While you can do some milling in the horizontal, the best option is to raise the machine to vertical, apply a right angle plate and secure the xy table to it under the quill. This gives you multiple work holding options. If you have a tilting vise or rotary indexing table so much the better. I'm not where I can repost a picture I have, but I think it's here in this thread already.

For metal lathe work, you need a single Y axis table that is low to mount whatever toll post you wish to use. The Y axis movement is furnished by the carriage. Some had power feed on the carriage that helped a great deal with metal turning. I use the quick change tool posts that have a fair amount of vertical range to use.

DanK

 

Thanks guys. This was my ignorance showing…I didn't know the difference between turning and milling. I have seen your picture, Dan, and it's helpful for figuring out a vertical milling approach. I'll be getting an angle plate soon. I do have the power feed on my super shop, so I'll hunt for a single Y axis table.

 

Good plan WFB. It will be good to know the details before buying stuff. On my machine it's 6.5" CL of quill to top of T slot carriage. A QC tool post holds tools about 2" above its base (YMMV) so that gives you an idea of how tall your y axis table can be.

If you need xy motions for milling consider stacking two y axis tables on your angle plate in the vertical setup. That gives you options for rotary tables and indexers on the bottom one. I was pushing the weight limits on my setup pictured here. I was afraid of busting out the cast aluminum T slots on the carriage. I had maybe 300# hanging on two bolts. Next time I'll figure out how to spread the joy (strain) on the T slots

DanK

 

There is a Fox Super Shop for sale on the Richmond, Virginia, Craigslist for $500-https://richmond.craigslist.org/tls/d/midlothian-fox-super-shop/7284304989.html

Don't know anything about this machine other than what's in the ad. One of the photos shows what appears to be a Nova-style chuck, so that would be a bonus. However, the carriage motor isn't operating.

 

Just out of curiousity (spoken like a true addict!), I contacted the guy in the add. The carriage lock is broken. I had that happen on my first Fox also and was able to repair the part. The top flange that makes lock function snapped off. I drilled and installed metal screws to fasten it back in place. The Smithy uses a different part to actuate lock so no chance DMT might have that part. He also doesn't know if the carriage motor is broken or good. I didn't ask more questions cause I am 7+ hours each way. Having 3 Fox and 1 Smithy machine, I think I am good and the intervention may have worked!

 

Awwwwww, DTT, you know you WANT it. Shoot, I have two and I want it! But I can barely fit the two I have indoors!

The carriage motor is not a deal breaker if it doesn't work since I'm discovering that whatever is broken on these machines is rather easy to fix, especially since I have machining capability, and have realized how available DC motor controls are. It also helps to have access to a retired Navy electrical engineer who considers these control boards "kindergarten stuff"!

DanK

 

@DanK- HAHAHAHA! No actually I do not want it! See the intervention is still working. (Now if it was 2 hours or less away….......). I am not worried about the carriage motor, but the lock. I know one can be made using original as a pattern but I have not progressed my metal skills to that level yet and also do not have the metal milling tools to be able to do it. I need to live long enough to acquire the stuff needed to mill metal then play around. I have 3 Fox and 1 Smithy machines so I think I need to stop at 4 and may even take one of the Foxes apart to keep for spare parts and recover floor space. I still have 4 SSmith machines also- 2 minis, my original 1983 with 1' cut off, and an old Mark VII that may become a casualty (be sold) if I cannot dream up a good reason to keep it. The double tilt I do not see as a big advantage because I have other tools that route better (these are called oddly enough- routers! But the tilt height is much shorter than I expected because the pivot is not at the end like the Mark V but further in. Oh yeah then the 8" Jet jointer and 18" Laguna bandsaw take up a bit of space too. So you can see my reluctance to fill more space when I have been so good about reducing my stable. I sold 3 of my personal SSmith machines in last 6 months. I am truly in recovery (I am sure SSx3 George will think I am lying and in denial but he has 3 so no room to be pointing fingers). <grin>
I am going to be heading North for "boy's week" at my oldest brothers lake house north of Madison WI end of April. I have always wanted to stop by and meet you and eschew the fat so to say. I would love to stop this time and make it happen and we can swap stories (and outright lies as well are always fair game!). I just checked map and it will be a long day as a road trip but think it will be worth it. I'll let you know as time closes in. The target date is April 28th. ;+D an

 

I have been looking for a SuperShop for the last few months. I thought that this forum would be a good place to get a foot in the door, after referring to it several times. I saw one posted on Craigslist, and I was curious about it's metalworking capability. I'm a daytime cabinet maker, and I would like to repair and modify metal hardware. Another thought that occurred to me is that some modest machining equipment might help me to restore and repair some of the old, dilapidated equipment that I've inherited or otherwise acquired.

