Adjustable leg height for Mark V

[jmoore65]

I was thinking about a project I am working on - thinking about a series of cuts I was going to make. I realized I was visualizing myself using the table saw to make the cuts.

Then, I thought about my Mark V sitting under it's cover right next to the table saw.

I wondered why didn't I think about using the Mark V for these cuts?

The answer that came to mind was the table saw is a more comfortable height for such tasks than the Mark V (at least for me). I feel more in control and safer at the table saw height.

Q #1) Does anyone else feel/felt this way? If so, were you able to do something to get more comfortable using the Mark V in table saw mode?

Q #2) Would adjustable height legs be useful here? In fact - they should be designed to go lower and higher (e.g. useful for lathe mode) than the current leg height. I'm thinking about a crank powered lift box with a measuring tape height gauge. The new leg box should support the ShopSmith style casters too.

Jim

[dasgud]

Q #1) Does anyone else feel/felt this way? If so, were you able to do something to get more comfortable using the Mark V in table saw mode?

Q #2) Would adjustable height legs be useful here? In fact - they should be designed to go lower and higher (e.g. useful for lathe mode) than the current leg height. I'm thinking about a crank powered lift box with a measuring tape height gauge. The new leg box should support the ShopSmith style casters too.

Jim

oooh! these sound like questions for an engineer. Or a team of engineers might even be better.

When my Mark V was 500 configured I never liked the table saw. I still ripped 4 x 8 plywood with help, but the table was too small. That caused a balance problem for me. About the height, I'm 5'11" and the table felt slightly high to me. When I started working with a Unisaw, the height difference was so noticeable that I didn't use the table saw function anymore.
Recently I upgraded to 510 and the cutting stability is so much better that the height isn't a problem for me anymore. The whole cutting operation is perfectly comfortable for me, and I have far more control through the whole operation. That is how I got more comfortable.

If you really wanted to tackle adjusting the height of the headstock, I think removing the metal legs and replacing with boxes might be an approach. Then make rack and pinion ladders, attached to the boxes, to raise the unit. Only the system that holds the way bars and bench tubes needs to adjust. I think I would replace the 4 casters with 2 wheels on one end and a handle on the other to tip and make the wheels contact the floor (something like that). I never enjoy hearing the legs slam down when I retract the casters.

I've spent far too many years thinking about how I could adjust the headstock height hahaha. I think any solution would need to be elaborate because balance, vibration, and equal up and down motion would be critical.

I like the question a lot. Maybe soon I'll try something in sketchup. that might be fun.

[dusty]

Jim, you are not alone. I am only 5' 8" and the table used to feel too high for me. I have gotten use to it but whenever I get a chance to use a lower table saw, I realize that there is a big difference.

Lowering it by using shorter legs or lower platforms in lieu of the legs would definitely work -- until you set up to do lathe work. Set up is not the problem, it is using it at what would be its new height is the problem. Turners want the lathe higher. Even higher than the Shopsmith is without lowering the pedestals.

I think that I will be better able to comment on this shortly after Christmas. I have plans to locate a Mark V on lower legs (platforms) and I will comment then. Lathe operation will not be included in my analysis but the other functions will.

[cwakelee]

I have alway felt this way when sawing any thing bigger then 2 feet long. I am asking for money for Xmas and will buy a saw from craigslist.

[robinson46176]

Don't lower the saw... Raise the floor...
45 years ago I was using a huge old die press (ancient beast, no safety features and a deadly clutch that would occasionally drop to the engaged position by itself). We had a couple of different platforms that we used in front of it to stand on depending on the height of the operator. There was a place near a wall where any unused platform was leaned out of the way. Quick jobs were done using what ever platform was there or none depending on who used it last. On jobs where you were going to be working there for a while you chose the setup that fit you best. I didn't need any platform but often used the low one just to stay off of that hard concrete floor. The taller platform was made for one particular short co-worker.

[a1gutterman]

Don't lower the saw... Raise the floor...
45 years ago I was using a huge old die press (ancient beast, no safety features and a deadly clutch that would occasionally drop to the engaged position by itself). We had a couple of different platforms that we used in front of it to stand on depending on the height of the operator. There was a place near a wall where any unused platform was leaned out of the way. Quick jobs were done using what ever platform was there or none depending on who used it last. On jobs where you were going to be working there for a while you chose the setup that fit you best. I didn't need any platform but often used the low one just to stay off of that hard concrete floor. The taller platform was made for one particular short co-worker.

This is a darn good idea as far as it goes. My mom is only 4'10" and even standing at her kitchen sink was a problem so my dad made her a platform that raised her off the floor about 2 1/4". It spanned the floor for the whole length of the counter on that side of the kitchen and was covered in the same vinyl flooring that was on the floor. It was useful and attractive.

The last part of my comment (..."as far as it goes".) is directed at the lathe height. Although you can "raise the floor" to accommodate table saw functions, you must "lower the floor" (raise the Mark V) to accommodate the lathe function.

[moggymatt]

I didn't like the height with anything bigger than 1/2 sheet so I started out by taking a couple of pallets that had no spaces between the boards and putting them on the floor, two layers made it more comfortable.

[robinson46176]

The last part of my comment (..."as far as it goes".) is directed at the lathe height. Although you can "raise the floor" to accommodate table saw functions, you must "lower the floor" (raise the Mark V) to accommodate the lathe function.

Jackhammer...
An American made one of course.

[basaltboy]

I, too, have found the table saw to be too high for my tastes. 6-8" higher than the Craftsman saw I was using. I bough a pair of legs off Ebay and cut them down (6") and am much happier with the height except for lathe work. The casters still attach to the short legs and I have taken to simply lifting each end and setting the it on a 4x4 when I intend to spend a long time at the lathe. I am toying with a design for easily adjustable height legs but still haven't got it figured yet.
--pat

[charlese]

I never knew any better. It had been more than 30 years since I sawed a board using a table saw - then I got a shopsmith.

Never had an issue using the SS table saw because of my height (or lack of it). Used to be 5'8", but these days more like 5'6".

I can remember when I read an article about a guy that took a board in his groin area from kickback and wondered how he did that. As a beginner on the table saw, I had received a block of wood in my chest and thought that might have been the better of the two choices. Then it dawned on me that most table saws are a lot lower than the Mark V.

Ive often wondered why there is a problem with the height of the Mark V table, especially for taller guys.