Claymore Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 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 ) 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.CheersBrian Doug, meflick, WayneMahler and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevan Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoney Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Very nice modification. Thanks for showing us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Looks great Brian. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobscroll Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 You did a very neat job on your modification to your saw, Thanks for the photo's and discription, Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Pellow Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Well designed and well built! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam777 Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Great job. I will have to do the same toy EX 16 Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneMahler Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Looks great, nice job on the fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotshot Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 (edited) Very cool, it's great when folks customize their saw to their own needs. In my own case, I don't think I could replace my table. The missing paint is a badge of honor :-) Edited October 10, 2017 by hotshot OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montserrat Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 I am intrigued by the dust collection - how do you change the blade now? Isn't it in the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrolling Steve Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 27 minutes ago, Montserrat said: I am intrigued by the dust collection - how do you change the blade now? Isn't it in the way? This was my first thought !??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 1 hour ago, Montserrat said: I am intrigued by the dust collection - how do you change the blade now? Isn't it in the way? He said it was magnetic.. so it's easily moved.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claymore Posted October 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 Cheers everyone, here's a link to a post about the EX30 dust extraction mod I made to my machine on the UK workshop forum.....hopefully it will make sense to ya http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/axminster-ex30-dust-extraction-mod-t102117.html I have also added a small shelf to my saw for holding my small vise grips (I cannot use my left hand so use the small vise grips to hold the small pieces of wood while cutting and it grips very well) the shelf is just made from plywood scraps and painted black to tidy it up a little, its attached to the saw by a nut and bolt through the blade storage slots in the right hand side panel and doesn't get in the way. Here's a couple of photos of them Cheers Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 Nice mod Brian. With sunsets like that outside your workshop it's a wonder you get any cutting done! Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claymore Posted October 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 Cheers Rob...........aye we get some beautiful skies here, they filmed a TV series here in the 90's called "2000 Acres of Sky" plus The Wickerman movie (original one) and yes the locals are still like those in the movie but we don't burn policemen anymore....just the odd tourist who strays off the road lol Cheers Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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