Shopsmith Forums

Hello Forum . I have Two 510 s and One 500 - with a Headstock that needs repairs. I have tried to no avail to align the main table to within 2-5 thousandth. I have now given up after at least 20 tries over a few months and looking to get a dedicated saw for ripping and cross cutting. But I want to make a shorty from one of my machines and sell the others as parts or whole. My questions are:
***** Do I still have to align the main table to use it in the Drill Press mode or for other modes outside of the saw mode?
***** What does SPT stand for?
***** Which is best for this modification... 500 or 510?
***** I have the Scroll Saw, Band-saw, Belt Sander, Jointer, Disc Sander, Mortising, etc. What will be the optimum cutoff to make all these work relatively okay?
***** I see the Deputy does not have the Bench Tubes. Can I also omit that as I am planning on taking the legs off and building a table for it, almost like the 10ERs, with storage underneath.

Hoping the Forum can help me.
Thanks

Lots of questions there, but I'll do my best for some:

***** Do I still have to align the main table to use it in the Drill Press mode or for other modes outside of the saw mode?

- You have to ensure the stops are at the correct angle (ie 90 degree stop), thus making it perp. to the drill bit. But only if you want straight holes

***** What does SPT stand for?

- Special Purpose Tool

***** Which is best for this modification... 500 or 510?

- Personal Preference I guess here. I liked my 500 dedicated drill press and sort of regret upgrading it to a 520 and selling the 500 table off. However, it is nice having 1 system for both my full sized SS and my drill press. Really the big difference is the table size, if you don't need the big table and the floating tables on a mini, why have them? It wont affect any of the other accessories you have listed below except mortising (possibly because your using the table saw).

***** I have the Scroll Saw, Band-saw, Belt Sander, Jointer, Disc Sander, Mortising, etc. What will be the optimum cutoff to make all these work relatively okay?

- There are a few opinions on this depending on what your willing to sacrifice. If you only want it for powering SPTs then you can attach them and see how far you need to the right of them all to make it work and then add (if you want i guess) the carriage for the table and the spacer.

***** I see the Deputy does not have the Bench Tubes. Can I also omit that as I am planning on taking the legs off and building a table for it, almost like the 10ERs, with storage underneath.

- You can, but you will really have to bolt those ends down tight to maintain stability, much like the 10s. Personally the mobility of it with the legs, and then adding an undershopsmith cabinet works well too. That way i maintain the ability to just bring back a new set of tubes and its a full SS again.

Hope that helped!

I'm not going to give much advice here because I would not do what you are considering doing. Make a Shorty, yes. Then learn how to resolve the alignment issue. Table alignment is easy but can be time consuming until you learn how.

I am curious how long it will take thee to align the table saw to within 2-5 thousands.

Table alignment has to do with the positioning of the table top on the trunions. In drill press mode that is a rotary angle about the axis of rotation which matters little. Table tilt angle stops is all that will affect drill press mode.

I am guessing thee has a dial indicator which will drive thee crazy until thee learns how to use it effectively.

I would prefer a 500 table on a drill press over the larger 505-20 ones.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help with your answers Beave2012. And , JPG, i have tried and tried and every-time i go to lock it down, it will always move out and does not do it in one direction every-time. Sometimes I will further from the blade and other times closer. I still have one 510 to maybe keep working on . Have not gotten a dedicate saw yet but wanted to work on the shorty in the meantime before I drive myself crazy. And Dusty, thanks for your time and I understand you may not want to chime in.
Any other input will be appreciated.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help with your answers Beave2012. And , JPG, i have tried and tried and every-time i go to lock it down, it will always move out and does not do it in one direction every-time. Sometimes I will further from the blade and other times closer. I still have one 510 to maybe keep working on . Have not gotten a dedicate saw yet but wanted to work on the shorty in the meantime before I drive myself crazy. And Dusty, thanks for your time and I understand you may not want to chime in.
Any other input will be appreciated.

babalaisi wrote:Thank you so much for taking the time to help with your answers Beave2012. And , JPG, i have tried and tried and every-time i go to lock it down, it will always move out and does not do it in one direction every-time. Sometimes I will further from the blade and other times closer. I still have one 510 to maybe keep working on . Have not gotten a dedicate saw yet but wanted to work on the shorty in the meantime before I drive myself crazy. And Dusty, thanks for your time and I understand you may not want to chime in.
Any other input will be appreciated.

