kmmcrafts Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 Well since my birthday is today and is a day to do whatever I want I decided to take the time to unbox and set up my new Excalibur Ex-21. Got it set up and mounted it to a stand then did one little test cut. Only 30F out in the shop today and snowing. So I was too cold to do much more. Definitely needs some tweaking as it’s not nearly as smooth as my DeWalt but some of that it my jury rigged stand etc. Anyway happy to have it unboxed and mounted to the stand. While doing a test cut the blower fell off apparently they never tighten the two little screws on the bottom of the arm. Maybe I’d better check everything over. OCtoolguy, lawson56, Scrolling Steve and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrolling Steve Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 Enjoy !...My EX is 4yrs old and i really love it ! kmmcrafts and tomsteve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 Enjoy, my Ex is gone and I miss it!! I did not miss my DeWalt. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 Happy Birthday! Congratulations on the new EX. My EX ran off years ago. Haven't missed her. kmmcrafts, Scrappile, stoney and 3 others 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted November 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 Well I just came in from cutting a stack of 4 B.B. plywood 1/8” ornaments. Initial impression is it’s a nice cutting saw right out of the box so far. Two things that at the moment I don’t like ( sure it’s just a learning curve ) . I may be spoiled in my Hawks and withe the easy lift on my 788.. but I am used to the upper arm to just go up on its own so that was a little annoying to me at first. Near the end of cutting the stack I was already getting used to it some. The other thing is I keep trying to put the blade clear to the back of the upper clamp. It seems as though you have to sort of figure out where the center of the set screw and the thumb screw is as the blade can go back behind it and trick me into thinking it’s in and tight until I hit the tension lever, lol. Both Hawks and DeWalt you can put it back to the back of the clamp. I’m sure I will adjust to it though. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted November 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 17 minutes ago, Rockytime said: Happy Birthday! Congratulations on the new EX. My EX ran off years ago. Haven't missed her. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylumps Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) 47 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said: Well I just came in from cutting a stack of 4 B.B. plywood 1/8” ornaments. Initial impression is it’s a nice cutting saw right out of the box so far. Two things that at the moment I don’t like ( sure it’s just a learning curve ) . I may be spoiled in my Hawks and withe the easy lift on my 788.. but I am used to the upper arm to just go up on its own so that was a little annoying to me at first. Near the end of cutting the stack I was already getting used to it some. The other thing is I keep trying to put the blade clear to the back of the upper clamp. It seems as though you have to sort of figure out where the center of the set screw and the thumb screw is as the blade can go back behind it and trick me into thinking it’s in and tight until I hit the tension lever, lol. Both Hawks and DeWalt you can put it back to the back of the clamp. I’m sure I will adjust to it though. Kevin It should go to the back of the clamp.That is the way the clamp is made. Did you check the bump screw opposite the tension knob.it should be perturbing enough to center the blade left to right.And also check that the tip of the tension knob .It should spin free so you do not distort the blade when you tighten the blade. Edited November 20, 2017 by tonylumps tomsteve and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Ya, I do not remember that being an issure on my Ex. Just pushed it to the back of the clamp. tomsteve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted November 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 32 minutes ago, tonylumps said: Kevin It should go to the back of the clamp.That is the way the clamp is made. Did you check the bump screw opposite the tension knob.it should be perturbing enough to center the blade left to right.And also check that the tip of the tension knob .It should spin free so you do not distort the blade when you tighten the blade. If I put the blade clear to the back of the clamp the thumb screw misses the blade.. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I do need to go through the manual as I could be doing it wrong or have something set up wrong.. Plus.. in taking the saw out of the box.. there was a blade in it.. but in putting my own blade in.. the blade seemed like it was too short.. I raised the upper arm and lowered it again just to be sure it was all the way down.. which it was.. so then I turned the knob at the back of the saw just enough to make it reach the blade.. I'm guessing that was what I was supposed to do.. but I need to read through the manual before I mess up some of the settings.. plus I can then know a little about the saw LOL.. even though I did read a manual online a couple years back when I was thinking about buying one.. but I can't remember what it said now, LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Yep, even though "men" don't read instruction, read the manual. The upper arm should be parallel to the table.... plus other important other things, stated in the manual which we read, when all else fails.... kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodmaster1 Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 It is always great to get new machinery and happy birthday. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Happy Birthday Kevin! Being a clown, birthdays are the best of all days. Enjoy your EX-21, its a wonderful machine. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky2 Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Kevin, what I do when I load a blade, is I pay no attention where of how the blade sets in the top blade holder. I just put the blade in the slot and then tighten the screw, It works perfectly fine doing it this way. There's no over or undercutting done when I do this, my cuts all seem to be straight up and down. One of the last things I would do, is worry if my blade is centered in the blade clamp. To me, that's getting to be just a wee bit anal, IMO nothing about scrolling needs to be that exact. Len kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylumps Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Scroll Saw Paradise has a couple of good Videos on YouTube about the Excalibur. One is just Mounting the blade and tensioning.Just search Excalibur scroll saw kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsteve Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 kevin, ya may want to take a measurement and see if the arm is level with the table. there should be a white line on the adjustment knob up top and to the back. get that facing to ya then measure distance from the arm to the table- both at the back of table and at the front. i found i dont have to get crazy accurate there- its either going to be exact or if the adjustment knob is a turn off, very noticable. one way i noticed that on mine is i couldnt get the blade all the way back in the upper clamp. