So, how does this blog work?

This blog (short for Web Log) features links to Shopsmith woodworking tools and items that are related to Shopsmith tools which are for sale on the web.

We've been adding a BUNCH of FREE scans of historic Shopsmith articles and ads, and if you happen to have something we should add we'd love to hear from you. Most of these can be seen Biggie-Sized by clicking on them.

Speaking of clicking, if you'd like to enter a comment about one of the posts, please feel free. To do so just click on the bold title line (For example, this post is titled "So, how does this blog work?" If you click on the title it will open that post in it's own page. There you can enter a comment, and after I moderate it, you'll see it there for all the world to see and comment back!

Please do me a favor. If you have a blog of your own or are a member of an Internet newsgroup and decide to flatter me by quoting from the text of my entries, please honor me by posting a link to this blog. Thanks and good hunting! Scott

Before we talk about the Mark V I feel compelled to tell you a bit about how I got to this point.

The Shopsmith Mark V.

These words have stirred a child-like excitement in me ever since Mr. Stone (a family friend) stopped by our home in Beavercreek Ohio to visit my parents while on a trip to Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Stone had just paid a visit to a factory in Dayton where he made a large purchase of a power tool. Now, my dad is the son of a Cabinetmaker and because his mother died when he was three, he and his two brothers were raised in the shop while my Grandfather worked. So here's Mr. Stone and my dad sitting on the couch looking at a brochure for this neat tool, and I vividly remember standing behind the couch staring over their shoulders in amazement at this wonderful new tool. This was around 1977, which would have made me 13-14 years old, and at that time I had no idea that the Shopsmith Mark V had been in production since 1954! (A conflicting date of 1953 is given on the official Shopsmith Inc site, but I've not been able to confirm this dating with any official documentation or witness. Go figure.)

I convinced my dad that we needed to get a catalog, so he returned the postcard that Mr. Stone left with us, and for years we continued to get the occasional catalog and better yet the awesome woodworking magazine "Hands-On!".

Fast forward to 1987 and though I had visited the showroom at the Shopsmith factory in Vandalia Ohio (North Dayton) several times this time I was actually there just to kill time while I waited for a near-by job interview. It was on this visit that I met Ron Hittle. Ron was a playful and intelligent man who instantly won me over with his silly puns and jokes. When you met Ron it was like meeting a long-lost brother for the first time. He was totally engaged in our conversation as we talked about woodworking, tools, Jim and Tammy Baker (they were falling from grace at that very moment) and Shopsmith. I was having a great time when I suddenly realized that I was now a half-hour overdue for my job interview! Ron noticed that I was looking at my watch and getting stressed so he asked me what was wrong. I told him that I was late for a job interview and he said "Are you looking for a job?" I thought that was a silly question following my previous statement but I said yes. At that Ron smiled and said he had an opening and would love to continue our conversation in his office. About an hour later, with my face aching from laughter, I was an employee of Shopsmith Inc!

Lots of other things happened after that, but in total I was an employee for 10 years, as an in-store salesman, a store manager (twice) and as an Academy Instructor. Oh yeah, in 1987 I finally became the proud owner of a Shopsmith Mark V Model 510!

Shopsmith Mark V sighting: Signature Custom Cabinetry

In my job as a corporate trainer I get to visit a lot of woodworking shops and factories I get to meet a lot of fascinating craftsmen and business people.  On a recent trip to Ephrata, PA (Lancaster County) I had the pleasure to visit Signature Custom Cabinetry and meet the Martin brothers who started it all.  Kent, Devon & Delayne were taught woodworking by their grandfather and from there they launched Signature in Kent’s two-car garage in 1989. 


They've come a long way since their humble start.  For example, for three years running Signature Custom Cabinetry has been named one of the 100 fastest growing wood products manufacturers in the country!
 
Anyway, as I walked down the hall of their corporate headquarters with their VP of Development, I stopped dead in my tracks by the sight that you see in the photo.

I learned that the Martin's started their business on a Shopsmith Mark V, and that a couple years back the brothers had it restored and put on display just outside their offices, along with photos of their original shop and of each of them as kids on that very Mark V.

These men have sure come a long way as they built on their passion for excellence that was born on that amazing tool. 

The DeWalt DW788 Scroll Saw vs the Delta 40-690 Scroll Saw

Yes, I know that this is a Shopsmith blog, but there are a couple non-Shopsmith tools that I absolutely love, and included in that list has been the DeWalt 20" DW788 scroll saw. 

The following is excerpted from my Delta-Rockwell-Tool-Hunter.blogspot.com blog:

If you’ve been paying attention you may have noticed that Delta has recently introduced two new scroll saws (the 40-690 & the new 40-692) that are dead-ringers for the popular and dare I say excellent DW788.  Stanley, who owns Black and Decker, who owns DeWalt has sold or licensed this saw to Delta Power Equipment Company, as the Delta name is far more synonymous with stationary power tools, while for most folks the DeWalt name means portable tools.    

One exciting advantage of this new Delta saw is that it now comes with a 5 year warranty!  Anyway, as I’ve stated before, we LOVE our DW788, and as a Delta tool you can’t go wrong.

Find the Delta 40-690 for sale at Woodcraft.com

NOTE: This saw is currently on an incredible sale at Woodcraft!   On a stand with a goose neck light, normally you’d pay $619, but at the moment it’s available for $349!  That’s a $270 savings!

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long at all!  These saws are all sold out, and now Delta is introducing an upgraded version.  I guess that explains the blow-out price, huh?  Anyway, the new model is the 40-695, and it will be available in March 2012.  Here's a preview pic, which you can click on to Biggie-Size.

Certainly this will be sold by Woodcraft, so check it out here: Link to Delta Scroll Saws for sale at Woodcraft.

Congratulations to Woodcraft's sweepstakes winner!

While my subject line really says it all, here's a link to the Woodcraft blog where you can learn even more: http://blog.woodcraft.com/?p=16399

I love that the photo in the blog post shows the winner, Robert, with his Shopsmith Mark V! Even though for many years when I was a Shopsmith store manager, Woodcraft was my competitor, I developed a strong respect for the way they service their customers, not only with their product selection, but with their excellent corporate and retail crews.

