Machine Height

[JPG]

All this concern re BENCH tube 'twist' is somewhat irrelevant.

It is twist in the way tubes that must be eliminated.

That is adjustable on the lock end.

I said somewhat above since we cannot ignore SPT mount alignment.

Base castings not in a common plane as Dusty mentioned will affect SPT and Aux table alignment.

The bases can be shimmed to achieve SPT/table alignment.

The aux tables are also adjustable.

The power coupler will accommodate reasonable mis-alignment.

It is when attempting to move an aux table between ends that things get 'interesting'.

[dusty]

All this concern re BENCH tube 'twist' is somewhat irrelevant.

It is twist in the way tubes that must be eliminated.

That is adjustable on the lock end.

I said somewhat above since we cannot ignore SPT mount alignment.

Base castings not in a common plane as Dusty mentioned will affect SPT and Aux table alignment.

The bases can be shimmed to achieve SPT/table alignment.

The aux tables are also adjustable.

The power coupler will accommodate reasonable mis-alignment.

It is when attempting to move an aux table between ends that things get 'interesting'.

I agree that twist in the Way Tubes must be eliminated but doing that on an assembly where the Bench Tubes are not properly aligned will, at best, be difficult.

Eliminating the effect of a twist can best be achieved by doing so from the ground up. There is little, if anything, that can be done with the casters and the legs. They are what they are. Therefore, building a new base (the foundation) for this machine might well be the best way to go but when taking that route the end objective must be kept in mind. Keep the tubes in their proper planes throughout the ENTIRE assembly process. The Base Arm and the Headrest need to be in proper orientation "with one another".

Don't get me wrong. You can assemble a fully functional Shopsmith without doing all of this. Just assemble it in accordance with instructions provided. But, if that is the approach, don't expect to ever achieve precision alignment throughout the entire machine. When all done, alignment of the "two" extension tables to the main table will tell you the entire story.

Good luck!