User:Nyth83/Shopsmith (brand)

Shopmith (brand)

Shopsmith

Product type	Woodworking tools
Owner	RLF Brands
Country	United States
Introduced	1947
Previous owners	Magna Engineering, Yuba Power Products Magna American Shopsmith, Inc. RLFShop

Shopsmith is a brand of woodworking Shopsmith combination machines currently manufactured by RLF Brands.

Shopsmith has its origins in the ShopSmith 10ER tool, a five-in-one woodworking tool for do-it-yourself consumers invented in the late 1940s by Hans Goldschmidt, an immigrant from Germany. It found a ready market among new homeowners in the period after World War II (1939–45). The compact ShopSmith 10ER combined a table saw, lathe, drill press, disc sander and horizontal boring machine. It was manufactured by Goldschmidt’s Magna Engineering Corporation of San Diego, California. Successive models included additional accessories such as a bandsaw, jigsaw, jointer and belt sander. The lawn and garden tool manufacturer Yuba Power Products of Cleveland, Ohio bought Magna and the ShopSmith product line in the late 1950s. A few years later a group of Yuba employees founded Magna American Corporation and purchased the ShopSmith assets. They started manufacturing in Raymond, Mississippi, but their company ceased operation prior to 1966.

Shopsmith Mark V, Model 520

Later the brand changed hands twice before becoming dormant in 1966. Shopsmith, Inc. was founded in 1972 to resume manufacture of ShopSmith parts and products. In 2009 Shopsmith, Inc. went into bankruptcy, and reorganized as RLF Brands.

Origins

Hurteau Woodworking Machine

Goldschmidt Convertible Material Working Machine

The concept of a multipurpose tool– a single machine that does the job of many– is probably as old as woodworking. In just the last two centuries, the United States Patent Office has issued dozens of patents for ingenious machines in one end and they'd spit furniture out the other. Patent No. 511,618 for a "Woodworking Machine", issued to Stephen Hurteau in 1893, is typical of these inventions, as illustrated in Figure A. Ac-cording to Hurteau, "My invention has reference to a combination wood working machine and consists of a strong frame on to which is arranged a lathe, circular saw, planer, jig saw, bans saw, auger, shaper, etc..., and is arranged in solid and compact form, its object being to provide a machine capable of performing the functions of several others, thereby saving expense on first cost." But Hurteau's "Woodworking Machine"– and many others like it– was a pipe dream. Only a few of the more practical multipurpose tool designs were ever built and marketed. Most of these were massive commercial-duty machines for furniture manufacturers, mill operators, and other professional woodworkers. They usually incorporated a circular saw, jointer, molder or shaper, and horizontal boring machine arranges around a single powerful motor. A woodworker could preset each of these components, then walk around the tool, machining one board after another to precisely the same dimensions and shape. On the other end of the scale, the "Red Jacket" was a compact multipurpose bench tool for the home handyman, sold in the 1930's. It's power plant was an ordinary electric hand drill that could either be detached or mounted in a stand. When mounted, the drill powered a small circular saw, disc sander, and lathe. However, none of these early multipurpose tools achieved any lasting success. Most machines were either too expensive or their capacities too limited to interest the average craftsman.

It wasn't until Dr. Hans Goldschmidt introduced his "Shop-smith"– a five-in-one machine, similar to the present Mark V– that a multipurpose woodworking tool became accepted and commonplace.

Hans Goldschmidt came to the United States in 1937, fleeing Nazi Germany. Once in America, he became a woodworker out of necessity. Like so many folks in the Depression, he couldn't find a job, even though he had a doctorate in Administrative Engineering from the University of Berlin. So he scraped together enough money to buy some woodworking tools and made handicrafts–napkin holders, trays, and coasters. After World War II, he became a foreman in a woodworking shop. All his life he had dreamed of being an inventor, and it was here that he got his chance. "The basis of being an inventor is recognizing a need," Dr. Goldschmidt said in a later interview. "Then try to invent something that fills that need." The need that Dr. Goldschmidt recognized was for a simple machine to perform a multitude of woodworking tasks. Watching the workers use the power tools in the shop, he saw much duplication– too many motors, pulleys, arbors. He also noticed a growing market for power tools, since so many soldiers had learned to use machinery during the war. It was the right time, he decided, to introduce an affordable, capable multipurpose tool. "I listed the most important woodworking tools and came up with a saw, sander, lathe, drill press, bandsaw, and jigsaw," recalled Dr. Goldschmidt, telling how he had designed his machine. "Then I analyzed what all these had in common. They all have a motor in common, for one thing. They all have a turning spindle that cuts. They all have a table or work holding device. Then I eliminated those tools that didn't fit well, which were the jigsaw and the bandsaw. And finally ended up with the saw, the sander, the drill press, and the lathe." Goldschmidt envisioned, then sketched his machine. From his drawings, he built a half-scale model in his spare bedroom. Later he assembled a full scale model from salvaged hardware and spare parts. When tested, his invention worked just as he had hoped: It had the capacity to perform most common woodworking operations, yet it was simple enough to be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

