Does anyone know anything about or have expericnce with the Shop Fox molder/planer. I used the Williams Hussey in the shop I used to work in and it was great, but also about 3k. The Shop Fox is significantly less expensive, but will I be sorry?
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I've had the Shop Fox for several years and have been very happy with it.
................................................
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
Jack London
I was just at IWF in Atlanta and ordered the new Shop Fox moulder at the show price of $1074 versus list of some $1450. This is an updated version with longer bed, a control arm and solid stand, as opposed to the legs.
It will not be shipping until October. The machine looks well made and I didn't want to spend more than around $1,000. I looked at a S/H model on craigslist - the owner was very happy with it and used it create original moldings for his victorian home - now completed.
Regards,
Hastings
Edited 8/23/2008 4:31 pm ET by Hastings
My pleasure to see ya at the show Hastings....
Regards...
Sarge..
Sarge:Me too!I was also one of the winners in the draw so I got $1,000 to boot.Regards,Hastings
You lucky dog.. you. Icing on the cake as in essence you got the shaper free. I understand some young man won the $10,000?
I took home a 5 HP TS which took 6 people to lift onto the bed of my pick-up. I don't have even 4 to help get it off so it's still there under a tarp as we are catching mist and light rain from the tropical storm.
I may just run a 220 V out to the back of my truck and use it there. :>)
Regards...
Sarge..
What?? Big secret? What'd ya get?
Hey Rick...
The table-saw I took home had nothing to do with the drawing Hastings was referring too. I spent 3 days before the Show helping Steel City unload and assemble their machines.. building display.. spotting and get ready. Then I worked Tuesday though Saturday during the Show demo'ing their machines and then tear-down Sat. evening.
So... you might say I had to work to pay for my new Steel City 5 HP Industrial table-saw. And trust me... my 61 year old back.. legs and feet can assure me I did work indeed. But I will admit that even though I am somewhat exhausted.... I loved every minute I spent there with machines and meeting everyone I did. That included regular WW mag folks.. management of major machine companies here to owners of the plants in Taiwan and China that produce much of what you and I buy.
The TS is sitting in the back of my pick-up as I have no help to get it down under a tarp. Waxed it today and covered it back up. Tomorrow I will start considering how to get it down by myself. If the Egyptians could move those massive stones for pyramids in place without cranes... there is a way.
BTW... any 5000 year old or older Egyptians reading this.. e-mail me with a few tips on getting it down. ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
Sarge..
That's really awesome. Sounds like a wonderful time. Someday, maybe. I keep a shop crane around just for those special occasions. Best 130.00 I ever spent. Well, almost.
Tell me about the shop crane for $130.00. I was thinking of sinking two 4 x 6 pressure treats at the end of my driveway in the ground in concrete. Dado the top of the post as a bridle joint and add a 4 x 6 timber across with a tenon on each end. Belly strap the saw from underneath with nylon webbing as you would to carry a payload in a cargo net under a heli-copter.
Attach a cum-a-long to the top cross post and hoist it upa couple of inches.. drive the truck out from under it and lower carefully with the cum-a-long onto the mobile base and then roll it in the shop. And the good news is the support is then in place for the outdoor swing at the bottom of the drive-way I promised my wife 10 years ago.
At that point I get to hear.... "my clever man" . ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
Regards...
Sarge..
I got this two ton crane at Pep Boys. I've used it to lift my drum sander onto it's base and to stand my MM16 on end among other things. It's like a sawsall. You never need it til you need it and then it's indispensable. It would pick up that saw off the back of your truck.
Edited 8/24/2008 10:10 pm ET by RickLoDico
Wow.. my BIL has a engine hoist but he lives 65 miles away on the other side of town. And he is a machine shop foreman at Delta AL and works until 7 PM I believe. So...
How tall can the upper arm be raised as it in the bed of a Dakota and to clear the top the upper arm would have to be at least 7' - 7 1/2' tall?
I love that puppy you got and if it would reach that high... I will have one at my shop in the morning. I sold my Uni-saw and this didn't cost me anything so a Uni-saw profit would purchase that thing with the justification needed to purchase it.
Sarge..
What brand of drum sander so you have,and what is your recomendation on the purchase of a drum sander
Sounds like it should work, but the convenience store casual labor force may be a good option as well.
Well did it work? Bet you have it off the truck by now.
