Pegas Blade Chuck Maintenance?

[kmmcrafts]

What do you all do to maintain your blade chucks??

I've been using my Excalibur since around November and the last week or so I've noticed the lever to apply tension to the blade seems stiffer to move and sometimes has a slight squeak. I've read somewhere there really is no maintenance really required for them?

Anyway it got me to thinking.. there are moving parts to these and honestly it's going to wear out something at some point. Now I do know there is replacement parts such as the spring and the pin / shaft etc.. 

What did I do? 

I have this can of dry lube that is recommended for my CNC and Laser to lube the slides roller wheels etc. that move the router / laser head etc. It's actually just garage door track lube. I have used this stuff for a lot of different applications from my lawn equipment too? it's awesome stuff. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blaster-11-oz-Lubricant/50320173?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-ggl-_-LIA_HDW_214_Auto-Batteries-_-50320173-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-PjE2fCIKrbgsnie_HMvpKzhNSX2KdJa0qyKgLaHdys7O17WIAIti8aAl3tEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds  Anyway.. I was as careful as I could be and had towel in hand to catch any of the drips from getting onto my thumb screws etc. as that would make blades slip for sure probably. I sprayed just a drop or so onto the upper parts of the lever and moving parts to that upper clamp.. All I can say is WOW!! that thing works so smooth and easy now.. I would guess that doing this would certainly prolong the life of the wear parts for sure.. I was a little worried since it works so easy and smooth that it might make the lever pop up and loose tension of the blade because it feels like so easy that it would but so far not a problem..

Other maintenance I do periodically is to remove the thumb screw and clean up the threads and a drop of oil on them because over time the dust works its way into the threads and it gets gritty feel to them when tightening the blade down etc.. Also pull the little pin out and clean it and the little O-ring and re-apply some lube to the O-ring. I use a very small dab of Vaseline on the O-ring and re-insert it into the end of the thumb screw and spin it a few times to work it around so it works nice and smooth. 

Years ago when I first got my dewalt saw people talked about making sure to purchase a extra set of blade chucks.. because they always strip out etc.. so I did that.. but in maintaining them the way I do I never did have to use the spares.. I think sometimes people look over the small stuff when doing any maintaining of their tools.. 

Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience with the squeaky blade chuck.. maybe lubing it with some dry lube of some sort will prolong the life of the wear parts. 

[stoney]

Preventative maintenance on any mechanical device always equals dividends.  Thanks for the reminder Kevin.  

[Woodmaster1]

I have the Delta pegas chucks and I had to put lock tight on the set screw to keep it from moving out from use. 

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah I forgot to mention that one.. I always loc-tite the set screws with "Blue" colored loc-tite.. The other colors you may never get them out to change them. LOL

[Paladin]

I did similar when mine started to feel stiff and stick a little.  Just a drop of oil along the shaft that goes vertical through the clamp body and let it work its way down the hole and the clamp was moving super smooth again.

[new2woodwrk]

Mine are making a god awful noise, so I applied grease to the bushings. Seems to have quieted them down but still sounds like my saw has thrown a rod LOL