Hi,
Last fall just before the snow and cold set in I went ebay shopping and found this Shopsmith Joint-Matic. They no longer make this machine but several other vendors have something like it. This one comes from 1992 and was a revised version of a machine that was built by Strong Industries... (See the first image)
I will not go into too much detail here but if you have some questions ask away, I also have not done much with it yet so be aware I might not be able to answer things if they get to detailed.
I decided to use a spair 690 base I had to mount on the machine, since I will not be spinning any large bits this single speed router should work fine. (The limit is 1-1/2" dia.) (Image 6)
The crank moves the router and slide 1/16" per turn, thus a half turn is 1/32" and a quarter turn is 1/64". The zero point is at the center of the bit so if you wanted to put a mortise in the center of a piece of 3/4" stock you would make 6 turns. Like wise to make box joints it is just a matter of counting turns.
Of course you can make a lot of different joints on the machine and I will not get into details about that list or details.
Some of the features are:
A feather board kit can also be added to provide downward force. (Second image)
An adjustable scale for reference. (See image 3)
The miter gauge slot in the table which can be used for the miter gauge or for feather boards. It also works for an extension table and bevel gauge which I do not have (yet). (See image 4)
A stop rod. (See image 5)
A dust collector port. (See image 7)
A bit guard (not shown).
Today was the first day to make some saw dust with it. Didn't make any projects yet but played with some scrap wood... It looks like a very good addition to my tool collection.
Ed
Last fall just before the snow and cold set in I went ebay shopping and found this Shopsmith Joint-Matic. They no longer make this machine but several other vendors have something like it. This one comes from 1992 and was a revised version of a machine that was built by Strong Industries... (See the first image)
I will not go into too much detail here but if you have some questions ask away, I also have not done much with it yet so be aware I might not be able to answer things if they get to detailed.
I decided to use a spair 690 base I had to mount on the machine, since I will not be spinning any large bits this single speed router should work fine. (The limit is 1-1/2" dia.) (Image 6)
The crank moves the router and slide 1/16" per turn, thus a half turn is 1/32" and a quarter turn is 1/64". The zero point is at the center of the bit so if you wanted to put a mortise in the center of a piece of 3/4" stock you would make 6 turns. Like wise to make box joints it is just a matter of counting turns.
Of course you can make a lot of different joints on the machine and I will not get into details about that list or details.
Some of the features are:
A feather board kit can also be added to provide downward force. (Second image)
An adjustable scale for reference. (See image 3)
The miter gauge slot in the table which can be used for the miter gauge or for feather boards. It also works for an extension table and bevel gauge which I do not have (yet). (See image 4)
A stop rod. (See image 5)
A dust collector port. (See image 7)
A bit guard (not shown).
Today was the first day to make some saw dust with it. Didn't make any projects yet but played with some scrap wood... It looks like a very good addition to my tool collection.
Ed
[/QUOTE] I'm sorry you had issues with yours. It really shouldn't be much different then a standard table based system. You do how ever feed left to right. You do not trap the wood between the table and bit and you don't try to do small parts. So far I have not had any "arrows" or other odd effects in fact it seems very stable and easy to use.
