Shopsmith Forums

Thanks for all the feedback, guys!

It appears that the reason for the 1/4” arbor length difference may remain a mystery. I thought that Dusty might be on to something when he mentioned the conical sanding disc. But the arbors on mine are quite a bit longer yet, so it wasn’t just a one-arbor-fits-all thing.

I pretty much always use the sanding disc in the guard and insert slot. Unlike when sawing, the dust-collection is very good. And my wife would probably banish me from the house if I disc-sanded in my basement workshop without good dust collection.

I started trying to understand the length discrepancy because I recently started using using a ZCI routinely when sawing, and those take some extra time to get aligned just right. So if I’m going from sawing to sanding and then back to sawing, that last changeover takes longer than it needs to. It’s not a big deal, but it’s still a bit annoying.

Now that I know, I’ll probably just start spacing the quill out 1/4” when I set up for sawing. My bump stop isn’t repeatable enough to guarantee ZCI alignment anyway, so I always fine tune with the quill.

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 7:13 pm Thanks for all the feedback, guys!

It appears that the reason for the 1/4” arbor length difference may remain a mystery. I thought that Dusty might be on to something when he mentioned the conical sanding disc. But the arbors on mine are quite a bit longer yet, so it wasn’t just a one-arbor-fits-all thing.

I pretty much always use the sanding disc in the guard and insert slot. Unlike when sawing, the dust-collection is very good. And my wife would probably banish me from the house if I disc-sanded in my basement workshop without good dust collection.

I started trying to understand the length discrepancy because I recently started using using a ZCI routinely when sawing, and those take some extra time to get aligned just right. So if I’m going from sawing to sanding and then back to sawing, that last changeover takes longer than it needs to. It’s not a big deal, but it’s still a bit annoying.

Now that I know, I’ll probably just start spacing the quill out 1/4” when I set up for sawing. My bump stop isn’t repeatable enough to guarantee ZCI alignment anyway, so I always fine tune with the quill.

Whenever I install a ZCI after a setup change, I remove the insert, setup the carriage and headstock, drop the ZCI down over the blade and secure the insert. If the insert doesn't align with the cutout, tweak and or secure locks.

With the introduction of the Mark V 510 and 505 with the larger table system came their Blade Guard system. It's design requires longer arbors than the Mark 5/V's with the original table system which became the 500. That Lower Blade Guard was made to be useable with the 12" Sanding Disk. Something previous Lower Saw Blade Guards were not designed to do. The online catalog listing for the Model 500 Disc Sander Dust Chute which is a stripped down version of the Model 510/505 lower guard says "Attaches to earlier Model 500 MARK V’s to help you gain control over one of woodworking’s messiest operations – Disc Sanding." I believe it was that thought the engineers had in designing the Mark V 510/505 Saw Guard system but I do not know why the design required the deeper throat of the lower guard thereby needing longer arbors.