Incra v120 Issue

algale · Post by **algale** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:10 am

I ordered the Shopsmith Edition Incra v120 miter gauge when it was on sale last week. It arrived yesterday and I went to set it up tonight. (This is my second Incra miter gauge. I have a 1000HD which I bought about 5 years ago for a table saw I no longer own and which will now be given to my brother in law).

All went according to plan. Shimmed the face to the table and adjusted the protractor to the blade.

Then I went to install the Safety Grip from my Shopsmith miter gauge. I followed the instruction but after I screwed the Safety Grip support post down into the aluminum adapter block, there was no way to install the screw in the heel of the Safety Grip. The holes in the heel of the Safety Grip just wouldn't line up no matter what with the hole in the Incra v120. Thought the shims might be a problem so I removed them. Made no difference.

I went back through all the posts on the forum regarding the v120 and no one has reported this issue. The only unusual thing is that others have reported that the aluminum block should be loose even when the screws attaching it to the face of the miter gauge are seated. Mine, however, had no looseness.

The only way I could work around the issue was to remove the adapter block completely then screw down the heel of the Safety Grip first. When I did that, the adapter block was left with about 1/16th gap from the rear face of the miter gauge. I was able to place some thin washers behind the aluminum block and secure everything. I thought about turning the adapter block around, but then it would have nothing to register against the top of the miter gauge's face.

As currently set up, the face of the miter gauge is perfectly square to the table (tightening the aluminum block brought the face square), the gauge is calibrated to the blade and everything is working. But that gap between the block and the rear face of the miter gauge clearly isn't right, although I can't see any adverse impact on operations.

Photo follows:

[ATTACH]20264[/ATTACH]

Any thoughts before I call customer service/return it?

Al

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:08 am

algale wrote:I ordered the Shopsmith Edition Incra v120 miter gauge when it was on sale last week. It arrived yesterday and I went to set it up tonight. (This is my second Incra miter gauge. I have a 1000HD which I bought about 5 years ago for a table saw I no longer own and which will now be given to my brother in law).

All went according to plan. Shimmed the face to the table and adjusted the protractor to the blade.

Then I went to install the Safety Grip from my Shopsmith miter gauge. I followed the instruction but after I screwed the Safety Grip support post down into the aluminum adapter block, there was no way to install the screw in the heel of the Safety Grip. The holes in the heel of the Safety Grip just wouldn't line up no matter what with the hole in the Incra v120. Thought the shims might be a problem so I removed them. Made no difference.

I went back through all the posts on the forum regarding the v120 and no one has reported this issue. The only unusual thing is that others have reported that the aluminum block should be loose even when the screws attaching it to the face of the miter gauge are seated. Mine, however, had no looseness.

The only way I could work around the issue was to remove the adapter block completely then screw down the heel of the Safety Grip first. When I did that, the adapter block was left with about 1/16th gap from the rear face of the miter gauge. I was able to place some thin washers behind the aluminum block and secure everything. I thought about turning the adapter block around, but then it would have nothing to register against the top of the miter gauge's face.

As currently set up, the face of the miter gauge is perfectly square to the table (tightening the aluminum block brought the face square), the gauge is calibrated to the blade and everything is working. But that gap between the block and the rear face of the miter gauge clearly isn't right, although I can't see any adverse impact on operations.

Photo follows:

[ATTACH]20264[/ATTACH]

Any thoughts before I call customer service/return it?

Al

The loose aluminum block should be bolted securely to the back side of the fence. I would suggest that you might have a version of the miter gauge handle that is not fully compatible to the Incra V120 though it certainly appears to be the same as mine.

[ATTACH]20265[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]20266[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]20267[/ATTACH]

BTW, the aluminum block located under the heel of the safety grip is kinda loosey. I always thought it should be securely seated.

algale · Post by **algale** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:23 am

dusty wrote:The loose aluminum block should be bolted securely to the back side of the fence. I suspect that you have a version of the miter gauge that is not fully compatible to the Incra V120.

Dusty,

I admit that is the logical and simple conclusion. I was not aware that there were different versions of the miter gauge/safety grip. Both my Safety Grip and the miter gauge it sat on were from Shopsmith and date to 2001 when my 520 was born.

