Shopsmith Forums

I was making my first cuts on thin stick today and experiences some binding, found this. the guard splitter is fine with the blade height high, but low it is out of alignment, is there a fix, or just replace. I put a little pressure on it, but it goes right back.

Thanks

John

As an update, I got the clear guard off ( they hid that allen screw pretty good) and have managed to bend it a bit closer. how is everyone else. Is 'pretty close' the norm?

If this is a 510 and on version(?), there is a 'stop screw' alignment for the lower saw guard. Not exactly precise because you have to remove the lower saw guard to get to it. It is located just below where the guard mounts to the quill. I feel like this should work assuming everything is straight.

- David

DLB wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 4:47 pm If this is a 510 and on version(?), there is a 'stop screw' alignment for the lower saw guard. Not exactly precise because you have to remove the lower saw guard to get to it. It is located just below where the guard mounts to the quill. I feel like this should work assuming everything is straight.

- David

My goof, should have specified that it’s a 510. I’ll look for that adjustment, thanks

Original ? was regarding it varying with table height adjustment. Gotta ask if table is square to the blade.

Sometimes the whole lower saw guard doesnt mount evenly on the shaft-it has a bit of play for it to slip on.
Make sure when it is being mounted, it is snug against the mounting surface.

b

JPG wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:46 pm Original ? was regarding it varying with table height adjustment. Gotta ask if table is square to the blade.

It really seems the riving knife was bent. With the table low, for a thicker cut, it wasn’t an issue and I didn’t notice it. I was trying to cut some thin stock and the knife was far enough out that the stock caught on it. I’ve managed to bend it sort of back, but it still doesn’t line up exactly with the blade.

That alignment is the purpose of the adjustment described above.

John4337 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 10:50 pm

JPG wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:46 pm Original ? was regarding it varying with table height adjustment. Gotta ask if table is square to the blade.

It really seems the riving knife was bent. With the table low, for a thicker cut, it wasn’t an issue and I didn’t notice it. I was trying to cut some thin stock and the knife was far enough out that the stock caught on it. I’ve managed to bend it sort of back, but it still doesn’t line up exactly with the blade.

I think you might be saying that the misalignment between blade and riving knife varies as a function of depth of cut and that really should not be. However, you may also have a lower saw guard that needs to be adjusted. Blade position is fixed but the position (left/right) of the lower saw guard is adjustable just for this reason.

Two separate issues.

First, it is possible the riving knife part of the upper saw guard could get bent or twisted, in which case getting the riving knife properly aligned to the blade will be impossible until the riving knife is straightened/flattened/replaced.

Second, even with a straight/flat riving knife, care needs to be taken to ensure the adjustment screw on the back of the lower saw guard is adjusted so the riving knife is co-planar with the blade.

If all your blades are of the same thickness, this is a one-and-done adjustment. But if your blades are of different thicknesses, you will need to make adjustments each time you switch between blades of different thicknesses. This is one reason I switched to using only Shopsmith-branded saw blades (rip, cross cut, combo) and stopped using my Forest WWII combo blade.