I attended the Lowe's Mark 7 PowerPro demo today in Elkridge, MD, where I met demonstrator Bill Martin. Bill was terrific and attracted a small crowd. The demo really made me want all the upgrades to take my 520 to the Mark 7 (PowerPro headstock, double tilt upgrade, new casters). Not in the budget at the moment.
One thing I noticed about the lower saw guard Bill was using on his Mark 7 was that it has a front-facing flange that my lower saw guard does not have. Here's the picture Bill let me take.
[ATTACH]23263[/ATTACH]
My circa 2001 lower saw guard definitely does not have the piece outlined in the red box in the above photo. Bill did not know when the change was made or why. I'm sure I only noticed this only because I have been working recently to improve dust collection and I had to build and attach a piece out of angle aluminum to attach my dust deflector as seen in this picture:
[ATTACH]23264[/ATTACH]
Does anyone have a lower saw guard that looks like the one in the first photo?
Al
Attachments
photo(4).JPG (77.59 KiB) Viewed 1919 times
image(15).jpg (72.17 KiB) Viewed 1917 times
Gale's Law: The bigger the woodworking project, the less the mistakes show in any photo taken far enough away to show the entire project!
I believe this change will stop some dust from escaping to the head stock side but still not impede the vast majority of dust ejected straight forward over the opening between the table and the lower saw guard without some additional barrier/deflector.
Gale's Law: The bigger the woodworking project, the less the mistakes show in any photo taken far enough away to show the entire project!
BuckeyeDennis wrote:My 520 has it. Serial number 05-02-05.
Ok, thanks for checking your guard. That would suggest the change took place sometime between my 2001-made 520 and your 2005-made 520.
If you have ever read about the efforts some of have gone through to improve dust collection in table saw mode (here's probably the most comprehensive thread. http://shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=6063), do you think to yourself, yeah, I've got less than great dust collection too? Or do you think, what the heck are they talking about, I get great dust collection? I'm betting that little piece on the front of the lower saw guard isn't making much of a difference all by itself.
Gale's Law: The bigger the woodworking project, the less the mistakes show in any photo taken far enough away to show the entire project!
algale wrote:Ok, thanks for checking your guard. That would suggest the change took place sometime between my 2001-made 520 and your 2005-made 520.
If you have ever read about the efforts some of have gone through to improve dust collection in table saw mode (here's probably the most comprehensive thread. http://shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=6063), do you think to yourself, yeah, I've got less than great dust collection too? Or do you think, what the heck are they talking about, I get great dust collection? I'm betting that little piece on the front of the lower saw guard isn't making much of a difference all by itself.
I've been following the dust-collection thread with great interest. Mine doesn't seem to be any better than anyone else's. I do think that the deflector approach should be a big help, but haven't had time to experiment.
So for now, my workaround is a two-vac system. A big one, with a dust deputy and a HEPA filter, is hooked to the dust collection port. It does a good job of keeping the fine dust out of the air, and it also Hoovers up most of the coarse stuff. The little one hangs out on the front side of the machine, with my Mom's old Kirby brush attachment mounted to the wand. That one is real handy to clean up the the stuff that always escapes out the front, after I'm done with the cutting.
Not ideal, but a whale of a lot better than no dust collection at all.
algale wrote:Ok, thanks for checking your guard. That would suggest the change took place sometime between my 2001-made 520 and your 2005-made 520.
This may help narrow the saw guard change by a couple of years.
[ATTACH]23275[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]23276[/ATTACH]
Attachments
IMG_0687 (800x592).jpg (372.4 KiB) Viewed 1802 times
IMG_0689 (800x598).jpg (382.34 KiB) Viewed 1801 times
Glenn
I create problem solving challenges and opportunities for design modification, not mistakes.
SS 520 born 04/16/03, Power Station mounted Band saw , Scroll saw, Jointer, Belt sander, Overarm router, dedicated Mark V drill press, SS Maxi-clamp system, Shopsmith woodworking bench