For this line of successful multipurpose tools– in particular, the Mark V– Goldschmidt achieved recognition as an inventor in Time Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Popular Science, the Harvard Business Review, and other publications. Later, he went on to invent many other products.

, but thousands of Shopsmith Mark V's were manufactured until the early 1960's. Then a variety of changes within the company and with the buying public caused production to cease. In 1971, John Folkerth visited an old plant in search of spare parts. He not only found the parts, but molds, dies, jigs– everything needed to make new Mark V's. The owners were willing to sell and John jumped at the opportunity. By 1973, the Shopsmith Mark V was back on the market, manufactured by a new company– Shopsmith, Inc. The company changed hands in July of 2009 and redesigned the headstock and the base unit. RLFSHOP, LLC introduced the Shopsmith PowerPro® Headstock and the Mark 7 in August of 2010.

1947–1952

The inventor and several of his friends formed the Magna Engineering Company. They began making multipurpose tools at a lumberyard in Berkeley, California, building the first machines by hand. Montgomery Ward was Magna's first big customer, ordering 250 "Shopsmith Model 10ER's" for the west coast stores for Christmas, 1947. The name "Shopsmith" was suggested to Dr. Goldschmidt and his partners at a party. Response was so enthusiastic that the department store chain made it a stock item nationwide. An adervisement from February 1948 listed a price of $184.45, equivalent to about $2,339 today.

[1]

1953–1966

This success of the "10ER" encouraged Dr. Goldschmidt to refine his original design In the 1950's, Magna introduced several new multipurpose tools. The Shopsmith Mark II was a scaled down, economy version for the woodworker on a tight budget. The Shopsmith Mark VII incorporated a lot of extras, including way tubes that tilted in both directions and a built-in shop vacuum. But the most versatile, durable and popular model was by far the Shopsmith Mark V. For this line of successful multipurpose tools– in particular, the Mark V– Goldschmidt achieved recognition as an inventor in Time Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Popular Science, the Harvard Business Review, and other publications. Later, he went on to invent many other products.

The Mark II and the Mark VII were only available briefly.

1972–present

Shopsmith, Inc.

When searching for a replacement saw blade John Folkerth, a stockbroker in Dayton, Ohio, came across what was left of the company in Raymond, including the manufacturing equipment and boxes of unfilled orders for parts. He obtained investors and launched Shopsmith Inc. in 1972 to resume manufacturing in Troy, Ohio. The plan was to produce spare parts for the old tools sold by Magna and Yuba, but the company soon decided to start selling complete tools based on the popular and robust Mark V. The company moved to Dayton, Ohio in the late 1970s. Around the end of 1981 McGraw-Edison sold its power-tool division to Shopsmith, Inc.. Shopsmith liquidated the inventory and started to manufacture "Benchmark" products. In April 2005 the company reported gross annual revenues of US$13.4 million, with a net loss of US$800,000.

The MARK 7

The MARK 7 is an upgrade to the Shopsmith Mark V, supported by the PowerPro Headstock and includes two more woodworking tools; the under and over-table shaping and routing.

This machine includes a 10" Table Saw - 34" Lathe - 12" Disc Sander - 16-1/2" Vertical Drill Press - Over/Under-Table Router - Over/Under Table Shaper and Horizontal Boring Machine in a small two-foot by six-foot space. It has the capability to switch from tool-to-tool in 98 seconds or less. The multi-purpose design of the MARK 7 allows the user to only learn a single set of controls to operate all the functions of the machine.

RLF Brands

Shopsmith filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and reorganized, at first under the name of RLF Shop. RLF Brands LLC was registered in Ohio as a Domestic Limited Liability Company by Robert L Folkerth on 1 June 2010. As of 2017 the company has continued to market the Shopsmith Mark V and Mark 7 multipurpose tools, with seven different tools and various accessories.

