Shopsmith Forums

Just kidding about the being for those of us who wear multi-focal lens but it is for Ed In Tampa. Ed (post #8) this is the solution for your previously stated beef about not being able to see the depth of cut indicator because of where it is located.

I can not take credit for this; I wish I could. This marvelous idea came from Mark (mccabinetmaker) and his purpose was not to improve vision but rather to make depth of cut setups easier and I assume faster.

I assume faster because he is a professional and to him time is money. The time it takes to do a setup doesn't mean much to me. I just love the simplicity, accuracy and repeatability of this method.

I made my self a six piece set of these jewels. If this proves to be insufficient, I'll make a larger set (more intervals).

Thanks Again, MARK!:)

Yep! Table spacers are a great innovation.

However let me ask about your tri focals. Are they the kind without lines? A long time ago, a Dr. told me I didn't want those kind, because they would drive me nuts. So I've been wearing trifocals with lines for 20 years. For me there is no problem reading any gauge. They are even safety glasses.

The ones without lines are called progressives. I love mine. Except at work where most of my vision needs are all the same distance away, then I just use regular reading glasses. But the progressives work great in the shop.

I was in retrospect. I no longer wear glasses except to read. I keep a pair in the shop but I can really see without them now. I had cataract surgery last year and it is almost like getting young again, almost.

I do know of trifocals though. I wore multi-focals almost all my life and I too did not notice the lines unless someone spoke of them. I also attempted the progressives when they were first offered. I was never able to get use to them. They made me sick to the stomach. Went back to trifocals.

I have bifocals (old with lines) but rarely wear them. The tops are very weak and I really didn't need them but the eye doctor wanted to sell them. I can still pass the BMV eye test without glasses.
I do have reading glasses all over the place. In the shops I have reading glasses and I also have extra strong reading glasses that I only use to read really fine print. I don't understand this obsession product designers have with using really fine print even when there is all sorts of room for larger print. I can only hope that some day they loose enough eyesight to suffer with the silly fine print on things like TV remotes (and on the TV's) and cell phones etc.
I carry a set of reading glasses that are very small and fit in a metal tube. Not what I would want to read a book with but I use them for reading menus etc.

They talk about the age that people start having falls. They never mention glasses but I think bifocals cause a lot of falls. The ground is suddenly in a different place.
My wife wears no-line bifocals full time for several years now and one thing I noticed is that she does not see the ground clearly. We mow a "LOT" of grass. Since she started wearing them she leaves a lot more little skips and does not see them. I mentioned it one day and she said "what skips?". I told her to tip her head down and look at the grass through the tops of her glasses. She tipped her head down and said "Oh!".

I wear progressive lens, when I first tried them I gave up. Then years later at my wife's insistence I got a pair from a good eye doctor and now I would never go back.
I can see well enough to pass any eye exam without my glassed but I wanted to see it all in High Definition so I wear them.

My problem wasn't setting depth of cut but rather the bevel angle on the 520. With the 520 fence rails and how low they go you have to get your head into some interesting positions to read the bevel scale.

I now use a electronic angle finder to set the bevel angle.

As for seeing the ground with bifocals or progressive. I believe you have to train yourself to use you peripheral vision, which most people don't. My eye doctor laughs when he measures my Peripheral vision saying I can almost see behind me. I know I exercise my peripheral vision almost daily trying to see how far back I can move my hand and still see it while looking straight ahead.

Vision to me is very important and I love my glasses. I approached wearing them as something that enhanced my vision. I know many people fight their glasses and deal with reading glasses all over the place.
As I said I love mine, I have UV protection, I have eye protection, I have enhanced sight and I now after wearing them for 20 years or so would probably wear plain glass, glasses if my vision improved to the point I didn't need correction. The advantages are that great to me.

Being 'nearsighted', my glasses issue is different from that previously described.

