Shopsmith Forums

Some how I got the impression the miter gauge had a feature you could lock the hold down in place but mine seems to need constant squeezing of the triger mechanism to hold things in place. My unit is from about 1990. Is mine an older design or are they all like this or maybee I am missing something but as I say mine does not seem to have a lock in place function for the hold down action on the gauge...thanks wayne

wayne
No there is no lock down on the mitre guage. You can possibly bring the clamp down tight enough to hold something but there is nothing that will allow you to lock the squeeze handle in a clamped position.
Ed

waynebergman wrote:Some how I got the impression the miter gauge had a feature you could lock the hold down in place but mine seems to need constant squeezing of the triger mechanism to hold things in place. My unit is from about 1990. Is mine an older design or are they all like this or maybee I am missing something but as I say mine does not seem to have a lock in place function for the hold down action on the gauge...thanks wayne

Hi Wayne! Perhaps you are confusing "a "hold down" with locking down the miter gauge into the miter slot. There is a small taper screw located in the miter bar shaft - when tightened will secure the position of the bar in the miter slot. Some may refer to this as a miter hold down. (maybe I have, from time to time)

The real "hold down" is named a a 'Quick Clamp'. It includes a rod and shoe that is attached to the trigger mechanism. You can, if you wish, use this rod and shoe as sort of a hold down by pressing the rod onto a piece of wood while raising the lock guide then clamping the rod in place. This will fix the upward movement of the rod and shoe. It might work as a hold down, but there will be some lateral movement.

Thanks Chuck and Ed this helps.....wayne

If you convert your ordinary-as-it-came-from-the-factory miter hold-down to a new-and-improved spring loaded hold-down (see http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... _Miter.htm ), it will work as you describe, maintaining a constant pressure on the wood even when you release the grip. Furthermore you can adjust the pressure on the wood by moving the lower stop collar.

With all good wishes,

waynebergman wrote:Some how I got the impression the miter gauge had a feature you could lock the hold down in place but mine seems to need constant squeezing of the triger mechanism to hold things in place. My unit is from about 1990. Is mine an older design or are they all like this or maybee I am missing something but as I say mine does not seem to have a lock in place function for the hold down action on the gauge...thanks wayne

Wayne

If you have the old style hold down with the two knobs on the hold down rod, you can loosen the top knob and then raise the lower one up until it is forcing the hold down to clamp with some pressure. I've used this a time or two when I needed three hands. It can't be done with the newer style.

Hawk

thank you Hawk and Nick. Great tips....wayne