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTCowpoke22 Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Happy Birthday! kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdatelle Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 Kevin, you will love your Ex once you get it running right. Had mine almost 3 years and I use it everyday. Love it. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted November 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 I still haven't made any changes to the Ex-21.. straight out of the box and today I stack cut 3 different ornaments.. sort of getting used to running the saw.. when time allows I'll start doing some adjusting on it.. Really wanted to use my DW788 for today's cutting however I have it set up with an angle for a certain project that's only half done and didn't really want to disturb my angle until my project is done.. but needed to get these ornaments out in the mail today.. Anyhow.. even though I'm still learning to use the new saw I think I cut about as fast as I would on the DW788.. Kind of getting used to that upper blade clamp now.. but that upper arm would be nice if it went up on it's own like the Hawks and my DW788 with the easylift attachment. Those of you that have a Ex-21.. How smooth does it do at full speed? Mine has a couple spots that it vibrates pretty bad one of which is at the lower end of the speed dial and the other starts in just slightly before full speed and stays that way at full speed.. I've been running it just below the spot at the full speed where it's just starting to hit that bad spot.. then I back it off just a hair.. would like to run it slightly faster.. but not horrible where it's at.. I'm sure some of this and maybe all of it is the way i have it mounted on the small stand with the big sheet of plywood.. I mounted it off to the side so it's not centered on the stand or the plywood.. I did that because I was hoping for a little shelf space to put my blade caddy off to the one side of it.. Think I'm going to have to rethink the way I have it.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotshot Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 I don’t like to “miss the blade” so I keep the upper arm a tinge lower than recommended kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkey Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 Happy Birthday and congrats on the saw. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky2 Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 Kevin, I've never had any reason to run my saw at full speed, or even close to full speed. Well, I guess that was a lie, I did run it at full speed just to do the standing nickle test. There was a bit of vibration, but the nickle never feel over. Why do you run your saw at such a high speed, do you run your other saws at full speed? What do you cut, that you need such a high cutting rate? Len Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted November 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 5 minutes ago, Lucky2 said: Kevin, I've never had any reason to run my saw at full speed, or even close to full speed. Well, I guess that was a lie, I did run it at full speed just to do the standing nickle test. There was a bit of vibration, but the nickle never feel over. Why do you run your saw at such a high speed, do you run your other saws at full speed? What do you cut, that you need such a high cutting rate? Len I do not run my DW788 at full speed very often.. but.. I do my older Hawk.. but.. these two saws top speed at 1500 SPM ( strokes per minute ) and the DW788 run 1750 SPM at full speed.. I'm guessing I run my 788 right about 1500 - 1550 ish and sometimes a little less depending on what i'm cutting.. but my normal cutting speed is usually on the higher end of 1400 -1600 SPM.. I typically am stack cutting ornaments from BB plywood.. stacks are typically around 3/4" thick material.. Most everything I cut is 1/2" + either hardwoods or BB plys.. and some regular plys too at times... I find that with the faster saw speed I have easier and better control of the wood..especially on my DW788... Like I've said many times.. I like to cut fast... I find that at slow speeds I tend to push the wood through rather than just letting the blade do the work... I used to go slow but gradually trained myself to cut a little faster.. Typically cut about 12 - 25 ornaments per hour depending on complexity of the ornament.. Lucky2 and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylumps Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said: I do not run my DW788 at full speed very often.. but.. I do my older Hawk.. but.. these two saws top speed at 1500 SPM ( strokes per minute ) and the DW788 run 1750 SPM at full speed.. I'm guessing I run my 788 right about 1500 - 1550 ish and sometimes a little less depending on what i'm cutting.. but my normal cutting speed is usually on the higher end of 1400 -1600 SPM.. I typically am stack cutting ornaments from BB plywood.. stacks are typically around 3/4" thick material.. Most everything I cut is 1/2" + either hardwoods or BB plys.. and some regular plys too at times... I find that with the faster saw speed I have easier and better control of the wood..especially on my DW788... Like I've said many times.. I like to cut fast... I find that at slow speeds I tend to push the wood through rather than just letting the blade do the work... I used to go slow but gradually trained myself to cut a little faster.. Typically cut about 12 - 25 ornaments per hour depending on complexity of the ornament.. Kevin I bought a brand new EX16 on EBay awhile back Still in a sealed box . First thing I noticed was loose nuts and bolts.Iwent around and checked every nut and bolt on that saw and found more loose So I would check it out before I did anymore cutting.And that Excalibur table is worth every penny.It is heavier steel ,legs are adjustable and mounting a piece of plywood between the saw and table large enough for a shelf is Hogs Heaven kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted November 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 Yeah, I don't intend to use it again until I get it mounted better and kind of go through it checking everything over.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylumps Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said: Yeah, I don't intend to use it again until I get it mounted better and kind of go through it checking everything over.. When I bought the used EX 16 It was plug and go with a few miner tweaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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