Sweepstakes like this are an exciting way for tool manufactures to show-off their latest innovations, and a great way for Woodcraft to spread a little excitement. Congratulations to Robert, and thank you Woodcraft for being a true leader within our industry and more importantly, within our communities.

Kreg K4 jig with a butt-load of free screws

I don't know if there is anything I can say about this jig beyond what you already know. I got my first aluminum K2 Kreg jig over 15 years ago, and though it is still in good working order I purchased the plastic K2000 Kreg jig a few years ago because my original jig was designed only for 3/4" stock.

The K2000 jig that I own and use today requires that I partially disassemble it and add shims if I change the stock thickness. Seeing that my old jig wouldn't even accommodate this I thought it was a huge improvement. The new K4 (shown at right) has a slick feature that allows you to quickly adjust it for a wide range of stock thicknesses.

I originally thought that I'd use the K2 in the drill press mode of my Mark V, and though I did use it that way once, it just didn't make sense. I now have a dedicated corded drill that I picked-up at either Big Lots or Harbor Freight for drilling with the step bit, and I usually drive the screws with a small cordless lithium ion powered driver.

My K2000 Kreg jig was used extensively in the construction of a sleigh that was the focus point of our daughter's winter-themed wedding, and on the six-cheese nacho cheese fountain that was featured at my son's wedding. Yeah, you read that right. We even made a build-blog about that one, but that's another story. Anyway, while I am still a big fan of traditional Mortise and Tenon joinery, there's no match for the ease and speed of a pocket joint for face frames and simple butt joints, and let's face it; not every project deserves that degree of craftsmanship.

If you don't already have one of the newer adjustable Kreg jigs, Woodcraft has a great deal going on the current K4 Kreg Master System that deserves your attention. They are throwing-in a bunch of screws that themselves make-up the difference between this offer and their standard $99 kit. In addition to the screws they also include a handy assembly clamp and a few other goodies that will come in handy.

Check it out. Scott

Kreg K4 Jig at Woodcraft.com


For fun, here's a link to our Instructable where we show how we built our 6 Cheese Nacho Cheese Fountain.  You can even see the K2000 in use: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Build-A-8220Talladega-Nights8221-Insp/

Shopsmith Launches New Line of Ceramic Abrasives

I "liked" Shopsmith's Facebook page some time ago, and for the most part their posts are short versions of the same content that I read in their marketing emails. But every now and then a photo on their post will catch my eye and draw me in. If you didn't know, Shopsmith is promoting a new line of abrasive products, and some of the posts on FB have been about their excitement about being added to the inventory of LOWE's.

Here's the text from a recent post, and a couple pics.

We are proud to announce a ShopSmith line of professional quality abrasives that are sure to set the new standard in abrasive performance and quality for the "Next Generation"! A nation wide launch in coming in August, but a sneak peak of the product offering will be coming soon on future post.

Something about their packaging seemed familiar to me, so I did a little Googling and confirmed my suspicions: This product is made by Ali Industries. Ali is located in my birthplace of Fairborn, Ohio, and is a manufacturer of a lot of the private label "store brand" abrasives that you may have purchased over the years. Normally when I think of store brands I think generic, but after discovering Ali abrasives some 20 years ago I actually look for their little alligator logo in the small print on the back of the package. I've found it on Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware and a few other packages over the years, but so many of these products have gone to the lowest bidder now.

The most interesting thing that I learned was about the name or branding of the product. Here's the first part:

On Monday, July 18, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark for ALI INDUSTRIES, INC. registration number 85046037 was abandoned having the name G2 CERAMIC 2000. The Reason provided as ABANDONED - NO STATEMENT OF USE FILED
So, Ali Industries abandoned their trademark for G2 ceramic abrasives. Here's where it gets interesting though:

On Wednesday, July 13, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING. This trademark is owned by ALI INDUSTRIES, INC., FAIRBORN, OH 45324. The USPTO has given the SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING trademark serial number of 85369944 The current federal status of this trademark filing is NEW APPLICATION - RECORD INITIALIZED NOT ASSIGNED TO EXAMINER. The correspondent listed for SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING is R. WILLIAM GRAHAM of A PAT..., 3340 ..., P. O. BOX 752125 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73120 . The SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING trademark is filed in the category of Cosmetics and Cleaning Products , Machinery Products , Hand Tool Products . The description provided to the USPTO for SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING is Abrasive products for sanding, namely, coated abrasives and sandpaper in the form of sanding strips, sheets, belts, spindles, and discs, emery cloths, and sanding screens in the nature of abrasive cloth.

Interesting, huh? RLFShop is the owner of the Shopsmith and Shop Smith trademark, but it looks like they've licensed the name to Ali, who has trademarked the "SHOP SMITH ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH FINISHING" slogan. So what does all this really mean? Nuthin'.

Ceramics are excellent abrasives, and I also see that some of their products are what is called "film back". Cloth and paper has a texture to it, and when you cover that texture with abrasive particles they points of the abrasives will protrude from the paper at different heights, which causes scratches that will be amplified by your finish. With a film back the abrasives are bonded to a dead-flat piece of film, so you don't get these flaws.
I've used a LOT of brands, and have been impressed by ceramics and film back products, so I can't wait to try it and to see how this all works out. As I said, Ali Knows abrasives, and I know that Jim McCann of Shopsmith knows abrasives, finishing and sharpening better than 99.999% of the Woodworkers you've heard of, so with their powers combined (like the Wonder Twins) this could be a very good thing indeed.

Here's a video of the man himself, Mr. Jim-Bob McCann, playing with this new abrasive on a Shopsmith Mark V.


Learn more at Shopsmith's site.

DEWALT DWP611PK Compact Router Kit Killer Deal!

DeWalt and Porter-Cable (Both manufactured by B&D) recently introduced similar compact router sets.  The motor is slightly larger than a traditional trim router, but what you get for the extra girth is a height adjustment that is second to none.

