Excalibur Blade Clamps

[Sam777]

Hi again,

I think I once read a thread talking about swivel end blade clamps for Excalibur. It make a lot of sense for all clamps to have swivel end at where they clamp on the blade.

I checked mine and found out that it DOES NOT have swivel end.

Excalibur owners, would you please check and let me know. If they do have swivel ends, where can I get them.

Thank you all

Sam

[Scrolling Steve]

My EX 21 has blade clamp screws that entail more than one part, not sure if it is a swivel, but is not just a screw......Go to the Seyco website and look at the parts page for Excalibur saws , has some great pictures that should answer your question !.....Hope this helps !  

[Bill WIlson]

My EX-21 has the 2 piece thumb screws and I bet yours does to.  It's the same design used on the DeWalt. 

 

It may not look like it at first glance, but the tip and the thumbscrew should be 2 pieces.  The tip should extend past the threaded body about 3/32".  The tip inserts into the body of the thumbscrew and is held in place by friction, with an 0-ring.  Yours might be a little tight and might not spin freely, but if you work at it a little, you should be able to turn it and pull it out.  I've heard of guys putting a little dab of grease on the o-ring, if it's too tight.

 

There is a picture of the assembly on Seyco's website that shows it clearly.

 

http://seyco.com/partspage/

 

Hope this helps.

[munzieb]

Just checked my EX-16 and it does not have the thumb screw swivel attachment. Since I top feed my blades, now I understand why my lower end of my blades end up with a slight forward bend. It makes it harder to feed through thicker material and reattach the blade and I always have to straighten them out with a flat nose plyer. I just ordered the modified screw and swivel attachment for top and bottom from Seyco. I'll let you know if that fixed the problem. Great forum for scroll saw information!

[Sam777]

My EX-21 has the 2 piece thumb screws and I bet yours does to.  It's the same design used on the DeWalt. 

 

It may not look like it at first glance, but the tip and the thumbscrew should be 2 pieces.  The tip should extend past the threaded body about 3/32".  The tip inserts into the body of the thumbscrew and is held in place by friction, with an 0-ring.  Yours might be a little tight and might not spin freely, but if you work at it a little, you should be able to turn it and pull it out.  I've heard of guys putting a little dab of grease on the o-ring, if it's too tight.

 

There is a picture of the assembly on Seyco's website that shows it clearly.

 

http://seyco.com/partspage/

 

Hope this helps.

Thank you all for the advice/comments.

Bill, 

I take back my claim (that my clamps do not have a swivel piece). You are absolutely correct. It just looks like it is a one-piece (at least to a 60 year old, WITH GLASSES)

thank again.

Sam 

[Sam777]

Just checked my EX-16 and it does not have the thumb screw swivel attachment. Since I top feed my blades, now I understand why my lower end of my blades end up with a slight forward bend. It makes it harder to feed through thicker material and reattach the blade and I always have to straighten them out with a flat nose plyer. I just ordered the modified screw and swivel attachment for top and bottom from Seyco. I'll let you know if that fixed the problem. Great forum for scroll saw information!

Bernd,

I just checked my EX-16 and it DOES HAVE a two-piece clamp. It must swivel. I couldn't turn it with my fingers. It is too smooth to grab.

Thank you for the reply

Sam

[hotshot]

Any modern EX will have the rotating head.  You just have to look close to see it.  On my saw, I'm using the Hegner Knurled clamp knob.  The Head on it was just a little too big for the EX (the shaft/threads were prefect fine), so I removed the head, put it in a drill and ground it down a hair.  Best upgrade ever.

Edited October 15, 2016 by hotshot

[Rockytime]

I don't have an EX but from looking at the photo on the Seyco web site the clamp looks to be made of pot metal and cast instead of machined steel.

[WayneMahler]

I found on my EX-21 if the set screw backs into the clamp body you will bend the bottom of the blades. Look with a flash light and see if your set screw is out of the threaded part of the body. If not is a very easy and minor adjustment to make. 

[munzieb]

thanks, I'll check that.

