Shopsmith Forums

Hi folks...

I'm reassembling a 500/510 I've had for a few years now, but never used. I need to know the correct amount to insert the bench tubes into the base on either end. Does anyone have that dimension?

I've searched around the forum a bit today but didn't find it in the archive. I also have a Mark V manual and have been going through that, but thus far haven't come across anything definitive...so I thought I would ask here while I keep looking for the information.

I did see one thread that mentioned a 48" dimension for the length of the bench tubes exposed between the base on either end. But I haven't been able to verify this yet.

Thanks in advance.

TB

EDIT: I forgot to say that I measured the distance in question on the old Greenie that I have, and it's right about 48". So that does seem to agree with the other reference I found here in the forum archives. Therefore I went ahead and installed the bench tubes just now, and tightened them down. I won't get much of a chance to work on the machine until Monday as we're going out of town this weekend. But I could adjust the length pretty easily yet at this point, as I didn't put anything else on the machine.

OK...so just up against that stop then. Thanks. Mine is pretty much there now, with the 48" distance between the inner edges of the two base castings. It looks fine and the way tubes sit nicely--and the lock engages nicely as well. So I'm pretty satisfied with it.

Thanks again.

TB

Here's another question...

I apparently didn't get a table saw blade arbor when I bought this 500/510. So I am going to order one from the mothership (along with one or two other things) next week. I presume most people are just using the 5/8" arbors so they can find blades locally?

I was also thinking of ordering the 3" caster kit, as I will need to roll the unit around quite a bit. Seems like a worthwhile purchase for the $40 or so it costs.

I have this Greenie to restore as well, and I'm still trying to decide if I have enough room in the shop to make it into a shorty sanding station. I would love to do that as I just had the headstock reconditioned, but I will need to do some serious reorganizing in the shop in order to have room for it. Otherwise it's going to get listed on eBay and Craigslist.

TB

tcbetka wrote:Here's another question...

I apparently didn't get a table saw blade arbor when I bought this 500/510. So I am going to order one from the mothership (along with one or two other things) next week. I presume most people are just using the 5/8" arbors so they can find blades locally?

I was also thinking of ordering the 3" caster kit, as I will need to roll the unit around quite a bit. Seems like a worthwhile purchase for the $40 or so it costs.

I have this Greenie to restore as well, and I'm still trying to decide if I have enough room in the shop to make it into a shorty sanding station. I would love to do that as I just had the headstock reconditioned, but I will need to do some serious reorganizing in the shop in order to have room for it. Otherwise it's going to get listed on eBay and Craigslist.

TB

WRONG! Well, maybe not wrong because I do not speak for "most people" but I use ALMOST exclusively the Shopsmith blades. I have only one 5/8" arbor and it is with a blade purchased special for use with fine counter top materials. It hardly ever gets used not that that project is history.

If you need to clear out some stuff to make room in your shop, you can ship that headstock over to me. I have almost all the rest of the other parts for a ShopMate.

I can not speak to typical but I have gone to 5/8" arbor blades exclusively, I may have a steel blade or two from when I got my machine but they are never used anymore. I did have a couple of shopsmith carbide blades with the large arbor but I could never see or measure any difference between the two arbors sizes when using the more modern blades. I had two shopsmith blades that lost bits of teeth for no apparent reason back in the early 80's and have since gone to other manufactures blades. I see no advantage to larger arbors and have a nicer selection of blades from a whole lot of places with the more standard arbor size.

Ed

dusty wrote:
WRONG! Well, maybe not wrong because I do not speak for "most people" but I use ALMOST exclusively the Shopsmith blades. I have only one 5/8" arbor and it is with a blade purchased special for use with fine counter top materials. It hardly ever gets used not that that project is history.

If you need to clear out some stuff to make room in your shop, you can ship that headstock over to me. I have almost all the rest of the other parts for a ShopMate.

Well, I had planned on trying to sell the whole thing together but I guess it could be parted out. I need to build another bench in my shop and reorganize this week though, before I can make any sort of final determination as to selling it.

Interesting on the arbor size issue though--I would have thought the ability to buy a blade locally would have been a powerful motivator for folks to move to the standard arbor size.

TB

EDIT: Aborted the auto-correct "abortion."

tcbetka wrote:

dusty wrote:
WRONG! Well, maybe not wrong because I do not speak for "most people" but I use ALMOST exclusively the Shopsmith blades. I have only one 5/8" arbor and it is with a blade purchased special for use with fine counter top materials. It hardly ever gets used not that that project is history.

If you need to clear out some stuff to make room in your shop, you can ship that headstock over to me. I have almost all the rest of the other parts for a ShopMate.

Well, I had planned on trying to sell the whole thing together but I guess it could be parted out. I need to build another bench in my shop and reorganize this week though, before I can make any sort of final determination as to selling it.

Interesting on the arbor size issue though--I would have thought the ability to buy a blade locally would have been a powerful motivator for folks to move to the standard abortion size.

TB

It is an attraction for some. I have a good collection of Shopsmith blades and see no economic value in changing at this point in my life. If I thought I had ten or fifteen more years of wood working - I might switch. Yes, as reible said, there is a wider variety of non-Shopsmith blades available on the market.

I have one SS blade, and it's a dull one at that. So I think the 5/8" arbor makes sense for me, but I can definitely see why you feel the way you do.

TB

tcbetka wrote:
the standard abortion size.

TB