Excalibur Adjustment Question

[oldhudson]

I got this saw new a couple of years ago. I don’t scroll on a regular basis the way many of the members here do. But I decided I’d make another wooden gear clock and thought I should get scrolling practice in before I start. I have a butterfly pattern from one of those magazines.

Anyway here’s my question/issue. The manual clearly states “Upper arm must be parallel (within 1/8”) to the table. If necessary, use the upper arm adjuster to raise or lower the arm as needed.” The upper arm adjuster is the large knob at the rear of the saw.

So I broke a blade today and when I checked for parallel the upper arm was wider, near the blade, than at the rear, by the motor. I turned the knob CCW to “raise” the arm. There was movement of the upper arm and the measurement is nearly correct BUT the knob reached a point where no more adjustment could be made, it was no longer under tension.

So I’m hoping someone can tell me what’s up and what to do. (Note: I have no other issues with the saw. I don’t break a lot of blades, tension always is fine, the arm easily lifts and stays up while threading a blade into the next entry hole.)

I can post a picture but I thought with as many Excalibur owners as there are here it would be a waste.

Thank you for taking time from raking to read about my dilemma.  

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, oldhudson said:

I got this saw new a couple of years ago. I don’t scroll on a regular basis the way many of the members here do. But I decided I’d make another wooden gear clock and thought I should get scrolling practice in before I start. I have a butterfly pattern from one of those magazines.

 

 

Anyway here’s my question/issue. The manual clearly states “Upper arm must be parallel (within 1/8”) to the table. If necessary, use the upper arm adjuster to raise or lower the arm as needed.” The upper arm adjuster is the large knob at the rear of the saw.

 

So I broke a blade today and when I checked for parallel the upper arm was wider, near the blade, than at the rear, by the motor. I turned the knob CCW to “raise” the arm. There was movement of the upper arm and the measurement is nearly correct BUT the knob reached a point where no more adjustment could be made, it was no longer under tension.

 

So I’m hoping someone can tell me what’s up and what to do. (Note: I have no other issues with the saw. I don’t break a lot of blades, tension always is fine, the arm easily lifts and stays up while threading a blade into the next entry hole.)

 

I can post a picture but I thought with as many Excalibur owners as there are here it would be a waste.

 

Thank you for taking time from raking to read about my dilemma.  

 

I'm not sure of your problem but you stated that you turned the knob CCW to increase the height at the arm/blade. It should be the opposite. Turn the knob CW to increase height/tension on the blade end. You might have gone the wrong direction and run out of threads. Try going CW instead.

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by octoolguy

[tomsteve]

if it was wider at the blade then youd want to turn it CCW to lower the arm.maybe a typo there?

 

the knob should have a white mark on it. however many turns it takes, that white mark should face straight down the upper arm when the arm is parallel with the table.

 

 

[oldhudson]

2 hours ago, octoolguy said:

I'm not sure of your problem but you stated that you turned the knob CCW to increase the height at the arm/blade. It should be the opposite. Turn the knob CW to increase height/tension on the blade end. You might have gone the wrong direction and run out of threads. Try going CW instead.

 

Maybe I need to provide more detail. After the blade broke I measured the upper arm to see if it was parallel to the table. I measured 2.75" at the motor end and nearly 3" at the blade end (about 1/4" out of parallel). The manual says, "This saw has an adjustment knob in the rear that can raise the blade mount up to 1 inch." When that knob is turned CCW the front of the upper arm (where the blade is) moves down. What I needed to move the upper arm toward parallel. When the knob is turned CW the gap becomes larger at the blade end of the saw.

[OCtoolguy]

2 minutes ago, oldhudson said:

Maybe I need to provide more detail. After the blade broke I measured the upper arm to see if it was parallel to the table. I measured 2.75" at the motor end and nearly 3" at the blade end (about 1/4" out of parallel). The manual says, "This saw has an adjustment knob in the rear that can raise the blade mount up to 1 inch." When that knob is turned CCW the front of the upper arm (where the blade is) moves down. What I needed to move the upper arm toward parallel. When the knob is turned CW the gap becomes larger at the blade end of the saw.