The machine seems so versatile that it's a wonder to me that Smithy discontinued it. My leading theory is that they discontinued it during SawStop's rise to prominence around ten years ago. There has been a lot more discussion (not to mention litigation) concerning tablesaw safety since then, it seems. The tablesaw is one of the more prominent features in the photos, and that makes the discrepancies between modern saws and its tilting-table, rear-splitter design all the more glaring. My guess is that ShopSmith is established and popular enough to somewhat circumvent this. Just a theory.

More to the point, if anyone could refer me to someone in the Southeast who has a SuperShop for sale, then I would very much appreciate it. I live near Atlanta, and I am willing to consider any drive that would total under 20 hours round trip, if the price is right. I'm expecting to pay anywhere from $500 to $2,000, depending on the condition of the machine, the included accessories and tooling, and the distance that I would be driving. If the machine is a little more than a day's drive away (round-trip), then I might still be interested.

I apologize if there is another location that is more appropriate for this post. I am very new to this site

 

Hello sir I just happened to pull on your post I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate this site. I joined a while back but had yet to really explore the forums. My reason for replying is that I have a super shop in what I consider to be outstanding condition purchased it from a gentleman about an hour west of me who was moving out of the country and could not take it with him. I feel like I got a pretty decent deal on it although I didn't steal it but for its condition I think I did pretty well. As far as I can tell it has all the attachments although since moving it to my home I have not reassembled it and put it back into work. Gentleman started it for me at his house and showed me very briefly the operation of it before we disassemble the major components and packed them on my trailer for shipping. I've got it literally sitting in my living room right now in pieces cuz I didn't want to sit it outside in the shed or in the elements to let it rust so for the last almost year it's been sitting in my living room not being used. I am a amateur metal fabricator/welder/woodworker I have a grizzly polar bear series 10-in table saw with full cabinet so I'm good there I also have a ShopSmith Mark 5 that I don't use it all with tons of attachments that's sitting around collecting dust I primarily purchased the South Smith for the lathe capability but then like I said happened upon the super shop and decided to go for it. I need to reassemble it as I would love to do some work on it but if someone was looking to purchase one I might let it go. I'm located in Virginia Beach Virginia so not sure if that's too far for you or not but let me know what you think

 

NID, this is a very appropriate place to look. There is another forum might post on. We'll keep our eyes open.

I've been downsizing and find my shop extra crowded right now. I have two Fox Supershops, and could get along with one in a pinch. I even have some metal working attachments that won't get much use now that I have a Smithy Granite. I'd like to work through it for another few months before I decide for sure because two are just real handy. Since I used to be a dealer, one of my machines is sentimental having been hand built at the factory as my friend chief salesman's personal machine.

DanK

 

NID, the most you should pay is about $750 fully loaded and in pristine condition. I find them all the time on the West Coast for around $500 but negotiations are in order to lower their price. They all think they are worth a ton but they just sit and gather cobwebs. I am looking for the motorized carriage unit for mine but when I find one the owner wants me to purchase the entire unit usually loaded with rust and stripped gears. Good lunch with your endeavor.

JIM

 

I am in so california, finally acquired a very ruff smithy but have had eye out for an original fox. Everything i see is always midway or eastcoast. I actually won the bid on a oristine fox but ut was in wisconsin and i could never work out the shipping for a 600# monster!

the smithy i have i learned about on this forum.

so please if anyone hears about a west coast unit for a reasonable price nearby, please let me know!

 

NID- If you want metal working, get one with a carriage motor- Fox was standard but Smithy optional. I have 3 Fox and 1 Smithy and am 1/2 south of Knoxville TN and am considering selling one but debating because with 3 Fox machines, I have one for spare parts- ;+D. I also repair Shopsmith and other select tools- now including SuperShops depending on problem. All 3 Foxes also have reverse- I added to #2 & #3. I paid $500 for the Smithy (no carriage motor) with SuperShop bandsaw & 6" jointer. Sold jointer cause I already had one but kept bandsaw and made it metal cutting saw to go with my metal cut-off horizontal saw for light metal fabrication. I over-paid for last Fox SuperShop because it was in poor shape but I have reconditioned it and now is a good machine- paid $300 and drove 4 hours into east Georgia to get it. #1 I traded a Shopsmith rebuilt headstock for #1 missing some main parts- about $350 in value. Make sure everything operates as it should and as many parts as possible- like any extra collects. Good luck in the hunt and I am sure we will keep an eye out because it is always a good time helping someone spend their money and further their addiction.

