bhurley wrote:I am new to this site but have had my Shopsmith for ages. I have really been impressed with the knowledge here. I'm sure someone will know the resolve to my problem. When I try to tighten the 2 levers on my fence it always wants to creap out of alignment with the blade. The table is aligned to the blade however the fence always wants to move. Please tell me what causes this.
BTW it is a 520.
Thanks in advance.
I am not sure that the movement you describe is bad. At first, I thought maybe you might have a problem with a front rail that was not straight. But then I went to the shop to see if I could replicate your problem and I can.
For as long as I have had the 520 fence, I have repositioned it using two hands. After unlocking both levers, I grasp the front end of the fence with both hands and while pushing it tight against the front rail I slide it to the desired location and then lock the lower lever followed by the upper lever. When doing this, the fence does NOT relocate in conjunction with tightening the upper lever as you describe.
My 520 fence deviates .005" from front to back. The Crafters Station Fence (mounted on the Mark V) is actually better (.004"). The CS Fence was purchased off eBay from one of the Folkerths.
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My "loose parts box" is 7 1/16" wide. It slides the length of two rip fences (squeezed between those fences) with equal resistance the entire length. One fence was aligned on the CS and the other on the Mark V. I think this demonstrates that two fences, perpendicular to the same rail are parallel (in fact) to one another. Parallel means "at all points equal distant".
I think that was a postulate that I learned way back in high school geometry class. At the time, I could not understand why I really needed to know that.
PS Nope: It is a theorem - "Two lines perpendicular to the same line are parallel to each other.