chippygeoff Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 I have had my Ex-21 a week now and it is a fantastic scroll saw. I also have a Dewalt 788. When I first got the Ex-21 I found the on/off switch very small so I have fitted a foot switch and find this much easier. The arms on the Ex-21 are identical to the Dewalt and I had assumed that the blade clamps would be the same but they are not. I am finding that changing the blade is a real pain and quite time consuming and when I do pieced work it often have to have two or three attempts before I get the blade in just the right position. I have to holt the top of the blade against the outside of the clamp to make sure the top of the blade is in line with the top of the thumb bolt and then slide it into what seems a very deep void so I cannot actually see the blade but have to rely on feel, sometimes i get it first time but usually I have to have several tries before I get it right. If I go just a little higher with the top of the blade then it wont reach the bottom clamp and then sometimes I tighten the top clamp and the blade starts to bend. It really is frustrating so any advice would be gladly welcomed. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northampton scroller Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hi Geoff Have had same prob with mine which I have had for 6 months. I seem to have cured it by making sure the grub screw on opposite side to the clamp screw is kept tight,as it seems keep coming loose. Also I hate the clamp screws, you have to take pliers to them sometimes as they stick. Steve Good has a good Idear for these ve made them and they work a treat. Hope this helps. Best of luck and have a happy Thanksgiving Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippygeoff Posted November 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Happy Thanksgiving Jim. Hope your day has been a great one. Many thanks for your e-mail. I tried to find a way to reply but failed. The foot switch I use was sent to me by a friend. We have a supplier here in the UK that is popular with most people called Axminster Tools, I suppose it is similar to your Lowes or Home Depot, they sell everything connected with wood working and more besides. They do a foot switch but it is very expensive, I paid my friend the equivalent of $8 for it. The only problems I found on the excalibur were the very small on/off switch, hence the foot switch and the other problem is the blade changing, it is a lot different to the Dewalt, which I find excellent. I rang the importer today and he said i was the first person to comment on the blade changing. I will try it with the grub screw tightened right up Jim and see how that goes. There were several things loose on the saw when I first had it. I have the same problem as you with the clamp screws, I do not over tighten them but sometimes they are very difficult to undo. I saw the idea Steve has for the clamps and made one for the top clamp on the dewalt and it works fine. Hegner do a round metal knurled knob for their saws and in practice it works very well. I have been trying to get them for the excalibur but have not seen any yet so in the mean time I will adopt Steve's idea. Thanks again Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northampton scroller Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Thanks Geoff. I have just looked it up on axminster site and have ordered it it is where I purchased the saw. by the way I am in uk as well. northampton. I have had a few other probs with ex21 but not serious . If you have any other probs just let me know on oldscroller@hotmail.co.uk Cheers Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two saws Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Its to bad that the quick change blade clamps that the Delta saws used can't be adapted to the EX saws. That would solve the problem and be so much faster to do fret work. As long as my P- 20 is still living, can not see getting any other saw. Just my 2 cents worth. Ervin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatie Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 I'm having the same problem with clamping the blades, the amount of times I've thought the blade was in ok just to have it shoot out after just a couple of strokes. Found that if I make sure that the arm is down as far as it will go is of some help. I keep comparing it too much with the DeWalt and honestly I prefare the DeWalt. Marg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northerner Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 i too have been having clamping problems with my ex-21 but only with the bottom clamp. i have what you call i guess the grub screw? i call it a set screw but i have mine put in place with some blue loc-tite (non-permanent) so it doesnt move around. but when i go to tighten the knob it pushes the blade right out. i have to use a little flat blade screw driver and push/hold the blade in and tighten the knob at the same time and that works. i had posted this problem on another forum and others mentioned to swap the knobs around to see if that helps and another mentioned that if you over tighten it can push out the sides of the clamp! i thought i would try and sand the little spinner part on the end of the knob to see if that would help rough it up to grip the blade better but nope. i will order a new clamp, knob and set screws next week to see if that helps? i wish i would have kept my dewalt saw as it was lightening fast changing blades, the ex-21 takes to long to swap out blades but i really love how smooth and quiet it runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippygeoff Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 I finally got my head round the blade changing problem on the excalibur and I really should have thought of this when i first got the saw. I undid the T bolt and then slid a piece of steel into the opening, which was a nice snug fit. I then wound up the grub screws until they were just touching the steel and the problem was solved. Blade changing is no longer a problem and I get it right every time now. Both grub screws were set differently, the lower one was way off the mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesscrollsaw Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I havn't had any really problems with blade changes. the only things i've noticed is that sometimes with a spiral blade (twisted all the way to the tip) it will sometimes try to push the blade out instead of grab, but it doesn't happpen very often. the other thing I noticed was that sometimes the arm doesnt' drop all the way so when I connect the bottom blade and push the tensioner it's still loose. I've made it a habit now to always pull down on the arm before trying to hook up the lower blade mount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northerner Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 when i put in a new blade i use a dead blow hammer because of the weight and i hook the hammer over the top blade arm to keep it pushed down and then i clamp the bottom blade as i have to use left hand to keep blade pushed in and right hand tightens the knob. sounds wild but i should take a picture of it to show what i mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesscrollsaw Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 when i put in a new blade i use a dead blow hammer because of the weight and i hook the hammer over the top blade arm to keep it pushed downand then i clamp the bottom blade as i have to use left hand to keep blade pushed in and right hand tightens the knob. sounds wild but i should take a picture of it to show what i mean. yeah I'd like to see a picture of what your talking about.....not sure why you would need to do that unless something was wrong with the saw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thawkins57 Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 I've looked on Steve Good's site for info on the modified clamp knobs, but can't find anything - He mentioned them in his review of the EX, I think, but I can't remember what he said. Does anyone have information? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Is this what you're looking for? http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2 ... croll.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thawkins57 Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Is this what you're looking for? http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2 ... croll.html That's exactly what I was looking for - thank you! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northerner Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 mike, this is what i was talking about earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesscrollsaw Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Does your arm "creep" up after to put it all the way down? Just wondering why you'd need something to hold it in the down position Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northerner Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 yes, it is 'springy' and needs to be pushed down before clamping the bottom blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesscrollsaw Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 That's weird, mine falls all the way down. It doesnt come up unless i pull it up sounds like something is binding to keep it springy. But I've never taken one apart so I'd have no idea what would cause it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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