Shopsmith Forums

So yesterday I am in the process of building a new router table from plans I bought on Plansnow.com. My new to me Grizzly bandsaw is giving me fits because the blade guides need to be replaced with something better engineered than the OEM guides. So I decide to mount my bandsaw on the Mark V. This bandsaw came on a Power Stand but due to space constraints I removed it from the power stand so that i could store that out of the way and gain some much needed floor space. So I grab the bandsaw and put it into the end mount on the Shopsmith. I initially tried to install it on the other end as i had the jointer mounted on the left of the Mark V. But I then realized this would not work with my Mark V because i cannot reverse the direction of the motor. DUH! I could have broken out my Mark VII bt that would have taken some serious moving about of equiment and i didn't want to mess around moving stuff.

So I remove the jointer and mount the bandsaw. I now realize that the bandsaw will not align to the power take off of the headstock. So now I have to remove the only set of offset tubes i own which are on the jointer which was perfectly setup......DAMN! So I go ahead and do that as i needed to use the bandsaw. What an incredible pain in the backside it is to use the offset mounting tubes with the bandsaw. These are short tubes and I don't know if they make a longer set or not but they did work but only after some serious knuckle busting and sweating. Now I have the bandsaw aligned to the power takeoff.....that wasn't easy either! So now I have to align the bandsaw vertically to the power takeoff. Another round of swearing and sweating and it is all mounted up and ready to make a ct that took me about 3 minutes to complete.

This is one of the main reasons I am not a huge fan of the Shopsmith anymore. Don't get me wrong it is an awesome machine if you have tons of extra accessories at hand so that you can set stuff up once and keep it that way. But if like me you need to use a certain setup and you don't have that already setup and adjusted it takes a long time to futz with everything to get it right to do what you want to do. With the bandsaw and the jointer getting the vertical alignment right is a matter of brute strength to raise the SPT up to the proper height and then hold it there so that you can use your extra hand to tighten the end casting handle to hold the SPT in place. I would think that using some of the stop collars adjusted to the right height would be a better way to go but i don't have the mounting tube length to be able to use that functionality. What am I missing here???

Also why would Shopsmith be so precise with almost everything engineering wise but not make sure that when the bandsaw and jointer are inserted into the end mounts that the drive hubs would line up perfectly with the power takeoffs on the headstock??? Sorry for the rant but it had me in a fit of anger yesterday while trying to finish up a certain step of my current project and it was frustrating the begeezus out of me to say the least.

Here is a pic of the router table I am building. I really like the design and it is coming out really nice. I am taking my time with it and getting everything perfect while building it. I know some of you would probably be able to build something like this much faster than i am building it but being still fairly new to all of this I need to take my time and double check everything. What I am learning is that really good measuring tools that are accurate and double checking your marks after making them is paying huge dividends which in the past has always caused me issues. So there is some positives to my current project Shopsmith frustrations aside of course.

Mike;
Keep working slow and checking things. The payoff in the final results will be well worth the time spent.
All of my SPT's go on and off ok.
The mounting tubes should all have a small offset in them all of mine do. The first step is to mount the SPT in the casting and then align the tool from front to back by turning the posts. Then tighten the lock handle and align the tool for proper height . If, when you raise the tool to achieve the proper height, one of the tubes pulls up out of the casting then you will have to adjust the bolts in the lock handle to grab both of the mounting tubes equally. I use the jointer, belt sander and strip sander and don't have any alignment problems.
If you align the bandsaw to the Mark 5 and then put it back on it's own stand align to the MK 5 first and then align the accessory stand to match the MK 5 setup.
I believe that then you will have full interchangeability.
Bill V

Just to keep the record straight, it does not seem like you are frustrated with the bandsaw. It seems like you are really frustrated only with the fact that your Mark V and an assortment of SPT are not readily interchangeable without having to realign to the power hub(s).

OKAY. I can certainly understand that but for the cost of an eccentric or two you can solve that problem permanently. The tradeoff is frugal or convenient. I chose convenient and bought two extra eccentrics. Now, since I am on fixed income, that might not be my choice. I am just thankful that I completed my setup while I was still working full time.

May I suggest that you give serious consideration to some setup blocks. You can make these from your cutoffs box. You would need a block to set the height of your jointer and another for the bandsaw. Another approach might be a wedge.