Patents and trademarks

As is common with many corporations, the Malleable Iron range company applied for and was granted numerous patents for its products over the course of its existence.

Utility patents

1. 10,384,365 Blade tilt mechanisms for table saws
2. 10,092,968 Table saws
3. 9,981,326 Table saw
4. 9,908,189 Blade elevation mechanisms and anti-backdrive mechanisms for table saws
5. 9,844,891 Blade tilt mechanisms for table saws
6. 9,555,491 Blade elevation mechanisms and anti-backdrive mechanisms for table saws
7. 8,353,095 Self feeding drill press lathe attachment
8. 8,261,464 Swivel mounting device
9. 7,377,022 Drill press lathe attachment
10. 6,935,084 Taper-ream wood repair apparatus and method
11. 6,652,361 Abrasives distribution method
12. 6,569,002 Hand-held oscillating spindle sander
13. 6,568,531 Sandpaper index file for ease of storage
14. 6,463,836 Guide for band saws
15. 6,427,735 Multi-speed surface planer and method of manufacture thereof
16. 6,289,956 Wood planer attachment for directing and capturing wood shavings and chips
17. 5,139,060 Duplication attachment for wood turning lathes
18. 5,065,652 Scroll saw
19. 5,058,476 Scroll saw
20. 5,042,346 Apparatus for fabricating accurate mitered corners
21. 5,035,152 Speed increaser for woodworking tools
22. 5,017,180 Speed reduction device
23. 5,004,027 Biscuit joiner
24. 5,000,237 Jointer cutter guard with featherboard
25. 4,989,654 Woodworking workable assembly having an extruded T-slot
26. 4,972,885 Power module for special purpose woodworking tools
27. 4,926,916 Biscuit joiner
28. 4,899,793 Duplicating system for a lathe
29. 4,813,322 Scroll saw mount for multi-purpose tool
30. 4,721,023 Saw guard system
31. 4,715,872 Portable dust collector
32. 4,694,713 Duplicating system for a lathe
33. 4,658,687 Saw fence
34. 4,658,686 Miter gage
35. 4,615,247 Anti-kickback system
36. 4,597,424 Carving adapter for multi-purpose woodworking machine
37. 4,588,005 Duplicator attachment for woodturning lathes
38. 4,566,510 Workpiece support system for a power tool
39. 4,548,246 Headstock elevating apparatus
40. 4,538,655 Cutter head system
41. 4,538,654 Multiple use fixture assemblies for a cutting tool
42. 4,510,980 Table assembly for a multipurpose tool
43. 4,494,591 Tilting table for a woodworking tool
44. 4,485,859 Planer chip removal system
45. 4,485,711 Adjustable straddle block
46. 4,484,608 Router table
47. 4,476,757 Adjustable featherboard
48. 4,456,042 Planer table assembly
49. 4,440,204 Planer mounting system
50. 4,257,166 Adjustable drill template

Design patents

1. D834,912 Sanding tool
2. D716,631 Contoured vehicle surface polisher and restorer
3. D328,904 Power module for woodworking tools
4. D292,407 Combined guard and dust collector for a table saw
5. D286,538 Support frame for a power tool
6. D281,431 Headstock for a multipurpose woodworking tool
7. D281,328 Saw table
8. D278,790 Push block for use in guiding work pieces during cutting operations
9. D278,440 Router table
10. D278,022 Push stick for a saw table or the like
11. D276,616 Planer

Trademarks

• Shopsmith

U.S. Trademark 86,824,559

U.S. Trademark 73,470,123

• Shopsmith Power Pro

U.S. Trademark 77,950,219

• Saw Smith

U.S. Trademark 72,110,722

• Shopmate

U.S. Trademark 75,346,389

Sources

• Joslin, Jeff (2014-01-05). "McGraw-Edison Co". Vintage Machinery. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
• Patent Place USA (2006-08-06). "Finding Hidden Shopsmith Tools, Aftermarket Accessories". Retrieved 2014-10-15.
• "Rlf Brands, Llc". Companies Ohio. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
• "Rlfshop LLC Company Profile". Hoovers. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
• "Shopsmith Inc (SSMH:OTC US) Financials". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
• "Shopsmith, Inc". Vintage Machinery. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
• "Shopsmith Mark 7 and Mark V Multipurpose Tools". Shopsmith Inc. Retrieved 2014-10-15.

Category:Tool manufacturing companies of the United States

External links

• www.example.com