Shopsmith Forums

I am helping out a friend that has aquired a used 510 and it is missing a couple of the table connector tubes. The 2 he has measure 27", as do the 4 I have. Shopsmith lists: 514439 Extension Tube - 24" connector tube ... $12.60. Does anybody know if they changed the length or is that a misprint. There is also a set on ebay that says they are 27" long. Thanks, Paul

Mine are 27" too. I suspect that is the standard length. With 27" tubes you have enough length to extend 24" and still have a couple of extra inches to clamp them in place.
Something to consider is that since he already has 2 of them, it might be worth looking into getting two 6footers from another source. Having two short ones and two long ones might give more flexibility. I added some 6footers and really like them when cutting large panels.
https://www.grainger.com/product/Tubing ... Pid=search

In addition to the Shopsmith extension tubes, I am using several pieces of 1" galvanized EMT available at any hardware store. It is not as pretty but IT WORKS.

They use to be 27" but now in two places I looked they say 24" in one and 2 feet in the other. I think if you are really interested you will need to call shopsmith and ask. Error in the listing or change to the part????

Shopsmith also sells 5 foot tubes, 521942 5-Ft Connector Tubes (pair) ... $58.25.

For a while at least there was a person selling a little heavier weight version which I have that seemed to out perform the shopsmith version for deflection. You can read about my testing here:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/woodw ... 10797.html

The shopsmith longer tubes can be bent without much effort, in fact if you have a pair you might want to have a look at them.

If you have the longer ones and they are bent I believe someone here was cutting them to shorter (27"?) lengths as they is not much of a way to get them back to straight.

Ed

My standard extension tubes are all 27" in length. I have others that I have cut from either bent 8' tubes or from 1" rigid EMT that are custom lengths. For example, I have a pair that are 40" long; used to tie the router table to a main table. I also have a couple that are just over 127 1/2"; used to mount my outfeed table to the rear of the main table.

I bent my 8' tubes by leaving them inserted part way into the table tubes with a floating table mounted near the end of the tubes. It sat there in that configuration for two or three days. I just never thought that the weight of a single table was enough to do what it did.

How well does the EMT work? Can you pick it up from any electrial contractor? If it is more rigid than the Shopsmith tubes it might be a less expensive solution since with shipping cost it's over $100. Sorry if this is a silly question but I don't know anything about EMT. Would you just ask for a 1" EMT tube or are there other specifications to consider other than length? Is it more rigid than the standard Shopsmith tubes?

dynabase wrote:How well does the EMT work? Can you pick it up from any electrial contractor? If it is more rigid than the Shopsmith tubes it might be a less expensive solution since with shipping cost it's over $100. Sorry if this is a silly question but I don't know anything about EMT. Would you just ask for a 1" EMT tube or are there other specifications to consider other than length? Is it more rigid than the standard Shopsmith tubes?

Lowes or HD they come in 10' lengths.

dynabase wrote:How well does the EMT work? Can you pick it up from any electrial contractor? If it is more rigid than the Shopsmith tubes it might be a less expensive solution since with shipping cost it's over $100. Sorry if this is a silly question but I don't know anything about EMT. Would you just ask for a 1" EMT tube or are there other specifications to consider other than length? Is it more rigid than the standard Shopsmith tubes?

I would not say the EMT is more rigid than the Shopsmith tubes but what I have has worked fine.

Yes, I would expect any store that carries electrical supplies would have 1" rigid conduit. I got all of mine at ACE.

EMT is the thinnest wall version of the three main types of metallic electrical conduit. It is what you will typically find at hardware stores. Other types (IMC and Rigid) with thicker walls (and larger outside diameters) can be found at electrical supply houses. The below chart is from one manufacturer; there will probably be slight variations between suppliers. The sizes closest to 1" O.D. have been highlighted. Not owning a 505, 510, 520, or a Mark 7, not sure how critical the O.D. of the connecting tubes is; I found one post which said the O.D. of the Shopsmith connecting tubes was 1". And the differences in the rail types (round vs. extruded) and earlier vs. later versions of the 510 system, may affect which size conduit may work best for any given SS owner.

br549 wrote:EMT is the thinnest wall version of the three main types of metallic electrical conduit. It is what you will typically find at hardware stores. Other types (IMC and Rigid) with thicker walls (and larger outside diameters) can be found at electrical supply houses. The below chart is from one manufacturer; there will probably be slight variations between suppliers. The sizes closest to 1" O.D. have been highlighted. Not owning a 505, 510, 520, or a Mark 7, not sure how critical the O.D. of the connecting tubes is; I found one post which said the O.D. of the Shopsmith connecting tubes was 1". And the differences in the rail types (round vs. extruded) and earlier vs. later versions of the 510 system, may affect which size conduit may work best for any given SS owner.

Thank you for posting this chart. It very clearly shows that EMT is not what should be used AND it serves as education for me. I have never had to pay the price for not knowing the difference between EMT and Rigid Conduit because I knew what I wanted when I went shopping. Had I ordered this without seeing it, I would have had a return task.

Also clearing indicated is the proper size. Ine inch OD is what is required for the extension tubes. That is achieved by 3/4" rigid conduit (1" rigid conduit)! Thanks again.