Quick-turn knobs on table support legs?

[chrispitude]

Hi all,

I was playing around with the floating tables this morning during my first cup of coffee. As I was hunting around for the allen wrench to tighten a support leg bracket onto the floating table tube, it occurred to me... why not use studded knobs instead of allen set screws?

The stud on the knobs on the undersides of the floating tables are too small. However, the black-handled knob on the quick-clamp miter assembly works perfectly! These knobs are 514310 and are currently on sale for $1.72. Click here to be taken to the maintenance parts breakdown for the miter gauge.

If I had to guess, I'd say the threading is 5/16-18.

The miter knob is a bit big for this task. What I'd really like is a smaller round knob more like this, although I have no idea if the threading is right, and the threaded stud is much too long for this purpose anyway.

I may have to keep an eye out at the local hardware store for something that would work nicely here! Or, maybe Shopsmith can come out with their official support leg knob. A set screw is fine to keep the bracket on the support leg, since these usually stay together as an assembly. But, a knob would be nice when attaching/removing the leg assembles to the extension tubes!

Time for a second cup of coffee...

- Chris

[friscomike]

Howdy,

Great idea Chris. I agree knobs can be easier to use for frequentl adjustments. Wonder where else we could use them...sounds like we need espresso for that :-).

Happy trails,
mike

[drewa]

Well I made it to my second cup. It is in fact a 1/4-20 threading. I have yet to find anything of ours (SS) that fits. However, I know for a fact that any self respecting hardware store would have them.

By the way, great idea. Kudos!

Be good,

Drew

[chrispitude]

Well I made it to my second cup. It is in fact a 1/4-20 threading. I have yet to find anything of ours (SS) that fits. However, I know for a fact that any self respecting hardware store would have them.

Hi Drew,

Does the miter quick-clamp knob fit for you? Here's how it looked on mine:

[ATTACH]1172[/ATTACH]

Perfect fit, except a round knob might be a bit less obtrusive. I think I will take your advice and have a look around the local hardware emporium and see what I can find!

- Chris

[Ed in Tampa]

Okay now I have a question??????

When I got my 510 upgrade I got two sets of tubes (4). My present setup is one set (2) is used to hold my floating tables and the other set (2) is permanently attached to my adjustable legs. I keep the leg set folded and in corner of my shelf unless I need the adjustable legs.

I also have a 5 foot set of tubes which I'm not real sure I know what to do with. To me they are too long to stay permanently on my SS and if I need to cut something really long, my aux table and leg set gives me more than enough length. I have considered cutting the five tubes down to about a foot longer than the normal tube length.

My question is why not just keep your adjustable legs permanently on the second set of tubes? Then when you need legs all you have do is slip in the tube in the rails and your good to go.

The reason I ask this is not to put you on the spot to justify your usage of the legs but to understand how you utilize the tubes. In other words I'm exploring the way you do things to see if I'm missing something.
Ed

[chrispitude]

Hi Ed,

I have the same set of tubes you do - four shorties and the pair of 5' tubes. Per advice on another thread, I have decided to to keep the floating tables and legs off the Shopsmith unless I need them. Depending what I'm doing, I'll need the tubes configured in various ways. For example, this morning I was contemplating how I'll cut a 96" 1x4 into three 31.75" lengths. Here is the arrangement I came up with:

cutting 8' stock into thirds

I'm using the featherboard on the rip fence on the rightmost floating table as a stop. I wasn't able to get the fence far enough out with the shorty tubes to do this, so I used the five footers. On the left side of the table, the auxiliary table will support the remaining stock when 2/3 is left, and the floating table to the left of the main table happens to be in the right place to support the remaining stock when only 1/3 is left. To trim the final 1/3 to length, I'll move to the right side of the blade. It works out quite nicely.

It was when I was switching from the shorties to the 5' tubes that I decided the knobs would be handy.

In fact, I am contemplating getting a second set of support legs to help with some of these combinations (tubes hanging off auxiliary table, and other tubes hanging off the other side of the main table). I think I will mount some hooks on the ceiling (or high on the wall) to hang the support legs, since when they are at their shortest, they are an easy reach upwards to the ceiling yet don't hang low enough to bonk me on the head.

- Chris

[chiroindixon]

Well I made it to my second cup. It is in fact a 1/4-20 threading. I have yet to find anything of ours (SS) that fits.

Drew...Try another cup...and a thread sizer. None of my knobs marked 1/4-20 fit...Might be 5/16-18.....?

Doc

[ldh]

When you are unable to find that special knob at Shopsmith I have found this company to be a good source...... http://www.jwwinco.com
ldh

[chrispitude]

ldh, that site is great!

Okay guys, that site has free UPS shipping for orders over $15. For orders under $15, there is a $10 charge. So...

If anyone's interested, I can arrange a group buy where I'd buy a bunch of these, then ship them out cheaply to everyone via USPS. If we all establish threading and agree on a part number, I can order a bunch of those. If someone wants something different, I can just add that to the order. Shipping would likely be a buck or two, so you could get out of this with two knobs for around $4 shipped, and four knobs for maybe $7-8 shipped.

Edit: a stud length of precisely 1/2" is what we need.

- Chris

[chrispitude]

Possibilities (assuming 5/16-18):

D1420

- Chris