The Home Machinist!

Does anyone have any info on the new shop master or any of the older units. I just bit the bullet and sent a check to them. I should have searched the web first because I can't find many current forums or threads talking about this unit or the company?

CNC Zone has a subforum for the machines.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/shopmaster-shoptask/

EPaczkowski wrote:Does anyone have any info on the new shop master or any of the older units. I just bit the bullet and sent a check to them. I should have searched the web first because I can't find many current forums or threads talking about this unit or the company?

I believe Todd Brody (on this forum, has one.....not sure of his "handle" on here though...might be "toddalin"). Hopefully he will see your post! He lives in So. California.

I have their Tri-Power that I bought supposably "unused" but sitting in a barn for many years. It did not show wear. I did a lot of cleaning to get it nice. A typical Chinese machine where the concept is nice, but the parts are hand fit, and if you need one...

Service has been poor, but accomodating when the spindle seized up.

The first time I used the lathe it threw the belt and chewed it up. A trip to the auto parts store got a replacement. I had to go through and realign the belts and motors and tighten nuts and bolts.

The DRO scale Z-axis was attached incorrectly and cracked the mount. ShopMaster denies that this could happen, but there it is. I fixed it with a small bracket and some JB weld.

One of the pullies on the CNC is "cockeyed" and jumps a tooth. I used the forth, spare pully, (for CNCing the "second Z" axis) as a replacement which seems OK. But the CNC Y-axis seems like it was last hanging up on me making my circles ovals and I need to look into this.

The table scale is so far off that (11" of travel in Y direction) that the first time I hit the 4-1/2" mark in one direction with the power feed, it broke the spline shaft for the power feed. The table "center mark" is actually set 4-1/2" one way and 6-1/2" the other. I ripped off the center arrow and moved it to the proper position.

ShopMaster did not have a new spline shaft and I ordered three from Smithy (also typical Chinese), of which one fits the splines. But I had to use the mill portion to cut the new Smithy shaft to the proper length and make it work.

The mill bearings seized and cracked the shaft and it was $500 to replace, and I had to send the spindle in twice (Las Vegas) because the replacement (which is 1/2" shorter because none of the longer ones are available anymore) would not fit within the pully splines and had to be broached. (Again, Chinese machines are "hand fit.") And, this then leaves a bit of "slop"

I assume you found their web site.

I know this is resurrecting an old topic but I am interested in the Shop Master machines as I own an old Shop Task 12-22TC.

They are kind of rough but useful for light duty work. It is too small to do much work on my 18" gauge train, when I bought it I was building in 7 1/2" gauge but I 'supersized'.

I am thinking of upgrading to their newest CNC machine if my part-time business plans work out in the next year but your experience sounds kind of frightening. I know a Chinese built machine is not the BEST quality but I am concerned that if I get into some contract work (small time) I might get stuck with a broken machine with no parts or service available. There aren't many other options in the low end of machine tools, most are made in the Orient and have similar service and quality concerns. At least the Shop Master machines are DESIGNED by them and manufactured to their specifications so HOPEFULLY they should know them inside and out and be able to advise you on how to make repairs, many of the others are simply resellers.

I have read on a couple of forums of people doing professional work with these machines, anyone here used one of these extensively?

Have any tips for accuracy, longevity and replacement parts that may be useful?

Thanks

Russell

One thing is your registration allows you to search anything related to "Shop Master" on this board. There was a 6 mo interim which you may have not seen. Within those posts may have been a link to a more specific board. Either way, let us know.