Rifing knife on the 520

[Greenvilleguy]

My rifing knife and upper blade guard won't seat properly. The table is too far forward to allow enough room to get the rifing knife in all the way.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't use it often; but it has fit in the past. I did allign the table last week since the miter slot didn't line up with the blade. That tells me the table has probably been dropped at some point. The table no longer tilts from 90 to 45 smoothly either.

Is it possible that the table has moved forward? Can that be adjusted?

[james.miller]

The bolt holes in the trunnions are 1/2" id and the bolts 3/8 or just under so it's possible the table shifted forward.

When aligning table only loosen 3 bolts and use the 4th bolt as the pivot point to rotate table into alignment.

To check for flat table loosen all 4 bolts and lay the edge of a "ground" straight edge diagonally, it should be + - .005" from surface of table all along straight edge. See ribbing thread second entry by Nick and others later in the thread http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=131

Jim in Tucson

[Ed in Tampa]

My rifing knife and upper blade guard won't seat properly. The table is too far forward to allow enough room to get the rifing knife in all the way.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't use it often; but it has fit in the past. I did allign the table last week since the miter slot didn't line up with the blade. That tells me the table has probably been dropped at some point. The table no longer tilts from 90 to 45 smoothly either.

Is it possible that the table has moved forward? Can that be adjusted?


First go to this forum thread and read Nick's instructions on aligning the table.
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=131
It is titled Main Table Ribbing and is on page 8 of the General Wood Working category. In it Nick SS's Education Guru explains why the table will bind when tilting and how to properly adjust it.

The reason your riving knife won't fit is because your lower blade guard is tilted slightly where it clamps to the spindle. If the top of the lower blade guard slopes forward the riving knife will lean forward and can touch the blade if the top edge is slopping back the riving knife can't get pass the table insert to seat properly.

Loosen the allen bolt that holds the lower blade guard to your machine and insure the top of the blade guard is parallel to the table. Tighten the blade guard and you should be all set.

However if you moved you table enough you may also need to adjust the alignment of the riving knife to the blade. Again this is done where the lower guard attaches to the spindle. If you remove the blade guard at the bottom of the hole that spindle goes through you will see an allen screw. If you turn the screw in and mount the guard the riving knife will move closer to the headstock, if you turn the screw out the riving knife will more further away from the head stock.

Once you mount the riving knife look the see if it is in alignment with the blade. If it too far to right raise the table remove the lower guard and turn the alignment screw 1/2 turn clockwise. If it too far to the left turn the screw 1/2 counter clockwise. check your adjustment and continue until you have it perfect. YOu should only have to do this once or every time you move the table on the trunions.
Ed

[Greenvilleguy]

Wow! You guys are great. As Ed correctly diagnosed, I had the lower guard slightly tilted. I moved it and the splitter fit perfectly. That was easy and I'm not sure I would have every figured it out. (Ed, your reply was so fast that I suspect you've done this yourself.)

I haven't tackled the tilt being hard yet, but I've printed off Nick's instructions and they seem simple enough. I'll go straighten out that problem as soon as my wife gets home so I can borrow a twenty. I have ones, but I always like to follow Nick's instruction precisely.

[Ed in Tampa]

Wow! You guys are great. As Ed correctly diagnosed, I had the lower guard slightly tilted. I moved it and the splitter fit perfectly. That was easy and I'm not sure I would have every figured it out. (Ed, your reply was so fast that I suspect you've done this yourself.)

I haven't tackled the tilt being hard yet, but I've printed off Nick's instructions and they seem simple enough. I'll go straighten out that problem as soon as my wife gets home so I can borrow a twenty. I have ones, but I always like to follow Nick's instruction precisely.

Nope I never did it. ;-0

Yes I have done this many times and for some reason my eye says the thing is level but when I lower the table I see I'm off by about 1/2 inch. Makes me crazy. I finally made a line up mark, for some reason the split in the casting and the seam on the headstock didn't allow me to be close enough.

Yea go for the $20 I agree we must follow Nick's instructions to the letter if we expect them to work.

Glad to hear I was able to help
Ed