredible turning point with my father. Frankly, he previously hated power tools thinking they were a weak person's excuse for not learning how to do things right or keep your tools sharp. He never did anything impulsive in his life, and then was no exception. We talked about it and came to the conclusion that real people could never do what we watched as those demo experts must of trained for months to get that smooth. Our base hobby shop had one of the ShopSmiths and I was finally allowed to use it for turning. My father liked that unit enough that one followed him home, but it vanished with our next move. I did not see another ShopSmith until 1960 when an old airframe and power plant mechanic was helping us to rebuild the lower wings on our Beech Staggerwing biplane. I watched the lights go on in my father's eyes as he watched that friend use that tool and jigsaw to do nothing short of absolute magic. He found one used and it followed him home.

My father decided to build a custom dream home back in 1964 and needed to help out on the construction by doing most of finish and cabinetry. I guess you could then rent a ShopSmith, because we had one that we used to build that home and it only stayed long enough to finish that project. It went away taking my dreams of being able to use it to build all kinds of things. A few months later I met a fellow who eventually became my best friend. His father and he bought and used a ShopSmith to build a large extension onto their home. As one of the senior engineering professors in our area, his father had access to a full professional wood shop and actually taught the advanced architectural woodworking classes for the university. My friend's father eventually became my mentor and one of my closest "adult" friends with our working together on innumerable projects as I went through engineering school and was starting my career. Strangely, as well as we got along neither he nor my father would let me use their ShopSmith machines as they both said they were just too dangerous.

Safety I been using ShopSmith tools since the early sixties and yes they do have many limitations and like any other power tool can cause serious injury or even death, but they still are a pretty incredible tool when you have either space of financial constraints. ShopSmith combination machines are one of the most heavily sold stationary power woodworking tools ever, and although considered by many to be a toy, they are instead a really great and well made system if you will take the time to learn how to use yours safely and efficiently. It takes some preplanning to minimize the overhead of doing constant setups and take downs, but the book that comes with these units gives lots of good advice on staying organized.

Quality The fit and finish on the ShopSmith is far better than most of the imports including my Inca, Fein, Robland and Festool tools, and miles better than most of the stuff coming out of the far east. Factory support service is excellent, both from the Internet and from their toll-free number. I broke a switch when getting a little careless moving another heavy tool. Two days later ShopSmith had that switch in my hands. Cost for the part and shipping were both fair. Although I could have picked up a less expensive switch locally, the one I got was an exact match and replaced a switch that has one of the most difficult of duties. It reliably powered a high startup loaded 12 amp motor for over ten years so was excellent in quality.

Utility In addition to being well engineered and made, ShopSmith combination machines are workhorses capable of doing a fair to good job on all different kinds of woodworking, and really excelling on small gift type projects. The early ShopSmith units were a little underpowered and changing functions required some advanced planning, but you can make them work. We built a 5000 square foot home with ours including all its cabinetry and fine woodwork. We also made a lot of extension tables to handle longer and sheet goods. My best friend's father added a large extension to their home also using a twin unit. Way before we had chop saws or even affordable radial arm saws, our ShopSmith regularly went with us to job sites helping to cut all of the lumber and most of the plywood to build at least four homes and innumerable cabinets. Adding a good thin sharp blade (Forrest is my preference) and standard saw arbor really helps performance. Adding a good incremental positioning jig like my Incra setup provides a level of accuracy for inlay and layered fine woodworking that must be seen to be believed. The ShopSmith also makes a great standing station with disc, belt and pneumatic drum. The horizontal drill press feature provides a more secure mating to edge join boards than using biscuits and the board height ends up being a perfect match. When I sold my professional shop, I went back to using a ShopSmith but eventually added an Inca table saw, Inca jointer/planer then a Robland X-31. With too little room my ShopSmith found a new home and believe it or not, I soon bought another used just because there are some things that it does so much better than any of my much heavier tools. Mine always sits ready to go as a full sanding station. Unlike my Delta sanding station, it lets me control the speed to get just the performance needed.

Purchase In terms of buying a ShopSmith, go looking for a good used unit, preferably a little used model 510. The lighter motors and lighter bearings plus smaller tables on the early 500 models work fine, but require more maintenance, are not as accurate, and are harder to find parts for.

Purchase Accessories I would pass on their band saw, planer, jointer, dust collector, router, and jig saw. I found each of those units just lacking the capacity to do more than very small projects. I do like their upgraded conical sanding disk and their belt sander.

I started using a ShopSmith in the fifties with my father. It was a little underpowered and changing functions required some advanced planning, but if that is all you have, you can make it work. I set up two professional shops and both ended up having used ShopSmith in corners that always seemed to come in handy for taking care of the unexpected that we could not do with our stand-alone machines.