Below is a video from "John the TIA guru" that runs the Dewalt Owners Group.  In the video John does a run down on the DEWALT DWP611PK Compact Router.

These kits are priced in the $199 range for a fixed base and a plunge base, but at this moment they are both on sale at Woodcraft.  The DeWalt has an even sweeter deal going:  
You can save 10% Now Through August 27, 2011 AND... Receive a FREE 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander with Mail-In Rebate through August 15!

Click this link for the DEWALT DWP611PK Compact Router Kit at Woodcraft

Click this link for the Porter-Cable 450PK Compact Router Kit at Woodcraft

Ever See a Hen's Tooth?

"They" say that something that is hard to find is as rare as a hen's tooth, and today I think I found one.  WAY back in the late 1980's Lee Valley, a Canadian woodworking tool company,  published a neat book that they called the Woodworker's Logbook.  It was a hard cover 3 ring binder with a couple hundred loose-leaf pages of charts, measurements and other useful things for the woodworker.

Lee Valley described it as:
More than just a record-keeping book, the Woodworker's Logbook is a compendium of essential information for the shop.  Standard furniture heights, depths and widths, lumber and plywood standards, pre-drill sizes for screws, bit operating speeds (to ensure you never watch another expensive bit turn blue) and a guide to knock-down hardware are included along with numerous other tables and guidelines.


It also had a simple inventory record system that let you compile and readily update the cost and replacement value of your hand and power tools, lumber stock, etc., for insurance claims. 


Additionally the indexed project section is designed by woodworkers to allowed you to record information specific to various pieces you built in an easily accessible format. Exact molding profiles, critical dimensions of a piece and the materials you used could be recorded conveniently, which makes it much more likely that you will keep the records you often wish you had. 


The logbook was supplied with ruled, graph and tracing paper and was in a durable 2-½" thick three-ring binder that opens flat, allowing easy page reorganization or addition.


Why do I mention all this?  Because I can't find my copy to save my life, so I decided to just hop onto the "Interwebs" and purchase another copy... and that's when I hit the brick wall.  First off I couldn't remember the title, so I was searching "Woodworking resource book".  Then I added the word "chart" to that search, because I knew it had charts.  Nothin'.  How about adding the name Lee Valley?  Ya know, I think they were launching the name Veritas at that time, so let's add that to the search too.


I finally went to the Wayback Machine and searched a ten year old version of the Lee Valley site and there it was!  


Good, I have the title, so now I'll just search THAT and I'll surely be bombarded with reliant hits.  NOT! 
This book, when it can be found, is selling for upward of $100!  USED!  


So, here's a link to an eBay search for this book, but keep in mind that it will rarely be posted for sale, and when it does I will be bidding against you!  

Click this link to find your own copy of the Woodworker's Logbook for Sale on eBay.

WoodRiver Benchtop Mortiser with FREE Chisels and Bits!

If you are interested in handsome and strong joinery you already know that mortise and tenon joints are the way to go. Yes, pocket hole joinery is all the rage, and I have three Kreg jigs myself, but when I want to build furniture that will be passed-down to my grand kids I know I'll be making mortises and dovetails.
Try as I might I was never able to get good results mortising with my Mark V. It takes a LOT of force to drive a four-sided chisel into a block of hardwood, and not only does the quill handle suffer from a size problem, but just as you make some progress the table wants to move on ya. This is not a good prize, especially because Murphy's Law dictates that you won't notice that your mortises are not as deep as you planned until some time after removing all of the mortising gear from your Mark V.
My mortiser is a PowerMatic 719, which wouldn't ya know I purchased just months before the 719T with tilting table was released. (Grumble). Before forking out the big bucks for my mortiser I researched all the tabletop units, and I just wasn't going to be able to cut the mortise depths that many of the projects I had planned would require. At the time the market was dominated by Delta, Jet and a couple questionable no-name imports.


As I mentioned in a prior post, I was at my local Woodcraft the other day and at a Rockler a couple weeks back and was amazed at the improvements that have been made in benchtop units. The one that caught my eye was the WoodRiver at Woodcraft, which as a huge base with extensions that expand to 35" in width to support for your stock. This unit has a firm fence and rollers that act as hold-ins to keep your stock firmly against the fence.  The fence is made of cast iron and is adjusted with a rack and pinion that reminds me of a mini version of the fence on my Delta jointer.

One of the biggest hassles that benchtop mortisers tend to introduce is caused by very limited access to the drill chuck.  The WoodRiver has two HUGE clear plastic doors that swing open for practically unhindered access.  Another neat thing about this design is that because the doors are clear they allow plenty of light to make bit changes as easy as I've ever seen.    

Another advantage of this unit wasn't obvious from a study of the manual: It's ambidextrous.  The two access doors swing open on both the right and the left.  Likewise, as  you can see from the bottom photo, the lever handle can be mounted left or right.  With the switchbox on the left I thought there might be a problem using it on the left, but nope, she worked just fine.

The thing that really surprised me was that it comes with a full set of four chisels and bits and the mortiser has a full 5" depth of cut! Seeing this made me curious, so I measured my PowerMatic and learned that while it has a 6" stroke, all of my chisels are 5" long!
So, if you are in the market for a great looking, reasonably priced mortiser, check the WoodRiver out at your local Woodcraft.
BTW, until Aug 27th this mortising machine is on sale for $234.99 at this link: WoodRiver Mortiser with Chisels and Bits

