table alignment

[weelildaddy]

I have owned my 510/520 Shopsmith for years however, I have never been successful in squaring my table to ANY blade or sanding disk within acceptable tolerances. I have read a great deal on the subject including the machine manual, most of the references in this forum, Nicks Sawdust Sessions and Rick Davis new DVD. Still, the table will not align. The trunion bolts on the infeed side are oversize or elongated enough to provide adjustment. The trunion holes on the outfeed side are not and provide no play what so ever. Somewhere, I read that all four holes should be the same size and that there was a manufacturing run in past years that neglected to do this. Can anyone shed any light on this difficulty? I am frustrated beyond belief and simply do not want to return this table for inspection.

[Bruce]

The holes in one of my trunnions were drilled too small. I sent both trunnions in to Shopsmith and they verified that one was defective and replaced it no charge. I bought my 500 in 1985 and have since upgraded to both the 510 and 520. I just got the trunnion replaced in the last year. I wouldn't say that I couldn't align it before, but it's a lot easier now. I would call SS before returning yours so you get the correct address and return authorization.

[dusty]

Do I understand correctly? Do you have two different size trunion bolts?

or Are the unthreaded holes in the trunnions undersized? If the holes are undersized...Can you get them drilled out or even drill them out yourself?

[Ed in Tampa]

Check thread http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=131&highlight=trunions
Post #2 by Nick in about the 4th paragraph down he explains the problem and evidently Bruce contacted SS and they fixed it.
Ed

[weelildaddy]

Thank those of you who have responded so quickly. No, the bolts are the same size but obviously the holes on the outside feed of the table are just large enough to push the bolt through as there is no latitude for adjustment on the outfeed side. Thank you for the source of Nick's comments on the production run. Unfortunately, I must be the recipitent of that run. I guess I will take it apart and try drilling the holes larger myself rather than being without the machine for an extended period of time.

[paulmcohen]

Thank those of you who have responded so quickly. No, the bolts are the same size but obviously the holes on the outside feed of the table are just large enough to push the bolt through as there is no latitude for adjustment on the outfeed side. Thank you for the source of Nick's comments on the production run. Unfortunately, I must be the recipient of that run. I guess I will take it apart and try drilling the holes larger myself rather than being without the machine for an extended period of time.

You might want to contact Shopsmith first, some companies do "before repair replacement" where they send you a new table and then you send the old one back. This could also arrange for expedited shipping, if you drill first and something goes wrong you are going to have an expensive repair bill.

[dusty]

Trunnions cost about $40 each plus shipping. A local machine shop would likely punch out those holes for less than shipping.

Unless there is a warranty involved of course.

[jg300da]

Could you use a dremel tool to elongate the holes enough to provide movement for alignment? If I remember right mine were oversized for just that purpose.