Shopsmith Forums

Seems that the last time I used the Shopsmith several weeks ago I left my rip fence on the table but unlocked (probably finished an operation of some kind using the fence and unlocked it and slid it to the end to get at my work piece).

Today, when I went to use the conical disc sander I loosened the table tilt lock and (a) the weight of the fence caused the table to pivot down to the right until (b) the fence flew off, bouncing off a footlocker where I keep my accessories and coming to rest upside down on the basement concrete floor. D'oh!

An inspection revealed the fence had a small ding on top on one of the edges to the T-trac but was otherwise undamaged. Probably would have been worse if it had fallen directly on the floor. I was able to sand out the ding.

But it is a lesson to me and I offer it to others: If you leave your fence on the table make sure to lock it!

I learned that one a long time ago. I left the fence on my 500 loose and it ended up on the floor. It wasn't damaged, but I never did that again. Now I have a 510 and won't leave that one loose either.
Some lessons need to be learned the hard way.

One more case of "advantage old Mark VII"...
On the old mark VII fence if it is not locked (lever type lock) it is extremely obvious without even having to look at it specifically.
I still think with a very few modifications that it would have been a good starting point when Mr. F started SS back up. Of course I have no idea of what he had in the way of tooling etc. when he acquired the old SS stuff. Sometimes important decision making includes an awful lot of factors and at some points it literally comes down to flipping a coin or following a hunch. You makes your choices and does the bestest you can.

I have been reminded of that lately as I work to expand the horse boarding business and also work to establish my retirement western boot rebuilding shop, both hopefully by mid November.
Every day brings another thousand decisions. I'm not as fast or as firm in the decision making department as I used to be.


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Couple more to go with this one.

Never:

Leave the headstock unlocked.

Leave the carriage unlocked.

Oh and never leave the chuck key in the mounted chuck.

JPG40504 wrote:Couple more to go with this one.

Never:

Leave the headstock unlocked.

Leave the carriage unlocked.

Oh and never leave the chuck key in the mounted chuck.

And never bleed on the tool or the work...


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Well, after you have learned why not to leave the fence on the table without locking it in place there is at least one more important thing to do.

Bouncing the fence across the shop floor cannot be good for in but once done all you can do is recover.

Checking for dings and dents will likely be the first thing one does. But is fence still straight and does it still mount square to the front rail.

Either of those conditions, if not met satisfactorily, could result in a safety hazard. A bent or unsquare fence can cause a binding (when ripping) that could lead to kickback.

I am paranoid about my rip fence and about where it resides when not in use. It is typically "locked" to the router table.

I have a second fence and I should probably be paranoid about it too. It hangs on the tool board on the wall near the router table. If it ever fell from there, it would likely be toast.

dusty wrote:Well, after you have learned why not to leave the fence on the table without locking it in place there is at least one more important thing to do.

Bouncing the fence across the shop floor cannot be good for in but once done all you can do is recover.

Checking for dings and dents will likely be the first thing one does. But is fence still straight and does it still mount square to the front rail.

Either of those conditions, if not met satisfactorily, could result in a safety hazard. A bent or unsquare fence can cause a binding (when ripping) that could lead to kickback.

I am paranoid about my rip fence and about where it resides when not in use. It is typically "locked" to the router table.

I have a second fence and I should probably be paranoid about it too. It hangs on the tool board on the wall near the router table. If it ever fell from there, it would likely be toast.

Agree. I neglected to mention that I checked it with a dial indicator in the miter slot and the fence is still true and straight when locked.

It has been a bad weekend in the shop. This morning I did something I never do. I took a cup of coffee into the shop. And made the mistake of resting it on the band saw table. Of course I forgot about it and knocked it over with about a 1/4 of an inch still in the cup. Most stayed on the table, and I wiped it up. A few drops went down the insert into the band saw. Took the cover off, blade off, cleaned everything. Made a few cuts. All ok, I think. But I've decided I won't spend any more time in the shop this weekend. Too many mental mistakes.

algale wrote:Agree. I neglected to mention that I checked it with a dial indicator in the miter slot and the fence is still true and straight when locked.

It has been a bad weekend in the shop. This morning I did something I never do. I took a cup of coffee into the shop. And made the mistake of resting it on the band saw table. Of course I forgot about it and knocked it over with about a 1/4 of an inch still in the cup. Most stayed on the table, and I wiped it up. A few drops went down the insert into the band saw. Took the cover off, blade off, cleaned everything. Made a few cuts. All ok, I think. But I've decided I won't spend any more time in the shop this weekend. Too many mental mistakes.

Incidents like those described become very common as one gets older.

I constantly relearn the "no liquids rule" and I am forever picking up something that I either dropped or knocked off.

One doesn't need to be old to make those kinds of mistakes. At 27 without much shop experience, I probably have just enough time to go from being "inexperienced and stupid" directly to being "old and careless."

I know that at some point I learned not to try to screw on tiny nuts by hand, but somehow that slipped my mind yesterday when I was connecting wires to my SS motor. One twitch of the fingers and the nut dropped down a small hole into the innards of the motor. The next fourty minutes alternated between unsuccessful attempts to disassemble the motor and shaking it like a cocktail shaker before it finally spit the nut back out. Not how I intended to spend my time.