Jessem Mite-R-Excel

mike529 · Post by **mike529** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:22 pm

I just bought a Mite-R-Excel today as my miter gauge has seen a lot of use and a new state-of-the-art miter gauge seemed like a good idea. Well, the bar on the Mite-R-Excel is about 1/64 of an inch wider than the Shopsmith's miter gauge channels and won't fit.

Before I reluctantly return the Mite-R-Excel, I thought I'd poll other Shopsmith owners or employees to see if anyone else had run into this issue and somehow overcome it.

Thanks for your input,

Mike......

bkhop · Post by **bkhop** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:51 pm

..............

dosmandan · Post by **dosmandan** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:40 pm

I ran into the same problem with an INCRA miter and called them. They had a special bar for the SS and sent it to me for about $15.

Just a thought

mike529 · Post by **mike529** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:21 pm

I am hoping for an answer from Jessem about a replacement bar that will fit the Shopsmith table ala Incra. If that doesn't work, I will probably try your suggestion to adapt a SS bar to the Jessem gauge.

Any ideas about how to grind down the Jessem bar? I only need a 64th of an inch for it to fit but I am only a woodworker and not a metal worker...:-)

And thanks for the speedy feedback.

Mike

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:51 pm

Obviously, the best way would be to purchase (from what ever source) a miter bar that fits the Shopsmith miter track.

There are very few suppliers out there that do what Incra does (offer a miter bar that fits their product and the Shopsmith).

I believe your best bet would be to find a machine shop that will mill that for you. If I was going to do that again, I would take my table to the machine shop along with the miter bar and have the bar "milled to fit". That is to say -NO SLOP and NO BINDING.

My Shopsmith miter bars all have about .006" of play in the miter track. All of the miter tracks are close to the same. The miter bar that I had milled has about .002" of play but it does bind a bit in one or two of the tracks.

Yes. I am the one who says 1/64" is close enough for all wood working done on a table saw. I also don't use my dial gauge to do table saw alignments.

But if you are going to pay a machinist, you might as well get your monies worth. If your going to hog it out with a file, go for it. You can always buy a new miter bar.

You know - there has just got to be a machine shop (machinist) out there some where who would like to get into this racket.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:50 pm

I wonder...would the conical disk sander do this job?

mtobey · Post by **mtobey** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:16 pm

Belt Sander does it. This issue is my only real gripe about Shopsmith.mt

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:14 pm

I have seen several threads on this elsewhere and Wood Magazine even had an article in October 2007 covering this issue. They recommend putting a strip of sand paper on a flat surface and moving the bar back and forth applying even pressure. They even cover what to do when you remove too much.

mtobey · Post by **mtobey** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:02 am

I would point out that one of the benefits of the Jessem, Incra and other aftermarket miter assemblies is precise relationship of rotating gauge portion to slider bar. For that reason, unless one has a very accurate drilling and tapping and alignment set-up, in my opinion only. it would be more likely successful using the factory bar and carefully fitting it.

The exception is Incra, and luckily, before becoming a SS devotee, my precision mitering has been by them. I ,however, have belt sanded Incra's accessory sliders with success. I am using 150 grit belt- slow, but very controllable.mt

mike529 · Post by **mike529** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:00 pm

Today I got a response from Jessem. Their tech support folks are going to give the problem some thought. I mentioned to them the step that INCRA took to come out with a SS-specific bar. They are going to get back to me. I'll pass along what they say.

Failing a positive outcome from Jessem, I'm going with Dusty's recommendation and take the SS table and the Jessem bar to a machine shop and let the experts make them fit.

Great follow up guys. Thanks. I'll follow up with Jessem's reply.

Mike

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