Shopsmith Forums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHJDwbnIU4 please look af Doug Reid explain what the purpose and the adjustment

While we're at it, has anyone measured their arbors to be sure they are all equal? I do not mean Mark V vs the 520 arbors, I mean apples to apples... I assume they are, but are they?

jackson wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHJDwbnIU4 please look af Doug Reid explain what the purpose and the adjustment

I watched it and there are some very valuable tips; however, the table insert that was on Doug's table has a much wider opening than mine. My blade would come up in that opening but 'would it be centered'? Doug did not talk about that.

DoN't the TV and YouTube woodworkers tell us to plan and that all similar cuts should be made before moving the blade or fence? Trying to repeat the set up could be just as imprecise as using a circular saw.

robinson46176 wrote:I took a few pictures of the carriage to headstock control rod on my old Mark VII Shopsmith. You can easily see how simple the basic concept is as well as how effective it is. You can loosen the both the headstock to way tube lock and the carriage to way tube lock and slide them from one end or the other or anywhere between and clamp them back down and they will be in the same relationship with each other. An example of that would be to mount a SPT like a bandsaw etc. without losing your setup. I have not dug out my Mark VII manual to see if it tells you which of the three notches are intended for what purpose. I'll try to remember to look for that.

Shopsmith Mark VII Carriage lock rod 1 rz.jpg

Shopsmith Mark VII carriage lock rod adjustment 2 rz.jpg

Shopsmith Mark VII carriage lock rod in first notch-red lock-release button at left 3 rz.jpg

Shopsmith Mark VII carriage lock rod in second notch 4 rz.jpg

Shopsmith Mark VII carriage lock rod in 3rd notch 5 rz.jpg

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Getting a load of that yardstick? A two-digit phone number must place it in the 1950s. I grew up in a place that did not get seven-digit phone numbers until 1962...the poster must take really good care of his toys!

jackson wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHJDwbnIU4 please look af Doug Reid explain what the purpose and the adjustment

Yes, Doug said that the rubber spacer was critical in that it causes the blade to come up "in the center" of the insert cutout. He demonstrated that but really he shows that the blade comes up "within" the cut out.

The center, to me, means equal distance from both sides of the cut out. He did not say that.

Being in the center has a more restrictive meaning to me because I use ZCI almost exclusively (dadoes and table tilted excluded).

dusty wrote:

jackson wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHJDwbnIU4 please look af Doug Reid explain what the purpose and the adjustment

Yes, Doug said that the rubber spacer was critical in that it causes the blade to come up "in the center" of the insert cutout. He demonstrated that but really he shows that the blade comes up "within" the cut out.

The center, to me, means equal distance from both sides of the cut out. He did not say that.

Being in the center has a more restrictive meaning to me because I use ZCI almost exclusively (dadoes and table tilted excluded).

Which was and is not the intent of the 'designers'.

Thee has 'special' needs.

Ohgary wrote: Getting a load of that yardstick? A two-digit phone number must place it in the 1950s. I grew up in a place that did not get seven-digit phone numbers until 1962...the poster must take really good care of his toys!

That is a good guess on the year, it was from 1949 or 1950. It was from a Ferguson Farm tractor dealer named Paul Kaster from Fairland IN about 6 miles from me. He and my father were friends and my father bought a new Ferguson TO-20 tractor from him in 1949. Besides farming in 1950 my father was selling steel farm buildings, mostly grain bins, corn cribs and silos. Paul and my father shared a display lot / tent at the local county fair in 1950.
BTW, at that time my father found himself rather suddenly in need of a farm. That was why he was selling the farm buildings (Martin Steel, Mansfield Ohio). During that year he sold enough new buildings that the commission checks made the down payment on the new farm (where I live now).


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JPG wrote:

dusty wrote:

jackson wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvHJDwbnIU4 please look af Doug Reid explain what the purpose and the adjustment

Yes, Doug said that the rubber spacer was critical in that it causes the blade to come up "in the center" of the insert cutout. He demonstrated that but really he shows that the blade comes up "within" the cut out.

The center, to me, means equal distance from both sides of the cut out. He did not say that.

Being in the center has a more restrictive meaning to me because I use ZCI almost exclusively (dadoes and table tilted excluded).

Which was and is not the intent of the 'designers'.

Thee has 'special' needs.

I don't know how you "know" what the designer's intentions were. The documents that have been written on this subject (though few) state that the blade should be in the center of the insert cutout. Center is center. Offset some in either direction is not "center".

As to special needs. I have none regarding this topic. I have resolved all of my issues by careful alignment. I use ZCI almost exclusively and they work fine for me. I do screw one up from time to time but that is not a design issue.

I carried this question to Shopsmith and have gotten a response. I believe they took the easy way out but none-the-less they have provided an answer. I do not know whether this is from Customer Service or Engineering but either way it is Shopsmith answer to my question. I will accept it as closure even though I will align for a more definitive result. The response from Shopsmith is as follows:

Good Morning,
The purpose of the carriage stop ring is to two fold. It provides
protection between the carriage and headstock so they will not bang
into each other and provide spacing for different applications
attached to the main spindle.
On the newer models, when you have the carriage up against the stop
ring, the saw blade will be left to center. It will not be in the
exact center of the insert. I can not answer the 'why' to this change,
it was an engineering decision.
Customer Service

Note that the response speaks to "newer models". I don't know what that means. All I do know is that if I use a new stop ring and align the table per the manual I get different results. Solution: I align to my own standards. End of discussion as far as I am concerned. I have nothing more to add.

I guess I just go back too far.

The Mark 5 was not 'designed' with a ZCI any where near the horizon.

Nor do I think 'exact' centering was.

Hence my 'intent' comment.


I agree that was a nebulous answer.(No explanation of why it was placed 'left of center' by the longer spacer).

Makes me think one more example of short sighted alterations.

I am also curious of what other operations make use of the spacer.

The anti 'clang' answer was IMO specious.

It was 'signed' by CS hence I think the source of the nebulousness.