New take on a hold

[Hawk]

My shop is in the basement of my 1930's farm house.  As a result the floor to ceiling height is under 6 feet. I'm 6'4" so I walk around with my chin in my chest most all the time. While scrolling today a light bulb went off. Having a low ceiling is a good thing. My scrollsaw has 2 sewing machine lights so the arm doesn't stay up on its own. I was using a Steve Good "stand guy" to hold it up for blades. I looked up and the light bulb went off.

Here's my solution,  easy to use and keeps the deck clear for larger projects. 

Chris

[Blaughn]

That looks like a great solution.  I might have been tempted to try a bungee cord just strong enough to hold it up with a clip on weight to pull it down when wanted....

Bruce

[kmmcrafts]

I'm confused... so are you trying to hold the upper arm of the saw up? That's what it looks like and if so.. all you need to do is adjust the arm tension set screw at the back of the saw on the opposite side of the motor you'll see a bolt / screw with a slot in it and a jam nut on it.. loosen the jam nut and use a flat head screwdriver and turn it in slightly until you get enough resistance to hold the arm up.. don't make it too stiff because then your arm will get sore trying to raise it up, LOL.. should move freely and fairly easy yet have enough tension to stay in the up position on it's own.. might have to play around with in a few times to get it where you want it but man that sure beats having to hold it up in some way.. There are instructions in your manual for the adjustment as well.. 

[Hawk]

29 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I'm confused... so are you trying to hold the upper arm of the saw up? That's what it looks like and if so.. all you need to do is adjust the arm tension set screw at the back of the saw on the opposite side of the motor you'll see a bolt / screw with a slot in it and a jam nut on it.. loosen the jam nut and use a flat head screwdriver and turn it in slightly until you get enough resistance to hold the arm up.. don't make it too stiff because then your arm will get sore trying to raise it up, LOL.. should move freely and fairly easy yet have enough tension to stay in the up position on it's own.. might have to play around with in a few times to get it where you want it but man that sure beats having to hold it up in some way.. There are instructions in your manual for the adjustment as well.. 

I'll definitely look into that. This saw is still pretty new to me. Took some trial and error just to get the vibration out ant straight vertical cut.

But yea, just trying to hold the arm up fro blade changes.

Thanks

[scrollingforsanity]

What Kevin said. Much easier than having to hook something on the arm every time. Very simple adjustment.

[Scrappile]

Be advised, Per Ray, at Seyco, you must be aware, you adjust that bolt too tight, You can wear a groove into the metal that the bearing on the end of that bolt rides on.  That groove gets too deep in that metal,  and that bolt/bearning will not work any more,  the  metal is part of the saw metal that covers the saw.  Not  a replaceable part on it's own.  He warned me not to adjust it any tighter than necessary to raise the arm and it stay in place.  I would fear that you have added weight on that upper arm of your saw with the lights, so it could mean you have to tighten that screw beyond what is required... Just putting it out there, He told me that when I had an Excalibur which was several years ago.  Maybe they have changed how that all works, but I would check it our first.  

[OCtoolguy]

What Paul said for sure. I did take mine apart far enough to clean the ball bearing and place a dab of wheel bearing grease on it. I tightened it just enough to stay up. But, I don't have anything extra hanging off of mine to add weight. I would advise against doing that. 

[Hawk]

Hmmmm, I'm thinking that sticking with my hook for now would be the wisest choice. 

Thanks everyone for your input,  it really helps. Which is a big reason I'm part of SSV.

Chris

[Bill WIlson]

Any way to suspend the lights from the ceiling, instead of the saw arm?  

[scrollingforsanity]

I adjusted my Excalibur 12 years ago and my Seyco 4 years ago and have not had to adjust them since and I use them most everyday . They still work fine. But as everyone says whatever works for you is the best solution.

[Scrappile]

You know, with a little more cable some pulleys you could make a foot peddle you push down to raise the arm, and release to lower the the arm.  

