Machine is outta wack..

[Jason Wall]

I have only been scrolling for a few months, but I have easily put a good 60-70 hours on my machine is use a Dewalt 788. I have noticed that the blade while running is starting to get thicker. Meaning its not as crisp vertically as it used to be while running. It is plumb and square to the table, I talking about from a side view. Is there an adjustment somewhere for this?  I tried tightening the upper and lower pivot arms to see if that is the problem, but no luck.

Has anyone else noticed this? I am sure that alot of you experience scrollers have had to do some sort of tune-ups here and there. I am also debating on building a heavy stand and bolting it the floor to stop vibration. I don't think thats whats causing it though. I think its mechanical. The upper and lower arm don't seem to be working in sinc (if that makes any sense)

I am using super thin blades. As it sits now if I position the blade all the way to the back of the top arm when I turn the screw the blade bends and is forced forward. When I insert the blade in the bottom clamp its tends to bend backward... this may be a cause to the problem also. Or part of it. Any comments or advise appreciated, thanks

Jason~

[golfman]

Try going to scrollsaws.com on Ricks site they have a page dealing with that problem.Dewalt tune up on the left .Good luck

[dgman]

Hey Jason, Welcome to the forum! There are jack screws on the opposite side of the thumb screws of the blade clamps. Make sure they protrude the same amount on both clamps. The are there to center the blade. They do tend to move when you tighten and loosen the thumb screws. Take the jack screws out and apply a drop of blue loktite on the threads so it will not move. Insert them as above. Then adjust you table so it is perpendicular to the blade. The blade clamps are lose by design. Once you tension the blade the slop goes away.
Try this and tell us it works for you.
In the meantime, go over to the introduction page and introduce yourself so we can welcome you properly!

[Jason Wall]

Good bits of info. Thanks dg and golf man.~

Its 4am and I have been doing a lot of reading. Can't wait to do those tune ups tomorrow morning. I am waiting on blades as well from Mike. It would be nice if those blades were well received by a tuned and tip top saw!

Jason~

[julief]

Jason, You will be amazed at the difference the blades will make.  Good luck with your adjustments.

[Jason Wall]

Its my second batch. Originally I had ordered a dozen of the FD-SP blades and a few dozen others... I had no clue how long they last or what to expect. Now with a better idea, I got 6 dozen!

golfman... the link to Rick's site is a good resource. I think I was able to reduce the vibration. Then again the vibration was just enough to throw off inside corners and sharp turns. Not really going to know till get the new blades. (The dull ones I have that didn't break cut slower.)

dg... I found the screws you were talking about and those I believe were set to the blade width of the Dewalt blade they ship the machine with. In addition if I put a highly agressive blade in there for cutting 3/4 or 1 1/2 stock the blade won't be centered on the upper or lower arm due to the blade thickness.

I think though I didn't explain my alignment situation properly. It seems on the upswing the upper arm comes forward slightly throwing the blade forward, check the photo below, I put a big blade in there to amplify the situation:



The blade goes from probably zero at the bottom of the blade to a heavy 1/8 at the top of my square. On the down swing it seems true or square to the table. I don't know if this is common or not. I tried adjusting the top of the blade all of the way to the back of the clamp. Then edging the lower part of the blade as far forward as I can. doesn't seem to help.

At any rate, that is my dilemma.

[alien11]

Jason:

I had a similar problem on a new 788 that I bought about a year ago. It's a problem that is described on Rick's site and a solution is provided. Check for "front-to-back" movement. The solution involves disassembling the front of the saw and elongating some holes by filing. Doing that I reduced the movement from about 1/8" to about 1/32". I don't remember how much filing I had to do, but I believe it was about 1/32". Rick's site shows the entire process.

Good luck,

[Jason Wall]

Yup, just finished reading everything in the Dewalt section on Rick's site. Going to try elongating those holes next. Time to grab the rugrat and head back out to the shop.

[Jason Wall]

Well I got the holes elongated and the bottom arm adjusted. The blade is square to the table both ways, within a 32nd. I am still catching some vibration but I think that is the complete unit now. I might try grinding down the bottom of the bracket that houses the tention rod (another tip in Rick's site)... or its time to build a solid base with a footrest on it. It stands the nickel test though at speed 7-8.

In addition I also flipped the top clamp nob around to the left side of the arm to give it that last little bit to make the blade square. The set screw is on the right now. This causes the top of the blade to be forced against the back or the top arm. I was debating on weather or not to adjust the bottom clamp the same way. This would cause the bottom part of the blade to edge forward away from the saw when the blade is tightened. But there is some goofy bracket on the bottom that is in the way. I am thinking of just taking that thing off. Thanks for point me in the right direction yall.

Jason~

[dgman]

Hey Jason, Yes, get rid of that goofy bracket! It's a guard to keep you hands away from the lower blade clamp while its running, but all it does is get in the way when your are tightening the lower blade clamp.