If it is within 6 to 18 " away, I can see it very clearly. Closer can be a problem, but 18" out is much much more so. Gotta have specs to drive!!!! That limits the peripherical vision since the lenses are only 'in front'. Wore contacts for a while and really enjoyed the enhanced wider view! Concerns re extended wear vs frequent insertion/removal caused me to return to framed lenses.
I wear trifocals, but they are of the safety glass type with close vision bottom(all the way across) far vision center(all the way across) and 'intermediate distance'(all the way across) at the top. Some folks refer to them as electrician's glasses. Lot easier than bending your neck back all day!
When I wore contacts, I also experimented with only one contact lense. Thus the 'lense corrected' eye worked for far vision(driving etc.) and the uncorrected eye handled reading and hand held tasks. I did so as to eliminate the carting around of 'reading' glasses so I could determine what to order from the waitstaff!
As a result of that experimenting, my upper(mid range) and lower(close range) lenses differ for each eye. This gives a different distance range of each eye thus creating a larger range of clear(in focus) vision. If both lenses provided the same correction, the focal range is the same for both eyes. I gave that up for the greater focal range. Not for everyone, but it does work for me!(mind over matter!!!!)

I decided early on to not try corrective myopic surgery since I anticipated the same need for 'reading' glasses after 2 score years. 'Far' sighted folks my age just shake their head in awe?,wonder?, jealousy? when I take off my glasses to read that menu(restaurants tend to be dimly lit for some reason:D).
All that leads up the the need for a 'glass safari' to reclaim the glasses when about to exit the house and drive.
I only wear the glasses when away from home. My uncorrected vision is adequate for all but tv watching. I consider myself fortunate!!!!!

Biggest problem is finding an optical lab who can today create such an unusual combination. They ain't cheap! No plastics, safety glass only.

Ed in Tampa wrote:I wear progressive lens, when I first tried them I gave up. Then years later at my wife's insistence I got a pair from a good eye doctor and now I would never go back.
I can see well enough to pass any eye exam without my glassed but I wanted to see it all in High Definition so I wear them.

My problem wasn't setting depth of cut but rather the bevel angle on the 520. With the 520 fence rails and how low they go you have to get your head into some interesting positions to read the bevel scale.

I now use a electronic angle finder to set the bevel angle.

As for seeing the ground with bifocals or progressive. I believe you have to train yourself to use you peripheral vision, which most people don't. My eye doctor laughs when he measures my Peripheral vision saying I can almost see behind me. I know I exercise my peripheral vision almost daily trying to see how far back I can move my hand and still see it while looking straight ahead.

Vision to me is very important and I love my glasses. I approached wearing them as something that enhanced my vision. I know many people fight their glasses and deal with reading glasses all over the place.
As I said I love mine, I have UV protection, I have eye protection, I have enhanced sight and I now after wearing them for 20 years or so would probably wear plain glass, glasses if my vision improved to the point I didn't need correction. The advantages are that great to me.

I used to "exercise my peripheral vision" at the beach... Mine has to be good because I have a terrible time seeing back when I try to turn my head a lot. A good friend always said that was because our skin got loose and when we turn our heads the skin covers our eyes.


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dusty wrote:This marvelous idea came from Mark (mccabinetmaker) and his purpose was not to improve vision but rather to make depth of cut setups easier and I assume faster.

Thanks Again, MARK!:)

I just made a 3-piece set, and I must say that having been a Mark V owner since 1985 this has got to be one of the greatest accessories I have added (not to mention that it was also free!). I'm just surprised that something like this never came up in the Sawdust Sessions.

One thing I would add is a small magnet so that the spacer does not fall out when you raise the table.

michaeltoc wrote:I just made a 3-piece set, and I must say that having been a Mark V owner since 1985 this has got to be one of the greatest accessories I have added (not to mention that it was also free!). I'm just surprised that something like this never came up in the Sawdust Sessions.

One thing I would add is a small magnet so that the spacer does not fall out when you raise the table.

Add a adjustment screw so you can use it for 'nearly the same sized blades' and to compensate for 'sharpening'. Of course if you do not have any 'non-carbide tipped' blades, that is moot!

Great Idea!!!!(original and magnet!)