Shopsmith Forums

I'm trying to understand the Mark V 500 saw guard landscape so I can figure out what to actually buy. I have the original aluminium guards on my 1983 Mark V 500 (photo 1) and trying to work out the right upgrade path.

I've scoured the web, forums, old eBay listings, and videos, and pulled together these distinct pieces. I cannot work out what actually fits my machine, what needs drilling and tapping, what stays in place when raising and lowering the table, etc. Hoping experienced owners can help me make sense of it.

Photo 1: The common aluminium upper/lower that we all know.
Photo 2: An upper assembly with a built in splitter and mounting block. What does this actually attach to on the machine? Does it work with any table, or does it require a drilling template?
Photo 3: Different again. Similar splitter to photo 2 but it has an aluminium lower guard securing piece. Is this a hybrid setup or just listed with a lower included?
Photo 4: A full kit, different again. Different slot in the splitter and different accessories. Almost looks like a 510/520 setup but seller claims it's for the 500.
Photo 5: Mygrowthrings shows this dual 2-1/4" port version as the best verison made for the 500, I assume it is the lower part shown in photo 4. He says the 500 didnt' have a great guard, but of the bad ones, this one was the best.

Cheers!

As per Ron Dyck on Facebook Shopsmith Owners Group

- I don't recognize the guard in photo 3.
- I think photo 4 shows the lower saw guard disassembled, but that is not the upper guard that goes with it.
- Picture #5 an upgrade kit for that verson that adds a second dust port.
- The for the final version of the Mark V-500 saw guard, the upper guard is in photo #2, it mounts on a block that is attached to the rear table post. When buying used that block has often gotten separated, and is missing.

Link to the manual. https://www.woodworkerslaserguide.com/S ... 505875.pdf

And there was an upgrade kit that improved dust collection.
https://www.woodworkerslaserguide.com/S ... 505875.pdf

You have done a great job researching the various versions so far. I can add the following comments:
1. Photo 1 is the system supplied with my 1980 version.
2. Pretty sure that Photo 2 is the only upper guard upgrade available. Making sure the mounting block is included was good advice. This is the upper guard I have purchased. This upper guard can be used with ANY suitable lower guard (the original or an upgraded lower guard). I still use my original lower guard.
3. Can't be of much help on Photos 3, 4, or 5, except I think there was an upgrade for lower guard with only one exhaust port, and then an upgrade to it to add a second exhaust port.
I will attach a few PDFs I have saved over the years about upgrades.

br549 wrote: Mon May 18, 2026 6:55 am You have done a great job researching the various versions so far.

Thankyou!

I am a dummy. I just did another deep dive and I was literally told to read this thread below a few days ago by the author who posted all the damn guards perfectly in order with a little history on each!

viewtopic.php?p=285672#p285672

I think this answers literally all my questions.

Saw Blade Guards have been discussed many times. The link below is to the Topic Shopsmith Mark 5 What When and Where in the Community section. On page 5 I discussed the different Mark 5/V Saw Blade Guards going back to the first one for the Mark 5 in the 1950's.

viewtopic.php?t=24963&start=40

The Lower Saw Blade Guard in your third picture was originally released with the Mark VII in the 1960's and is why it is not in the Mark 5 link above. It used the same upper Guard (seen below) as the one in your 1st picture. That upper Guard you show does not belong with it or any Mark Saw Guard set.

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Your 4th picture is a collection of miscellaneous Saw Guard parts that don't all go together.

This might be a good time to look at the Shopsmith Saw Guards made over the years.

The original Shopsmith tool was the Model 10E followed by the 10ER. It came with an upper Saw Guard, but the Lower Saw Guard was optional. The Upper Saw Guard versions are below. The oldest is on top.

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The Lower Saw Guard is a rare item since it was an optional accessory most owners never bought one. It is shown below. It has a square Dust Chute so not easily connected to a Dust Collector.

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I believe the Model 10 Saw Guards were also the ones offered for the Mark 2 but cannot confirm this since I haven’t found any pictures of the Guards for the Mark 2.

The first Saw Blade Guard set made for the Mark 5 in the 1950’s is below. The Lower Guard was made for a 9” Saw Blade which was the standard at the time. The lower Guard has a square Dust Chute like the Model 10 Lower Guard.

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The Lower Saw Blade Guard below was made for the Mark VII of the 1960’s. It was made to handle 10” Saw Blades and uses the same Upper Saw Blade Guard as the next one for the Mark 5. It was also known as the Sawdust Chute.

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The next Saw Blade Guard set was made for the Mark V with the original Table System AKA 500. I see this set or just the Upper Saw Blade Guard for sale at times without the heavy wire loop called the “Shoe” on the front of the Upper Guard that lifts it up over the stock. I mention this because without the Shoe the Upper Guard is useless.

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The last Saw Blade Guard set made for the Mark V 500 had two versions. It was the first to have a clear Upper Guard. The early version only had a single 1-1/4” Dust Chute. The later version has two 2-1/2” Dust Collection Ports and an upgrade kit was available.

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The last Saw Blade Guard set is for the other Mark tool models of the 510/505, 520, Mark 7 and Mark 4 with the larger Table System.

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There are other Magna/Shopsmith made Saw Guards for the Table Saws which are not included here.

Unreal Russ, thankyou so much! It's tricky, eBay lists many items incorrectly so you have to really know what's what to buy the right thing.

I found a 96 page catalogue online with the original sales text for 555294 and 505875

br549 wrote: Mon May 18, 2026 6:55 am I will attach a few PDFs I have saved over the years about upgrades.

Wow! Where did you find these! Do you have any more? I'd love a Google Drive / Dropbox link if you do.

I have literally scraped this entire forum, every PDF, every comment, including the big mega threads with document caches. These are new! I'm making a new mega repo of everything, OCRing them all (so they are searchable), then I have some interesting plans for htem.

These would help a lot.

Glad they were helpful. I just saved them whenever I came across something interesting on this forum, or directly from Shopsmith's main website. With the new ownership, I'm not sure how many of the instruction sheets are now available (as compared to before the ownership change), but you might try looking https://www.shopsmith.com/manuals-information

Let me look at what I have and maybe I can create a list.