Shopsmith Forums

Please help me identify this if you can.

Last year I bought a 1982 Mark V that had been retrofitted to be a Model 510. It came with an oddball miter gauge that works fine. The bar fits the table slot and has the disc to engage the t-slot feature. It also has the expandable slot in the bar like the Shopsmith units. It's really heavy and quite well made. It doesn't seem to be anything I've seen from Shopsmith but it seems like something MADE to fit a Shopsmith.

Anyone have any Idea what it might be? . . . Something from an overseas clone unit maybe?

Franken gauge? That looks like a Shopsmith miter bar. The rest? No idea.

I gonna say Taiwanese source.

Definitely a robust improvement.

I think I would be more inclined to agree with algale that it is a Franken gauge. The pictures I have seen, showing it in detail, of the Wood Master clone's Miter looks the same as an earlier Mark 5 Miter but with Phillips screws to set the angles and cheap thumb screw bolts to lock the Miter Gauge Stop Rod in place.

It's a Fox/ Smithy Supershop miter gauge with a Shopsmith slot bar . My Supershop miter looks the same except it has a 1" wide slot bar.

So, it's a Shop Smithy Franken Miter.

lahola1 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 12:41 pm It's a Fox/ Smithy Supershop miter gauge with a Shopsmith slot bar . My Supershop miter looks the same except it has a 1" wide slot bar.

Excellent! Thank you!

The upper part definitely looks just like the Supershop miter gauge photos I found on the web, and the 5/8” bar does have extra holes in it as if it had originally been mated with something else.

There were some other extra similarly cream colored parts included with the Shopsmith, such as a rip fence, that were obviously from a different machine. Mystery solved.

I didn’t receive, however, enough parts to make a complete Shopsmith miter gauge. The Shopsmith hold-down mechanism looks more convenient but the one I have has two clamps and looks like it might hold better. Any insight or experience to share on this?

Yes, that Supershop hold down is kinda clumsy. I haven't found the need to use it yet.

lahola1 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:35 pm Yes, that Supershop hold down is kinda clumsy. I haven't found the need to use it yet.

Understood and agreed. It is stable though. I may be on the lookout for a decent price on a used Shopsmith unit on eBay.

chapmanruss wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 1:26 pm So, it's a Shop Smithy Franken Miter.

Yep. Well said. Perhaps I should at least paint it gray to match the machine . . .

BigAl wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:56 pm I may be on the lookout for a decent price on a used Shopsmith unit on eBay

Keep the variants in mind if shopping used. They are available with/without the T-slot washer (not a big deal IMO) and there are at least two styles of hold-down clamp. 'Old' has a threaded rod with knurled nuts, 'new' is a smooth rod with a single-point clamp. I keep an old style around, but strongly prefer the new for its ease of adjustment.

- David