Shopsmith Forums

beeg wrote:Actually it went from a Mark 5 to a Mark V.

B4 1972 they were Mark 5. (Magna Engineering/Yuba/Magna American) After 1972 they were Mark V(Shopsmith Inc.) Model 500/505/510/520 are Mark V. Model 500 same as earlier Mark 5. There were 2 versions of Mark 5. Earliest Mark 5 were 'greenies' and early 'goldies/brownies'.(3/4 hp, gilmer drive) Later Mark 5 were goldies/ gray (1 1/8 hp, poly-v drive)

wood frequently has residual stresses that are released as you rip a board. as a result, the cut wood may curl towards the kerf, away from the kerf, or start twisting.

a riving knife or splitter that is roughly the width of the blade (slightly smaller) will stop the bogging down for the case that the wood curls toward the kerf and tries to pinch the side of the saw blade.

if the wood tries to curl away from the kerf, then it can push against the fence and put a drag against the side of the blade toward the fence. a good featherboard really helps with this problem.

when the cut wood starts to twist, I don't know what to do to make the job go right. the splitter and featherboard help, but I would love for someone to tell me a good solution. I have wondered if attaching a board to the face of the fence that ends just past the back of the blade would help. it would definitely make it harder to make the last part of the rip without snipe.

this problem is not specific to the SS. years ago, I used a friend's stationary table saw to rip a dozen or so 2x4s into 2x2s when I was building an art show. he didn't have a splitter (or upper guard) installed. about half of the boards went as I expected (easily). a few bogged down a little and one or 2 gave us fits. it was my first time on a table saw and I was amazed at the time about how much harder it was than ripping on my father's radial arm saw. in hindsight, I had been lucky on the RAS and the table saw was also my first experience with big box store lumber.

Ivan

In all of the above there is no mention of using the right blade for the job in hand. I assume that a rip-tooth blade is used for ripping? I find that if I am lazy and try to rip using the crosscut or panel cutting blade which happens to be in the saw at the time I get problems. Changing to the correct blade solves all. Forgive me if this sounds condescending. It isn't meant to!:)

Ray

Except for references to earlier threads it has not been mentioned in this one about inadequate current to the motor from too light of power feeds or using extension cords that are too long or too light.
I know we have discussed it constantly but I thought it should be in this thread too.

I had the same problem some time ago, found out that a thin kerf blade was not the way to go. When I bought a 'dedicated' good quality rip blade, not a combination, etc, the Mark V had no problems. Every now and then I try to get away without changing the blade, and I get reminded why I bought that rip blade in the first place.

rcf wrote:I had the same problem some time ago, found out that a thin kerf blade was not the way to go. When I bought a 'dedicated' good quality rip blade, not a combination, etc, the Mark V had no problems. Every now and then I try to get away without changing the blade, and I get reminded why I bought that rip blade in the first place.

I would not argue that a rip blade rips better than a combination blade. I also would not argue that a cross cut blade cross cuts better than a combination. However, I do believe that a properly installed, aligned and sharpened combination blade works as well as I will ever need.

I am always amazed at how much better my Mark V works when I have just installed a new/resharpened blade. NO! Actually, what amazes me is that I did not notice how poorly the old blade had been working. Why did I wait so long?

dusty wrote:I am always amazed at how much better my Mark V works when I have just installed a new/resharpened blade. NO! Actually, what amazes me is that I did not notice how poorly the old blade had been working. Why did I wait so long?

In my case it is because I am a pro-grade procrastinator...