EX 21 - broken

[maritimer]

Yesterday I took the day off work so I could spend a full day scrolling and get lots done...everything was ready to go, patterns attached, holes drilled, things are going to happen today....did they ever. 

At 7:20am I'm in the garage and what should have taken 10 min to cut (a simple ornament) was into 1/2 hr. (blades dulled fast, slipping, whatever it happened).  Moved on to other projects, some went good some not.  I sure wasn't getting as much done as I had hoped and at one point thought ' I should have went to work' - NOT!  Anyhow, put the last blade in and no tension - took off the cover of the arms and sure enough - mechanism broke.  Well nothing I can do right now, I'll call the dealer later as I have to keep cutting.  Hauled out ol' yeller and that sure didn't go good (if the blade didn't slip from the top it slipped from the bottom which was a new one to me), so after cutting 2 ornaments I called it a day - did my finish sanding and closed shop frustrated in that I didn't get as much done as I had hoped and also that my saw quit.  But at the same time I did get things done that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I remember reading in Sheila Landry's blog that she had had a saw problem and when I found the post sure enough same thing. As I was telling my husband what happened I got thinking maybe there was signs that things weren't right only didn't realize it at the time.  The tension needed to be adjusted a lot (which isn't normal), the white lever flipped open once and that has never happened before.  When that happened I just thought strange, put it back and kept going. 

I sure am glad that Sheila posted about her "breakdown" as it gave me some info when I called the dealer.  He wanted to know how I knew as much as I did, thought I had already talked to General!  Thanks Sheila...

Now I wait to hear what they're going to do....
 

[Keefie]

Sorry to hear about your saw, hopefully you'll get as good a service from your dealer as I have had from Axminster Power Tools.

[scrollgirl]

So sorry to hear about your saw!  Ray had told us that they were working on a solution so that it wouldn't happen anymore, so I would hope that there wouldn't be a problem with you getting it repaired. As far as the blades slipping out of the DW788, be sure to clean the holders and also the new blades so they don't slip.  You may even have to use a little fine sandpaper on the holders to give them more 'tooth' to hold the blades.  So many blades are shipped with a coating on them to prevent rust and if you don't clean them first, that gets in the holders and they don't hold well - especially with the smaller blades.  I use mineral spirits and dip the ends in and wipe them off good.  I then go a step further and use a spray of window cleaner on the ends to get the mineral spirits off.  This way they are not 'slippery' at all and hold very well.  Be sure to clean the holders too though because if you have oil or grease on them, you can clean the blades all you want and they may still slip. 

Also, Keith wrote an article on adjusting the Excalibur to the right tension.  You don't use the knob on the back at all and the article explains why very thoroughly.  The link to it is here:

http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/articles/excalibur-tuning

I hope it is helpful to you.  I will watch your post here and hopefully you will get your answer soon about your Excalibur.  Good luck and let me know if you have any questions that I can help you with. 

Take care, Sheila

[dgman]

Sheila is right about cleaning the ends of the blades, but I use a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean the ends of the blades. It takes just a few seconds before I mount the blade. Also take out the thumb screw and carefully sand the end till it is no longer shiny. This applies to both saws as they both have the same type of blade clamps.

[scrollgirl]

Yes, thanks for that explanation, dgman.  I have done it that way too and it is also very effective.

Sheila

[Northerner]

i have to disagree with dgman on sanding the end of the knob.
i did that to mine and after several times it developed a convex shape (cone)
so there is less surface area to grip. its best to order a new one and just
replace it. i know seyco has repair kits (the little spinner end) but they are
about as expensive as the whole knob.

[scrollgirl]

I found that if you put the sand paper on a flat surface or table and gently rub the end of the piece against it, it will not curve the end that holds on the blade. You need to go easy and just rough it up a bit, like dgman said.  You don't want to change the shape of it - you only want the surface to have 'tooth' so it will better hold the blade.

  Sheila

[dgman]

Just like Sheila said! That's why I said Carefully sand!

[spiderman]

that sucks.

[jimbo]

Put a nut on the end of the clamp bolt then sand the nut keeps the end of the bolt flat, works for me
Thanks for the info on on adjusting of the Excalibur Sheila I will try it out
Jimbo

[scrollgirl]

Any feedback on the article is appreciated.  We like to know how it works for you!  

Sheila

[bettyswood]

My blades were slipping out the other day and I remembered I had just put on hand lotion before I went out to work.  Washed off the hand lotion and I was back in business again.  I also use mineral spirits and sand paper on the blades.  Remember there is a spare thumb screw where we took off the hold down bar.

[maritimer]

Well I've gotten word that they are going to repair my saw....here we are 2 weeks and still not done.  The part was to be in this week and now another company is to do the repair.  Hopefully it will go in to the shop next week.  In the meantime I'm still using the DeWalt.  It sounds awful...like I'm going thru a 2" board instead of 1/2".  I don't know what the problem is but until the EX is repaired it's getting the job done. 

Sheila/Dan regarding your replies on blade slippage, I do sand the blade ends now....learned that trick quite early in the game!

Sheila when I get my saw back I'll read the adjusting tension article more thoroughly.  You may hear from me again! lol

[spiderman]

Well I've gotten word that they are going to repair my saw....here we are 2 weeks and still not done.  The part was to be in this week and now another company is to do the repair.  Hopefully it will go in to the shop next week.  In the meantime I'm still using the DeWalt.  It sounds awful...like I'm going thru a 2" board instead of 1/2".  I don't know what the problem is but until the EX is repaired it's getting the job done. 

Sheila/Dan regarding your replies on blade slippage, I do sand the blade ends now....learned that trick quite early in the game!

Sheila when I get my saw back I'll read the adjusting tension article more thoroughly.  You may hear from me again! lol

Mine dewalt made a knocking noise too. and dewalt sent me a brand new one. it was 2010 model type 2 dw788. I guess from what dewalt told me the all 2010 are bad batch.  The new one is type 2 2012. Working great so far.  But my ex-21 scroll saw waiting on parts for the white leaver and the thums and set screws been about a month now and acme has not got back to me yet.  I think this week i'm going to take the saw in and have them fix it or replace the saw with a new one.

[Crabbyboater]

My EX21 developed a problem with the white lever not holding.  It is about 15 months old. I called Ray at Seyco where I bought it and he had me try an adjustment that didn't help, then told me he would send me a complete upper blade clamp and white lever at no charge, considering it under warranty.  He only asked that I return the defective part.  I had it in less than a week, which included the 4th of July weekend.  Took me about 10 minutes to pull the old and put the new (rebuilt) assemble on and it works great.

I noted that the rebuilt replacement had the flat part of the cam ground down more than the original and a new fastener thru the lever to hold it. 

Great service, as we've come to expect from Ray.