Shopsmith for pipecrafting

[kola]

I have a good older Shopsmith machine (Mark V) which I use for buffing and other wood projects. I picked it up for a steal at 200 dollars. I am thinking of trying to use it to make some pipes. I like it for many reasons. It has a bandsaw attachment and a nice upgraded Rockler table. The motor is variable 700-5000 rpm. I can do lathe work, horizontal boring, vertical drill pressing, sanding, shaping and polishing. The table saw is a bit smallish but I have another good table saw so that is no concern for me. It is 2'x6' in size which is a huge plus as my woodshop is quite small. I will need a 2 or 4 jaw lathe chuck and a few other goodies to play around with some briar blocks. I have no plans of making this a fulltime endeavor, just a fun hobby. IMO, these machines are a dime a dozen and good ones can be found for 200-300 bucks. You have to know what to look for and what to avoid but these machines are quite good and very versatile, IMO. Parts are still available for all the SS models dating back to 1952...and there are many upgrades you can buy.

Anyone use a Shopsmith for pipemaking? pros? cons? other add-ons that may be helpful?

Thanks,
Kola

[Sasquatch]

I would suggest that it's fine, but you'll experience the same downside making pipes that you do with every project on that kind of multi-machine, and that is you have to move things around and set-up certain parts each time you want to use them.

But for a small shop and if you aren't necessarily production oriented, it should be great.

[Tyler]

There's a guy named Brian Ruthenberg that uses a Shopsmith. He does decent work with it.


You might try contacting him. I bet he'd be glad to help you out.

[kola]

Thanks Tyler, I will look him up.

Sas, Aside from buffing, I have not used it for "piping around" yet as I am still gathering supplies, equipment, knowledge, etc. But "in my head" (aka "on paper") I am thinking that the bandsaw will stay put on one end of the shopsmith and the other end can be used used for lathe operations. The drive motor is a cinch to slide on the rails and engage into the bandsaw or run down to the tailstock end for lathe work. I can easily slide the drive motor to the center of the rails, and have plenty of room for shaping, sanding and buffing. So really I won't be doing any teardown/set up work. Yes I will have to change from drill chuck to lathe plate to buffers etc but IMO for a very small investment this is not such a risky expensive adventure. I will have to spend more on a 4 jaw chuck than what I paid for the entire Shopsmith though!..not to mention other little goodies. BTW, I saw one Shopsmith owner who slid another motor/headstock on the rails and had two of them to work with.. eliminating moving them around.

This picture will give you a better idea as to what I am babbling about. The bandsaw can stay in place and the lathe work and drilling can be done at the far end. Buffing could be done with the motor positioned in the middle and the sanding and shaping (with a disc or belt sander) could be done at the far end opposite the bandsaw. This way I could be seated as well. That belt sander unlocks and easily slides in and out on the rails and the tailstock can slide in its place just as easily. I though these were chessey machines when I first saw them... "yeah yeah the 5 in 1 wonder machine" but they really are pretty cool.

[kola]

I found Brians site and he's using a Shopsmith. Thanks again!
http://www.briarart.com/aboutme.htm

[JMG]

There's a guy named Brian Ruthenberg that uses a Shopsmith. He does decent work with it.


You might try contacting him. I bet he'd be glad to help you out.

HOLY SMOKES! Those are some nice pipes. I saw a cutty on his site just now that I'm pretty sure I'd wrestle a bear for....a pretty pissed off bear.

[Vermont Freehand]

I use shopsmiths. I have 3 of them for a total investment of $500. One is set up for buffing and shaping stems on the lathe, another is set up for horizontal drilling with a vise mounted on it that moves in multiple directions and the last one is set up with a huge sanding disc and the bandsaw. Until I can get a real lathe, these work just fine.

I do not recommend getting a chuck for turning blocks, the shopsmith weighs nothing compared to a lathe and the piece if not balanced will hop all over the place. But if you want to do everything but turning blocks, a shopsmith is a good cheap way to go. And it has many other tools if you feel like breaking down a setup to setup a different tool.

[kola]

I use shopsmiths. I have 3 of them for a total investment of $500. One is set up for buffing and shaping stems on the lathe, another is set up for horizontal drilling with a vise mounted on it that moves in multiple directions and the last one is set up with a huge sanding disc and the bandsaw. Until I can get a real lathe, these work just fine.

I do not recommend getting a chuck for turning blocks, the shopsmith weighs nothing compared to a lathe and the piece if not balanced will hop all over the place. But if you want to do everything but turning blocks, a shopsmith is a good cheap way to go. And it has many other tools if you feel like breaking down a setup to setup a different tool.

I was hoping to turn blocks with it. I am planning to bolt it to the flooring. Do you think that would stabilize it?

I find the breakdown process quite simple actually. Release a lock, slide it out and slide in the new attachment. (bandsaw, strip sander, etc)

Your idea of having 3 SS is good. I found my entire SS setup for 200 dollars...which I though was quite cheap.

I am still shopping for a good machine lathe though. I passed up a older South Bend for 500 bucks because I didn't have the cash on hand. They pop up every now and then so I will keep looking.

Kola