Upper and Lower Blade Clamps are not in line (I think) Hegner

[jbrowning]

Hello everyone, on my Hegner Scroll Saw is there a way to adjust the upper and lower blade clamp? On the upper blade clamp the blade it all the way to the left of the clamp and on the lower blade clamp the blade is riding up against the table insert on the right side. So I'm thinking (hoping) there is a way that I can adjust those two arms so the blade is in the middle of the blade clamps. Here is a picture and hopefully that shows what I'm talking about.

Thanks

Jim

[Puzzleguy]

I feel your pain - I own 3 Hegners , Before i put on the tension i physically move them to the aproximate

center by manually moving them to center. All parallel arm saw of this type have a bit of this, even RBI.

if your worried about getting this annally close get your hands on a small engineering square ( very tiny )

lay it on the table and against the blade -after a few times youll get it very close .

Its also a good idea to get this square anyways -to check your blade and table squareness .

P.S when ever i change a blade i put a couple of drops on oil on the upper and lower arm pivot -will extend the life of the saw .

Tony Burns

[jbrowning]

Thank you Tony, yes I have a small engineering square that I use. I am normally putting drops of oil on the upper and lower arm pivot about once a week. I only scroll for a couple of hours a night after work during the week. I'll see if I can push those clamps around a little to see if I can get that blade a little farther away from that side piece it has been chewing through.

I also wonder if I can adjust the set screw on the lower blade clamp that would take the blade away from the side piece a little bit. I haven't looked that close to the blade clamp to see if that is possible.

Thanks

Jim

[Scrappile]

When you are using tht quick clamp the top clamp needs tog to jeld tight in the clip

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Scrappile

[jbrowning]

Correct and it is Scrappile. I just don't think it should up very well in the picture. I'm not able to move the Quick Clamp.

Jim

[OCtoolguy]

This is something that I inquired about a while back. I don't have the problem that you have as mine is fairly well centered in the table slot. I was just wondering about centering the blade in the clamps so they are planar if that is the correct word. Regular scroll saws have set screws that can be moved  right or left on both clamps in order to get the blade so that it is running straight up and down, top to bottom but on the Hegners you have to rely on the clamps finding a "happy" place on both ends and hope they more or less center up. I've got the Quick clamp on both of my saws and they both seem to cut ok.
Jim, is there any way to loosen your table and maybe adjust it so that the blade is centered? I've never checked mine to see if there is any "slop" in the mounting holes. That may solve your problem.

 

[jbrowning]

1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said:

Jim, is there any way to loosen your table and maybe adjust it so that the blade is centered? I've never checked mine to see if there is any "slop" in the mounting holes. That may solve your problem.

 

Hmm, I've never looked at the Ray. When I get home I'll see if I can move the table to the right just a smidge and see what I find out. I was thinking it could be something with the upper and lower arms.

Thanks

Jim

Edited December 1, 2021 by jbrowning

[OCtoolguy]

7 minutes ago, jbrowning said:

 

I'll bet your table is just a tad off center. Either by the wrong mounting or a factory defect. Either way, it should be somewhat adjustable.

 

[kmmcrafts]

6 hours ago, Puzzleguy said:

 

 All parallel arm saw of this type have a bit of this, even RBI.

 

My RBI are not like this, but one of them was at one time, brought it up to the fine folks at Bushton and the rear uprights are out of alignment when this happens. You loosen all the bolts that hold the uprights from underneath the stand and turn the saw on the lowest setting.. run it for a few seconds and it should alien itself. 

Can't help with the Hegners because I've never owned / used one.. But I can say it's not supposed to be that way ( at least on the RBI's ) It's amazing how nice and smooth a saw actually does work when one takes time to learn and tune them..  

[kmmcrafts]

Have you contacted Hegner about this? I think if nobody here can give you suggestions on saw alignment and fixing the problem I'd contact Hegner to see what they say.. 

[Dave Monk]

My table will not move at all. Has you saw always been like that?

 

[jbrowning]

Hi Dave, yes my saw has always been like this. I bought it used back in 2017 or 2018. It hasn't bothered me other than being an eye sore. But I'm wondering with the side of the saw blade coming into contact with that piece, if that would reduce the life of the saw blade?

Hi Kevin, yes I emailed Wolfgang yesterday to see what he suggests that I do.

Thank you

Jim

[jbrowning]

Here is the response I received from Hegner just now. Doesn't sound too complicated. Even I should be able to do this.

Hello James,

Thank you for contacting us.

Correcting alignment is not terribly complicated:  here's the procedure.

1)  Remove the saw from the stand so that you can get to the Allen-head bolts under the base which anchor the mainframe (the orange casting that hold the blue arms) at the rear of the saw. Leave a blade installed and tensioned in the saw.

2)  SLIGHTLY loosen both of these bolts (#28 - see parts diagram).  It will likely require serious effort to loosen these, as they are VERY firmly tightened and also secured with a split lockwasher. The necessary wrench was originally in the toolkit packed with your saw, but I believe it is a 5 or 6 mm Allen screw so any suitable wrench will do.. Note:  be sure to firmly seat the head of the wrench in the screw so that it does not cantilever out and cause injury under pressure!

