Slowly but surely, I continue to raise from the dead all the accessories on the old man’s ShopSmith. This weekend the jointer came out of retirement. It took about an hour to disassemble, knock all the rust off, and align correctly, but once it was ready, it fired right up.
The simple fact of it is this is still a great way to get the job done in my shop. I don’t really have the room to set up full units of each power tool station I might need, but this rig works just the same in the end. As many have pointed out, there are better jointers in the world, and you do pay a setup cost in time with each tool swap — but for the sheer bonus of having one, the ShopSmith pays out in spades with each project.
This was also the first day of service for the accessory coupling that connects the jointer to the head stock. It makes one of 3 parts I’ve paid the rather heavy SS retail price for. However, with the excellent results I’m getting out of the rig, it seems to be worth it.
ShopSmith [Website]