chippygeoff Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hi everyone. Some of you will be aware of the problems I have had with my excalibur 21. I sent an e-mail to the supplier last week as I had come to the end of the road, he offered to have the saw picked up and give me a full refund. I then sat down and thought about it and the problem here in the UK is that there is not much available to replace it with. I could get a Hegner but they are vastly overpriced and to get one to replace the excalibur I would be looking at over £1000 and that's ridiculous. In desperation I stripped the excalibur and re-built it and now it is ten times better. I would point out that I feel I had a one off, a bad apple in a box of good ones. I decided to keep the saw and e-mailed the supplier and main importer. I gave a detailed report on the blade clamps and the supplier is sending me two complete arms complete with clamps. The problem that I still have is that when I tighten the T bolt onto a new blade it curves, as though pressure was coming from just one side and when I apply the white tension lever the top clamp has an angle to it. The problem with the top clamp at the moment is that the T bolt is a very loose fit and I put this down to the clamp being aluminium and the T bolt steel. Also the grub screw the other side of the clamp keeps working loose and I keep screwing it back in with the allen key until it is flush with the side of the clamp. A current problem I have with the excalibur is when I am making children's jigsaw puzzles with 3/4 hardwood and using an ultra reverse number 5 blade. I keep getting an angle to the pieces so they will only come out one way. I have tried everything to square the blade to the table. I have to cut the puzzles on the dewalt 788 but use the excalibur for portraits etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Finn Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Some locktite on the grub screw may help with that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolfmoonCT Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 If you want to try to keep that grub screw from working loose, try putting some teflon pipe tape on it. should fill up the gap and make it tigher for you. if the blade is curving when you tighten the T bolt, your over tightening it. It doesnt' require as much pressure as you think to hold the blades, if your using proper tension. If it's cutting on an angle, then I still think the table is not square to the blade. Perhaps the square your using got bent at some point? What do you use to square the blade, and how do you do it? I have 2" square I use on my Dewalt. My Dewalt has it's own issues that I can't seem to correct, but doesn't seem to affect my cuts much. I can square the blade to the table, with the arms all the way up. If I place a straight edge touching the blade, when I lower the arms, the blade moves about the thickness of a #7 blade to the side. I've tried adjusting the set screws on the clamps every which way, but to keep the blade touching a straight edge all the time, my table can't be square to the blade. Doesn't really seem to affect most of my work, but I'm sure if I was to do some very fine pieces it would prob cause too much sideways vibration and snap a piece. But I used to over tighten my blades in teh beginning.. then I figured out what a good amount was.. Now it's more when i feel the set screw touch the blade, I do a like 1/5th to 1/4 of a turn and that's it. Never had the issue again, except on maybe a couple 2/0 blades when cutting maple and i needed to tighten more to get more tension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippygeoff Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Thanks for the tip Jim on locktite. I will do that. Wolfmoon. I have a few ways I square the blade to the table. I make a cut into a piece of thick wood and then I turn it over and make another one close to the first and then I see if there is any difference between the gap top and bottom. I also have a 3inch wide steel rule and I mark a line on this with a square, this is the more accurate way as the rule goes all the way across the table and over the edges. I feel I have got the T bolt just right for if I tighten it any less the blade comes out. What I cannot understand is why some pieces of the jig saws I make fail to slide out properly both ways. Yesterday I got the blades square on the dewalt and the excalibur. I then got some scrap hardwood 3/4 thick and cut two jigsaw pieces on each saw and they were perfect. I then cut out a ten piece rabbit, again in 3/4 Ash. Two of the pieces failed to slide out easily and I had to sand those two pieces by hand. It is so annoying when this happens. I am not pushing the workpiece but letting the blade do the work and I am using a fast speed and a number 5 ultra reverse blade from Mikes workshop. I also make sure I do not apply side pressure when going round corners. What is so annoying is when I have taken the time to make a puzzle and some of the pieces don't slide up and down properly I end up throwing it away. I don't know if anyone else has this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Finn Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 "......when I have taken the time to make a puzzle and some of the pieces don't slide up and down properly I end up throwing it away. I don't know if anyone else has this problem......" When I encounter this problem I find that if I change out the blade more often, the problem dissapears. Using only sharpest blades seems to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippygeoff Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Thanks Jim. I do the same, a new blade for each puzzle. Most of the puzzles are only ten to twelve pieces. I cut the outside of the puzzle with the previous blade and when I am ready to cut the pieces i change the blade for a new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 I can only comment on the squaring since I don't have an Excalibur. I've run into this problem too and its frustrating. I'm sure gone through these things already, but I thought I'd write again, just in case. [*:1m27548j]For squaring, I'd buy a small, cheap protractor from an office supply store. You can find one that will fit under the arm. A great way to check to see if the blade is square. [*:1m27548j]Turn on the machine at its slowest speed. Look straight on (from the front) and watch to see if the blade goes side to side at all. You'll know if it is because it looks blurry. [*:1m27548j]Make sure you have the blade tight. When you pluck it, it should almost sound musical. You can download the Scroll Saw Blade Tension program from the Downloads page (program by Steve Good). It has sounds of what a proper blade tension should sound like.[*:1m27548j]While you're cutting, release a little pressure on your project and see if it springs back. If it does, you'll know that you're putting side pressure on it. Many times, I do this without even realizing I'm doing it. So I do this exercise many times while I cut.[*:1m27548j]Sharp blade, making sure the teeth are facing down.[*:1m27548j]On 3/4" stock for puzzles, I use either a #5 or a #7. Might want to try a #7 to see how that works for you too. I'm sure I repeated what other's said, but that's all I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippygeoff Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Thanks Travis for your advice. Sometime ago I did buy a geometry set with a couple of protractors and various size squares etc. I had not thought of seeing if the blade has side to side movement and I will check this out first thing in the morning. I get a good note when the blade is tight and I often check the first cut on the wood. Yes, I can understand how easy it is to move the wood while cutting and very often when I release the pressure it has sprung back, as you say, we don't realise we are doing it. I find the successful formula for jigsaws is a tight blade, quite a high speed and having a new blade for the internal cuts. For the last couple of days I have been using an ultra reverse 7 blade on thick ash that is hard, I cover the pattern with 2inch wide clear packaging tape and this works very well and I am happy with the speed of the cut. Part of the problem is the worn blade clamps but the new ones should arrive any day now and then I will see how well the saw performs but in my heart I feel I will put the excalibur in the store cupboard as a spare. I have seen a saw made, or rather imported by a German firm called Sheppach that cost a third of the price of the excalibur, it has good write ups. I find the table on the excalibur is not as substantial as it should be and not enough table in front of the blade to support larger work. The Dewalt mark 1 I have is faultless, it is perfect in every way and has never let me down, it still has the original blade clamps and is a joy to work with. Thanks again Travis. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 on this web video (there are 3 parts) he talks about rotating the motor he was able to get front to back run out of the blade to a minimum. not sure if this will help but it might Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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