My only comment would be use angle bracing and build it as a sled. Inside corner gussets to keep it from racking, and two on either side of the post parallel to the opening for the truck mounted on a 4 x 6 as a sled bottom. That and some nice 3' stakes to pin it down. (no holes, last I looked shovels were not on my FWW tool list) and no concrete. Nail some 2x4 across the sled to move it around and remove when staked in place. I like chain lifts, 19 bucks from harbor frt. Easier to control the descent from come alongs.
That way you could move it to a place the missus might like better, not that she would want to move the furniture around...;>)
Morgan <!----><!----><!---->
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Actually it's still sitting there as it rained about 2 inches here yesterday. 30 miles north of me they got 10-12 inches. If I can find them I am going to use a set of those aluminum clamps that turn 2 x 8's into a tailgate ramp like used for lawn tractors-ATV's. Dis-assemble the rails and just lay it on it's back.. slide to the end of tail-gate and down the ramp to the mobile base.
The local Ace Hardware was out of them late yesterday. I'll call a few this morning even though the local Truck's & Thing's may carry them. I really need a set anyway for various odd's and end's. I could have picked up aluminum one's yesterday at the Box starting at around $100 but i passed.
So... I move on it today as the weather seems to be breaking.
Sarge..
I offloaded my TS using ramps off my tailgate. It was sliding down just fine, then hit a knot and stopped. It is top heavy and wanted to come over on top of me. SCARED my drawers brown. I barely got it back upright, and it was very close. It was really hard then get it ovet the knot which was just a slight bumb but enough to hang it up. this is not a method to do by your self, and I would rethink it. After that I found a beam in my garage, and used the chain lift for the planers and other iron. Control vs Gravity.
Good Luck Morgan <!----><!----><!---->
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My ceiling in the garage is sheet-rocked and I can't remember where a header is. I could use the header over one of the double door's but it is about 8-10" thick and I would have to cut a hole to run a large threaded bolt through and add a large washer and nut.
I decided to just use the ramp.. I will place a piece of slick MDF over the two spread 2 x 8's and shoot a few screws in to hold it down. Then I have an assist from my son and one of his cronies. Two at the top where the real weight is and one on the bottom to guide it down. I did the same thing with an 18" BS by myself and with three to counter shift I think it should work fine.
Once on the ground and stood up-right... shouldn't present a problem as I learned to hand walk it on a mobile base with 2 people last week with some guys that do it every day for a living. :>)
Sarge..
Sheet rock is for making holes in, didn't you know that? It is like new ashpalt and the city water department....
Seriously, as long as you have help you should be good to go. Darn saws have 90 pct of the mass 30" up in the air. I lowered my new iron down onto a furniture dolley, then could unpack it. They I could raise the iron up and mount it onto the base and rollers. My kids are to far away to help much.... and the old guys in the hood are not much help in the Arnie department hehe.
We have 2" of rain here yesterday and it fully clouded over today. That is 25%of our rain fall for the year. Kind of like your toilet, whoosh and its gone....
So on the topic of heavy moves. I have a 5 yard loader coming to a jobsite next week. The biggest I can find, weighs in at 17000 lbs and generates 32000 lbs of bucket pressure. I am moving three trees with it, that are in boxes that are 72" across and weigh 16000 lbs. Total of 32 tons to jockey into a back yard and around a corner. Folks have a pool that we are remodeling, but I had to fill it in with 150 tons of abc so I drive over it. I dream about easy ways to move things I swear. End of the week is a 110 ft set of some custom concrete pieces with a crane... now that is the easy way to off load big iron!
Later Sarge
Later Sarge <!----><!----><!---->
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I'll take a brazen Hussey any day....
Sarge:
If you can access the ceiling joists in your garage, place a 4 x 6 (approx 6'long) across the joists. Then drill two holes in your sheetrock ceiling on either side of your new beam and run a chain up through one hole, over the beam and down through the other hole. Now attach your come along or chain hoist to this chain and lift the saw, drive the truck out of the garage, lower the saw and have a beer. You now have a hoist built into the ceiling for future levitations.
Best regards,
Joe
See post just before this one, Cajun. I got er down alone with a home-made ramp. Using the header (about 8" thick) over my outer garage door was an option but my BIL has my cum-a-long 65 miles away and it's rained for several days. It was cheaper to just get the Highland top ramp adapters for $21.95 to avoid another cum-a-long and I really needed a lawn tractor ramp anyway. 2 x 8's were on hand in the wood rack.
