Shopsmith Forums

Some time ago my mother passed away and left me a small sum of money and I have been ruminating about what to do with it. My wife suggested I spend it on my shop as my mother, being the wife of a woodworker used to spend a lot of time in the shop with my wife and I in her last years. It was not a large amount but it was enough to upgrade the shop to Incra which I have wanted to do for a long time. It all arrived the other day so it was time to tackle the first one today. I converted a 510 to the incra fence system and since this machine is also my tilting arbor router so I included the wonder fence. After reviewing the SS Incra fence system it occurred to me that the Incra system was similar in design as far as using the aluminum extrusions as the 520 does. So instead of ordering the SS version I ordered the standard version which utilizes the aluminum rails. I got it installed today and it was a job getting it dialed in but now that it's done it works perfectly. It has the stability of the two rail system and is as easily converted as the 520 system. The rails which support the floating tables and everything loosens with a 5/8" wrench and slides off. . It takes the proverbial 5 minutes to remove the rails and convert it to another SS mode. I broke it down twice and put it back together and the fence and tables stayed perfectly aligned. Attaching a floating table is about the same as using the tubes on a 510. The whole thing is rock solid. Very pleased so far.
Paul

Impressive!! I like that the fence is much more stable because you are securing it to the rails rather than the ShopSmith version which relies solely on the right side begin fastened to an aux for floating SS table.
It appears as though you have enough space between the main and floating table to install an INCRA router table. If you add the Wonder fence system to the TS-LS you can make some incredibly accurate dovetails and box joints with very little set up.
More fun making saw dust!!

Be well,
Ben

The fence was my main concern and the reason to try to adapt the regular rail system. The fence on this one is solid as any fence I have ever used. Far more rigid than my unifence. The interesting part that had not occurred to me was that the system indexes off the brackets so once you have the system installed you can slide on and move around all the aux tables just like the 510 or 520 systems with the tubes. You can remove the rails and then slide them back on just as fast as adding or removing the tubes in the SS systems. It took some doing to adapt the brackets to the SS tables. I discovered that the tables, auxiliary and otherwise differ slightly from model to model. My first attempt failed because I was using tabes from two different SS's. Once I figured that out life became a little easier. With a matched set though there were issues. I had to add an aluminum plate between the brackets and the SS tables because the flat milled area on the SS tables was not wide enough to give adequate support for the Incra brackets. Once I got all that worked out the second attempt went fairly quick. I did get the LS TS Joinery system with it. That SS has two carriages so I can mount my tilting axis router on it. I have to make a router table to put in that area to the right of the main table.
Paul

You know Paul, you got me thinking.... (yes, a VERY SCARY thing for me to do)

I might just buy a 510 main table on Ebay to use exclusively with the INCRA TS-LS system using the INCRA rails for stability (and indexing repeat-ability). I could take a floating table and dedicate it to use the INCRA rails and permanently mount an SS adjustable leg or two

I certainly would appreciate the added stability.

I had planned to change over the mounting system for the TS-LS to use on a new table saw, but if the track saw lets me do precise sheet break down, then I should be able to abandon the idea of a cabinet saw and use the M7 for the remainder of the cuts. That will save a huge amount for more wood for more projects!!!!!

I love the inventiveness of the people on this site. I get inspired all the time.

Thanks for giving me more to think about and a fantastic option!!

Be well,
Ben

Wild and creative adaptation!

Very very impressive Paul.

One question, how is it adjusting table height? I assume is moves as a complete unit. Have you had any issues in raising or lowering?

Beautiful setup. I like Ben's idea of adding the router tabletop too. Hmmmm I may re-engineer my setup

Thanks for sharing....

Steve

I have the system on a SawStop and love mine. You can easily add a router setup to yours. My setup has a little room for the router table but not nearly as much as yours. You will love wkg with this setup.

I haven't got that far with it Steve but I will be testing that issue today. I use the adjustable stop collars and it was not an issue using the tubes with the 510 system so I expect it will work fine. This system is far more rigid than the tube system so it should be fine. Today hopefully I will get to attaching the router table and install the router and wonder fence. I also purchased the Incra joinery system for my stationary router table and my Rockwell TS to replace my Unifence.
Paul

Paul,

Very interesting. Did you get a standard TS-LS 52 or the XL with the longer fence and LS holder extrusions?

I bought a used TS-LS 52" a few years ago primarily for the positioner and no idea if I would ever use the TS rails portion. I recently non-destructively adapted the positioner to work on my work cart with a makeshift router table on a fold down wing; it works, but I'm not committed to keeping this configuration and can revert to something else.

I love this concept with the exception of the tables having those brackets sticking out and grabbing me when the TS rails aren't installed.

Here's my thought on an alternative. Get a pair of 510/520 extension tables and legs dedicated to holding the TS rails. Would have to find something to put on the front and back of each table, perhaps some 1.5" 80/20 extrusion might be enough, so that the TS rails would clear the 510 tubes (in place of your thin aluminum stock); or maybe the tubes on the main table become unnecessary and get removed instead of the thick spacer solution. This would leave the main table free from the rails, allowing at least some vertical travel without having to adjust everything, could even change blades without removing all.

Potential issue: would this still allow for adding a router table. My guess is that it would need to straddle over one of the extension tables with the router sitting between tables and the "front" of the table extending somewhat over the Shopsmith legs.

Think I'll play around with this idea a bit. I picked up a used 510 upgrade for my 500 a couple weeks ago, would be easy enough to try out some options without any real commitment.

Steve was asking how well the lowering and raising of the table was going to work. I tried it several times up and down and it seems to work fine. No issues with alignment afterward thus far.
Paul