December 9, 20196 yr I was on the Shopsmith web site the other day and noticed that they have a bunch of free plans. Well, almost. Most of them are 404. I decided to order a catalog while I was there. First off, the address was hand-written. They I saw the prices. They want $1700 for the tables only to upgrade from the Mark V to Mark 7 version. Cripes, that's more than I paid for my whole Unisaw. Many aging boomers and older dying or giving up the shop due to health or other reasons after owning them for decades. Most (realistically priced) ones I have see go for $300-500 with a couple of the extra tools (bandsaw, jointer, or belt sander). I go by the old plant regularly and it seems every time I see it, it's getting less and less of the building. They don't even have a storefront any more and I have not heard of the on the road sales/demos in a dozen years. A friend of mine was actually one of those guys and was a top performer until he got laid off.
December 10, 20196 yr I also noticed they are never at and of the Woodworking shows anymore. Of course many manufactures that once were present no longer come to them either.
December 10, 20196 yr https://www.shopsmith.com/mark7site/event_schedule.htm this is the latest traveling schedule. Mostly at stores such as Lowe's and Menards. They have been to Pensacola 2 times in the last few years. I got to see the PowerPro. Talk about one quiet machine. It was running but I couldn't hear it. At Lowe's events, you get a 10% off and if you have a military discount, you get more off. Yes, the parts are very expensive. I made a decision some time back, as much as I would love to have the latest versions of tables, I am going to learn to deal with the old MK V that many other folks used and continue to use. Yes, it's smaller, but and infeed and a couple of outfeed rollers work well or purchase a second machine to set behind the operating one to act as an extended table. I am dealing with it. We older folks, whose health and income are not keeping up can make it work. We have ways. Sorry, Steve. Just had to borrow that line.
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