Shopsmith Forums

I am opening this thread in response to a post by wa2crk who has had difficulty aligning the table system on his Mark V Model 520.

If I had your problem (and I have), I would start by making certain that each of the tables is flat and all of the tubes are straight; and I do mean all of the tubes (bench, way, and extension).

The flatness of a table can be verified by placing the table upside down a "flat" surface and verifying that all four corners contact the reference surface simultaneously. If you can rock the table by pressing any one of the corners - it is not flat.

The straightness of the tubes can be verified by rolling the tubes across that same "flat" reference surface. If the tubes are not straight, it will become apparent as they are rolled across the reference surface.

Once I determine that the tables are flat and the tubes are straight, I meticulously align the main table. The blade (or sanding disk) is the reference surface used for this alignment. Only after the main table meets your performance requirements, can you successfully alignment the floating and extension tables.

Side note: Looking at the photos you provided, wa2crk, it appears that your front 520 rail is different than mine.

This sketchup drawing by reible shows what my front rail looks like.

[ATTACH]14683[/ATTACH]

dusty wrote:
Side note: Looking at the photos you provided, wa2crk, it appears that your front 520 rail is different than mine.

This sketchup drawing by reible shows what my front rail looks like.

[ATTACH]14683[/ATTACH]

I must be missing something. I'm not seeing any difference in the close up photo on the other thread (at least the parts that are shown) to the sketch up drawing. Curious, what difference do you see?

Maybe it is not you. Maybe it is me. I was comparing these:

[ATTACH]14685[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14686[/ATTACH]

What looks different to me is how the two would wrap around the extension tubes.

Here are some other shots. I thought that maybe looking at the rail from different positions would reveal what I'm not seeing. NOPE

[ATTACH]14687[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14688[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14691[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14692[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]14693[/ATTACH]