Table Saw I immediately upgraded my ShopSmith to use a standard ¾" arbor then went out and bought a top of the line Forrest combination saw blade. With a good blade, in spite of having to move the table up and down to adjust blade height, the ShopSmith is the most convenient saw to use in my shop for small projects. When working on larger pieces and thicker pieces of hardwood, realize that the ShopSmith can flex enough to cause some nasty kickbacks even with the excellent splitter on the 510 and later models. Always protect yourself by standing out of the line of fire and always use push sticks, feather boards, and hold-downs. Likewise, using jigs and such are a must to ensure maximum safety. Extension tables and both in-feed and out-feed rollers are a must if you want to work on anything of larger size. These tables must be variable in height like the standard ShopSmith brand of extension tables to move up and down as you change table height.

Lathe With the upgraded steady rest, live center, and appropriate faceplate that comes on the 510 models and later, the lathe is quite usable for all but large or out of balance pieces. When my daughter discovered the lathe she would take a piece of green wood and see how long of a shaving she could create. That was more fun than “making” something. She has already given me notice that as soon as she gets a home of her own “her” ShopSmith and band saw are going to move in.

Drill Press & Mortising The mortising feature is far better than my industrial-mortising units because the big table and moving quill allow much better control and accuracy. I choose to mortise by drilling straight in to protect the quill bearings then using mortising chisels for clean up. The drill press is also excellent, but is inconvenient compared to a drill press. I still use the ShopSmith drill configuration when needing the big table or having to make a weird angle.

Disc, Belt and Drum Sander Attachments The 12" conical disc, flat disc, pneumatic drum, and belt sander attachments provide excellent results with the variable speed making them far better than my Delta sanding center. If you drop either disc, you may have to replace them because once out of round then don't work well at all. When in good shape, they work so well I bought a used ShopSmith power station and made them a permanent ready to go extra sanding center every bit as nice as my big Delta and Powermatic belt/disk sanding centers.

Joiner, Band Saw & Planer The 4" jointer, band saw, and planer are all things that you can get in bench top units with their own motors for equal or less price and better functionality, plus I found tools of that size are great for small projects but near worthless when dealing with sheet goods and larger projects.

Auxiliary Power Station I bought one of these when I picked up a ShopSmith joiner and 6” sanding belt. The price was right, but really did not think I’d have any use for one of these. I was wrong. That center ended up getting setup with a couple of the accessories permanently mounted and always ready to go.

Dust Collector The ShopSmith 3300 model dust collector is a very well made "tank" that provides excellent “chip collection” but spews fine dust all over. I used mine as a second portable in my shop until converting all over for fine dust collection. If you have one of these I strongly recommend that you replace the standard 2.5" 3-way adapter with the ShopSmith 4" inlet to make a huge difference in airflow, and trade the heavy bag for an American Filter Fabric fine large filter bag. I replaced mine with a big Jet DC that uses my own added on cartridge filter.

Bottom Line: With all that said, my bottom line here is that if you have a space problem and want to make boxes, trinkets, turnings, kitchen and other small things found in craft shows, etc. you really cannot get too much better of a unit. The ShopSmith will do for making furniture but you need to get and stay organized, plus add some extension tables, either homemade or from ShopSmith. If unorganized the change over problems will drive you crazy. If you are going to be doing mostly flat work (cabinetry) this is not the right machine even with all of the extension tables and roller assemblies, but can be used in a pinch. I prefer the Ez-Smart and Festool systems that use a rail with hand held power tools for working large plywood sheets.

After using a ShopSmith with my father, uncle and best friend, it was a natural when starting a small woodworking shop in the sixties while I went to college. Just after starting college at UC Davis I got a basket case ShopSmith and spent way too much time rebuilding it. It lived at a friend's rented ranch house and served me well helping me refurbish many homes and build the insides for Fanny Anne's Saloon, the KZAP radio station, and then the first Old Spaghetti Factory facility in Sacramento, CA. We made enough off our projects that we soon had a fully equipped shop with a big MiniMax joiner planer, commercial Delta 3-phase table saw, on and on. Both of the two professional shops I set up had used ShopSmith combination machines in corners that always seemed to come in handy for taking care of the unexpected that we could not do with our stand-alone machines.

I was a pretty hard charger and well on my way to my first millions before getting out of college. Moreover, I was accepted into medical school and had my life all figured out. Instead, I got a number 10 on the first draft lottery, and landed in Vietnam just a short time later serving as an aircraft tail gunner-loadmaster. Only two of the ten of us who started there together made it home whole and today I am the only one still alive from that group. Frankly, I am not sure I came back whole either. I came home a very changed person and never even noticed that my ShopSmith was long gone. It took me quite a while to get any motivation back at all.

