Shopsmith Forums

I bought a used 520 and transferred the fence & rails over to my 510 because my tables are in much better shape. I then purchased a used aluminum alignment gauge on eBay and now I’m ready to align the rails. But I can’t find the pdf instructions for aligning the 520 rails anywhere on line. Unless I’ve missed them I only see where Shopsmith offers those instructions with the new upgrade kit. Any know where I can download those instructions? Any help is much appreciated.

I will get a picture of the instructions tomorrow as they are currently in the shop if someone else does not post them first. If I recall correctly, the instructions have you hold the gauge down to the top of the table and try to lift the rail to the short side of the gauge then tighten the fasteners. The easiest way I have found to align the rails is to put the rail on the table but keep the bolts loose. Set the gauge on a flat surface so the short side is up and put a spacer the same thickness as the gauge so when the table is placed on top of them it lays flat. Lay the table, top side down, so that the short section is just off the edge of the table so the rail is resting on it. Press both the rail and table top firmly down onto the gauge while tightening the rail. After all tables rails are on, mount the tables on the SS and fasten all the tables together using the connector tubes. Make sure all the fasteners to hold the connector tubes are tight. Then using a straight edge see if any of the table are high or low and adjust as needed. Hopefully I explained my method so that you can understand it.

Thanks Brenda, appreciate it much!

The object is to set all of the tables at the same height (in the same plane). The gauge does nothing more than define a height. I use a wooden yardstick (from way back when) that just happens to be the right thickness.

Those instructions are one I do not have a PDF of and I still have a lot of unpacking from the move. Brenda's instructions for using a single Alignment Gauge will get you setup. I do mine the same way with the table upside down but now I have 4 gauges so one under each corner instead of spacers under the other corners to keep the Tables level. Depending on which upgrade you look at on the website, 505 to 520 or 510 to 520 it shows either 2 shorter Alignment Gauges or 1 longer (about the width of the Extension and Floating Tables) in the catalog. Mine are all the shorter ones but if you have the longer one it should do one end at a time for the Extension and Floating Tables. With a single Alignment Gauge you will still have to do each corner one at a time on the Main Table. It may take some going back and forth, checking and rechecking to get it evenly aligned.

I do not have a scanner but I was able to convert the pictures to a PDF but each page is a separate PDF. I do not have the program to edit them into one document. But here are the 520 upgrade instructions. Hopefully this will work.

Thank you all! Especially Brenda!

thunderbirdbat wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 2:12 pm I do not have the program to edit them into one document.

Your hints have been very helpful to me on several occasions, so just want to share that I have found PDF24Creator to be easy to use and very helpful for all things related to PDFs. It is available as a free download. I have no other interest or connection to the company.

It is available in the support section of the ShopSmith site.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/pro ... adePkg.pdf