Shopsmith Forums

Fellow Geniuses,
I recently purchased the SS Lower Blade Guard Upgrade kit. Before I even start I thought I would check and see if there are any closely held secrets in putting this together. When I got to “hacksaw” I decided to ask you folks first. Thank You very much.
Thom
Portland

Hi Thom;
Its been quite a few years since I did that upgrade to my MkV 500, but I don't recall any difficulty. As I remember, I just followed along with the installation instructions and it all worked out and has given me no problems.

Hi Thom,

I am trying to remember if you have the early Blade Guard System 505875 with the 1-1/4" dust collection port. If so you are replacing the 1-1/4" dust collection parts with the upgrade to two 2-1/2" ports. I'm not positive but that should entail just switching the parts. The instructions I have are for installing the two 2-1/2" port later version for the first time and not changing from the early version to the later version so I cannot tell for sure. The only reason for you to have to hacksaw off a piece of the table tie bar is if there is a clearance difference between the early and later versions of the 505875 lower guards. Ed may be able to answer that question.

chapmanruss wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:22 am Hi Thom,

The only reason for you to have to hacksaw off a piece of the table tie bar is if there is a clearance difference between the early and later versions of the 505875 lower guards. Ed may be able to answer that question.

Thom and Russ:

Hmm...not sure if I can be of any help on the difference between versions of 505875. I dug through my file box and found the installation instructions that I worked from, and the title on the first page is simply "Mark V (Model 500) Saw Guard System Retrofit Kit 505875." I can't remember exactly when I did the retrofit, but it had to be at least 20 years ago. The date of copyright on the instruction sheet is 1987. My 500 did not have any lower saw guard when I bought it, so the retrofit I did was not a replacement.

This installation does require modifying the tie bar, and the kit came with a pre-marked template to locate where the cut had to be made. The instructions include a "Caution" that the cut must be parallel to the support tube and not tapered, so if you don't have the template it would probably be worth the effort to find one before making the cut just to be sure the tie bar isn't weakened. Unfortunately, I did not save the template from my kit, but I would guess you could find one without too much trouble.

Taking a hacksaw to the Shopsmith may prove a little anxiety-provoking, but it will be worth it to have the guard in place.

Hope this helps,

The instructions I have are likely similar to Ed's. It is dated 2/88 with an Information update page from 5/92. The online catalog page says

Note: Some drilling and tie bar modifications required.

Mayber there is enough differences between the version's parts to require modifications. I wish I had better information for you, Thom.

Thanks for the input I am going to tackle the upgrade as soon as my new dust collector arrives. I have been learning the art of the Shopsmith Lathe. So far, its a lot of fun. Going from Saw then to Jointer then moving to a lathe on the same machine is just too cool. Especially when all of its owners have taken very good care of the machine. What a GREAT machine.
Thom
Portland, OR