3) Once the bolts are loosened (do NOT remove them), the frame may immediately spring back closer to its ideal position. You can loosen the bolts as much as needed to allow this to happen.

4) If needed, you can also gently rotate the frame into position by hand. However, if you do this, you may also need to realign the motor: in addition to aligning the blade roughly to the centerline of the long blade slot from the front of the worktable, the goal is for the connector #21 to hang perfectly vertical and allow free and easy rotation of the drive mechanism. For this the motor needs to be in proper left/right position (viewed from the front of the saw) relative to the sawing frame, and also be perfectly perpendicular to the center line of the arms. If motor alignment is required, it involves loosening of the four hold-down bolts which secure it to the base.

5)  Once you have aligned all the components, secure the C-Frame bolts.  If you have also loosened the motor bolts, finger-tighten these and turn the saw on and off quickly two or three times:  this should allow the motor to "self-align."  Then tighten the motor bolts.

6) Now briefly run the saw and observe the blade from the front to ensure that it is running true, and that the blade runs clear of the table cutout.  Note however that it does not need to be perfectly centered: it is far more critical that the blade run true than that it be perfectly centered. 

If after these steps have been  taken, there is still an issue of any kind, please contact us to discuss further. We have other options but they are rarely necessary.

I hope this information is clear and helpful.  If you do have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us at any time. Our phone lines are open weekdays from 10-3 (Eastern), and I personally am usually available between noon and 3, at 1-800-727-6553. You can also leave a message 24/7 and we will call you back no later than the following business day.

Kind Regards & Happy Holidays,

Patti Martin,

Customer Support & Sales

Advanced Machinery Inc

2 McCullough Dr., Suite #1 , New Castle, DE 19720

800-727-6553  M-F 10am-3pm EST

 

[kmmcrafts]

40 minutes ago, jbrowning said:

Here is the response I received from Hegner just now. Doesn't sound too complicated. Even I should be able to do this.

Hello James,

 

Thank you for contacting us.

 

Correcting alignment is not terribly complicated:  here's the procedure.

 

1)  Remove the saw from the stand so that you can get to the Allen-head bolts under the base which anchor the mainframe (the orange casting that hold the blue arms) at the rear of the saw. Leave a blade installed and tensioned in the saw.

 

2)  SLIGHTLY loosen both of these bolts (#28 - see parts diagram).  It will likely require serious effort to loosen these, as they are VERY firmly tightened and also secured with a split lockwasher. The necessary wrench was originally in the toolkit packed with your saw, but I believe it is a 5 or 6 mm Allen screw so any suitable wrench will do.. Note:  be sure to firmly seat the head of the wrench in the screw so that it does not cantilever out and cause injury under pressure!

 

3) Once the bolts are loosened (do NOT remove them), the frame may immediately spring back closer to its ideal position. You can loosen the bolts as much as needed to allow this to happen.

 

4) If needed, you can also gently rotate the frame into position by hand. However, if you do this, you may also need to realign the motor: in addition to aligning the blade roughly to the centerline of the long blade slot from the front of the worktable, the goal is for the connector #21 to hang perfectly vertical and allow free and easy rotation of the drive mechanism. For this the motor needs to be in proper left/right position (viewed from the front of the saw) relative to the sawing frame, and also be perfectly perpendicular to the center line of the arms. If motor alignment is required, it involves loosening of the four hold-down bolts which secure it to the base.

 

5)  Once you have aligned all the components, secure the C-Frame bolts.  If you have also loosened the motor bolts, finger-tighten these and turn the saw on and off quickly two or three times:  this should allow the motor to "self-align."  Then tighten the motor bolts.

 

6) Now briefly run the saw and observe the blade from the front to ensure that it is running true, and that the blade runs clear of the table cutout.  Note however that it does not need to be perfectly centered: it is far more critical that the blade run true than that it be perfectly centered. 

 

If after these steps have been  taken, there is still an issue of any kind, please contact us to discuss further. We have other options but they are rarely necessary.

 

I hope this information is clear and helpful.  If you do have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us at any time. Our phone lines are open weekdays from 10-3 (Eastern), and I personally am usually available between noon and 3, at 1-800-727-6553. You can also leave a message 24/7 and we will call you back no later than the following business day.

 

Kind Regards & Happy Holidays,

 

Patti Martin,

 

Customer Support & Sales

 

Advanced Machinery Inc

 

2 McCullough Dr., Suite #1 , New Castle, DE 19720

 

800-727-6553  M-F 10am-3pm EST

 

 

 

Sounds basically like the same issue I had with the Hawk and basic idea of what they told me to do with the uprights.. Good info incase I ever buy a Hegner.. MY OCD kicks in on having the saw tuned properly.. I think most just pull it out of the box and expect it to work great.. might happen on luck but I've never bought a saw yet that was straight out the box tuned and ready to go.. Yeah they work that way but not as efficiently and or smooth.

[OCtoolguy]

Thanks Jim. Good info. I don't have that problem on either of my saws but I am going to look at the motor alignment just to be sure they are both sitting correctly.