KILLER DEAL on Woodcraft's WoodRiver 4-Piece Parallel Bar Clamp Set

I remember back in 1987 when I was the manager of Shopsmith's "Boston" store, and I gat a call for the Director of Marketing at Shopsmith back in Dayton with an odd request. He told me that he'd be faxing me a list of items and an address where he wanted them delivered, assembled and aligned, ready to use.
OK.
That was a very odd request, seeing that we didn't deliver, set-up, or align tools for anyone! It turned-out that this was heading to the home of WGBH's Russell Moreash to be used on the set of a new show called The New Yankee Workshop.
I've written about what happened next elsewhere on this blog, but what I've never written about was the one tool in Norm's shop that left me completely amazed. Norm had a stack of the then-new Bessey K-Body parallel bar clamps! These things were AMAZING! I asked if it was OK to play with them a bit, and Russ said "Sure, Mark". My name is Scott BTW, but this time it didn't bother me because there were new tools to be discovered.
There were a couple lose but jointed boards laying on the bench near the clamps and for the next few minutes I stumbled and fumbled with the clamps until I realized that they wood was able to rest on the bars and would be clamped with even, square pressure no matter where they were against the tall jaws. Cool! Under pressure the thick steel I-Beam bars showed very little sign of bowing, and to my pleasure I learned from Russ that they could be used to clamp wood on any side of the jaws. That means they can be laid flat on a board with the jaws running along the edge of the board and clamp with the full 6" or so of their jaw's face. Double Cool!
Over the yeas since this encounter with the Bessey K-Body I've amassed an impressive collection of a couple of these clamps. I mean, come-on, have you priced them? And the new version doesn't impress me at all. The removable/replaceable jaw covers are always slipping! No, for me I'll take the original style parallel bar clamp.
Fortunately several other companies have introduced their own versions of the originalK-Body design, and some of them are very nice. I've used the Jorgensen and liked them very much. The Jet is also very nice, and except for the fact that they aren't sold at many places they may be worth taking a look at. The Irwin was being used at our local SkillsUS contest where I was a judge, and they had a bit of a bending problem that showed itself by allowing the jaws do deflect way out of parallel.

I just noticed that WoodCraft is having a sale on their parallel clamps that's a really good deal. The regular price for this set is $169, but they have them on sale for $99.99!  When I saw the flier I though to myself "Yeah, I'll be the set has four 20" clamps, or some such rarely-used size", but boy was I wrong. The kit has four clamps, Two (2) of the 24" and two (2) of the 40"s. This is exactly the sizes I use when assembling kitchen cabinets! The other thing that the set includes is a set of corner blocks that I'd bet a bunch of folks will never use. Big mistake! These four blocks allow you to create a four-sided clamping jig for assembling boxes and cabinets. I use my Bessey corner blocks almost every time I reach for the clamps, andI hate to think what I paid for my set. OK, I'll think about it; I paid at least $25 for my set!

This Four-piece Clamp Set is only $99 throughout Aug 27th, as are some of the individual WoodRiver parallel bar clamps, so this looks like a great time to stock-up for our soon to come Fall projects.


Click this link to be magically transported to the Woodcraft web page for the Woodcraft WoodRiver 4-Piece Parallel Bar Clamp Set

Woodcraft has a great deal going on a nice 170 piece Brad Point Drill Bit Set

I was at our local Woodcraft store the other day, and while my bride sat patiently in the car I rummaged through their router bits looking for just the right one.  As I made my way to the checkout I was stopped dead in my tracks by a special that was on an end cap.

Until the end of August they have sets of 170 titanium nitride coated brad point drill bits for $29!, which is $10 less than the last time I found it on sale!

The set has 5 - 10 bits of each size: 1⁄16", 5⁄64", 3⁄32", 7⁄64", 1⁄8", 9⁄64", 5⁄32", 11⁄64", 3⁄16", 13⁄64", 7⁄32", 15⁄64", 1⁄4", 17⁄64", 9⁄32", 5⁄16", 21⁄64", 11⁄32" & 3⁄8"

The set is in a nice box, and it also includes a drill size gauge.

I'm not usually a sucker for TiN coated bits, because I've seen too many sets at Harbor Freight where the manufacturer obviously coats the bits that have the worse edges in order to hide their sins.  What a scam!  They take their defective bits and put 50 cents of electroplating on them and charge a premium!  Anyway, TiN coatings help to reduce heat on the cutting edge for increased bit life, and this Woodcraft set looks very nice.

Take a look at this set at Woodcraft.com


Pleas note, this sale ends Aug 27th 2011

HEADS UP! Shopsmith to appear on PAWN STARTS tonight! (7/25/2011)

I know that this is short notice, but Pawn Stars will feature a look at a 1950s Shopsmith woodworking machine!  Being a '50s era machine means they won't be offering much for it, but I'll be curious to see if they bring in an expert to give some background on it.  It's on th History Channel at 10 p.m. tonight, July 25th, 2011.

Revised: Ha ha! Just as I thought. They had a guy call them and invite them to his home where he wanted to show them his old Shopsmith. Rick and the "Old Man" went and it turned out to be an 10ER. As you would imagine, the conversation went something like this:

Rick: What a pile of junk!
Old Man: No it's not, that a piece of Americana!
Rick: How much do you want for it?

After some haggling they paid the guy $50

The 10ER sells for $250 every day on eBay, so as long as they don't put too high a ticket price on it in their store, they'll do just fine on it.

Rockler Pock-it Hole Clamp

Whenever I can I love to stop by Rockler. Understand that isn't as easy as it once was because they closed the High Point NC (home) Rockler a couple years back, so I have to drop-by their stores wherever I happen to stumble upon them. I'm in Torrance (LA) CA this week and my hotel is less than 1/4 mile for Rockler, so I had to visit today. As usual they have a sale going on and there were two things that I had to tell you about.

The fist one is a simple little do-dad that is simply a rare-earth magnet in a little plastic housing that slips smugly not the end of a tape measure to help you measure over long distances. What's funny is that I've got a rare-earth magnet on the tip of one of my tapes back at home for just this very thing, but because it isn't attached it's always getting attracted t metal stuff and slipping off when I lease expect it. This little thing is called a "Magnatip", and it normally sells for $3.50, but during the sale they are three for $3.49. I left with four of them.

The other thing that I couldn't walk out without was a Rockler exclusive item called Pock-it Hole Clamp. This neat little tool is designed to hold a butt joint together while you drive a picket hole screw into place. This simple little task has caused me countless hours of frustration with parts slipping around, so I was thinking abut picking-up one of these $20 gadgets. In the Rockler catalog they are $19.99, or four for $17.99 each. I had one in my hand and was reading the back if the package when I noticed the sale sign that said they were only $12.99 each!

