New Tabletop for my EX30 Scrollsaw

[Claymore]

Hi,
I love my EX30 Scrollsaw (HMS Axminster) and cannot fault it anywhere apart from the steel tabletop that some eejit decided to paint...... why can't they use stainless steel? oh well as the paint on mine was starting to come off I decided to make a new tabletop that was maintenance free (could have made a plywood one but that would need replacing eventually) so I priced up replacing the whole tabletop and the price for 8mm Alloy plate was ££££££££££££££££££ (don't even mention S/S which was even more) so I bought a sheet of 2mm thick alloy and bolted it diretly onto the original steel tabletop so its extremely solid and won't rust 
One other thing I did was change the very large blade slot on the original table to a much smaller 5mm which has made a massive improvement when cutting tiny pieces of Intarsia (they no longer disappear down the slot :shock: )
I Started by removing the steel tabletop (4x countersunk bolts with nuts under the table) and placed it onto the sheet of 2mm alloy and used a scriber to draw around the steel top and marked and centre punched the bolt holes and also all the dust extraction holes, after trying various saws/tools to cut the alloy i ended using my Bosch jigsaw with fine metal blade and cut slightly larger than the table and then used a palm sander with 80 grit to trim to the exact outline and drilled/countersunk all the holes.
Then all i had to do was bolt them both back onto the EX30, by using 2mm thick alloy you can use the original bolts (any thicker plate and you will need longer bolts) after testing the saw it works perfect and only took around 6 hours (probably 1hr if you can use both hands) I will give the alloy top a sand down with 600 grit wet/dry paper to take away the shine (the light reflects and dazzles ya).
I suppose you could do a similar project on any scroll saw and its worth doing just for the smaller blade slot on the EX range of saws.
I have included some photos of the mods and also one of the 4" dust extraction hood that attaches to the table using magnets so very easy to move when changing blades and much better dust extraction than standard.

Cheers
Brian

[Claymore]

forgot the dust extraction photo

[dirtrider73068]

One thing about my EX16 I don't like is the table top, mine would leave behind the gray paint it would rub off on the back side of the work piece it sanded of easy but still and to me the table top is not really smooth, I have thought removing the paint and having it machined smooth, but also at the same time thought about find some thick lexan teh same thickness or maybe a litte thicker and use it as table top but worried the lexan would vibrate unless some ribs were  mounted under side to stiffen it up.

Maybe one of the days when I have some extra money and time I venture into a experiment to see if it will work. I have also wonder if that table top was smooth then maybe chrome or nickel plated if it be slicker or at least easier to wax to make slicker rather then whats on there now.

Mine I covered it in a piece of formica which is what is counter tops, found some at my local home restore store traced out the table shape used the scroll to cut it out then used carpet tape to hold it down and has worked fine, when waxed its pretty slick plus made it a near zero clearence hole.