: I've seen a bunch of these with loads of attachments for sale lately at good
: prices and I'm tempted to buy one. My current table saw is old, wimpy and
: uses oddball blades (9"). I have a couple of drill presses and a
: router, but not much else. I can see where a bandsaw, jig saw, lathe,
: jointer, surface planer, and belt and disk sanders could come in handy for
: boat building and other home projects (plus I'd have a new table saw with
: extensions). I can get all of this for $1400-$1500 (used), which is a lot
: less expensive than buying single function tools and takes up much less
: space.

Brian,

If one looks in the classified ads of their local paper, they will be sure to notice the ubiquitous "Shopsmith for sale". There is good reason for this - the traveling Shopsmith salesman recently came through town and cut a neat little nesting giraffe and then turned a pen blank in nothing flat and then went on to drill holes in a pretty maple burl so as to have a place to rack his pipes. Many people hit the bait hard. I must admit that I too have been tempted in the past. However, I am forever grateful that I didn't bite - setting up of the various tools on the machine just takes too much time - especially if you are going to do much woodworking. I am an advocate of dedicated machinery - although more of an investment initially, it will pay off in the longrun with much better efficiency and less frustration.

It should be noted however, that the quality of the Shopsmith is very good and the casual woodworker who has "patience" could be happy with this product.

Joe