Shopsmith Forums

The rip fence needs to be calibrated or verified at least once. Once that is done, I have found it to be very repeatable - so long as - you keep the front end of the rip fence secure against the front rail. If you do not do this every time you reposition the rip fence, the fence will tend to reposition itself when you lock the near end.

I find this to be true for both the 510 and the 520 fences.

AEA wrote:How about the rails? My wife has a hard time releasing the roller locks from the tube rails sometimes on the 510. Is the 520 easier to change out tables?

It has been quite a while since I did my 520 system upgrade and haven't touched a 510 in years, so going on my memory here which may not be 100%. I think the 520 rail extrusions are about the same as the 510 tubes when it comes to inserting and removing the connector tubes. However, for tightening and loosening the knobs that secure the connector tubes, I don't know that she will have much improvement with the 520 knobs over the 510 wheels. The downside with the 510 is the wheels are set between the table and the rail tube (more difficult access), but the benefit is it is a reasonably large size that you can get your fingers around to tighten/loosen. The plus side on the 520 is that access for the knurled knob is from the bottom so easy access, but the downside is the knob is kind of small and hard on the hands. I have thought about changing out the 520 knobs for something aftermarket, i.e. something with a larger, more ergonomic knob. Don't get me wrong, I still love my 520 fence system, but I have some hand issues. I suspect I have some arthritis in my hands, which is why the 520 knobs bother me. If the wheels on the 510 rails bother her, I don't know that the 520 knobs are going to be any better for her. I wouldn't recommend upgrading for that, unless you can try out someone else's 520 system first before buying.

Is it that the 510 rail locks just won't release easily for her hand strength or is it more of not having good access to get fingers around the 510 wheel locks? If the 520 knurled knobs don't bother her hands, then the 520 would get her much better access to turn them compared to the 510.

Thumb wheels (I loose my nouns on occasion)
I would guess the new version. My 510 was made in 1992.
Maybe I crank them down harder than is necessary. It wouldn't be the first time the problem was me rather than the equipment.

I was just curious if the 520 system made it easier to change the extension and floating tables.

I was involved in another thread on the topic if an upgrade to 520 is worth it and if I take my wife out of the equation, I'll just stay with the 510 system and spend the money I save on wood. And maybe I'll see if I can get by with less force on the thumb wheels to see if they still hold.
Maybe I'll just not have any tubes in any tables when I'm done with my stuff and let her set things up from scratch. Hmmm?

AEA wrote:Thumb wheels (I loose my nouns on occasion)
I would guess the new version. My 510 was made in 1992.
Maybe I crank them down harder than is necessary. It wouldn't be the first time the problem was me rather than the equipment.

I was just curious if the 520 system made it easier to change the extension and floating tables.

I was involved in another thread on the topic if an upgrade to 520 is worth it and if I take my wife out of the equation, I'll just stay with the 510 system and spend the money I save on wood. And maybe I'll see if I can get by with less force on the thumb wheels to see if they still hold.
Maybe I'll just not have any tubes in any tables when I'm done with my stuff and let her set things up from scratch. Hmmm?

Yeah, I don't know that the 520 knobs will be that much easier for her to adjust than the 510 thumb wheels. It is an awful lot of money to spend on this upgrade for just this, if it would even be an advantage for her. If you are happy with everything else on the 510, but this one thing, probably best to save money on this particular upgrade then. Just my opinion.

Thanks for your reply RF. You gave me the info I was looking for. If I had seen it before my last post, I wouldn't have had to.

Yep now I will buy wood.

If you had the older 510 version, the 'wheels' have a hole for inserting the SS toolkit. Unfortunately a gorilla will dimple the tubes using that.

Good thing I have the newer wheels, I probably would overtighten if I had that option.