One of the biggest events that moved me to recovery was my getting a severe reality wake up call from a 1972 accidental poisoning on a military reserve flight. After I awoke from a three-day coma, my doctors did not expect me to live more than a few days. Disliking that prognosis, I checked out of that military hospital by pulling my IV and leaving. I returned to the Sacramento, California area where I helped do medical research. My doctor friends put me on a strong detoxification program and did not expect me to live past my next cold or case of flu. They also assured me that fathering children would produce teenaged mutant ninja turtles. I picked up the pieces and went to work hard rebuilding my health and building up the basis of what became today's PC movement. My prognosis went from just fatal to only grim.

One of the few things I still enjoyed doing was woodworking so I soon after picked up a basket case ShopSmith and decided to spend the time to make it the tool I really wanted ShopSmith to be. Those were tough times following the local aerospace industry collapse so in spite of five years of UC Davis engineering, the only job I could find was as an engineering technician at CSU Sacramento. That job made for many top quality machinist friends and engineering professors always ready to help. With lots of their help my ShopSmith slowly became a very different machine. I upgraded the motor, put a crank on the table, made the table larger, added a different heavy bearing to the quill, added a built in router table with speed increaser, added in feed and out feed tables, and tweaked the dust collection significantly. My most interesting change was to mount gear bars on the front and back of the table with matching teeth on the fence and a micro adjustment. Those changes coupled with a glued on ruler to make rock solid alignment with total repeatability. That unit served me well working with my cousin to rebuild homes. One of my professor friends was ShopSmith crazy. After my cousin and I had built up enough money from our home work, we purchased a full set of Delta commercial tools. I finally let my modified ShopSmith go to my professor friend. He liked it and the changes so much that he sent many of the changes to ShopSmith. Some of those changes got into the 510.

I was wrong. We still needed the ShopSmith for too many things so I did it all over again with another ShopSmith basket case in '74, but was not quite so crazy in my changes just adding a table crank, extra quill bearing and my router table option. I slowly added parts until I had most of the accessories then used that unit to help rebuild D.O. Mills' (one of the key bankers during the gold rush era) original Victorian mansion and an even nicer old farmhouse way out in the country. I learned the hard way that living too far from neighbors has its drawbacks. I came home from military reserve duty to an empty home and an empty shop. Somewhere out there is an old ShopSmith with bigger bearings than today's 510s.

In '78 I bought another ShopSmith, that time fully assembled and working. After upgrading the quill bearing it served my cousin and me well living in our shop and helping us to rebuild more homes. Soon after I went through a “friendly” divorce that ended up doing a world purge for me where most of my possessions got liquidated for pennies on a dollar with the results getting transferred to a hungry attorney. Sadly, my ShopSmith was just one of the many casualties.

Between working full time as a senior manager and a second full time job as a university teacher, my finances quickly recovered and I was able to buy pretty much whatever tools I wanted. Unfortunately I had no time to use them. My tools mostly sat collecting dust until October each year when I started my Christmas projects. I rebuilt my shop again, replacing first my hand tools and small power tools then finally in 1985 bought a barely used ShopSmith 510 from another divorce mess. That unit came with just a dust collector, so I went looking for accessories. I found an old 500 that a son inherited and did not want. It had everything and most of the accessories were newer 510 units, so I ended up paying way too much, but in exchange got his father's entire shop with everything from hand tools to a shop full of odd clamps, a homemade workbench, lots of bits and cutters, and all the ShopSmith accessories. By then I knew, how to get around the setup problems with the ShopSmith. Just own two plus a power station. My belt sander and band saw had a permanent home on the power station. The 510 stayed a saw with my custom joiner table and the backside being a sanding disk and joiner. I also made a router table that fit on the ShopSmith bars and held my Porter Cable router, plus a nice accessory bench with drawers that fit below on the 510 stand. The 500 became my drill press and lathe. About then I lost one of my good friends and ended up buying from his widow his near new Inca table saw and Inca joiner/planer. I liked those tools so much I also bought the bigger Inca band saw. That combination helped me get a lot of work done including considerable furniture much of which was 5/4" heavy red oak plus a rocking horse and rocker for my infant children, and lots of fine gifts for family and friends.

The bad news is all those tools just barely fit with the most careful effort along side and in front of our cars in our garage. Between two kids and my tools we clearly needed a bigger house and got it in 1987 with a big three-car garage.