Shopsmith Forums

I just ordered the dial indicator that is on special from SS. Is it worth it??

scooters wrote:I just ordered the dial indicator that is on special from SS. Is it worth it??

Now is a fine time to ask! If you use it, it is worth it; if you do knot use it it is knot worth it. There have been posts discussing this subject with members on each side of the fence. I have one, and can knot find any indication of where it was made, but it seems like it is a pretty good one.

Howdy,

Coincidence. Today I used the dial indicator to check the blade, adjust the bed and blade parallel alignment, etc. It is really simple to use and provides a nice degree of accuracy. Some folks may think it is over kill, but I liked using it. What would be helpful is knowing how much runout a blade can have and how much a bed can be off in alignment. I found it did wobble in the T tracks a bit, and there was no apparent way to tighten it. That made measurements a bit tedious. I think I'll look for a better T track solution, but keep the dial indicator.

Best,
mike

Influenced by Nick and the Sawdust Sessions, I have adopted .005" as my pass fail criteria when using the dial indicator for table, blade and fence alignments. If you want it tighter, you can get it tighter but the first time you have to reconfigure you will likely lose it again.

There are two or three built in variables that make it almost impossible to keep the tolerances tighter than about .005" without tweaking.

The miter bar is one, the table and carriage locks are two others. Every time one of this is changed, some variability is introduced.

Solutions are limited only by the breadth of your imagination. Incra sells a miter bar that is excellent. It has adjustments that allow you to take all of the sloop out of the miter bar. It happens to have a threaded hole that is idea for mounting the dial indicator.

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I have now changed out the Incra miter bar (I need it elsewhere) for an aluminum plate to which I have attached the dial indicator. This plate is equipped with the miter bar from the Shopsmith setup that came with the dial indicator. The weight of the fixture keeps it stable and eliminates the effect of the miter slot sloop (which is about .003").
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Having a dial indicator is a useful thing. Not merely for a Shopsmith, but for all sorts of other applications. Personally, I would not spend the money that Shopsmith wants for one. For a little less money, I can buy one with a magnetic base and articulated arms that is far more versatile.

foxtrapper wrote:Having a dial indicator is a useful thing. Not merely for a Shopsmith, but for all sorts of other applications. Personally, I would not spend the money that Shopsmith wants for one. For a little less money, I can buy one with a magnetic base and articulated arms that is far more versatile.

I guess that you are indirectly telling me that you think I screwed up when I bought my dial indicator from Shopsmith but I don't think so.

My Mark V has been fine tuned in a way that I would never have accomplished had I not bought that dial indicator and I did not have to adapt to be able to use it on the Mark V.

Yes, one can buy a dial indicator for less but I believe you get what you pay for and it will not be ready made for use in the intended application as this one was.

dusty wrote:I guess that you are indirectly telling me that you think I screwed up when I bought my dial indicator from Shopsmith but I don't think so.

Only if it's made by Stanley. ;-)

No, I don't think anyone who bought one from Shopsmith "screwed up". If you're happy with what you've bought and what you've made, then it's good.

Dusty,
I am confussed with the pictures in post #4. The pic on the right shows a indicator reading of -.001, and the pic on the left shows a indicator reading of about +.040. Is that correct or am I missing something.

efmaron wrote:Dusty,
I am confussed with the pictures in post #4. The pic on the right shows a indicator reading of -.001, and the pic on the left shows a indicator reading of about +.040. Is that correct or am I missing something.

I can't read the indicator on the left but if you say that is what it reads that must be right. However, if that is what it says, the alignment must have been in progress at the time. My table typically aligns to within .003" and I hardly ever have to tweak it.

The point of this particular post was to show one of the methods I have used to eliminate the sloop in the miter track.

:(I'll be more careful with the photo evidence in the future!

Dusty,

Thanks for the terrific description of how to use the indicator and the recap of .005" criteria. Good idea to remount the indicator with a plate on top of the bar.

Best,
mike