Shopsmith Forums

Trusting that I'm not the only person that this has ever happened to...

I dropped my rip fence on my Mark 7 (arrgghh!!) and it landed perfectly badly - right on the top locking lever, which broke off. $400 for a new rip fence? Ouch! Looking at the blow-up diagram of the rip fence, it looks like the lever itself can be bought separately, at (what I hope is) a fraction of the price. Great! I thought - start disassembling the rip fence (keeping careful track of the parts!), get to the lever itself - and it doesn't slide out? I don't see a pin or something holding it in place, and gentle taps with the hammer on the "peg" doesn't seem to do anything. I'm reluctant to hammer it harder; I doubt SS would make it that hard to slide out that part. Has anyone else ever had to do this? Is there a trick to replacing that small lever? RSVP - and thank you for having mercy on a clueless (and clumsy!) dweeb!

The levers are held on with roll pins. Item 232 in the parts diagram/list. It might be fairly tight but a proper size pin punch and hammer should drive it out. Be sure to have good solid support on the back side. i.e. slightly open jaws of a metal vice to give clearance for the pin.

Wonderful! Thank you so much, John; your reassurance gives me the confidence I need to punch it out. Now off to the hardware store with it to find a punch that fits...

Question: once I've punched it out, will the roll pin be reusable, or will I need to buy a new one of those? I would think I could just slip in the old one once the lever itself arrives (it's on order, should be here in a few days). Thanks again - blessed Christmas to you and yours!

I would just reuse the old one as long as it is still a snug fit.

John has already given you the answers on replacing the Locking Handle. They can be accidently broken. I replaced a broken one on a fence I purchased used that came broken. As I recall I was able to use the original roll pin. You will want to remove the lock nut on the rear lock end of the rod when you replace the Locking Handle. This way you can remove the rod and handle from the body of the fence. It will make replacing the handle much easier. Note the order the parts come off for re-assembly. After the Handle is replaced, you will have to re-adjust the tension on the rear lock.

"Rollpins" are spring pins. As such they are reusable unless over stretched.

Excellent! Thanks to all of you for your responses! Will work on reassembling it tonight…

geoffshell wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 12:57 pm Excellent! Thanks to all of you for your responses! Will work on reassembling it tonight…

When you get it put back together also check the alignment, as dropping it might have knocked it out of true. A procedure should be in your manual.

- David

Ah, very good advice. Thanks, David.