Check the washers and bolts for flat surface.

JPG wrote:I am curious how long it will take thee to align the table saw to within 2-5 thousands.

Table alignment has to do with the positioning of the table top on the trunions. In drill press mode that is a rotary angle about the axis of rotation which matters little. Table tilt angle stops is all that will affect drill press mode.

I am guessing thee has a dial indicator which will drive thee crazy until thee learns how to use it effectively.

I would prefer a 500 table on a drill press over the larger 505-20 ones.

I am not sure that this question was directed at me but I'll answer as though it was. I can complete a table alignment to that level of precision in less than 10 minutes.

The trick is setting up with one of the four trunnion bolts almost tight enough to prevent the table from moving. I normally use the right rear trunnion bolt for the pivot point. Once I have the table set where I think I want it, I can tighten the two left side trunnion bolts without tilting the table. With those two tight, I can tilt the table for access to the right side trunnions without losing alignment. DONE

dusty wrote:

JPG wrote:I am curious how long it will take thee to align the table saw to within 2-5 thousands.

Table alignment has to do with the positioning of the table top on the trunions. In drill press mode that is a rotary angle about the axis of rotation which matters little. Table tilt angle stops is all that will affect drill press mode.

I am guessing thee has a dial indicator which will drive thee crazy until thee learns how to use it effectively.

I would prefer a 500 table on a drill press over the larger 505-20 ones.

I am not sure that this question was directed at me but I'll answer as though it was. I can complete a table alignment to that level of precision in less than 10 minutes.

The trick is setting up with one of the four trunnion bolts almost tight enough to prevent the table from moving. I normally use the right rear trunnion bolt for the pivot point. Once I have the table set where I think I want it, I can tighten the two left side trunnion bolts without tilting the table. With those two tight, I can tilt the table for access to the right side trunnions without losing alignment. DONE

No Dusty, it was NOT directed to thee. I know you can do it.

It was directed to the initial poster who had tried '20' times over several months to get it within 2 to 5 thousands. I questioned how long it would take him to do so with a table saw. I consider the SS to be much easier to adjust.

babalaisi wrote:Hello Forum . I have Two 510 s and One 500 - with a Headstock that needs repairs. I have tried to no avail to align the main table to within 2-5 thousandth. I have now given up after at least 20 tries over a few months and looking to get a dedicated saw for ripping and cross cutting. But I want to make a shorty from one of my machines and sell the others as parts or whole. My questions are:
***** Do I still have to align the main table to use it in the Drill Press mode or for other modes outside of the saw mode?
***** What does SPT stand for?
***** Which is best for this modification... 500 or 510?
***** I have the Scroll Saw, Band-saw, Belt Sander, Jointer, Disc Sander, Mortising, etc. What will be the optimum cutoff to make all these work relatively okay?
***** I see the Deputy does not have the Bench Tubes. Can I also omit that as I am planning on taking the legs off and building a table for it, almost like the 10ERs, with storage underneath.

Hoping the Forum can help me.
Thanks

I am one of those who obsesses over table alignment and I am quick to say that alignment to within a few tau is very possible with the Shopsmith. However, that level of accuracy is not needed for SAFE and accurate wood working, I hesitate to put a figure on what one should strive for as a "minimum" but if you are anywhere near 1/64" (.016")you are close enough.

As for the drill press mode; no, you do not need to perform this alignment BUT you need to make certain that the table surface is square to the drill bit in both the x and y coordinates.