Shopsmith Forums

I don't know how old the fence is since I bought it on the secondary market. Has anyone else experienced this type of metal fatigue? I was locking the fence in place when the piece just broke off. I will order a replacement part from Shopsmith soon.

No, I have had my 520 since it first came out. Buying second hand is sometimes risky. Maybe the original owner dropped the fence at some point or kept it adjusted too tight so it took a lot of pressure to lock it. Those levers are very robust so I don't know how that could occur with out serious abuse.

I have seen it, but do not know how it broke. I bought a used 520/M7 fence for a very low price which had one of the lock levers broken in the same place. Purchased a new lock lever from SS and replaced it. Now I have a good working fence. After you replace the lock lever check to see the locks are not too tight. I had to adjust them on the one I repaired.

Ok, not sure how to make that adjustment but I will take a look at it. I used some JB Weld to mend the broken lever and it looks fine. Shopsmith is taking orders but not mailing anything from its warehouse.

I am pretty sure Shopsmith is shipping, perhaps not every day. I received a large order a couple of weeks ago, and according to the status a smaller order I made shipped yesterday. And I've seen posts where people are getting parts, including service parts. But I hope your JB Weld fix holds.

The adjustments are pretty intuitive, lock nuts at the back of the fence for the top lever and at the back of the front casting for the bottom. I doubt it was broken from being out of adjustment, more likely it was dropped on the handles at some point.

- David

I purchased a used 520 with the same issue. Basically a brittle cast. Got replacement part from Shopsmith, no problems. At one of the demonstrations, Mike mentioned that it may be adjusted too tight. Did not make any adjustments on mine, both are 'snug'. Might need to order a roll pin and get a punch if you do not have one. I bought a set from the local hardware store.

I just installed the lower lever. I detected movement of the fence so I incrementally tightened the nut until I eliminated the movement of the fence.