Craftsman Saw Mods?

[Heli_av8tor]

I brought my Craftsman saw with me on our winter getaway, leaving my DeWalt at home. I like the way it cuts (very non-aggressive) but hate fighting blade changes.

Anyone know of a modification I could make to make it easier?

Or maybe a technique I could try?

I’m leaving the blade attached at the bottom and feeding through the workpiece from bottom to top. (Guess that’s called “bottom feeder”?)

Thanks in advance,

Tom

[spirithorse]

Greetings!
I don't really understand what is making the blade change difficult?
From your pic (thanks for adding that) it is a tool-less blade clamp so,
I would think the blade change should be pretty straight-forward.
I bottom feed also and have found that you can flex the blade quite a bit
as long as you do not bend or kink the blade.
I turn the work piece so that the hole I want to enter is closest to the front of the table
and flex the blade as much as necessary to start the blade into the starter hole.
I hope you can try that and find it a little easier.
God Bless! Spirithorse

[Scrappile]

Ahhh a Pegas scroll saw?  What kind of trouble are you having?  Is the blade slipping?  Maybe your clamps have spread out and need replacing.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Scrappile

[Heli_av8tor]

Yes, a Pegas would fix it!

I’m having the most trouble with the bottom clamp. It flops around so much that it almost takes three hands to hang onto the blade, the clamp, and the clamp screw.

Once the blade is in position the next challenge is to get it tightened enough that it doesn’t slip out when tensioned or when starting the saw. 

The area around the lower clamp is so tightly cowled that there’s not much room to get ones fingers in. It’s even worse if the arm is in the lower part of it travel.

I don’t think the clamps are spread out.

 

[MrsN]

When installing a new blade I put it in the top clamp (but not fully tight), then tighten the bottom clamp. Then loosen the top clamp to thread through the hole in the work piece.

When the blade is held up by the top clamp, I don't need the third hand to hold it.

[Scrappile]

I had Craftsman many yeas ago the you had to insert a "U" shaped tool into the clamp and that held it in place while you used an allen wrench to loosen and tighten the clamp.  I had to do it while on my knees looking up under the saw.  I bet the engineer that designed it is still laughing!  I finally mounted the saw on a box I made that had a hinged top.  Then I could just put the saw over on it's side while I clamped the bottom of the blade in.  That made it easier, but of coarse the hinged platform did not help reduce vibration any. 

[Heli_av8tor]

3 hours ago, MrsN said:

When installing a new blade I put it in the top clamp (but not fully tight), then tighten the bottom clamp. Then loosen the top clamp to thread through the hole in the work piece.

When the blade is held up by the top clamp, I don't need the third hand to hold it.

Katie,

I’ve had some success with this method. But then I’m pulling the top arm down against spring tension unless I unscrew the tension knob. Then I have to start over with tensioning instead of just flipping the lever. 

Tom

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, Heli_av8tor said:

Katie,

I’ve had some success with this method. But then I’m pulling the top arm down against spring tension unless I unscrew the tension knob. Then I have to start over with tensioning instead of just flipping the lever. 

Tom

I do it that way with both my Dewalt and my EX. I find that if I position the blade in the upper clamp where I am going to want it when finished, I can then use both hands to hold and tighten the lower blade clamp. Then, I loosen the upper clamp, feed the blade through the hole in the workpiece and back into the upper clamp. I also pull down a bit on the upper arm to "pre-load" the whole mechanism. Now, the blade is secured both top and bottom and tensioned. It should work just fine that way.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

Ray, exactly the procedure I use on my DeWalt.

[OCtoolguy]

17 hours ago, Heli_av8tor said:

Ray, exactly the procedure I use on my DeWalt.

What about that doesn't work on your Craftsman? I've never used/seen one so I have no knowledge about their quirks. I would think with that big throat plate you would at least be able to see what you are doing under the table. I'm not understanding what the difficulty is. I'm not being a smarta** here, I'm just trying to understand.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

The Craftsman has the blade tension knob at the back of the top housing. It has a tension release lever as part of the knob. (Think of the old thermos stopper.) Lifting the lever releases the tension.

Even with the tension lever released the arm with the blade holder still has tension on it unless the knob is also loosened multiple turns. And if you do that then it’s a pain to reset. If you don’t loosen the knob then you have to pull the blade against the tension to insert into the lower holder. To compound the problem note that the blade holder pivots freely fore and aft. 

So now you’re trying to hold the blade down against the spring , hold the blade holder in proper orientation, and tighten the clamp screw. All this reaching through a too small opening. Then just as you almost get it the arm will go to the low point making it even more inaccessible.

Even with the large throat plate sight is obscured by the hand trying to hold the blade.

Hope you can make sense of my explanation. It’s very frustrating not to be able to clamp and go like on my DeWalt.