Shopsmith Forums

I have a 1977 vintage Mark 5 which was used quite a bit by my father before he passed it along to me. It still runs great. The miter gage was a bit sloppy in the right side miter slot so, as an experiment, I put a strip of aluminum tape down both sides of the miter gage rail which added about 0.008" to the overall width. This worked well in that the miter gage now has no slop and still moves smoothly through the slot. The problem is, now the miter gage won't fit into the left side slot at all.

So, should I remove the tape and live with the slop or is there something else that can be done?

mountainbreeze wrote:I have a 1977 vintage Mark 5 which was used quite a bit by my father before he passed it along to me. It still runs great. The miter gage was a bit sloppy in the right side miter slot so, as an experiment, I put a strip of aluminum tape down both sides of the miter gage rail which added about 0.008" to the overall width. This worked well in that the miter gage now has no slop and still moves smoothly through the slot. The problem is, now the miter gage won't fit into the left side slot at all.

So, should I remove the tape and live with the slop or is there something else that can be done?

Can you put the tape in the miter slot rather than on the rail?

I have some slop in the miter track also but I just live with it when using the Shopsmith Miter Gauge. If I really need to use a miter gauge with no slop, I use the Incra V120 (Shopsmith Model) Miter Gauge. The V120 has an adjustable miter bar that eliminates the slop.

The appropriate solution sorta depends on how much slop you actually have and how it effects the accuracy of your work.

I thought about getting a replacement miter gauge but since the two slots are obviously different widths, I'm not sure that is a good solution. Do you think the Incra is worth the price. You make it sound as if you don't use it all of the time. Is that true? If so, how come?

mountainbreeze wrote:I thought about getting a replacement miter gauge. Do you thing the Incra is worth the price. You make it sound as if you don't use it all of the time. Is that true? If so, how come?

I have two machines and a router table that have miter tracks but I only have 1 Incra V120. Therefore, the miter gauges get moved around. I use the miter gauges interchangeably but if I have a job where I am doing miter cuts that require angle changes, I use the V120. It is very accurate, very stable and very easy to change.

The Shopsmith miter change can be set just as easily but requires some additional care to get it set accurately (especially at other than 90° and 45°.

Yes, for what I do with the miter gauge, I do think it is worth the investment.

mountainbreeze wrote:I thought about getting a replacement miter gauge but since the two slots are obviously different widths, I'm not sure that is a good solution. Do you think the Incra is worth the price. You make it sound as if you don't use it all of the time. Is that true? If so, how come?

Your machine is twenty years older than mine but I would dare to say that it has not been used any more than mine. I am surprised to hear that the miter slots are worn enough to cause problems.

If they are, maybe you would be better served by getting a new table. With all of the upgrades that have occurred, there must be 500 tables available with less worn miter tracks.

If you have measured the miter bar and the two miter tracks, I would be very interested to hear those metrics.

My Shopsmith miter bars measure a nominal .724" while the miter tracks on my two newest tables measure a nominal .733".

Dusty is right. The simplest solution is to get a "new" table off ebay and be happy. Then you can find a creative use for the old table.

Until you get a new table, as Dusty suggested, put the tape in the wide slot so that the miter gauge works in either slot.

What about screwing down the (locking) set screw in the miter bar some? Track still too wide?

ss50th wrote:What about screwing down the (locking) set screw in the miter bar some? Track still too wide?

No,the track can be expanded so as to lessen the movement but it creates a noticeable drag that is not present with the V120.

The Shopsmith Miter Gauge is very capable of doing what is needed. The advantage that the V120 has as the notched protractor.