Shopsmith Forums

I am not yet prepared to write a Review but I made some quick checks this morning and the New Toy from Infinity Cutting Tools is going to work out just fine. The setup plate has two advantages over a saw blade or sanding disk. The first and most significant is that the plate is thicker (therefore more rigid) and it has no teeth therefore no interference.

I need to remake a couple of my flavor Table Alignment Tools because of the dimension differences but that will be simple.

These are the tools:

dusty wrote: However, I do disagree with your position on what happens when you drop the Mark down on its wheels and roll it around. That is a myth...

Yes! It is a myth, unless you are re-positioning (or initiated) from a very un-even surface. I've never had such a problem in my shop which has a poured concrete floor.

Loose 'joints' (tubes) can cause that.

When tight, I agree - it ain't gonna happen.

Slip a thin board under one 'foot'. It will rock but not alter shape appreciably.

Thanks for inspiring me to measure the flatness of my Shopsmith sanding disk. Overall it is within .005" of an inch when referenced to any/all sectors of the disk. However, I found two opposing 60 degree sectors that held a tolerance of .001" or better across the full diameter of the disk. I marked these two sectors with a colored marker so I can use them when setting up the table. I encourage those who want to use their disk as a setup tool to do the same.

sehast wrote:Thanks for inspiring me to measure the flatness of my Shopsmith sanding disk. Overall it is within .005" of an inch when referenced to any/all sectors of the disk. However, I found two opposing 60 degree sectors that held a tolerance of .001" or better across the full diameter of the disk. I marked these two sectors with a colored marker so I can use them when setting up the table. I encourage those who want to use their disk as a setup tool to do the same.

It would be interesting to hear details of how you did this. You say the disk is flat within .001" OF WHAT?

dusty wrote:

sehast wrote:Thanks for inspiring me to measure the flatness of my Shopsmith sanding disk. Overall it is within .005" of an inch when referenced to any/all sectors of the disk. However, I found two opposing 60 degree sectors that held a tolerance of .001" or better across the full diameter of the disk. I marked these two sectors with a colored marker so I can use them when setting up the table. I encourage those who want to use their disk as a setup tool to do the same.

It would be interesting to hear details of how you did this. You say the disk is flat within .001" OF WHAT?

Of itself.

I too am awaiting a description of the method.

dusty wrote:

sehast wrote:Thanks for inspiring me to measure the flatness of my Shopsmith sanding disk. Overall it is within .005" of an inch when referenced to any/all sectors of the disk. However, I found two opposing 60 degree sectors that held a tolerance of .001" or better across the full diameter of the disk. I marked these two sectors with a colored marker so I can use them when setting up the table. I encourage those who want to use their disk as a setup tool to do the same.

It would be interesting to hear details of how you did this. You say the disk is flat within .001" OF WHAT?

I opened my bench vice to accommodate the disk arbor and to allow the disk to lay flat on my bench. I then took a straight edge and feeler gauge to measure the flatness across the full diameter of the disk. I did this at every 10 degrees and recorded the measurements(36 measurements). The thickest feeler gauge used for any of these measurements across the full diameter of the disk was .005". When I looked at the measurements I found that there were two opposing 60 degree sectors that were within .001". I re-cofirmed these sectors with a .001" feeler gauge now at 5 degree increments and I could not slide the feeler gauge under the straight edge anywhere along the full diameter in each of these sectors.
When you mount the disk make sure the two opposing good sectors are at the top of the table where you are making the setup measurements and the flatness of the disk should be within .001". Of course any arbor run out would contribute to the .001" tolerance and I have not measured that. I know the drive spindle is within .001" because I did measure that several times in the past.

sehast wrote:

dusty wrote:

sehast wrote:Thanks for inspiring me to measure the flatness of my Shopsmith sanding disk. Overall it is within .005" of an inch when referenced to any/all sectors of the disk. However, I found two opposing 60 degree sectors that held a tolerance of .001" or better across the full diameter of the disk. I marked these two sectors with a colored marker so I can use them when setting up the table. I encourage those who want to use their disk as a setup tool to do the same.

It would be interesting to hear details of how you did this. You say the disk is flat within .001" OF WHAT?

I opened my bench vice to accommodate the disk arbor and to allow the disk to lay flat on my bench. I then took a straight edge and feeler gauge to measure the flatness across the full diameter of the disk. I did this at every 10 degrees and recorded the measurements(36 measurements). The thickest feeler gauge used for any of these measurements across the full diameter of the disk was .005". When I looked at the measurements I found that there were two opposing 60 degree sectors that were within .001". I re-cofirmed these sectors with a .001" feeler gauge now at 5 degree increments and I could not slide the feeler gauge under the straight edge anywhere along the full diameter in each of these sectors.
When you mount the disk make sure the two opposing good sectors are at the top of the table where you are making the setup measurements and the flatness of the disk should be within .001". Of course any arbor run out would contribute to the .001" tolerance and I have not measured that. I know the drive spindle is within .001" because I did measure that several times in the past.

Thank you for taking the time to describe your procedure.

It does sound as though you have a relatively flat sanding disk; relative to the reference surface (the straight edge).

Flat doesn't cut it necessarily when you do radial only measurements. You would need to do across hatch pattern as well. Even doing this will not show if a mounted disk is perpendicular to the main shaft. The perpendicular is the critical element to using a plate for an instrument of alignment.

Ed

reible wrote:Flat doesn't cut it necessarily when you do radial only measurements. You would need to do across hatch pattern as well. Even doing this will not show if a mounted disk is perpendicular to the main shaft. The perpendicular is the critical element to using a plate for an instrument of alignment.

Ed

Maybe true, but we are only concerned with the radial flatness because that is what we are using for the table set up. I am assuming that you will use the full diameter of the disk with its center directly at the top of the table for measurements.