BTW... he has two engine hoist (BMW mechanic on side as he is shop foreman in the machine shop at Delta Al).. but the rain kept me from going to get one and the TS was assembled in the rear. We sold two machines to a young man he took home from the Show Sat. His truck hydro-planed on the way home to Huntsville, Al. If you do Woodnet you might have heard about Sniper's little incident on the way home.
Steel City is sending him what got bent as he jumped in and helped us tear down Saturday night while he was waiting to get his BS and DP. Felt sorry for him but he has been fixed up at no charge even though that is not under Warranty. So... all is well.
Thanks and regards sir...
Sarge..
Do you have any provision in the front of the bed of your truck to attach a "come-a-long" to assist in a controlled slide down the ramps? Some of these packages are not top heavy when sitting level, but going down a ramp may change the geometry a bit!
I have a Jet 2 ton engine hoist (have had it for years) and I don't remember what I paid (wasn't much more than a $100 or so), but it has been a back saver many times. It has been used more times then I can remember. If any of you buy one, be careful to not lend it out. People see 2 ton and they think they can fully extend the boom and lift that much, or when the boom is extended, they don't cinch down all the bolts (a true recipe for disaster--easier to not lend it).
T.Z.
I caught a break in the rain today and got tired of waiting on my son to co-ordinate with his friend to help. Went to Ace and got one of those tail-gate thingy's you attach 2 x 8's to with bolts. It over-laps the lip of the tail-gate and you drill 2 more holes to place pins to keep it from moving. Same as a ramp for ATV's and lawn tractors 8' long.
The 5 HP SC has a 24" wide base.. so I drilled so the center of both 2 x 8's were 24 giving me 3 1/2" on each side of center. The TS was assembled so the rails were on to act as a lever on the end toward the rear. Slid it back to the ramp.. lifted over the lip.. centered and walked it down from side to side about 2" a shift. The rails on the extension end were facing down. Those rails actually made it easy to do once I got it over the initial lip of the ramp.
When my son got home from work... I had him push down on the rails and I slid the mobile base under-neath and then walked it on from there. Learned some neat tricks last week at IWF when working alone.
So.... the Steel City 5 HP Eagle has landed..... :>)
Regards...
Sarge..
Sarge,
I sent my reply to your post before reading ahead and seeing you already unloaded the new beast! I don't know why it is, but more often than not, woodworking machines, especially when you are trying to unload them by yourself, seem top heavy!
I have enough other uses to have justified the engine hoist, and it has been a life saver a few times. As mentioned in my other post, it also has a few war wounds from an over-zealous borrower. Fortunately the hoist suffered the damage and not the operator.
Please post your impressions of the new machine when operational.
Tony
Top heavy especially when those cast iron extension tables were already bolted on as their is a lot weight there. It has a very large one piece cast iron trunnion up near the top also with the running gears. The 5 HP is heavy but more mid-way up as most cabinet saws.
I really couldn't have done it alone without those rails being attached. They act as a fulcrum to control the weight at the opposite end. I almost dis-assembled it which would have required laying it down and sliding down the ramp... but once I saw how maneuverable it was by using the end of the rails I decided to stand up.. hook up.. shuttle to the door and green light... Go.. ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
Perhaps spent too much time in Airborne..
I almost bought an engine hoist but my BIL has two. When I normally need one he just loads in his pick-up and heads by. I scratch his back with WW favors and he scratches mine with auto mechanics and metal-working. It works very well but this time the rain has us hog-tied.
Regards and thanks for that "Great Burnisher" you made and sent free.
Sarge..
I empathize on the strain of hard work on us "mature" folk. After spending about ten hours on a big bathroom tile job, I was about done in when the radio began playing, "I'm not as young as I once was." That hit home.
The advantage the Egyptians had in the building of the Pyramids was an army of Hebrew slaves to do the actual labor. Brother, do not attempt to get that big hoss down from your truck by yourself! Gravity will take over and whatever is between the saw and the ground will be run over pretty quickly. Besides, you surely don't want that pretty new saw that you worked to hard for and went to all of the trouble of waxing to get a dent in it, do you?
