What about the 5-6' 520 table connecting tubes?

[pieceseeker]

Anybody use these? Is it a great help or a hindrance? Or totally unnecessary?

[garys]

I bought a pair of 6' tubes for my 510. They are great when you have to cut down a 4'x8' sheet of plywood.

[reible]

I use the 5' tubes quite often. How ever I prefer the ones that are sold on ebay that are a bit heavier construction.

I use the tubes to build up work areas for things like the bandsaw, router table, drill press, joint-matic, etc. I do set them up from time to time for table saw operations when I want a lot of flexibility in my setups.

Bandsaw example:

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=13405

Here is the review of the non-shopsmith tubes

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=10797

Ed

[forrestb]

In fact I used my 5 footers today when cutting a couple of pieces off of a not-too-wide piece of ¾ plywood. An auxiliary table between the main and left hand tables made for a stable cut.
Forrest

[Ed in Tampa]

Five Footers are great until you have to change height adjustment. Then they quickly become a pain.

When you order them they come in a cardboard tube. Mine have come out the tube about 10 times in the 5+ years I have owned them.

I have considered cutting them down to be longer than normal tubes but shorter than 5 ft.

[pieceseeker]

Five Footers are great until you have to change height adjustment. Then they quickly become a pain.

With the longer tubes, doesn't all the tables raise or lower together with the main table. I suppose the outboard tables would still need to be re-adjusted for correct height. I can imagine there would be a little sag at the far ends. One would need a long straight edge to check alignment.

[dusty]

With the longer tubes, doesn't all the tables raise or lower together with the main table. I suppose the outboard tables would still need to be re-adjusted for correct height. I can imagine there would be a little sag at the far ends. One would need a long straight edge to check alignment.

Floating Tables that are attached to ONLY the Main Table do go up and down with the Main but ...the weight must be somewhat equally distributed or there is some binding that occurs.

I own a set of long tubes that I bought off eBay but I seldom use the long tubes anymore.

So resolve the issue that the guy in Tampa complains about, I made some short couplers that I use with either two or four short tubes to tie the Main Table to the Extension Table. This way, if I want to raise or lower the Main I can do so without altering the Extension.

The long tubes can be a nuisance but if you really need to tie the tables together to handle larger jobs and to further improve table stability, they work like a charm. I would recommend that everyone with a 505 or later have a set.

[pieceseeker]

I'm definitely planning on getting some. I ran into a situation several month's ago where I wanted to use my new SS biscuit joiner on my MV500. I needed to join a decorative board on the top rear of my Mothers curio cabinet I inherited that got detached during transfer from my Mom's estate. I sure could have used an extended "bed" to lay the cabinet on when using that biscuit joiner. Of course the point is moot with a MV500. I did accomplish the feat with extending saw horses and boards.

Thanks for everyone's opinions in that regards. Even if the tubes are only needed a few times a year, they won't take up much space, and they would be nice when you do need them.

[Ed in Tampa]

Floating Tables that are attached to ONLY the Main Table do go up and down with the Main but ...the weight must be somewhat equally distributed or there is some binding that occurs.

I own a set of long tubes that I bought off eBay but I seldom use the long tubes anymore.

So resolve the issue that the guy in Tampa complains about, I made some short couplers that I use with either two or four short tubes to tie the Main Table to the Extension Table. This way, if I want to raise or lower the Main I can do so without altering the Extension.

The long tubes can be a nuisance but if you really need to tie the tables together to handle larger jobs and to further improve table stability, they work like a charm. I would recommend that everyone with a 505 or later have a set.

The guy from Arizona ( we apparently aren't calling each other by name any longer ) has a great idea, couple's. Loosen them adjust the main table to the correct height by trial and error than once the height is dialed in adjust the extension table with a straight edge and then connect the couplers and make the cut. Works for me. Rather than having to disassemble everything so as no to bend the tubes as I raise and lower the main table. Never figured how to raise the main table and extension table at the same time.

[dusty]

The guy from Arizona ( we apparently aren't calling each other by name any longer ) has a great idea, couple's. Loosen them adjust the main table to the correct height by trial and error than once the height is dialed in adjust the extension table with a straight edge and then connect the couplers and make the cut. Works for me. Rather than having to disassemble everything so as no to bend the tubes as I raise and lower the main table. Never figured how to raise the main table and extension table at the same time.

This has been working for me (the guy in Arizona) for a while. But it may work better for me because I have the other Mark V (Shorty) and a Crafter's Station that share some of the work load.

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BTW: There are several of us (forum members) who might respond to "the guy in Arizona" so don't get confused if they do.