Shopsmith Forums

Used mine today to rip some 2 inch wide and inch wide for a trellis I’m building for my wife. Love the safety it provides.

I have some ripping to do and thought I should get my setup fixed. As you might recall I have at least at this time opted to use the shopsmith T-nuts to hold the Jessem track on the fence and added some washers to act as a shim to level the track.

The issue I had was trying to find the correct fastener to attach the track. The heads on the ones I have stick up above the mounting hole on the track and while that works in the front and back it is problematic in the middle where you want to be able to slide the arms into the proper position depending on what you are trying to do.

I went out to two hardware stores looking for a fastener that would fit the countersink and not stick up above the surface. I found none.

I had some SS 1/4-20 x 3/8" Button Head Socket Screws. The length was right but the head was to large. So where from here?
So as you can see there was a solution. I'm posting this because there are times when this comes up while dealing with designs that are not friendly with today's standards or custom parts that are hard to come by.

There are many possible solutions and this is just one of them. I'm going to show you how I did this, but if it feels unsafe for you then just don't do it.

First I chucked a 1/4-20 nut in the shopsmith chuck. You have to take your time and get it mounted squarely for this to work well.
I then add an additional nut that will protect the drill chuck and later work as some indication as to how close you are to the finished size. The nut starts out like any nut but as you size the screw head you also size this nut. It will end up looking like this:
With the nut on the screw it looks like this when you start:
You will want to end up with something like this:
Mounted in the drill chuck it will look like this:
Then I went to work with a file. It takes a little time but I managed to make three of them in pretty quick order.
Keep in mind these were stainless steel so follow up corrosion issues are not going to happen but if you have plated steel you will have removed the finish from that area.

Ed

Those look good. There is a standard commercial product that fits: Low Head Cap Screws aka Low Socket Cap Screws. I bought a ten pack of 3/4 inch long from Fastenal in black oxide, cost was around $3. They also carry them in stainless, price is somewhat higher. I made mounting plates out of 1/4 inch thick steel bar stock so the 3/4 inch length was perfect for me.

- David

I figured there was a fastener that would fit but not at the hardware stores I visited and I was planning on using it today so I thought my best option was to diy it.

Do you happen to have the part number for that part, since there are a few people here who now own these it might come in handy for some one??

Ed

The Fastenal page with various lengths and packaging options for 1/4 - 20 Low Socket Cap Screws: https://www.fastenal.com/product/fasten ... hread+Size
The package I bought, IIRC: SKU 1124618.

- David

Ed,

I saw that you were using different hardware on the other Jessem thread. What hardware did you get from Jessem for your stock guides? Mine came with hardware that fit, is recessed in the track and worked with the Shopsmith t-nuts. Did you not get these (see pic below)? Just curious why you didn't use the Jessem hardware to begin with...

When I went to put mine together I did not find the screws you pictured. Now it could be I got them and lost them or possible used them somewhere else. I just don't know. Anyway I know have something that works and I'm going to keep them with the setup so life is good again.

I loose a lot of things, like a little spring that when flying out when I took a red cross laser. Not uncommon to be crawling along the floor with flashlight in hand looking for this or that. But more common is me setting something down and then not remembering where. Always start projects with a half dozen pencils or I spend too much time looking for one.

Ed

Ed,

Thanks. Yeah, I was just curious. I can't remember what hardware came with mine...been a year since I installed it. I know that I ordered a 2nd T track from Jessem as well so it is possible that I got some extra hardware with the 2nd T track that I ordered. It is possible that I used hardware from it instead of what came in the original stock guide box. Anyway, what I showed is Jessem hardware, but I don't know which box it came in to begin with.

Mine originally came with four 1/2" low head cap screws. I shortened three of them a bit the first time I installed with three T-nuts because they were bottoming out in the T-slot. I think that is mentioned earlier in the thread.

- David

I am considering getting this for the Mark 7. Can it be mounted to work on both sides of the rip fence, or only with the blade on the left of the rip fence?

Thanks.