Shopsmith Forums

Has anyone been able to re-energize the magnetic tapes used on our 520 tables. Mine are almost useless.

Dusty,

Haven't done this myself, but you should be able to re-magnetize it. See link below:

https://magnetpartner.com/blog/how-to-r ... ize-magnet

I have tried this but I don't sense that the tape magnet is any stronger than it was when I began. Now this might be because I have done something wrong. I passed my magnetic bar from left to right across the tape magnet a half dozen or more times. No obvious change.

Polarization of my neodymium bar magnet is unknown. Polarization of the tape is unknown. I assume that the upper surface is the North pole.

I can not find my Boy Scout compass. So much for "Being Prepared".

Dusty,

I found this link which may be helpful. It could be that the magnetic tape used here is a multi-pole magnet type. If so, it has alternating magnets down the length so trying to re-magnetize it won't work. You'd have to replace the magnetic tape.

https://www.hsmagnets.com/blog/parts-fl ... 0diameter.

"Multi-pole magnets are magnetised in a striped pattern of alternating north and south poles e.g. north, south, north, south."

RFGuy wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 9:36 am Dusty,

I found this link which may be helpful. It could be that the magnetic tape used here is a multi-pole magnet type. If so, it has alternating magnets down the length so trying to re-magnetize it won't work. You'd have to replace the magnetic tape.

https://www.hsmagnets.com/blog/parts-fl ... 0diameter.

"Multi-pole magnets are magnetised in a striped pattern of alternating north and south poles e.g. north, south, north, south."

I sorta figured that would be what I had to do. I am currently waiting for a response from Shopsmith - the part number for a magnetic tape and instructions on how to remove existing tape. Just asked yesterday.

Dusty,

Please let us know what you find out from SS as this could be future problem for others of us that have this Mark V 520/Mark 7 feature or upgrade on our tables. With that thought in mind has anyone else reading this had this problem? I don't do anything special for storing this set of tables (main, extension and 2 floating) than I do for any other tables. Maybe I should be to protect the magnetic strips. The Main Table sits on my Mark 7 most of the time while the Extension and Floating Tables are stored when not in use on the Accessory Cart I made.

chapmanruss wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 1:24 pm Dusty,

Please let us know what you find out from SS as this could be future problem for others of us that have this Mark V 520/Mark 7 feature or upgrade on our tables. With that thought in mind has anyone else reading this had this problem? I don't do anything special for storing this set of tables (main, extension and 2 floating) than I do for any other tables. Maybe I should be to protect the magnetic strips. The Main Table sits on my Mark 7 most of the time while the Extension and Floating Tables are stored when not in use on the Accessory Cart I made.

Russ,

I haven't had this problem myself, yet. I can't remember exactly when I upgraded to the 520 fence system, maybe 10 years ago? Unfortunately mine has a very weak magnet tape and has been this way since I first got it. I know these thin magnetic tape strips are less than ideal, but if anyone knows of a better one (stronger magnet) out there, I would be interested in trying to upgrade mine to it. The stainless steel tape is just a little too wide which makes it easy for a stray hand/arm to easily catch the front lip of the ruler and pop it off. Because of this I have never really been able to attempt to use the ruler for any rips since it doesn't stay firmly in place.

What do those magnetic tapes stick to on a Mark 7/520?

They stick to the front extruded aluminum fence rails on the Mark V 520 and Mark 7. In the picture below the table on the left has the magnetic strip closest to the table edge and the one on the right is the earlier fence rail without the magnetic strip. As you can see the ruler itself is wider than the magnetic strip.

_ I see it's time for a little cleaning and maintenance on my Mark 7 table.

I have been in touch with CS and they are working on my problem. We have exchanged two or three emails. Denise has been very responsive.