Check out this new pocket hole joinery clamp in this video from Rockler and get a couple today while they are on this excellent sale.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RYU2dhUaHs

Giving Bogsy app on my iPad a try

With as much time as I spend on my computer, smart phone and iPad you'd think I could be better about posting on my blogs and Twitter. One problem is that there are large spans of time between useful thoughts! Seriously, I've been looking for a way to get better at this so I recently purchased this iPad (I'm typing on the silly screen at this very moment) and at my son's suggestion I purchased the app "Blogsy". What's Blogsy? Good question. So far it looks a lot like a Word document or even typing a Blogger post, but the real magic seems to be when you add photos and multimedia to a post. I'll have to do a lot of playing with it, but it promises to make this process a little easer. I'll let you know how that works out.

I've just used the drop and drag feature to add the Youtube video to this post. That was very easy!

But I digress...

This just made me smile.

I dream of a better world... by PatentPlaceUSA
Become a t-shirt affiliate for Zazzle.

"I dream of a better world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned" Tee shirt.

Harbor Freight Tools? Really?

It never fails to stop my tool-snob buddies in their tracks when they walk through my shop and past my Shopsmith Mark V's, my Powermatic 66 table saw, my Delta 14" bandsaw and jointer, my DeWalt planer and other very nice tools that I've been blessed to own, only to find my Harbor Freight tools on a shelf next to my bench.  "Do you really use THOSE tools?" usually comes next.  Of course I do!

Sure, I've purchased my share of duds, but that can also be said of all the brands listed above too.  The key is to first know your tool options well and study their construction and use them HARD the weekend you purchase them.  If they're going to have a problem it'll be when you need them most, so put them to the test as soon as you get them and return them if something goes wrong.

I'm also a big proponent of buying their tools whenever they are on sale and you can always find a couple of their coupons in my money clip.  (click the photo at right of today's actual haul)

The trick is knowing where to get the coupons.  Of course you can keep an eye out on the mailers that come directly from HF, but the real trick is to find the coupons and the codes that they use to entice new shoppers.  There are the truly sweet deals!

I have three favorite places to get these every month: Popular Mechanics, AAA magazine, National Geographic (Seriously!) and at this link: Harbor Freight Super Coupons: Save 30% to 60% Off!

I'm NEVER without a "20% off a single item" coupon, and usually I have another "Free Gift" coupon worth an LED flashlight, a set of screwdrivers or something generally useful.

Check the link above from time to time because those deals change often.  You can either print them and take them to your local store, or click on them and purchase them from the HF site.  With the price of gas these days being around $3.50 a gallon I've been finding their shipping charges to be less than a trip to my local store! 

How can someone let this happen to a perfectly good Shopsmith Mark V?

My adult daughter gave me a call yesterday to tell me that she just visited a yard sale where there was a Shopsmith Mark V of some sort that was for sale for $150.  What's funny is that I'm still driving around with the Mark V and accessories in my van from last weekend because my shop has a dirt driveway and it's been raining all week.  $150 is a great deal if the tool is in even half decent shape, do I drove to my shop and off-loaded the other Mark V and the four SPT's, and after popping a few Tylenol I was off the the other end of Greensboro.

As I approached the drive of the home I could see the Mark V out in the lawn near the road, along with an old washer, a table full of glassware and a couple other lawn and garden odds and ends.  Sweet, it's a 510!
I jumped from my van and casually walked past the other items, feigning interest in a few, but all the while trying to assess the details of the Mark V.  Finally I was standing in front of the tool and my heart sank.

Now, to put this tool into perspective I need to tell you about the Mark V that I saw that was in the worst condition ever.  It was when I was working at the Shopsmith Factory store back in 1990ish and some poor fella had an almost new Mark V that went down in brackish water on a boat he had been restoring.  It had been under water for ten days when they finally raised the boat, and his insurance man advised him not to touch anything until everything had been inspected.  Several weeks later he was finally able to start the clean-up process, and by that time rust had begun to seriously eat away at the way and bench tubes and the quill, and who knew what was going on inside the headstock.

He decided that a trip to the factory in Dayton was in order, so he strapped the Mark V to a borrowed flat bed trailer and started to pull away.  Now, I don't know what clued him in, but after a few seconds on the road something made him stop to investigate and what he found was that the Mark V had fallen over and was hanging off the bed of the trailer and riding on one corner of the headstock casting! 

By the time we received this dog at the factory it was totally beyond repair.  I'm sure his insurance company gave him something for it, but there was really nothing we could do.  After an act of God, followed by poor moving skills, his Mark V was dead.

Back to this weekend. 

The Mark V before me was missing a few items.  No, it was missing a lot of items!  The fence, the miter gauge, the upper and lower saw guard, the floating tables and support tubes, the support legs, the sanding disc, any saw arbors, and any safety equipment were all gone.  It did have the drill chuck mounted on the quill, but the hex hey and the chuck key were missing, so whoopty freakin' do!   But here comes the worst part:  The tool was covered in rust, corrosion and for some unknown reason about a quart worth of white paint drippings.  It looked like someone had left this poor machine on an open porch and had used it as a work bench for painting bird houses! 

Now, I don't know about you, but when I purchased my Mark V back in 1987 it was my most valued possession.  To this day I cherish that very tool.  The few times that I've entered my shop to see a little rust on the surface of my jointer, I dropped everything I was doing and nursed her back to health. 

It is behind this backdrop that I ask, "How can someone allow this to happen?"  I mean, I suppose the original owner may have died, and the new owner didn't value it.  Or perhaps it was purchased in an auction for a song.  I don't know, but I left that Mark V where I found it, and in a weird way I actually felt a loss not unlike the loss of a family member.  I debated negotiating with the owner just so I could part it out and perhaps get some benefit from her death; but I just couldn't bring myself to talk to him.

Sorry but this isn't a happy post.  I think I need to go wax my Mark V and assure her that this will never be her fate. 