 

NID, I have one lightly used with jointer. $1,000.00, I can help to dismantle and load into vehicle.. This is a Smithy Super Shop. One of the last ones sold by Smithy and one of the few that is wired by Smithy for 220v. No carriage motor, comes with basic lathe fittings , sanding disk. The only reason for letting it go is I'm loaded up with Shopsmith and just about every accessories.. Some say you can get it for less, but I have no urgent need to get rid of it because its a much better dedicated bowl turning lathe than Shopsmith. Philadelphia pickup.

 

There's a Super Shop listed on the Charlotte NC craigslist for $1995. Seller says it's in like new condition, but there aren't any relevant photos to determine if that's the case. It's in the Arts & Crafts listing, not the tools section.

It's way overpriced as far as I'm concerned, but the seller has an invoice showing it cost about $3500 new. It appears from the invoice it was purchased with a dust collector and bandsaw, but can't tell what else may have been included. There's a contact phone number in the listing.

I've got a Fox and a Smithy. If I were looking for one to do a bit of metalworking, I'd pick the Smithy because of it spindle thread (2 1/4" x 8 TPI) versus the Fox thread of 2" x 4 TPI Acme thread, because with the Fox you'd need a custom back plate to mount a metalworking chuck, and then you'd probably need two-one for a three-jaw and another for a four-jaw. The Smithy thread was a standard some years back for some US lathe manufacturers and you can still find chucks and faceplates on ebay and elsewhere. Also Smithy sold a metalworking toolpost/compound, making the set-up for metalworking that much easier, although it would be possible to fabricate something similar and you can always get a machine shop to make custom back plates. The motorized carriage would be beneficial depending on what you're doing.

On Craigslist, you can enter a radius of 200 miles from your zip code to check surrounding locations. Also, search for both "Super Shop" and "Supershop" because they can be listed either way, and don't limit it to the "tool" listings, but rather search "all" sections, as you wouldn't have found the one in Charlotte if you had only searched the tool section. You also can use searchtempest.com, which will search craigslists in a 500 mile or more radius and it also searches Ebay. Another place to look is facebook.com/marketplace, but I have no clue how this thing actually works. Some days it will search far and wide for things, other days only nearby locations. I don't use facebook for anything but the marketplace, so perhaps that's why I don't understand it.

 

Good thoughts, Ted.

I wonder what it would take to make a new spindle for the Fox with the finer threads. Perhaps the nose of the spindle could be modified to form the 2 1/4" x 8 TPI. If a new spindle was made, the changeover is fairly quick. It'd be interesting if a Smithy spindle would fit into the Fox quill. It's probably not worth it for the value enhancement, but in hobby work, is that even a consideration? LOL.

DanK

 

I don't know about the spindle itself, but the whole quill assemblies are ever so slightly different, at least according to my vernier caliper. The Fox measured 3.000 inches and the Smithy was 3.031 inches, so I'd call it 77mm. Don't know about the spindle itself, but likely it's inches to mm as well.

 

I recommend considering the Smithy Midas LTD 3 in 1 Metal working machine with the free tool pak starter kit for less than $2400 plus shipping. You get support, services, training, parts, and a machine that works and has plenty of accessories you can buy.

SSX3, that is a great suggestion based on my "stated primary focus". My initial statement might have been a little bit misleading. I had ruled out the ShopSmith some time ago as a good idea that did not quite suit my needs. I later watched a Den of Tools video about ShopSmiths, and he showed a few images of modifications and repurposes of ShopSmiths. These included a conversion of a ShopSmith into a wall-mounted drill press. If I remember correctly, that might have been what led me to look at prices and postings of used ShopSmiths, which then led me to the Smithy SuperShop. Sometime in between, I had been looking at used/budget metal machining equipment (lathes and mills), and I had decided that I would not be able to pursue milling and/or machining for the foreseeable future. The learning curve, the space, the cost, and the time to actually machine parts seemed to keep growing as I did more research. I was hoping that the SuperShop would reduce the required space and cost a bit compared to other machines. I had looked into both the Midas and Granite at different times. They seem like really great machines, and Smithy's complementary tool packs are quite enticing, and set them apart from most of the competition in the small/combination machines market. That being said, I am also very interested in using the machine for woodworking. Metal machining is supplemental to that end. I have limited space, funds, and time for the foreseeable future, so combination machines are very appealing to me. A dedicated, metalworking lathe/mill would sit unused too often to warrant it's own footprint, at least for the time being.