[OCtoolguy]

Paul, there is a youtube video done by an old guy who made a bunch of additions/alterations to his Ex and that was one of them.

 

[Dak0ta52]

Looks like a genius at work to me!  

[BadBob]

I have sewing machine lights on my EX-21 for more than a year. As far as I can tell they are not causing a problem.

They don't weigh much.

 

[BadBob]

On 1/27/2023 at 8:05 AM, Bill WIlson said:

Any way to suspend the lights from the ceiling, instead of the saw arm?  

There are many ways to light up your saw. You have to find what works for you.

One of these mounted on your saw will work. These lamps are cheap, and if you use an LED bulb, it can be very bright and not generate heat to amount to anything. I have one clamped to the back of my saw. They cost around $20.

 

[Gene Howe]

I bought a pair of small magnetized LED sewing machine lights. Goose necked and light weight. One on either side of the arm makes for no shadows. For magnification, I use a wearable magnifier, like a pair of glasses, with flip up lenses. Being wearable, there's nothing to adjust when you move your viewing angle. 

[Joe W.]

19 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

I bought a pair of small magnetized LED sewing machine lights. Goose necked and light weight. One on either side of the arm makes for no shadows. For magnification, I use a wearable magnifier, like a pair of glasses, with flip up lenses. Being wearable, there's nothing to adjust when you move your viewing angle. 

I've been doing the same thing for a couple years now.  Only use the wearable magnifer for the really small, tight patterns.  

[Bill WIlson]

3 hours ago, BadBob said:

There are many ways to light up your saw. You have to find what works for you.

One of these mounted on your saw will work. These lamps are cheap, and if you use an LED bulb, it can be very bright and not generate heat to amount to anything. I have one clamped to the back of my saw. They cost around $20.

 

I have a couple of those mounted to the ceiling joists above my saw.  One is aimed from the left and one from the right, eliminating shadows.  It works really well for me.  They are up and out of the way and don't vibrate with the saw.

[Gene Howe]

2 hours ago, Joe W. said:

I've been doing the same thing for a couple years now.  Only use the wearable magnifer for the really small, tight patterns.  

These old eyes need the magnification.  Almost need it to walk across the floor.

[rjweb]

Bob where did you get that black light, nice looking, thx RJ

[BadBob]

12 hours ago, rjweb said:

Bob where did you get that black light, nice looking, thx RJ

Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HX2EVPS/

I have used this lamp style for years (40+) and never had one fail. I currently have 10. I recommend a high-quality Daylight LED bulb. I like the GE Lite Stik 1600 lumen if you can get them. From time to time these get scarce.

[rjweb]

Thx Bob, ordered, I have one of those mag lights with the circle bulb and I get shadows, RJ 

[dgman]

I don’t understand why you need to hold the arm up to Change blades. I’ve had a Pegas for a year and a half and had DeWALTS for over 20 years and never had to lift the arm to install a blade! I am a top feeder and I simply hold the arm up with one hand and line up the blade with the other hand, then let the arm gently lower itself. As for changing blades, it’s just as easy to install the blade without lifting the arm.

[Hawk]

An update. I had a couple of folks suggest like Kevin did, adjusting the arm hold screw.

Well I did a test by taking the lights off,lifting the arm and it just dropped down. So I adjusted the screw as Kevin suggested and now the arm stays up by itself with the lights on.

I wanna say thanks to everyone who replied,  it really helps me get the best from my saw.

Chris

[CharleyL]

I have a "Jim Dandy" lift on my DeWalt scroll saw that came with the saw when I bought it. It's just an arm that pivots on a longer screw in the top right side of the saw's rear casting, and a coil spring to pull the back end of this arm down, and the front end of this arm with the upper saw arm attached to it, up. I have two LED lights on goosenecks attached to the upper arm of the saw, one on each side, and have the spring tension set so the upper saw arm is about neutral and floating, meaning that it will sit at any desired level while changing the blade or doing any other kind of work with the blade removed. I've been happy with it.

Just one more option. Whatever works for you, go with it.

Charley