See, it pays to shop at the Habitat for Humanity Restore

Every other weekend or so I drop by the local Habitat for Humanity Restore to see the latest stuff.  This weekend I was hoping that they'd still have a RTA (Ready To Assemble) cabinets that they had on my last visit.  As I make my way past the front counter I noticed that just to my left they had a Shopsmith Mark V model 510 on display with a large price tag.  I was almost past it when I noticed it, so I turned to get a better look at it as I continued to walk by.  I could see that it was one of the first generation of the 510 because it had holes in the table tubes which is how Shopsmith originally bolted the tubes to the table.  (See second pic) I also finally saw the sign that indicated that it was priced only $275!  I though "Wow, someone's gonna get a good deal!"

As I rounded the corner I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks. It was a shopping cart parked next to the Mark V that contained a Shopsmith bandsaw.  The table was cast iron, so it was probably purchased with the Mark V in the mid to late 1980's.  Just behind the bandsaw in the shopping cart and standing uptight was a Shopsmith 4" Jointer.  Now I had to know what all was included in this sale, and if these items were priced separately.  I looked around the outside of the cart and found another $275 sign.  Is that just a coincidence, or are they trying to say that it's included with the Mark V? 

The cart also contained push blocks and what looked like most of the Mark V's accessories, and as I looked-up to take a better look at the Mark V I finally notices the SECOND SHOPPING CART!  This cart also had a $275 sign.  I looked over at the check-out counter and saw that despite a line of a half-dozen customers ahead of me, the cashier was just wrapping-up with a customer, so I made eye contact with her and while pointing at the tools asked "Is that $275 for each, or for all?  She replied "It's for all", and I said "I'LL TAKE IT! 

I still had to check on the cabinet that I was there for, and after anxiously loading one onto a flat-bed cart I made my way back to check-out and paid for my new Mark V! 

There were a couple HFH workers on the loading dock, and their supervisor had them each grab a load and bring to to the back of my van so I could load it.  They were amazed that I was able to load the Mark V by myself, and I explained the little trick that I learned while working for Shopsmith about moving the headstock to the low end while lifting one end of the MKV, and then sliding the headstock up the waytubes and then lifting the other end.

The guys then brought the shopping carts out and a large Rubbermaid tub.  I hadn't noticed it before, but without questioning it I popped the lid to make sure that it was Shopsmith related.  Inside was a stack of new, boxed bandsaw blades, the Mark V's owners manual and several other things.  Yep, they belong together, so I tossed it into the front seat and returned to load the rest of the stuff.

The first cart contained the bandsaw and jointer and to my surprise an early Shopsmith lathe duplicator!

The second cart contained a few surprises too.  It had a SS jigsaw and better yet a SS 6" belt sander!  The pic shows my van with everything including the cabinet jammed into my van. (Click the pic to Biggie Size It.)

Everything needs some TLC, and I'm thinking about shooting some video as I clean her up and do a few repairs and upgrades. 

Finally, let me encourage you to drop by your local Habitat for Humanity Restore or Goodwill or Salvation Army store and leave some of your money.  I used to think that these stores were for folks who were down on their luck; but after working on a few HFH bulids and with a couple Christmas toy builds with St Vincent DePaul, I learned that these stores employ some sweet and hard-working folks who may otherwise be considered unemployable, and the cash that they make from the sales help them do the good works that they do.    

Lots more to come.  Scott

Hey Shopsmith Owners... Wanna Win a FREE Mug?

I can't tell if it's just that I'm feeling narcissistic or lonely, but it's just been too quiet around here for me.  So let's do something about it.  Click on the title link above to get to the page where you can leave a comment, and tell me what Shopsmith tools you own and what you like to build.  If you play along I'll put you in a drawing for a free mug like the one shown below in your choice of colors shown at the link.  This little game will run from now (4/7/11) until some time next week.  I'll announce the winner right here next week.  Scott

I Wish I Had A ShopSmith. by PatentPlaceUSA
Start selling my art online with zazzle.

A KILLER Deal on the DeWalt 13" DW735X Planer, with LOTS of FREEBIES!

Some time ago I wrote a post about my "new" reconditioned DeWalt 13" planer.  I've owned a few dozen planers and this one is just spectacular: It's fast, leaves an incredibly smooth finish, and the blade changes are a snap.  I purchased the reconditioned unit because deep down I am frugal and at the time no one, and I mean No ONE was discounting this planer.  What a difference a few years makes.

Woodcraft currently is offering the DeWalt 735X at $30 off their normal price, but in addition to that they are throwing in a spare set of knives, the normally optional infeed and outfeed tables (I'm jealous) and best of all a FREE DeWalt trim router!


Check-out the link below for more details.


Click here for the Killer DeWalt 13" Planer Package

How About a Pop in the Mouth?

Last month I entered a step-by-step instruction on how to make a unique dessert at a neat website called Instructable.com. My favorite son-in-law Nathan made a silly suggestion one evening, and like a lot of silly things it sparked my curiosity. So we invented something we call "Cake-Pie" and let me tell you, it's excellent!  Several months later I noticed that Instructables.com was doing a dessert contest and the top prize was something that I'd been investigating: SodaStream

SodaStream is a counter-top "pop" maker (I'm from Ohio), and based on my super-human pop consumption it made sense to me that an in-home soda maker was my "density"  :-) .  The winner of the contest would win one of their top of the line units, while a couple runners up would win one of the mid-priced units.   I figured that even if I was a runner up I would walk away with over $100 in prizes, so why no?  

It took a few evenings to write my Instructable and I entered the contest.  Here's the OREO Cake-Pie Instructable.  Long story short I am now the proud owner of a SodaStream Home Soda Maker!

The unit is self-contained and best of all it's not electric; so it's just about the only think on the kitchen counter that's not hogging an outlet!  At its core is a proprietary CO2 canister, which had me a little concerned because the last thing I need is to be locked into an expensive consumable.  Fortunately I found these for sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond and was also pleased to learn that the $30 price sticker (!) included a $15 deposit, so that, added to the cost of flavors would make the resulting 1 liter less than .50 cents.

