Sawsmith 2000 operation questions

[wh500special]

Yesterday on a whim I picked up what seems to be a very nice Deluxe Sawsmith 2000 table saw/radial arm saw combination. I have read about these for awhile and thought it might a nice addition to the SS madness. And the price was right.

Anyway, I haven’t used it yet since it needs a bit of cleanup and I need to find a replacement locking knob for the blade tilt (I broke it during transportation…here’s to hoping it’s a standard thread on that knob). And I still need to realign everything since it needed a partial disassembly to go in my minivan.

Use in tablesaw mode is intuitive, and I have the manual as a go-by. But I have a couple questions for those of you who have one of these things about radial operation:
1. When crosscutting in radial arm mode, do you just hold the miter gage and workpiece stationary with your hand, or is something else suggested?
2.Is the top blade guard that’s supposed to be used with this thing interchangeable with any of the Mk V guards? I've temporarilly misplaced the gaurd from my 510 since I had to pack up a bunch of stuff to make room for my daughter's birthday party...long story.

I didn’t need this saw, but I’ve been wanting a RAS anyway for various purposes. The fact that this was made by SS is a real selling point to me even if these aren’t typically well received machines.

Steve

[perryobear]

Hi Steve,

I am not an expert but will try and answer your questions:

1. You will notice that the miter bar for the Sawsmith 2000 lacks the slot and tapered screw arrangement found on the 510's miter bar. Therefore it cannot actually be locked into place like you can on the 510's miter gauge.
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The Sawsmith came with two sliding Tee Nut assemblies. One that can be locked into the table's miter slot behind the miter gauge to help keep it in place. The second assembly has a pin which can be used on the cut-off end of the work piece during angled cuts in the "Radial Arm Mode" - see pg 55 in the Sawsmith manual.
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2. The upper saw guards are similar with several common parts. The dimensions of the riving knife and its slot are the same. The main difference is the location of the anti-kickback cams. On the 510 they are located under the clear plastic cover. On the Sawsmith the cams are located behind the cover. In addition the Sawsmith cams can be positioned up and out of the way. It is necessary to move the cams to this position when making a "Radial Arm Mode" saw cut to prevent the cams from engaging the workpiece when returning the blade carriage at the end of the cut. Again this is covered in the Sawsmith manual.
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I hope this helps.

Dennis

[wh500special]

Wow, thanks Dennis!

Looks like I'll have to improvise a guard to make this work. To eBay!

I'm guessing I have an incomplete manual...mine ends at page 54 and resumes at 63. Looks like pages were cut out. Go figure.

Your follow up was VERY helpful. THANK YOU!

Steve