I am no longer able to heist these SPT around like I once did (especially the jointer) so I have done what I suggest here. It is a lot easier and much less frustrating.

Your router table looks as though it will be a great addition to your shop.

Thanks Wa2crk. I knew there was a better way to adjust and set the SPT then how I was doing it. The thing is to have multiple sets of the offset tubes I guess. Still wonder why they didn't engineer the SPT's to line up to the drive hub horizontally right from the start? Just seems like something that would be common sense unless there is some kind of design issue that required the use of the offset tubes?

wannabewoodworker wrote:Thanks Wa2crk. I knew there was a better way to adjust and set the SPT then how I was doing it. The thing is to have multiple sets of the offset tubes I guess. Still wonder why they didn't engineer the SPT's to line up to the drive hub horizontally right from the start? Just seems like something that would be common sense unless there is some kind of design issue that required the use of the offset tubes?

If you would get all of your SPT and the Mark V all "perfectly" aligned (whatever that means to you) and then tear the equipment all down, as if you were going to transport it, when you set it all back up at the other end I think you would understand.

Nothing would align perfectly. No two of us will put the equipment together exactly the same way or with the same degree of precision. The variables will all accumulate to give an entirely different setup.

Being first of all a 5in1 tool and then a transportable tool makes the Mark V really susceptible to these variations. Once setup, however, the Mark V is very stable and repeatable.

Bill's view about the payoff is spot on. Tool alignment is frustrating, but gives plenty of insight and the woodworking projects show the results.

I take a different approach on setting up an SPT. I get the height set first, then work on aligning the two spindles. When working with offset tubes, I simply put them both in the tool with a common extension, then put it on the Shopsmith, then measure/gauge how far off the height is, then remove the tool from the Shopsmith and adjust the tubes until the height is correct (this may take a few iterations to get the height right). Once the height is correct, mark the tubes with a Sharpie. Then begin rotating/adjusting the tubes to align the two spindles. You can adjust one tube at a time to get the fit and alignment set. Also, I have a piece of 2x4 drilled with two holes at the proper spacing for the SPT tubes that comes in handy for this purpose.

I make all of the adjustments to the tubes off of the Shopsmith when needed as this seems to minimizes the frustration. And, doing it this way I don't have to fight gravity and the lack of a third hand.

When you adjust the tension of the Poly V belt by turning the eccentric the alignment can be thrown off slightly so the company cautions everyone to check the alignments especially when installing a new headstock. Once all tools have been aligned everything should be OK
Bill V

And once again Bill you have hit it out of the park. I totally forgot about the eccentric issue now it makes sense why there is a need for the offset mounting tubes. Now i feel better about the whole thing but it is still a pain when you don't have extras of the accessories like offset tubes to make this a one time thing. Oh well I guess I will keep my eye out for some extra offset tubes. Thank you again everyone for the kindly and sage advice.

pennview wrote:Bill's view about the payoff is spot on. Tool alignment is frustrating, but gives plenty of insight and the woodworking projects show the results.

I take a different approach on setting up an SPT. I get the height set first, then work on aligning the two spindles. When working with offset tubes, I simply put them both in the tool with a common extension, then put it on the Shopsmith, then measure/gauge how far off the height is, then remove the tool from the Shopsmith and adjust the tubes until the height is correct (this may take a few iterations to get the height right). Once the height is correct, mark the tubes with a Sharpie. Then begin rotating/adjusting the tubes to align the two spindles. You can adjust one tube at a time to get the fit and alignment set. Also, I have a piece of 2x4 drilled with two holes at the proper spacing for the SPT tubes that comes in handy for this purpose.

I make all of the adjustments to the tubes off of the Shopsmith when needed as this seems to minimizes the frustration. And, doing it this way I don't have to fight gravity and the lack of a third hand.

I found that thiscomes in handy when trying to align the eccentrics. It works just like the board with two holes drilled in it.

I read this with interest, I have 3 SPT's and when I upgraded from 520 to PowerPro everything just worked but after reading this I wonder why. Also I did not see any instructions that said to realign the SPT's when upgrading or replacing the headstock. Once I installed all the SPT's in he 80's I just swap them at will.

I am looking at a hoist system because like others here lifting a bandsaw with a Kreg fence is heavy. I just upgraded my garage door opener and I think the old track with trolley is exactly what I need with just the addition of a winch.