My wife's favorite thing is that for the first time in who knows how many years, the kitchen, fridge and cars aren't overflowing with 2 liter bottles!  As for me I like that we aren't hauling all those full bottles in and empty bottles out, and best of all the pop is always fresh!

Here are a few shots of the unit in action.

The top pic shows most of what was included in the kit.  The larger bottles were purchased locally and from what I can see from the SodaStream website the unit shown normally comes with one each of the sample packs shown.  The unit also came with two heavy 1 liter bottles, which have a nice wide mouth that makes adding the flavors a breeze.

The prize I won included two sets of the sample flavors, so we've been having fun trying them all out.  I've enjoyed the diet drinks, including a cola, a Dr. Pepper taste-alike, a wonderful lemon-lime flavor that is probably closer to Sprite than 7UP. 

My bride raved about the diet root beer, which like the caffeine-free cola is sodium free.  We haven't tapped into the fruit flavoring yet, but one surprising thing we read on the package was that it doesn't require a large amount to flavor water.  That'll be nice for when I'm not in a cola mood.  

To use the SodaStream you first fill the bottle to the fill line with cold tap water.  I originally thought that I would have to break-out the Brita filter, but I'm happy that I tried it straight from the tap first, because it's just fine.

Anyway, you fill the bottle then screw it onto the female threads on the unit.  You'll notice in the top photo that there's a short white tube that dangles a short distance into the water.  This is where the CO2 is propelled into the water.

It takes a few short bursts of gas to fully charge the water, and you know when it's done when the unit makes a funny buzzing sound as you press the button.  The sticker on the unit says that three buzzes will give you the typical fizz, but for the caffeine-free cola I just need a little more fizz, so I've been giving it a few more shots.

One neat feature that I didn't notice at first (no, I didn't read the instructions) was that the threads that hold the bottle in place will allow the bottom the the bottle to swing forward while it's attached to the unit.  "Cool" I thought, "That'll make it easier to remove".  But the first time I used it I was surprised by the "WOOSH" of gas that was released when I swung it forward.  Why didn't I know that before?  All the previous batches I made released a rush of CO2 as I twisted them off the unit, and in some cases it gave me an unexpected spritz of mist.  Now that I know how to use it I'm able to remove the bottles and stay dry too!

The bottom pic shows the unit in action.

Here's a link to the SodaStream site.
Here's a link to SodaStream items on eBay.


Here's the Cake-Pie video

Posters using Comment Kahuna, Fast Blog Finder and other SEO tools are driving me nuts!

For those of you civilians (non-web-geeks) who are here just for the woodworking and tool advice; God bless you! Unfortunately we have been besieged in recent weeks with outrageous amounts of spam comments on our blogs. One of the things that I’ll admit up front is that Blogger makes is a little tough to comment as it is. You need to first click on the title (which is a link) to get to the individual post, and then you are able to post a comment. Apparently webmasters and bloggers who are looking to boost traffic to their sites are using software such as “Comment Kahuna” and “Fast Blog Finder” to locate blogs that are somewhat related to the keywords they use on their own site, and which accept comments. From there they post a comment and a backlink to their site.

This does two things:
1. It may attract readers directly from the blog, or
2. By having a non-reciprocal link from another, well respected site, it lends credibility to their own site in the eyes of search engines like Google. This is what is known as SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

What is sad is that this activity doesn’t have to be entirely one-sided; it’s just that the spammers are posting nonsensical and off topic comments all in the effort to serve their own desires. Look, to be honest with you I’ve posted comments on other sites with this very goal in mind, but when I do so I only reply to a post or thread that I am truly interested in, or where I feel my comment will add some value to the conversation.

So, let it be known from this day forward that while I will continue to accept and even encourage comments, I will moderate them carefully. Feel free to backlink to your related sites and blogs, but if your comment is entirely self-serving it will be deleted.

Now, back to the shop. What are you building these days?

Looking for a dream router table? Here's a few tips.

i think I've mentioned my router obsession before, but I don't think I've talked about router tables.  The short story is that I don't like most prefabbed router tables.  Why?  Well, for starters they are too expensive.  I mean, if you wanted to spend $600+ to shape edges you might as well go for a shaper.  So many of today's router table manufacturers seem to be obsessed with router lifts and dials and other gimmicks.  For years I made intricate and fine-detailed joints that made observers jealous; all the while my router table was a discarded sink-cut-out with a smoothly-planed 2 X 4.

I've never liked a miter slot on a router table, and I really would care less if there's a plate to support the router.  No, that's not true.  If given the choice I would prefer NOT to have a router plate.

Now before you click the back button on your browser let me tell you a little more about my love of routers and router tables.  Currently (As of 2/3/11) I own 14 routers.  I have trim routers, fixed base routers, plunge routers, a router arm, a horizontal router and several shop-made router tables.  I have more money tied-up in router bits than most woodworkers have in their tablesaw!  I don't say this to brag, but to make the point that I know a little something about routers.

Don't get me wrong, I like some of the features of commercial router tables:

An easily adjustable fence.  I look for a fence with two fixing points, and it is imperative that it can pivot on one fixed point.  This is the reason that a miter slot is useless on a router table.  If I need to make a 1/32" adjustment on the position of the fence, I should be able to loosen one knob and pivot the fence slightly to move it into the correct location.  If it must be kept parallel to a miter slot them I would have to loosen BOTH fixing knobs and accurately move the fence evenly on both ends of the table.

Convenient and effective dust collection and containment.  I prefer an enclosed base on a router table, but that doesn't mean it has to be a heavy cabinet.  One of the best router tables I made had a simple particle board box as it's base with two holes drilled through it that provided a smug fit for a standard ShopVac hose.  I used to keep one port open and the other was connected to the vac, and let me tell ya, that thing SUCKED!  Depending on what type of routing you are doing depends on the best dust collection arrangement.  Edge routing will toss the chips to the rear of the cutter; so dust collection in the fence is a must.  If instead you are routing "inboard", your dust will get tossed ahead of the cutter and get sucked into the base by the bit and the motor.  I don't worry about the dust that gets tossed out ahead of the cutter; except to compensate for this by raising any stop blocks off the surface of the table where these chips might gather and throw-off my stop setting.

