Lower Saw Guard Upgrade

[joedw00]

In this postI asked Does Shopsmith have a guard with two outlets? Because of this picturein this PDF. I was looking at the PDF Catalogand found this on page #6. Not a bad price if you have the newer one.


[ATTACH]20002[/ATTACH]

Two upgrades bring added dust collection efficiency and safety to
your MARK V
A. Lower Saw Guard Upgrade for MARK V’s
with serial numbers below 222396
This is the Upgrade you want if you have a
plastic Lower Saw Guard with a 11/4˝ dust
collection port. Provides dual 2 1/4˝ ports
for more efficient dust collection. Some
drilling and tie bar modifications required.
555294 Lower Saw Guard $55.90

B. For older model MARK V’s with aluminum
Upper and Lower Saw Guards
This is the Upgrade you want if you have
aluminum Upper and Lower Saw Guards
with a 2 1/4˝ dust port. You’ll get the Dual Port
Lower Guard plus the See-Through Upper
Guard with anti-kickback Fingers. Some drilling
and tie bar modifications required.
505875 Model 500 Clear $227.87

[terrydowning]

I have B. It does work, but not that great. The splitter is far from the blade and aligning is a hassle. Dust collection is certainly improved but still lots of dust flying around. The setup on the 510/520 is much better. For what they are charging for the guard upgrade ($227 plus shipping), you may better off looking around for used 510/5120 parts. Just saying.

[TheBigE]

Terry,

One trick I use is this hardboard guide seen below. It's 6"x20" with a 14" cut that can be used to help set the guard/splitter quickly. Especially if you've adjusted the quill to set the blade just right.

[ATTACH]20010[/ATTACH]

Earlier versions of PTWFE had this guide in the table saw set up section.

I have "B" as well. I use a dust deputy for dust collection so I can only use one of the ports. I can't comment what two hoses can do but I would imagine that it's better then my set up. Plan "A" is an add on to the older lower guard to convert it to the newer style. The older guard also held the upper guard unlike the "B" version. This is of course for only 500 table systems. Hope that helps.

-Erich-

[terrydowning]

I use a straight edge on the fence side of blade to set the splitter. My issue is the crummy plastic attachment for the upper assembly. It has never been very smooth and adjusting is always a hassle. I've tried light sanding/polishing which didn't help. I've also replaced the bolt a couple of times as it gets bent easily. Straightening is a regular thing. I'm just not happy with the whole design of it. The design on the 505 and up is much better. I've been looking for 510/512 upgrade components (and the cash for that as well). In the meantime I have greatly reduced my table saw usage. The reality is I don't use my table saw much any more. Most of my ripping is now done on the bandsaw. Cross cutting is either on the bandsaw, SCMS, or my Nobex hand powered miterbox (which by far produces the smoothest most accurate cuts). Keep in mind I typically work on smaller projects. Pens, bowls boxes, etc. If I ever get started on any of the larger stuff where a table saw is the better tool I will add more energy into my search for used 510/520 upgrade components.

Why bother setting up the table saw for one dado when I can nibble it with my SCMS and clean up with a chisel, use my router, or chop the dado with a chisel just as quickly?

If I win the lotto, I'll just go ahead and buy a new Mark 7 with the power pro and be done with it. But I'm not counting on that anytime soon.

I do woodworking for a hobby and not production work so part of the fun for me is exploring different methods of accomplishing similar tasks. Limiting my table saw usage has challenged other skills.

[TheBigE]

I had the same problem when I orginally got my Shopsmith. It came with the upper guard but the lower had gone missing. It had a gray mounting block and I couldn't even get the top guard to mount to it if I tried. I was in the market for a lower saw guard and got lucky on eBay by finding the whole package, upper and lower guards, for a good deal. I figured since my vintage table already had the block I would just swapped them and not have to worry about drilling a tapping. The new upper guard I recieved had black mounting blocks instead of gray and slid together very well. If I was to adjust the blade using the quill I can then easily slide the guard/splitter over. The orginal I couln't even put together! So maybe they (shopsmith) fixed this problem later on? I haven't bent the knob on the back of the block yet but I have said to myself that it sticks out far enough for that to happen and to keep an eye on it.