New Owner: Seeking 500 vs 510 opinions

jcraigie · Post by **jcraigie** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 7:41 pm

Francis you can now add poet to your Resume'. It brought a tear to my eye:rolleyes:

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:46 pm

jcraigie wrote:Francis you can now add poet to your Resume'. It brought a tear to my eye:rolleyes:

And none of it rhymed!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:49 pm

reible wrote: . . . They changed tubing styles I think 3 times. . . .

Ed

3? They changed the tube id and the screw/bolt mounting at the same time. The thumbscrews also changed then.

You know of a third version????

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:53 pm

You are more then likely correct, I was reading the posts but you participated in the process by posting as I recall. It seemed to me it was more then 2 maybe because of the bosses that were milled different??? or Changes of tube wall thickness?? or the mounting method, or the thumbscrew update... see I'm still confused.

Thinking about this subject did bring up the "mis-drilled" trunnions on the 510's. That one I got up close and personal with, mine was one of the ones with the small hole.

Ed

JPG40504 wrote:3? They changed the tube id and the screw/bolt mounting at the same time. The thumbscrews also changed then.

You know of a third version????

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:03 am

reible wrote:You are more then likely correct, I was reading the posts but you participated in the process by posting as I recall. It seemed to me it was more then 2 maybe because of the bosses that were milled different??? or Changes of tube wall thickness?? or the mounting method, or the thumbscrew update... see I'm still confused.

Thinking about this subject did bring up the "mis-drilled" trunnions on the 510's. That one I got up close and personal with, mine was one of the ones with the small hole.

Ed

As I unnerstan it, ALL those changes occurred at the same time.

wiredone · Post by **wiredone** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:29 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:I too would skip the 510 and go to the 520.
The 520 is so superior I can't tell you how great it is.

I am ready to upgrade my tablesaw to either 510 or 520 and want to know what makes it so much better.
Thanks in advance!

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:03 pm

I would do one of two things stay with the 500 or go to the 520.
To me the 510 is a major disapppointment.

The advantage of the 510/520 is floating tables. They are connected with fence rails and connector tubes.

On the 510 the connector tube is fastened on the fence tube and to main table fence tube with knurled nuts that come in from the side. Since they are from the side and since the tube is round they can be tigthen in a high or low position. This makes having tables on the same plane nearly impossible or at least a big pain in the butt.

On the 520 the wing nut to tighten the tube into the fence rail comes up from the bottom and pushes the connector tube against the top of the fence rail. No exception! So if you make the distance from the top of the fence rail to the top of the table on every table every table will be at the same height on when connected together. THis adjustment is done once and the alignment of the tables is rrom then on set and perfect everytime.

I would not own a 510!

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:03 pm

I would do one of two things stay with the 500 or go to the 520.
To me the 510 is a major disapppointment.

The advantage of the 510/520 is floating tables. They are connected with fence rails and connector tubes.

On the 510 the connector tube is fastened on the fence tube and to main table fence tube with knurled nuts that come in from the side. Since they are from the side and since the tube is round they can be tigthen in a high or low position. This makes having tables on the same plane nearly impossible or at least a big pain in the butt.

On the 520 the wing nut to tighten the tube into the fence rail comes up from the bottom and pushes the connector tube against the top of the fence rail. No exception! So if you make the distance from the top of the fence rail to the top of the table on every table every table will be at the same height on when connected together. THis adjustment is done once and the alignment of the tables is rrom then on set and perfect everytime.

I would not own a 510!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:59 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:I would do one of two things stay with the 500 or go to the 520.
To me the 510 is a major disapppointment.

The advantage of the 510/520 is floating tables. They are connected with fence rails and connector tubes.

On the 510 the connector tube is fastened on the fence tube and to main table fence tube with knurled nuts that come in from the side. Since they are from the side and since the tube is round they can be tigthen in a high or low position. This makes having tables on the same plane nearly impossible or at least a big pain in the butt.

On the 520 the wing nut to tighten the tube into the fence rail comes up from the bottom and pushes the connector tube against the top of the fence rail. No exception! So if you make the distance from the top of the fence rail to the top of the table on every table every table will be at the same height on when connected together. THis adjustment is done once and the alignment of the tables is rrom then on set and perfect everytime.

I would not own a 510!

We heard ya the first time!;)

moggymatt · Post by **moggymatt** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:28 pm

Dave,
I'm in the same situation as you. I've only had mt 500 for about a year now. So far I've picked up a second table and built a homemade carriage for it. It's given me plenty of extra support for the $20.00 I paid for it. I recently bought from Shopsmith the upper and lower saw guards for the 500. My advise would be to be patient and buy them aftermarket. New, they dont seem to be worth the cost and still need a lot of work to get the lower to actually collect the saw dust and alignment for the top guard took me three attempts. I was in-patient waiting for a winnig bid online and as soon as the guards were delivered tons showed up. While waiting I had adapted an upper guard from my 10" benchtop Skil table saw and made an acrilic lower guard that worked well but was finicky. With that, I've done more woodworking in the last year on the 500 than in the last 5 with the benchtop tools I have. I've been working on my skills building all the jigs and in/out feed supports it seems you need once you get going. Like some of the others, I'll upgrade at some point to the newer model but because I want to, not because I have to.