Shopsmith Forums

Lug a 505/510/520 table a few times and you will gain an appreciation for the smaller(lighter) 500 table.

Okay... I know this is a old post, but are there any tips on cutting boards greater than 12 inches in width. I tried to help a friend cut some 24 inch width shelving today on my 500 and had a lot of difficulty keeping the board on the cut line even with the mitre hold down and fence. I also had the smaller table extension on the table too. Thanks.

delong94 wrote:Okay... I know this is a old post, but are there any tips on cutting boards greater than 12 inches in width. I tried to help a friend cut some 24 inch width shelving today on my 500 and had a lot of difficulty keeping the board on the cut line even with the mitre hold down and fence. I also had the smaller table extension on the table too. Thanks.

Were you cross cutting? I'm impressed if you even got close!

I don't have a 500, but cross cutting a 24 inch wide board is going to be a challenge on any table saw; in fact it will be nearly impossible without making a panel cutting sled.

As you discovered making an accurate cross cut on a wide board using the miter gauge is hard because the head of the miter gauge is floating in space at the start of the cut and not much of the bar is in the slot.

A trick than can be used if the piece to be cross cut is not wider than the distance from the back of the table to the front of the blade minus the width of the miter head and aux fence, is to insert the miter gauge backward in the slot and to push the work piece against the miter gauge fence. Clamp the workpiece to the miter gauge by rigging the hold down. This mimics a panel sled but I think you will need to build a panel sled in the end.

Thanks. My friend had some melamine shelving that he bought to cut down to add to an existing shelving unit. I thought I could help him out, but it was too awkward of a cut. We opted for a circular saw and saw guide in the end. I was able to use the 500 to cut smaller 1 X 3s and 1 X 4s for him, but the shelving was way too big.

delong94 wrote:Thanks. My friend had some melamine shelving that he bought to cut down to add to an existing shelving unit. I thought I could help him out, but it was too awkward of a cut. We opted for a circular saw and saw guide in the end. I was able to use the 500 to cut smaller 1 X 3s and 1 X 4s for him, but the shelving was way too big.

That was a very wise move!

Doing what was being proposed is an unsafe maneuver and is not likely going to produce a straight cut.

Chose the correct tool for the job. In this case, the Shop-smith was not the correct tool.

Now you have a chance for a Happy New Year.

There is a way to make such cuts on a 500. The trick is to use the side of the main table as a guide.

What you do is get a straight edge, say about 4 feet long that you clamp squarely to the workpiece parallel to the line of cut so that the distance from the edge of the table to the cut line is correct. The board is below the work piece. Then you use the straight edge against the edge of the table to make the cut. I've done it many times and even have a jig for doing so.

This pre-dates my shopsmith days so it is an old trick but will not work on all saws.

You also may need add additional support for the ends of the workpiece depending on just how long the workpiece is.

I believe this is in one or more of the PTWFE's.

Ed

The old time shopsmith videos that have just been published show what I was previously describing.

You can go to http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewt ... =7&t=15740

Direct link to YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5QP27eMXMI

and look for the table saw one. You can watch the whole video or slide to the 11:30 mark followed by more at 14:21.
Ed

delong94 wrote:... are there any tips on cutting boards greater than 12 inches in width.

A circular saw with a clamp-on guide. Search "circular saw guide" for various simple jig plans.

john_001 wrote:

delong94 wrote:... are there any tips on cutting boards greater than 12 inches in width.

A circular saw with a clamp-on guide. Search "circular saw guide" for various simple jig plans.

So, the way to make the 500 table saw less fussy is to not use it.

Thanks. These are pretty neat. The gentleman in the film reminds me of my shop teacher from high school. We also had a great woodworking class when I was junior high. It's sad that most schools have now cut shop and woodworking out the curriculum. I was able to take basic metalwork, woodworking, and drafting in junior high. Everyone took those classes.