Edited 8/24/2008 8:35 pm ET by heartwould
If I do it by myself HW... it will be with an assist of material means as the just posted method in the post before this one. Mama didn't raise a fool even though there are fools out there that might try to counter-tip it off alone. I have done that off the back of my truck with a bandsaw in the crate as it is tall and easy to handle. I really don't worry about dents and scratches but I don't want to damage any components that really mean something other than looks.
But this puppy was put together by me alone before the show as I used it to demonstrate with. Motor cover and all outer components are exposed along with 50" rails attached. And the extension. I will probably pull the extension table but may very well leave the rails on. I will make a decision when I put up the outdoor swing supports I mentioned in the last post.
Now.. if 4 Hebrews just happened by that could be detained for a few moments...... Oh well... I could just drive to the local convenience store where two million illegal immigrants hang out each morning looking for work. Wave a couple of $20 bills and have it done in an instant. :>)
Sarge..
Yeah, my son-in-law moved his business to Dallas where the labor costs are about half what they were in my area. The workers may not speak English, but they will go all day long for a few dollars. It sounds like you've got the situation well in hand!
Yeah.. those guys will work there behinds off for nothing. But... that will be a last resort for me frankly as I don't want to bring 4-5 over and them see my shop. With hand tools.. clamps.. etc. there is over $10,000 worth of tools down there and tools can be sold easily and a pawn shop won't reject one either.
At that point.. they know where I live and I have to sleep eventually. I think you get my view on that one. :>)
Sarge..
Edited 8/24/2008 10:29 pm ET by SARGEgrinder47
I'm with you, brother! They'd probably object to being blindfolded, wouldn't they?
I'm not sure if they would or not HW.. but I am sure that some bleeding heart liberal group would object. Probably the same one's that when the goverment gave the land at Fort Ord, California away free after closing the base to a bleeding heart liberal organization...... they sued the government for having live, unexplosed shells on the firing ranges.
What were they expecting to find there... ice cream cones? :>)
Sarge..
What a beautiful place Ft. Ord was. I took my basic training there in '66 because Ft Dix in Jersey was full.
Better check the maximum height on those cranes. I'm pretty sure it will reach over 7' though.
Ft. ORD and Ft. Carson, Colorado were the two most beautiful post I have ever seen. I did Infantry AIT there in January of 67. I'm going to check the Pep Boys early afternoon. I'll measure this morning to see exactly what I need before going down to have a look. I really like that and could have used it quite a few times as I work alone.
Regards...
Sarge..
I trained with the Signal Corps on the other coast, but the overall handling of our "reduction" of military installations (and fighting force) seemed to be a mishmash. And now we are told that we just don't have enough troops to handle all that's going on in the world. Someone should have some 'splainin' to do, huh?
Ft. Jackson I assume which is just up the street from me in Atlanta? Yeah... I could question a lot of things they've done could be questioned IMO. I don't have enough time left in my life to ask the amount of questions that need to be ask though.
Regards...
Sarge..
Ft. Monmouth, NJ. Between basic training at Ft. Dix and AIT at Ft. Monmouth, I lived in New Jersey for a year and still have no idea why they call it "The Garden State." (No offense to the native New Jerseyites).
I've been through Atlanta, but always on my way to another destination.
Hi Sarge
The guy who delivered mine (about 50 pounds lighter) hooked an appliance dolly -- the kind with roller-belts -- upside down on the rear bumper of his truck, above the license plate, and we slid the saw down the "ramp" to the ground. Wasn't too difficult, and he told me he used to do it on his own. Only thing is that the saw was still on it's packing-case base, so there was some protection for the cabinet base. Yours might not have that?
Have fun....
Jim
I have an appliance dolly and considered that as I have done similar Jim. But this guy is put together at this point including rails and extensions. See the above post as to how I will probably proceed. Any suggestions to aid that idea... fire them my way..
Sarge..
Thanks to everyone for the info. Could you tell me what the control arm does on the newer model?
Dan
The arm has the start and stop switches. Whereas the old model had them on the supporting legs, the new one has them coming from the right on an arm so they are very convenient and easy to reach.Hastings
Thanks again for the info.
Dan
Fwiw check out Grizzly's website- they've just cut the price on the Shop Fox molder (the current model) ......$550 for the single speed and $750 for the variable speed.
P.J. O'Rourke
Edited 8/23/2008 9:27 pm ET by jc21
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