Ok, here is how I do it. Without a blade installed, do whatever you must do to get your arm to the same measurement front to rear. Once that is achieved, that is where you want to leave it. When you install a blade, install it in the bottom clamp first. Then, pull down on the arm to take the slack out of it and install the blade in the top clamp. When you flip the lever that should apply the proper amount of tension. You can fine tune it a bit by turning the big black knob a bit CW. That applies more tension to the blade. Then, you can unflip the lever and take the blade out of the top clamp and insert it in a hole or leave it as is and just start cutting. As has been mentioned before, some of the EX saws will "unwind" the knob because of blade stretch or whatever. I took a large width rubber band and wrapped it around the threads of that tension rod and then stretched it down along the right side to one of the motor bolts. That keeps the rod from turning. I hope I have made myself clear. 

 

[tomsteve]

2 3/4"at the motor and 3" at the clamp says the clamp end needs to lower,which would require turning ccw. i get that 1/4" in about a half turn  if i even have to turn it that much. what happens if you turn the knob all the way CW? does that knob on the back have a white line on the edge/side of the knob?

[scrollingforsanity]

What Ray said. That should take care of your problem. I measure my arm every once in a while to make sure it has not moved even though it hasn't moved for a couple years. I wrapped electrical tape around the exposed threads and lesft a tag end in case I need to rewove it. works great. Some of the guys put blue lock tite on the threads to keep them secure. 

grizz

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, tomsteve said:

2 3/4"at the motor and 3" at the clamp says the clamp end needs to lower,which would require turning ccw. i get that 1/4" in about a half turn  if i even have to turn it that much. what happens if you turn the knob all the way CW? does that knob on the back have a white line on the edge/side of the knob?

I guess I might have misunderstood you in your first post. I thought you were low on the blade end. If you had too much spread and wanted to lessen it to get even, then yes, you'd have to turn it CCW. But whatever you did, you shouldn't have run out of threads.

[kmmcrafts]

Okay, so if you actually did run out of threads.. If you dare.. and are mechanically inclined.. take the saw apart.. at the bottom of the threaded knob it is double nut ( jam nut) to lock the thing from coming loose and allowing the thing to accidentally being turned all the way out.. Its sort of an adjustment thing too if I remember correctly.. I'd have to take mine apart again to see exactly what it's all about now as it was a while ago that i took the whole thing apart to put the blue loc-tite on mine.. should have taken a million photos to help if others had questions..  Anyway.. It could be very possible that these jam nuts wasn't totally tight and worked their way up.. and now you are at a place where you have no more threads.. 

Not only have I had many things come loose on my saw, as I've read over the years of others having things fall apart.. even before they moved production to a new plant.. 

[kmmcrafts]

Okay so I lied.. Not a Jam nut it's a lock nut... The rectangle shape I circled #63 fits into the back of the saw where I also circled.. that piece ( 63 ) is threaded and if I remember correctly is threaded on the larger portion of the shaft..( My brains not working tonight guess I'm tired LOL ) anyway it seems like the lock nut only was to screw down onto the shaft a certain distance. I just remember after taking this apart I had a bit of trouble with getting enough thread to adjust that upper arm.. since I'm tired maybe someone else will be able to make sense of parts view. 

If you take off the plastic piece on the top of the upper arm you can look back in thee and see that lock nut and the lower portion of that mechanism.. I do remember one thing very well.. Once you unscrew that lock nut all the way.. there is a washer on there too.. that can be very easily dropped down inside the saw.. and also.. if you unscrew it all he way off... It's not very fun trying to reach back there to get the washer on and the nut on too.. I ended up putting enough grease or maybe it was a drop of glue.. to hold the washer onto the lock nut, LOL.. You will need a pair of long needle nose pliers to hold the nut/washer combo to get it started on the threads. then you can switch to a open end wrench, LOL 

[oldhudson]

Thanks for all the input. I have to work today (I do volunteer work a couple of days a week, providing respite care for a couple of families where the husbands have Alzheimer's and the full-time caregiver needs a break.)  so I won't be able to explore this further until sometime Tuesday.

[Rockytime]

10 hours ago, oldhudson said:

Thanks for all the input. I have to work today (I do volunteer work a couple of days a week, providing respite care for a couple of families where the husbands have Alzheimer's and the full-time caregiver needs a break.)  so I won't be able to explore this further until sometime Tuesday.

I commend you for your generous support work!! Not everyone is so willing. Thanks for mentioning it. It helps to know members better. Reveals the good character of many of the members here. 

[oldhudson]

Unfortunately even with all the help I don't think it's really sorted out. However I've piddled around with it and the are is now parallel again. So I'll move on. Thanks again for all the suggestions.