If there's a router plate it must be rock solid and flat!  I recently used a Ryobi router table that was quite impressive, except that it had a thin plastic table insert that could never be made level and slowly developed a concave shape that effected my joinery.  Imagine plowing a sliding dovetail in the post of a three-leg Shaker candle stand table.  The dovetail bit starts into the wood at the low center of the plate, but as the bit continues into it's cut the leading edge begins to ride up and out of the dished router plate.  This makes the dovetail slot shallow at the end of the cut, and therefore the properly dovetailed legs will have a gap where the shoulder of the dovetail at the top of the leg is set too shallow into the post.  Yuck.

The table insert plate must be either smooth aluminum or a thick, non-warping plastic like phenolic resin.  It should have a snug fit in the table with almost no gap between the table and the plate, and the more adjustment points beneath the table to level the plate the better.  Because I know I'll be lifting the plate in and out to change bits I prefer not to bolt the plate down.  The weight of the router motor and plate should keep it in place, and the only way it's going to lift out on it's own is during a cut; and because I'll be pressing down on it with a piece of wood, this is highly unlikely. But if the plate is loose in the table in may twist and shift in relation to the fence, so the tight fit is critical.

On a related note, you're going to want an insert with inserts of it's own.  Huh?  You know what I mean!  That cut-out in the middle of the table where the bits poke through needs to be as tight to the bit as you can make it; so that means you need to be able to quickly swap them out.  On my last project I used three different diameter bits, and as luck would have it I used three different inserts. 

Unless it's a feature of the router itself, I don't consider a router lift a must-have accessory.   They are outrageously to the cost of a router table, and every time you swap bits (all the time) you'll have to re-set the dial or depth gauge.  I'd rather just get the router back into the table and use a Incra Gauge to tweak it to the proper height.  I seriously do this in less than ten seconds and didn't have to spend $200 that I could invest in bits.

I can't believe how much I've grown to depend on this, but I MUST have an auxiliary switch.  One of my favorite routers is the fixed-base Porter-Cable 690 series (I have 6 of them), which rotates on it's base as you adjust the bit height.  That means that you never know where the switch will wind-up!  By plugging the router motor into a table-mounted switch there's no question where to flip that sucker off if something feels wrong.

So where is all this going?  I recently conducted a series of classes at my work where I needed a router table.  Rather than dragging one of my personal router tables in from my shop I decided to purchase one.  I visited three woodworking stores and shopped several online specialty outlets before deciding on a router table that turned out the be a real winner.  The router table that I purchased is the JessEm Benchtop "Rout-R-Table" which I bought at Woodcraft.

I had over 50 people routing grooves on the edges of Baltic birch ply and plowing stop slot-mortises.   I stopped counting when the tenth person complimented me on the router table.  While not a large table, this tool is perfect for portable use (I took it back and forth from my person shop and my employer's shop several times over two weeks) and will store snugly under a workbench or in a base cabinet.  The base of the table is made of solid steel tubing; and it has a slick ballistic nylon enclosure that captured all the below-table dust without a dust collector attached to it.  Not that we couldn't attached a vac to it, we just left it on the fence port and before we knew it we made the observation that the "base bag" was trapping all the bottom dust.  Very cool.

The fence is everything I was looking for.  Two firm locking points with tall knobs.  While the body of the fence is anodized aluminum, the two adjustable and sacrificial fence faces are laminated MDF.  The dust port worked perfectly, though we did have to use a roll of "silver dust hose adapter tape" to attache the odd metric hose from our stupid European dust collector.  100mm?  Really?  What's up with that?

Anyway, click the link above to see this neat router table at Woodcraft.

A Killer Deal on a set of Irwin Marathon Thin Kerf Blades

I've been using Irwin Marathon thin kerf saw blades for over 15 years, and I couldn't give a stronger recommendation.  As a Shopsmith Mark V owner one of the issues that we have to deal with is it can be a little weak at sawing speed.  In fact, there are times that I've slowed the Mark V down to speed-up the blade, as it has more torque at lower speeds.  Over 20 years ago I fell in love with the Forrest Woodwork II thin kerf blade.  It's thinner than the average blade, so it makes your saw feel like it's got a larger motor; and it actually reduces the amount of dust that's created when you saw.  (Cue the sad music)  One weekend I chipped a tooth on my FWWII, and it you know anything about carbide blades that means it can't be used until it gets fixed.  I knew I had to buy a replacement ASAP but my budget just couldn't justify another Forrest. I found out that the Irwin Marathon was a fraction of the FWWII and though I had low expectations of it I figured it would get me through until I got the FWWII fixed.  What I found was that the Marathon cut just as fast as the Forrest, and my Mark V had all the power I had come to expect from a thin kerf blade.  Best of all the Marathon cut almost as smoothly as the Forrest.  I just noticed that Rockler has a deal going on a pair of Marathon blades, so if you are in the market for a new blade it's a great deal on a great set.  Here's more info and a link to the deal on their site:   Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 80T Blade

get a FREE 24T thin-kerf rip blade — a $79.98 value for less than $50! This set will take care of everything from ripping rough lumber to the finest finish work. --- This blades features micro-grain C3 tungsten carbide tips for long life, and #400 grit diamond-ground teeth for fast, clean cuts. The thin kerfs mean less waste and less work for your saw, and fully hardened plates keep the blades running truer, longer. Features specially engineered heat vents to reduce heat and resin buildup. Precision tensioned and balanced for optimum accuracy. Unique reinforced shoulders adds stability and durability. Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 24T Framing/Ripping Blade features 24 rugged teeth that will tear through Maple like it was Pine. --- The Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 80T Trim/Finish Blade is perfect for mitering and other detail work. 5/8" arbor on both blades. Irwin® Marathon® 10'' x 80T Blade