I have talked a little bit about the Saw Blade Guard Systems of the different models of the Mark 5/V before. Often in posts there are questions about which Saw Blade Guard the poster should get. For the Mark V 505, 510, 520 and Mark 7 that is an easy answer. There has been only one Saw Blade Guard System made for those models. So, what about the Mark 5 and Mark V 500. There have been several guards and an improvement made for them over the years. When it was introduced the Mark 5 did not come with a Saw Blade Guard but was an optional accessory the owner could buy. Now keep in mind the Mark 5 originally used a 9” saw blade and the original guard fit that size but not the later 10” blades.
The first Saw Blade Guard was part number 22 370 or 505678 (after the P/N numbers change in 1962). It had a square dust chute that doesn’t allow for dust collection without making some kind of adapter. It could be used with up to 9” blades. It was made out of cast aluminum and other metal parts.
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The next Saw Blade Guard made for the Mark 5 was part numbers 505627 and 505628 for the Upper and Lower Saw Blade Guards. These two parts were sold individually and the Upper Guard (P/N 505627) was also used with the Lower Saw Guard (P/N 505705) originally for the Mark VII. This guard system has a 2-1/2” round port for saw dust collection and can be used with 10” blades. A spacer was available to increase the width of the lower guard.
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The Saw Blade Guard to come next for the Mark V was part number 505875 made from sometime in the early 1980's until November 1987. It replaced P/Ns 505627 & 505628 on Mark V’s with Serial Numbers below 222396. It is a multi-part system with the upper guard mounting to the rear table tube and lower guard parts to quill and table trunnion. It had only a single 1-1/4" dust port. Made of plastic this was the first guard to have a clear upper guard allowing the user to see the blade. All the earlier guards were cast aluminum with other metal parts.
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The most recent was the updated version of the 505875 Guard above and an upgrade kit was made available to upgrade the 1-1/4” dust port. It has two 2-1/2” dust ports and the parts to change the earlier version to that are the only differences. The upgrade kit is still shown in the online catalog but the complete guard is not.
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The Saw Blade Guard System for the Mark V 505, 510, 520 and Mark 7 is part number 514366 Upper Saw Guard with P/N 514358 Lower Saw Guard. Its design requires longer arbors to be used with it. It can accommodate the 12” sanding disk to be used for disk sanding dust collection.
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Anyone looking for a Saw Blade Guard for their Mark 5/V should be aware that there are other Shopsmith/Magna Saw Blade Guards that have been made over the years. The Model 10E and 10ER, the Mark 2 and the Magna Table Saw have guards that are not intended or will not work on the Mark 5/V.