I have trouble sourcing satisfactory hardware with satisfactory quality control both at work and for my own projects. This results in a combination of angle-grinding, drilling, and filing. A more sophisticated, efficient method would be most welcome, but, at the risk of redundancy, I have constraints for space, expense, and time. That's why it's important to me to save space, and be able to switch between woodworking and metalworking. I tend to work on my personal projects in bursts of a few hours, about twice a month. Five to ten minutes of changeover time is no big deal, because I will rarely be completing more than one step of a project in one work session.

I also have some prototyping projects in mind that require specialized alloys and applications, which take acoustic properties into consideration as well as all of the usual concerns of rigidity, ductility, corrosion, and whatnot. I would rather handle the sourcing and prototyping rather than paying a machinist who might not really understand or respect my requirements. It would be great to be able to tinker with those ideas independently, without having to pay machine shop hourly rates. Not that good machinists aren't worth their cost. I just can't afford their service regularly.

Smithy discontinued the SuperShop primarily because the rising cost of aluminum made it cost prohibitive.
I guess my extrapolations were a bit too limber. It seemed odd to me that a company would discontinue such a capable machine, so I assumed it had to do with a change in consumer's perspectives and expectations.
If I send Smithy enough aluminum cans, do you think that they would melt them down and make a SuperShop for me at the old retail price of $3,500? That might be a long-shot…

There's a Super Shop listed on the Charlotte NC craigslist for $1995. Seller says it's in like new condition, but there aren't any relevant photos to determine if that's the case. It's in the Arts & Crafts listing, not the tools section.

Ted724, thank you for letting me know. I have seen that posting, and I emailed the seller last week. No reply. Also, I believe that I have seen those same pictures in previous, expired postings. It might be the same person renewing a post, or it might be someone "recycling" other people's images. I asked for a new picture as confirmation. I'm not driving six hours without being sure of what I'm getting. Even if it weren't at the high end of my budget.
I use the CPlus App to search for things on craigslist. I can choose different locations, so I can decide whether the distance is worth driving.

Everyone else, thank you for your replies! I'll consider your offers and advice.

 

There was a phone number in that Charlotte listing, Perhaps a call will get you the information you need to make a decision.

 

I'm always on the outlook for smithy accessories. Steve

 

There is a Smithy Super Shop on the Chattanooga Craigslist site for $850. Comes with a bandsaw.

 

There is a Supershop in Harrisburg, PA listed on Facebook Marketplace for $200. Here's the listing-https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/459787218437597/?referralSurface=messenger_lightspeed_banner&referralCode=messenger_banner-

I contacted the seller and he only has what's shown in the ad, and that amounts to only the saw table-no fence, miter gauge, or lathe accessories. The draw bar is included.

 

It sold very fast! It was a gray Smithy and as you said, missing parts. Unfortunately, many parts between Fox and Smithy do NOT interchange. The tables have different teeth in the rack and the fences have different width miters and
the quills have different threads, etc. That would have been good for spare parts or if one already had a Smithy.

 

I figured it would go quickly at that price. I would have gotten it myself but just don't have room for another one. Hopefully the new owner has another Smithy, otherwise he'll have difficulty getting the missing items. I figure the motor alone was worth the asking price.

 

Smithy Ironwood with jointer in Cleveland, Ohio for $900. Looks pristine. Owner says bought 10 years ago and used once. See-https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/448801269541113/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post

 

There is a Smithy Supershop listed on the Facebook marketplace for $700 in Holly, Michigan. Has bandsaw, jointer, and belt sander, plus metalworking chuck and tool post. Can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/549772016388059

 

There is a Smithy Supershop listed on Facebook Marketplace for $1750 near Cleveland, Ohio. Comes with bandsaw, jointer, and belt sander. Seems to show in photos that metalworking cross slide comes with it as well. Seems a bit expensive, but you can see at: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/388239919382432/