All this thinking made me want to make some sawdust, so I got to work on the one part of the extension tables that wasn't likely to change much -- the tubes. I had a piece of wooden closet hanger-rod scrap, so I tried sanding it down a bit (lathe mode on 500) to fit the casting ID. Went a bit too far and putting sawdust back on is tougher, so I'll have to take another crack at that. Maybe that'll warrant a HF digital caliper:D.
Work beckons -- more later.
-w4f
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who has to put sawdust back on!! I've been in that position so many times I've almost perfected it.
wood4fun wrote:
The square tubing's interesting, or even the Closetmaid shelf standards -- I just put some of them up -- they're rigid and could be used somehow on the tabletop underside for strengthening around the edges (pictureframe would keep them away from the blade).
Sorry, should have been more clear - I meant to reinforce the table top and give it rigidity, so you could make it lighter and yet not have to worry about the cantilevering causing it to flex.
Perhaps this is a thread hi-jack if you will, but what about changing the table top for one from another table saw, but keeping it on the rest of the shopsmith mechanics. It seems like one of the disadvantages of the shopsmith has been the non-standard size of the t-tracks in the table surface, and switching to a table top from another more-standard saw could resolve that.
No, I have not tried that; mainly because I am not all that bothered by the configuration of the existing main table. The non standard miter tracks are not an issue unless you have other "standard" miter bars you want to use. Being a Shopsmith Die Hard I don't.
However, I do not believe that would be as simple a task as you make it sound. There was some engineering that went into this machine we all use and one becomes rudely aware of that when one tries to make major changes.
I believe it would be easier, all be it not cheaper, to start with a blank piece of metal and convert it to a main table.
But please, don't let me be a wet blanket. Go for it.
"Making Sawdust Safely" Dusty
Sent from my Dell XPS using Firefox.
I never regretted up-grading my '83 model 500 to 510. (since then to 520) This put me in a whole new world of performance.
I know some of you guys have separate table saws, and that's OK. In my opinion, one would have to go to a cabinet saw in order to gain significant performance gains over the Shopsmith 510/520. The Shopsmith is certainly superior to a contractor's saw, and at least on par with the newer Hybrid saws.
When I built my "Workshop in the Woods", I briefly thought about a cabinet saw. But since I still lacked Bob Villa's 1000 sq. ft. minimum, the saw would have to be on a mobile base. Frankly, I'm in my seventh decade, and not about to start shoving 500 lb machines around. Therefore I opted for a second 520.
Rather than extension tables, I have two heavy duty roller stands. (Rockler) This works well. With a helper I can easily cut 4'x8' sheets up to 3/4" thickness.
