Shopsmith Forums

Since first seeing them, I knew I wanted a set of the Jessem table saw stock guides. I pulled the trigger over the weekend and they arrived today. I had suspected that they could be installed on the 520 fence using either Shopsmith T-nuts or Shopsmith T-bolts and I'm happy to report that they can be installed that way.

Below is a photo of the stock guides installed using Shopsmith T-nuts. The T-nuts are riding in the left slot on the 520 rip fence. The Jessem miter slot extrusion comes pre-drilled to accept several different kinds of fasteners that come included. Among these are some 1/2 x 1/4-20 cap head screws. These are just about 1/32 too long. Grind em down just a bit and you can screw right through Jessem extrusion and into the Shopsmith T-nut to secure everything. Here you can see a close up showing the T-nut just showing under the Jessem extrusion.
Here's a photo of the bottom of the Jessem extrusion showing the Shopsmith T-nut. One could also dispense with the Jessem extrusion entirely and mount the hold downs directly to the 520 fence using the Shopsmith T-bolts, which have a central 5/16 threaded stud. I have the Shopsmith flip stops, which mount with T-bolts but also have roll pins, so I could only test the fit, but it seems perfect, as shown in the photos below (imagine no roll pins). I may order some T-bolts but for the time being I will use the first method with the Jessem extrusion.

I will review the stock guides themselves after I've had a chance to use them for a while.

I'm glade you took point on getting this system. I've been interested in it too, just not the point of spending the money to get one.

One of the concerns I had was the mounting on a shopsmith, looks like that works!

I for one would be interested in how you think it works for you, so please do that follow up/review at some point.

Ed

reible wrote:I'm glade you took point on getting this system. I've been interested in it too, just not the point of spending the money to get one.

One of the concerns I had was the mounting on a shopsmith, looks like that works!

I for one would be interested in how you think it works for you, so please do that follow up/review at some point.

Ed

No worries. I will do a review once I've had a chance to really use them for a few projects. I can't stand reviews that are based on the warm glow of a recent purchase rather than experience!

I've been using the Jessem table saw stock guides for a while now and feel comfortable writing a little review of them now.

I've used them when ripping sheet goods and boards of many different sizes. Today I used them to rip some 1 inch x 3/4 strips out of a walnut board about 5 inches wide by 3 feet long. Then I cut some 1/2 x 1/4 rabbets in the strips. The Jessem stock guides gave me an incredible sense of control when doing these operations.

For those unfamiliar with them, the spring loaded, angled wheels of the stock guides simultaneously apply a downward force on the top of the stock while drawing the stock toward the rip fence as the stock is advanced. The guides can be adjusted so the set of wheels on the infeed side are outside of the cut line while the outfeed set of wheels is inside the cut line. This helps reduce the possibility of kickback as the piece between the fence and the blade is controlled. Kickback is also reduced or eliminated because the wheels only rotate in one direction and cannot raise more than a small amount off the table. Thus, the work piece cannot be lifted and thrown back at the operator.

Once mounted to the fence, the stock guides are easily adjusted. Two brass thumbscrews on each guide adjust the front-to-back position of each guide. The height of each guide, as well as lateral adjustment is set using the large top knob.

Setting the height is absolutely critical but not difficult. Do NOT make the mistake of adjusting the height by placing the stock under the wheels! Per the instructions, slide the stock (or something of the same thickness) under the black bracket ONLY. Then tighten the top knob. The wheels hang lower than the bracket and thus using the bracket to set the height ensures the proper amount of spring-loaded force is applied to the stock once it is fed under the wheels.

I've annotated one of my previous photos to show where you put the stock to set the height of the guides.
I find the stock guides much easier to use and much more secure than the Shopsmith slot-mounted feather boards. Those feather boards are very good but they have their limitations; obviously you can't use them if the stock starts out wider than the distance between your fence and the miter slot. In addition, if you are cutting strips from a piece of stock, you have to readjust the feather boards with each cut. If the strips are narrow, the feather boards may not reach far enough.

Not so the Jessem stock guides. Set them once and you can cut strip after strip. And you can set the wheels extremely close to the fence for working narrow stock. When cutting rabbets in narrow stock, I set the guides laterally so the wheels were only over the unrabetted part of the strips. This made the thin strips quite stable.

