spare parts

[whopsal]

Hi I am 80 years young living in Australia. I am a keen scroll saw enthusiast and in the middle of doing the chalet box fine scroll saw patterns, and the thread has striped on the blade chuck Dewalt DW788.I have looked on the web and no spare parts here in Aus,Alot of suppliers in the states don't ship overseas and those that do postage is $50US or more now that is alot of  money out of my pension, so i am open to any ideas to help my get back to scrolling. I was an engineer in working life so the idea of getting the hole filled with aluminum weld the re drilling and tapping could be an option or maybe heicoil  may work, come on guys i need help.

Cheers from down under Brian

[kmmcrafts]

Little odd to get used to but.. how about taking the set screw from the opposite side and putting it in the stripped side and then use the better threads for the thumb screw.. You might have enough threads on the stripped side to have the set screw hold... The set screws have lock tite or thread lock stuff on them.. I'd be sure to use it especially on the stripped side..

 

Just a thought to get you back up and running until you can find a new clamp.. 

[JOE_M]

I measured the thumbscrew with a metric micrometer and it says 5.84mm. I measured with a real micrometer and got .230", which is, in metric, either 5.84mm or 36 degrees Celsius - my math is a bit fuzzy on that one. The metric thread gauge says it's a pitch of 1.

Would it be possible for you to get a 6mm tap, retap the holes, and replace your thumbscrew with something made from a 6mm bolt or even a 6mm thumbscrew if they sell them locally? There might even be room for 7mm if that's a commonly available size for you.

Another option - the entire piece looks like a cheap piece of cast tinfoil, but it's just a cube of metal with four holes and a couple of slots. Anyone with a hobby mill could knock out a quality replacement in aluminum in an afternoon and you could tap it for whatever size screw you want.

 

[dgman]

Kevin's sugestion above is an excellent idea. It should work until you can find replacement parts.

Chanches are the reason the clamp striped is because you have been over tightening the thumb screw. Usually because your blades are slipping out of the clamps causing insufficient tension. This happens because of a layer of oil on the blades. I sand the ends of the blades when installing new blades. Also it helps to dress the ends of the thumb screws with some 220 grit sandpaper.

rember not to tighten to tight. Never use a tool or jig.

[Scrappile]

Thread chaser, maybe.

I sorta checked what it would cost for someone in the US to buy the part and ship it to you. The part looks to be around $15 American. shipping around $6 American to my house and around (guessing) $15 to you.  Makes it around $35+ part.  Not as bad as your est of $50 for just shipping but still makes it an expensive part. Last time I shipped something to Australia it took 5 weeks to get there.  Say a week plus to get to me. So it could be 6 to 7 plus weeks for you to get it.  But it is a possibility.  Also I could be way off of what it would really cost.  But an option.

[Rolf]

How about taking it to a machine shop and having a heli coil installed.