By the way the aluminum block was anything but loose when I attached it (prior to trying to mount the Safety Grip). It was in fact tight. Although it is now shimmed, it is secure.

Frustrating when the new toy isn't right.

Thanks,

Al

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:53 am

algale wrote:Dusty,

I admit that is the logical and simple conclusion. I was not aware that there were different versions of the miter gauge/safety grip. Both my Safety Grip and the miter gauge it sat on were from Shopsmith and date to 2001 when my 520 was born.

By the way the aluminum block was anything but loose when I attached it (prior to trying to mount the Safety Grip). It was in fact tight. Although it is now shimmed, it is secure.

Frustrating when the new toy isn't right.

Thanks,

Al

Since you bought the V120 and the Safety Grip recently and from Shopsmith, I doubt my conclusion of incompatibility.

algale · Post by **algale** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:08 am

Thanks for the photos Dusty. As for that small block under the heel of the Safety Grip, mine is very loose too. I'm going to speculate that the problem is that the hole drilled through the side of that little block was mislocated. When I went to install the screw through the heel, I could see the hold in the block was not centered/aligned with the hole in the heel.

That, however, does not explain why the aluminum block that sits against the face of the miter gauge was tight when I originally installed it. What is the reason that it should remain loose and have play?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:22 am

algale wrote:Thanks for the photos Dusty. As for that small block under the heel of the Safety Grip, mine is very loose too. I'm going to speculate that the problem is that the hole drilled through the side of that little block was mislocated. When I went to install the screw through the heel, I could see the hold in the block was not centered/aligned with the hole in the heel.

That, however, does not explain why the aluminum block that sits against the face of the miter gauge was tight when I originally installed it. What is the reason that it should remain loose and have play?

I don't know that it should be loose. Do the instructions indicate that that block should be loose?

algale · Post by **algale** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:30 am

dusty wrote:I don't know that it should be loose. Do the instructions indicate that that block should be loose?

The instructions are silent. However, according to some guy named Dusty

it is supposed to be loose. http://shopsmith.net/forums/showpost.ht ... ostcount=6

And according to this post, Shopsmith customer service (a nearly as reliable source) says it should be loose.
http://shopsmith.net/forums/showpost.ht ... ostcount=1

Al

claimdude · Post by **claimdude** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:12 am

algale wrote:The instructions are silent. However, according to some guy named Dusty it is supposed to be loose. http://shopsmith.net/forums/showpost.ht ... ostcount=6

And according to this post, Shopsmith customer service (a nearly as reliable source) says it should be loose.
http://shopsmith.net/forums/showpost.ht ... ostcount=1

Al

Al,

I have the v120 and the rear block on mine is loose and my miter gauge works great. Never really paid that much attention to it and don't remember having a a problem with it when I installed a couple of years ago. My original miter gauge was bought new with my Mark V in 1984 and I think the bar was upgraded when I went with the 510 upgrade several years later.

Jack

algale · Post by **algale** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:27 am

claimdude wrote:Al,

I have the v120 and the rear block on mine is loose and my miter gauge works great. Never really paid that much attention to it and don't remember having a a problem with it when I installed a couple of years ago. My original miter gauge was bought new with my Mark V in 1984 and I think the bar was upgraded when I went with the 510 upgrade several years later.

Jack

Thanks, Jack. I agree about the little block under the heel of the safety grip. I think the question is whether the larger block attached to the face is suppose to be loose at least until the post from the safety grip is installed and the main issue I am trying to figure out is why that larger block won't sit flush to the face of the gauge on mine.

dickg1 · Post by **dickg1** » Sat Feb 16, 2013 11:13 am

Algale,
I compared my V120 with both Dusty's and your photos. It could be the photo angle on yours but it appears to me that your V120 could be defective. I see a large gap between the scale and the handle base. On mine and in Dusty's photo that gap is about 1/16 - 1/32. Very small. In your photo it appears to be about 1/8. If that is the case it would explain the need for the washers you have had to install. If the rear screw would not fit because the hole on the handle was too far forward and it was aligned by your washer fix the problem could very well stem from the gap between the scale and the base of the handle.
Dick