You can still use push blocks on wide stock and push sticks on stock of any width. Of course, the push stick needs to be no thicker than the stock itself so that it can slide under the bracket.

About the only thing you can't use with them is the Shopsmith fence rider, but with these guides it is a trade-off you will be happy to make. The grip of these things is quite impressive. You can let go of the stock mid cut and the stock isn't going anywhere. Walk to the back of the saw and pull it through if you want.

I can't say enough about these. If you buy them I don't think you will be disappointed.

I also have a set of these on my Shopsmith. Outstanding product and can't imagine being with out them! My first hold down was the "Ripstrate" used it for years. This is leagues ahead of that. I machined two long SS T nuts out of aluminum and tapped then for the button head screws that cam with the Jessem set. I made the T nuts and the Jessem rail the same length as the 520 fence and the T nuts are set that the Jessem rail is centered in the 520 fence. Easy on, easy off and rock solid.

Jack

I have a set of the Jessem clear-cut guides for my router fence, and I think they're great. It's a pretty simple matter to adapt them to the T-slots on a 520 fence, but I haven't gotten around to doing that. Meanwhile, I've been curious about what advantages the considerably-pricier tablesaw guides offer.

One obvious difference is that the lateral extension of the tablesaw guides has quite a bit of adjustment range. And Al, from your description, it sounds as if the tablesaw guides have some spring travel to them. (The router guides are rigid, except for the compliance of the "tires".)

So what benefits do these differences provide?

BuckeyeDennis wrote:I have a set of the Jessem clear-cut guides for my router fence, and I think they're great. It's a pretty simple matter to adapt them to the T-slots on a 520 fence, but I haven't gotten around to doing that. Meanwhile, I've been curious about what advantages the considerably-pricier tablesaw guides offer.

One obvious difference is that the lateral extension of the tablesaw guides has quite a bit of adjustment range. And Al, from your description, it sounds as if the tablesaw guides have some spring travel to them. (The router guides are rigid, except for the compliance of the "tires".)

So what benefits do these differences provide?

You're the engineer, Buckeye, so you tell me!

If I had to guess, I'd say having the arms spring loaded allows one to rip a board that has had one face and an edge jointed but has not been planed on the top surface (I did that today). Having some spring travel in the arm allows the arms to maintain constant pressure over an uneven surface?

And I'd guess being able to move the arms away from the fence is useful if you are doing a wider rip. Gets the pressure down on the board nearer to the blade on a wide rip.

algale wrote:

BuckeyeDennis wrote:I have a set of the Jessem clear-cut guides for my router fence, and I think they're great. It's a pretty simple matter to adapt them to the T-slots on a 520 fence, but I haven't gotten around to doing that. Meanwhile, I've been curious about what advantages the considerably-pricier tablesaw guides offer.

One obvious difference is that the lateral extension of the tablesaw guides has quite a bit of adjustment range. And Al, from your description, it sounds as if the tablesaw guides have some spring travel to them. (The router guides are rigid, except for the compliance of the "tires".)

So what benefits do these differences provide?

You're the engineer, Buckeye, so you tell me!

If I had to guess, I'd say having the arms spring loaded allows one to rip a board that has had one face and an edge jointed but has not been planed on the top surface (I did that today). Having some spring travel in the arm allows the arms to maintain constant pressure over an uneven surface?

And I'd guess being able to move the arms away from the fence is useful if you are doing a wider rip. Gets the pressure down on the board nearer to the blade on a wide rip.

Sounds reasonable to me. I still wonder if we're missing something, though.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:I have a set of the Jessem clear-cut guides for my router fence, and I think they're great. It's a pretty simple matter to adapt them to the T-slots on a 520 fence, but I haven't gotten around to doing that. Meanwhile, I've been curious about what advantages the considerably-pricier tablesaw guides offer.

One obvious difference is that the lateral extension of the tablesaw guides has quite a bit of adjustment range. And Al, from your description, it sounds as if the tablesaw guides have some spring travel to them. (The router guides are rigid, except for the compliance of the "tires".)

So what benefits do these differences provide?

I have the Jessem clear-cut guides and have adapted them to the 520 fence. They work great for rips up to 5" or so. For wider stock I use Board Buddies which I have had for years. Since I had already purchased the clear cut guides for my router table I couldn't see spending another $250 on the table saw guides.