Shopsmith Forums

I have overcome my concerns about drilling in the Mark V tables. I guess it is about time. There have been several projects that I resisted or set aside completely because they required that holes be drilled in the extension/floating tables.

Yesterday and today this fear came to an end.

There was really nothing to be concerned about. The cast material that the tables are made of drills quite easily; even easier than the aluminum angle that I often use.

It is sort of comical really because I resolved the need to drill holes for the Incra Jig Pro by using T-Bolts but I drilled anyhow just to rid myself of this albatross.

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Now, if I need holes drilled in any of the tables, I can do it. These holes were drilled in a table that was cracked and that I hardly ever use.

Yes, I too hate to drill into these pristine tables, but they're built to take it.

My 510 has holes on the aux-table for the Sharpening Jig.

My 500 has a couple extra holes I put in the main-table for a 510-style Shaper Fence. But now I've acquired a genuine 500-shaper-fence after all.

Shopsmith is great about providing templates for any of these modification jobs.

I have wondered about the ribbing that exists on the under side of these tables.

Is that ribbing intended to be extra support for drilling and clamping?

dusty wrote:I have wondered about the ribbing that exists on the under side of these tables.

Is that ribbing intended to be extra support for drilling and clamping?

Well, dusty, if you are looking for opinions, not based on fact, but only on experience, IMHO, the ribbing is to strengthen the tables so that they do knot flex. Has nothing to do with clamping. If you want an answer based on fact, you must ask the SS engineers.

I think you are theorizing just exactly what I have been worried about. That is...If one drills out (or otherwise cuts away) any of the ribbing the integrity of the the table is jeopardized.

For that reason, I avoided the ribs when I drilled.

However, I still am not extremely confident that what I did might not still adversely effect the tables. For that reason, I did not drill into any of my really good tables and until I hear something to the contrary from a Shopsmith authority and I shall not.

If Shopsmith provides a template as to where to drill, I would have no problem drilling those holes. I would try not to drill through any of the underside ribs. The 2 holes drilled through the underside round bosses is where the INCRA setups I have done fits. If you are drilling on the underside in the flat areas where there is no ribs, I would not over-tighten any bolts beening used to hold the attachment. I actually use large or body washers when possible on the underside to spread the load. Your main strenght for keeping the table flat is the outside edge. The topside ribs are mostly to make the tables look pretty and maybe collect some sawdust.

dusty wrote:I think you are theorizing just exactly what I have been worried about. That is...If one drills out (or otherwise cuts away) any of the ribbing the integrity of the the table is jeopardized.

For that reason, I avoided the ribs when I drilled.

However, I still am not extremely confident that what I did might not still adversely effect the tables. For that reason, I did not drill into any of my really good tables and until I hear something to the contrary from a Shopsmith authority and I shall not.

If Shopsmith provides a template as to where to drill, I would have no problem drilling those holes. I would try not to drill through any of the underside ribs. The 2 holes drilled through the underside round bosses is where the INCRA setups I have done fits. If you are drilling on the underside in the flat areas where there is no ribs, I would not over-tighten any bolts beening used to hold the attachment. I actually use large or body washers when possible on the underside to spread the load. Your main strenght for keeping the table flat is the outside edge. The topside ribs are mostly to make the tables look pretty and maybe collect some sawdust.

dusty wrote:I think you are theorizing just exactly what I have been worried about. That is...If one drills out (or otherwise cuts away) any of the ribbing the integrity of the the table is jeopardized.

For that reason, I avoided the ribs when I drilled.

However, I still am not extremely confident that what I did might not still adversely effect the tables. For that reason, I did not drill into any of my really good tables and until I hear something to the contrary from a Shopsmith authority and I shall not.

When setting up the TSIII system, the SS instruction tell you to drill into the floating table as you have done.

Dusty, here is a better page of the instructions.

dusty,
When I bought my Incra set, I bought the pre-drilled floating table for it. I did so, because I intend to leave the Incra attached to it all of the time, and I wanted to still have my floating tables. FYI, my pre-drilled table looks exactly like the table that you drilled. Hope that makes you feel better. Oh, my pre-drilled table has a hex nut wedged in each boss where the holes are drilled.