Shopsmith Forums

I have a question about use of my 510 rip fence to the right of the blade. Beyond about 7", the rip fence runs out of room to fully attach to the 510 main table rails. Today I used the fence even though the right-most connection point was not gripping the rail:
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The rail seemed to be solidly anchored, but I now am wondering whether using the rip fence that way is unsafe or would stress/torque the fence assembly. Any advice? Hank

I run into this quite often. The solution that I use is to fix the main table height to the aux table on the right with two of the 3 ft. tubes (you really should have them! and it seems like you do from the pic). The fence then goes on the aux table and is secure plus you avoid the 'heavy' fence from 'tilting' the main table out of 90 deg to the blade. Choose the distance from the main table to the aux table to accommodate your needs.
Plan, plan, plan is important with the SS.
Forrest

hjlssfor1 wrote:I have a question about use of my 510 rip fence to the right of the blade. Beyond about 7", the rip fence runs out of room to fully attach to the 510 main table rails. Today I used the fence even though the right-most connection point was not gripping the rail:
[ATTACH]22958[/ATTACH]
The rail seemed to be solidly anchored, but I now am wondering whether using the rip fence that way is unsafe or would stress/torque the fence assembly. Any advice? Hank

I made a plug to go in the end of the tube being careful to not make it too small. It is difficult to insert and remove but is solid enough to secure the fence.

I have turned two dowels that could be used to resolve this problem. I would not move the fence very far off the table this way but a couple inches would still be stable.

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I sometimes use these dowels to tie an extension table to the main table.This provides for fence capability in the gap even though there is a gap between the tables.

Hmmmm! Maybe an auxiliary 'slot' would be useful!:D

As has already been mentioned you need to add the extension tubes and then either a floating or fixed extension table to that side of the table.

Bridging the gap should work as long as the alignment has been done correctly. I personally had issues with this on the 510 system I had and was yet another reason I upgraded to the 520. I know some people have the 510 and it works for them so maybe it was just me.

You may have had enough of an material to do what you did but at some point the fence alignment will go wacko and could cause dangerous conditions leading to kick back or at the very least mis-cut wood.

Ed

I was thinking the tube in your pic was a 520 extension tube instead of the 510 rail.

Even so you should be able to move over to your fixed extension table and align it such that your rip fence when on it is parallel to the blade. Ed is right that without a very careful alignment you could be in danger of kickback or worse.
Forrest

hjlssfor1 wrote: The rail seemed to be solidly anchored, but I now am wondering whether using the rip fence that way is unsafe or would stress/torque the fence assembly. Any advice? Hank

You can try a trick that works for me.

Insert extension tubes, tighten the front side and slide on one of the extension tables. Tighten down only the front of the extension table. Let the back side stay loose or just snug it. Now the front extension table rail should be aligned to the rail of the main table and your fence will be stable.

charlese wrote:You can try a trick that works for me.

Insert extension tubes, tighten the front side and slide on one of the extension tables. Tighten down only the front of the extension table. Let the back side stay loose or just snug it. Now the front extension table rail should be aligned to the rail of the main table and your fence will be stable.

Wholly molie! It's like deja vu all over again. Sounds like you have a combination of 'old-old' and 'old-new' rails!

Have ya ever noticed if the wall thickness of the rail (tube) is the same for the Main and for the Extension or Auxiliary tables? (In other words, are the outer diameters the same, and {more importantly} are the inner diameters the same?) So far as far as I know there is only one other person (besides SS) who believes that this is possible. You can't imagine what it would be like for me to learn there is another!

keakap wrote:Wholly molie! It's like deja vu all over again. Sounds like you have a combination of 'old-old' and 'old-new' rails!

Have ya ever noticed if the wall thickness of the rail (tube) is the same for the Main and for the Extension or Auxiliary tables? (In other words, are the outer diameters the same, and {more importantly} are the inner diameters the same?) So far as far as I know there is only one other person (besides SS) who believes that this is possible. You can't imagine what it would be like for me to learn there is another!

Never measured the thicknesses or diameters of rails or tubes. Really don't care.

All I know is I bought a 510 new and have not changed anything except changing to a PowerPro. Thickness of rails must be the same on all tables, because when tightening the extension tubes (pressing the tubes to the front inner side of the rails) the rails become aligned.