[Lucky2]

Most, if not all EX's, have a what I'll call a swivel tip. They should be serviced on a regular basis, it doesn't take much to keep them working the way they should. To service them, use a small pair of pliers to first twist the tip around while it is in place. Once you've twisted the tip to make sure it is moving freely, use the pliers to remove the tip. After the tip is remover, use a fine pointed needle tool to clean out the hole the tip sits in. There may not be anything in there, but, it doesn't hurt to make sure there isn't. Now, it's easy to reinstall the tip into the screw, but, before you do, you should lubricate the small shaft of the swivel tip. I use a graphite grease to lube mine, and I've never had a problem with any of the screws or tips. I'm of the opinion that everything that moves on a machine should be greased, that's why I started greasing the swivel tips on my saw.

Len 

[Sam777]

Len,

Thank you this tip. I will make sure I do that

Sam

[hawkeye10]

Len,

Thank you this tip. I will make sure I do that

Sam

Sam I put a little LocTite on mine to keep them from moving. Of coarse use the type that you can undo. I have also used finger nail polish in a pinch.

[fredfret]

Wondering why you would lock tite the "swivel" action on the blade holder.

FredFret

Wichita, Ks

DW788 and BM26

[Sam777]

Don,

No offense and thank you for your reply but I am also wondering.

Do you mean to lock it so it does not swivel?

I am sure the design intention is for the end piece to rotate so when you tighten the clamp (screw) and as the end piece starts pressing on the blade that end piece will stop turning and hence pushes on the blade without damaging the blade (was that confusing????) sorry

Sam

[heppnerguy]

i think the lock tight is put on the threads of the opposing set screw to keep is from backing out and hence cause the blade to bend. Not referring to the swivel part of the screw you anchor your blade with.. I hope this clerifies this question a little.  the thread went in two directions, I think that caused the comfusion

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[amazingkevin]

Love this shop talk

[munzieb]

Thanks Wayne, It looks like the l/h set screw had backed off. Tightening screw was actually pushing blade into set screw hole. Readjusted set screw and mounting blade seems easier and blade twist has stopped. Set screw is a little loose and I may have to use a drop of Loctite to  have a more positive friction.

[CharleyL]

Yes, the tip of the blade tightening screw (wing screw) needs to rotate and the opposing set screw should not move, once set correctly, but be careful when adjusting the set screw, asthese are there to set a fine vertical position of your blade. Put some blue Loctite on both the upper and lower set screws, but not on the Wing Bolts. Then carefully adjust the position of these set screws so the blade runs truly vertical. Any miss adjustment of these can cause the top or bottom end of the blade to not follow a true 90 degree motion with the table. Run the saw and carefully inspect the blade as it moves up and down. If there is any error it will show up as a slight blur of the blade image at the top or bottom end of the blade stroke. Those of us who cut tiny details with our saws find that just a difference of 1/2 the thickness of a blade between the upper and lower blade clamps makes a big difference in how well our work comes out. A machinist square placed on the table and against the blade will show a varying gap between them when you manually move the blade up and down. Don't run it while doing this. Just turn the motor shaft with a screwdriver while closely watching the gap between the blade and the square. If it doesn't remain the same, the upper or lower adjustments are not right.

 

The same is true if the blade is not perfectly square to the table in the front to back direction. For me, it needs to be exact, and there is a slight design error in the DW788 saws that causes a slight error in the blade front to back squareness to the table. Those of us who need the blade perfectly square to the table have elongated the four upper blade arm mounting holes in the end of the upper yellow blade arm about 1/32" so we can move the blade arm mechanism back a tiny bit. Most 788 owners don't even realize that this error exists, because they don't do the fine compound cut detail work that I do. A small machinist square sitting on the table and against the back edge of the blade will show this. I also place a flashlight behind the square so I can check for even light showing through the gap between the blade and the square. There shouldn't be  be much light getting through and it should be the same the whole length of the blade and square. Check with the blade and arms all the way up and again with the blade arms all the way down. There will be a small repeating forward/backward shift of the blade as it travels up and down. This cannot be corrected in any scroll saw that uses arms to move the blade up and down because of the arm.movement arc. They all have it, except for an Eclipse saw, and it's the only scroll saw that I know of that does not have this motion. Unfortunately, these are no longer available since the creator only made them one at a time in his shop, never sold the rights, and took the design and patents to his grave.

 

Charley

[munzieb]

I have been cutting for a little over a week and the hex screw backed out again (and the blade twisted again) Finally picked up some thread Loctite and no more movement on the screw.

All good info from the gang!

[Sam777]

I am glad you are set.

I have done that one but it looks like the bottom set screw on my EX16 has moved. I have to loctite it again.

sam