Shopsmith Forums

Wondering if the Mark V Upper & Lower Saw Blade Guard 505,510,520 will fit the older Mark VII? Also if the lower guard has a dust collection port? It looks like it does. Not sure how it will connect on the Mark VII. My main desire is a way to hook a dust collection on the table saw.

MVII blade slot will prevent that.

The Upper and Lower Saw Blade Guard for the Mark V 505/510, 520 and Mark 7 & 4 is different than the Saw Guards made for the original Mark 5/V aka 500 Table and the Mark VII from the 1960's. The Upper Guard for the 505/510 & 520 attaches through the slot in the Table Insert as opposed to attaching behind the Table as it does for the 500.

As JPG said,

MVII blade slot will prevent that.

The slot in the Table Insert for the 505/510 & 520 is longer to accommodate the Upper Guard going through it. The longer slot allows for another function of this guard's design in that the 12" steel Sanding Disk can be used going through the Table Insert and with the Lower Guard in place provide dust collection Yes, the Lower Guard does have a dust collection port. There is a stripped-down version of the Lower Guard for use on the Mark 5/V 500 with the original table system for Sanding Disk operations to provide dust collection. None of the Saw Blade Guards for the Mark 5/V 500 and the Mark VII, Mark 2 or Model 10's are large enough for the 12" Sanding Disk.

I wanted to share the experience I have with the 3D printed saw guard/dust chute that FB SOG member Doug Smith made for me. I am the owner of an old 1963 Magna Mark VII. Back then the saw guard was ‘optional’…so I never had one. I cobbled one together out of plywood to catch some of the dust, but it was just to get me by. Mark VII owners can’t use the 510-520 guard because the dust chute hooks to the right (this one hooks left toward the headstock). I have been testing out various prototypes for Doug and I think he nailed it. I have tested it with the 10” saw blade (1-1/4” and 5/8” arbors) at shallow and full depth cuts. At full depth it nearly seals to the insert—there is no dust escape. I have cut bevels up to 20 degrees, the original SS guard only supported 15 degrees). I actually was able to statically tilt the table to 30 degrees….but didnt try it for a sample cut yet. I have tried it with a 6” (non-SS brand), 13/16” wide dado (using the spaces Doug provided), the 10” Aluminum sanding disk (end of table, left slot, middle slot). I have tested it with a shopsmith dust hose as well as a shopvac hose (SS has a ‘lip’ on the end that needs to clear the table height posts). It should support the molding head too as that is smaller/narrower than the dado I was using. Recommend to any Mark VII owners who don’t have a lower guard. May also work with Mark V 500…but I dont have a way to test it. I used to know all the differences between V 500 and VII…but foggy memory now.