Shopsmith Forums

Hi, so for weeks I have been researching and trying to figure out a good method to align my Shopsmith. Seems like a lot of people use dial indicators. I have placed several of these dial indicator tool options in my Amazon cart numerous times. I watched too many YouTube videos to count, and even considered making my own version. Then, by chance, I came across this MAG-DRO tool. It holds your digital caliper and uses the caliper depth gauge to measure the offset from the miter slot to the saw blade, or fence if your trying to mess with that. I happen to live close to a Rockler and they had them in stock, so I bought both options. One type rides in the miter slot, and the other is a magnetic base. It never occurred to me that my table isn't steel, so the magnetic one only works if you stick it to the miter bar, which basically makes it the same as the miter slot version. Below are pics from the internet. Basically, it confirmed what I already thought. Even when I get the alignment perfect, the design of the "moving table" is tough to overcome. I can purposely misalign the table by hand pretty easily. This isn't horrible, but now I know that for critical cuts, I will need to align just prior to each cut. So anyway, I have seen options for tools like this (SuperBar, A-Line, etc.) from $55 up to and over $130, and if you have a high accuracy saw those are probably well worth the money, but I found this little $9 tool does the job better than my saw can maintain. Just wanted to throw out this low-cost option as a search didn't turn up any hits. Bummer the magnetic one wont work out as I intended to use it, but for $10 I am keeping it anyway.

Thanks, Mike -

Mike, I just looked at the product description on the Rockler site, and it says that the miter-slot version is for 3/4” miter slots. How are you getting it to work in a Shopsmith miter slot?

Hi Dennis, it fits. It has plastic tabs on the sides that act like springs. It is a tight fit, but it does fit and slides in the miter slot.

Cool! I think I’ll get one to try with my next Rockler order. I’m thinking that it may have uses that go beyond just machine alignment.

Dennis, a couple more pics of it installed on my SS table. Sorry, I don't know why the pictures rotate, but you get the point.

BuckeyeDennis wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:45 pm Cool! I think I’ll get one to try with my next Rockler order. I’m thinking that it may have uses that go beyond just machine alignment.

Yes, that is why I am keeping the magnetic base version as well. I am pretty sure I will use it for something. It is only plastic, so I am thinking with some use it will wear a bit and slide easier in the miter slot.

Re picture orientation, it is a "feature" of the phpBBS software,
The easiest way to deal with it is to take all your pictures with the phone in the "landscape" orientation.

People frequently complain about how long it takes to receive items ordered from Shopsmith.

WOW

I just ordered a MAG-PRO from Rockler. I don't really need this and may not use it more than a time or two but I was curious. Shipping $5.99 on an $8.99 item with an estimated delivery time of two weeks. WOW

My lesson for the week. I use AMAZON and PAYPAL a lot and have gotten use to "free shipping" and one or two delivery times.

Pay attention to these tiny details; sometimes they could be decision factors when placing an order. Egg on my face.

rpd wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:07 pm Re picture orientation, it is a "feature" of the phpBBS software,
The easiest way to deal with it is to take all your pictures with the phone in the "landscape" orientation.

It is a feature of using a phone for a camera.

A camera does not play the orientation game.

Neither does the forum software.

Think hard about how you would use this MAG-PRO as a table alignment tool on your Shopsmith.

I thought that it looked like a cool deal but then I went out into the shop Digital Caliper in hand. Something that I ought to have done before placing the order. It might not be so cool after all.

Time will tell.