Will Mark V 500 Rip Fence fit a Model 10ER

wesimmonds · Post by **wesimmonds** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 12:24 am

I'm new to this forum. There has been a used Shopsmith 10ER in my family since 1965 and I have been its only user. The time has come to get another rip fence, and I want to get a better fence than the original fence if possible. Can anybody tell me if the Mark V 500 rip fence will fit and work properly on the Model 10ER table? Any help would be much appreciated.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 10:35 am

wesimmonds wrote:I'm new to this forum. There has been a used Shopsmith 10ER in my family since 1965 and I have been its only user. The time has come to get another rip fence, and I want to get a better fence than the original fence if possible. Can anybody tell me if the Mark V 500 rip fence will fit and work properly on the Model 10ER table? Any help would be much appreciated.

No, the 500 fence will not fit the 10ER and work properly. FYI, there were a number of versions of the fence for the 10E/10ER. The variations relate to the rear fence lock (or lack thereof) and the front locking arrangement (angle, wedge, etc.). What issues are you having with the fence?

wiredone · Post by **wiredone** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 12:24 pm

What he said!
And besides I have never been thrilled with the mark 5 rip fence any way, that goofy rear finger on mine is kinda wonky and hard to keep adjusted to where it works consistently.
I like the last of the ER ones better!
What's up with yours?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:22 pm

wiredone wrote:What he said!
And besides I have never been thrilled with the mark 5 rip fence any way, that goofy rear finger on mine is kinda wonky and hard to keep adjusted to where it works consistently.
I like the last of the ER ones better!
What's up with yours?

What's to 'adjust' on a Mark 5 fence?

510 yes

520 Do not know.

'Upgraded 500(truncated 510) fence, yes.

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 8:27 pm

wesimmonds wrote:I'm new to this forum. There has been a used Shopsmith 10ER in my family since 1965 and I have been its only user. The time has come to get another rip fence, and I want to get a better fence than the original fence if possible. Can anybody tell me if the Mark V 500 rip fence will fit and work properly on the Model 10ER table? Any help would be much appreciated.

I saw on the yahoo 10ER group someone posted information about a rip fence upgrade using aluminum extrusions, similar to the 8020 stuff. Looked pretty solid, and reused most of the fence parts except for...well...the fence itself

wesimmonds · Post by **wesimmonds** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 11:32 pm

I'm not having any issues with my current fence. My plan was to buy an additional fence to set up parallel to my first fence when ripping long boards. The saw blade would stick up between the two fences. My intention is for the second fence to act as an additional guide and constraint. I am not the most steady person for keeping long boards pressed firmly against one fence to achieve a nice smooth cut. It seemed to me that if I had two fences, which were set parallel and barely touching the long boards on both sides of the board, then the board would have nowhere else to go but in a dead straight line and always produce a nice smooth cut. I know I'm admitting to a novice level of woodworking skill by saying that, but "I am what I am" (a novice) and would still like to have an extra fence for that purpose.

My current ER fence has locks at both ends and they work fine. The front locking bolt sticks straight out; not downward at an angle. I read on the MKCtools web site that the "angled" front locking bolt sometimes causes the fence to "walk" out of position when turning the angled knob to tighten it. I don't have the "walking" problem because my locking bolt presses exactly perpendicular to the table's slide rail. MKCtools says that Shopsmith later installed the wedge to fix the "walking" problem. When I look at ads for "used" 10ER fences, I can't tell from the photos of "angled" locking fences whether the fence has the "wedge fix" installed or not. So in order to make sure I end up with a fence that works properly, I have ruled out the "angled lock" fences. I have also ruled out the Model E fences that don't have any lock at the far end, which can sometimes result in undesirable flexing.

When I asked you all if a Mark V fence would fit the 10ER, I was naively assuming that it would work better or have more features simply because it was a newer model. The comments about "...that goofy rear finger..." and the other comments about adjustment problems in Mark V fences gave me a strong feeling that I would probably not want a Mark V fence even if it could fit my 10ER (which your comments made clear that the Mark V fence definitely will not fit). It might be that the fence I have right now is the best style of fence for the 10ER and I just didn't know it.

My revised plan now, after all of your helpful posts, is to buy another 10ER fence exactly like the one I have now (with the front locking screw sticking straight out perpendicular to the table's slide rail) unless anybody knows of a better fence that fits properly. If anybody knows of a better fence for the 10ER, please comment further.

I want to thank all of you very much for all of your helpful posts. And please forgive me for one of my other weaknesses... being longwinded.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 11:48 pm

wesimmonds wrote: My plan was to buy an additional fence to set up parallel to my first fence when ripping long boards. The saw blade would stick up between the two fences.

Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

reible · Post by **reible** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 11:52 pm

Hi,

I've never tried to set up two fences but from what I do know this may well cause a dangerous situation. My though is that you will at some point get a major kickback, something that you really need to avoid.

I think this posting from some years back might be worth well looking at:

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=2717

It gives some ideas on how to use feather boards, and I think this might be a better way to go. If you have questions either ask them here or on that thread and I will attempt to answer them.

Ed

ray1942 · Post by **ray1942** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:22 am

Use feather boards only and never locate them much past the leading edge of the blade. Otherwise you are asking for a kickback to happen.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:28 am

ray1942 wrote:Use feather boards only and never locate them much past the leading edge of the blade. Otherwise you are asking for a kickback to happen.

This brings up a good alternative. Get the second fence, but attach a small offset to it in front of the blade. that way the second fence helps guide the workpiece into the blade, but clears the workpiece from the front of the blade to the back of the table.

Truth be told, a short board clamped to the table would probably work as well.