Jane Hiatt Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 I work mainly on my 3 year old Seyco 21". All of a sudden I can't get the tension on my blade to hold. Ray at Seyco says he thinks it is blade slippage. I know he is the expert, but I just can't seem to agree that the blade is slipping. Steve Good says he's stumped after everything I've done to correct the problem and he mainly uses this saw and the Pegas. I've been scrolling since the 80's so I'm not a beginner. Please help if you can. Thank you so much. Jane OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 (edited) I guess to diagnose a problem it'd help a great deal to know what has been done already.. I may be making suggestions that has already been done. There is a lot of mechanical things that can lead to tension issues.. Even a lot of the "pros" can overlook something.. so make a list of what you've tried.. and maybe someone here can suggest something.. no point in us guessing at things that have already been addressed. Also when is the tension issue arise? Immediately or over the course of doing a cut? Blade breaking or no? Edited January 17 by kmmcrafts OCtoolguy, MarieC, Roberta Moreton and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Moreton Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 An inexpensive and easy thing to try is replacing the set screw and thumb screw inside part. You can buy the refurbish kit from Seyco. Get a set for top and bottom. I think it was around $10 the last time I bought one. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Moreton Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 7 minutes ago, Roberta Moreton said: An inexpensive and easy thing to try is replacing the set screw and thumb screw inside part. You can buy the refurbish kit from Seyco. Get a set for top and bottom. I think it was around $10 the last time I bought one. If you are the person I spoke to of facebook (and I think you are). You have already done this. Correct? OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Moreton Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 I spoke to this person on Facebook. She said she has tried replacing these parts multiple times. THIS is why I sold my Excalibur and bought a Dewalt. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill WIlson Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 Presuming the Seyco's blade clamping and tensioning mechanism is the same as what is on my EX-21, there really isn't a whole lot that could be happening. If the Seyco had a tensioning mechanism like the Dewalt, for example, there are more potential mechanical reasons why tension could be slipping, but for a tensioning mechanism such as on the Excalibur, the options are limited. When the blade feels like it has slipped, do you notice slack in the blade when you re-clamp? Does the tension lever remain firmly in place? Is there any involuntary movement of the arm lifting knob at the rear of the saw? Blade slippage is the most likely culprit. You've owned the Seyco for 3 years, but have been scrolling for much longer. What kind of clamping method did you have on your previous saw(s)? OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 Cleaning the contact points of what holds the blade in is always the first line of defense. Not sure what holds the blade in on those saws but if it is setscrews, make sure they are set properly as far as distance in and out. Make sure they are sanded down to get rid of any oils from the blades. also I always sand the ends of the blades I use down on both sides of blade and both ends of blades. They are manufactured with a coat of oil on them. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Hiatt Posted January 17 Author Report Share Posted January 17 45 minutes ago, Roberta Moreton said: An inexpensive and easy thing to try is replacing the set screw and thumb screw inside part. You can buy the refurbish kit from Seyco. Get a set for top and bottom. I think it was around $10 the last time I bought one. Already done plus more. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny Knappen Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 The clamp material is soft and can be overtightened causing the clamp to be out of alignment causing poor contact. I suggest replacing with a Pegas Chuck Head for popular saws. I have them on my website linked below my signature. MarieC and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 Just taking a wild stab at what's going on without actually seeing the saw right in front of me.. and seeing what others have said you have done already.. I kind of question the condition of the threads in the adjuster block at the back of the saw.. I personally would start by making sure the upper arm is parallel to the saw table and adjust that knob at the back of the saw until it is. My saw had a issue with that back knob just freely spinning on it's own and would get all out of adjustment. As for mechanical problems.. that rod and threaded block seem to be the only thing I haven't really seen mention of.. When you lower your upper arm down if it come down and kind of slams hard.. that is beating up on the threads of that rod and the threaded block. The only other part I could comment on is if the blade chucks have been tighten too tight, this can cause the blade chucks to spread open and not give a true clamp of the blade.. This would require replacement of the whole assembly.. If that was the case I recommend the Pegas chucks from Denny. Since you've already replaced the set/thumb screws I feel like the two things I mentioned are what is left to check. OCtoolguy and MarieC 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 I agree with Kevin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrollingforsanity Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 I also agree with Kevin. I have the Excalibur and Seyco. The blade chucks spread apart on both of them from me over tightening the blade. Replaced the blade chucks on both saws with Pegas blade clamps a few years ago and no more problems. Good luck. MarieC and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 21 hours ago, kmmcrafts said: My saw had a issue with that back knob just freely spinning on it's own and would get all out of adjustment. How did you fix this? Mine seems to be doing that. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 3 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: How did you fix this? Mine seems to be doing that. I took it all apart and put blue loc-tite thread lock on the threads and put it back together.. haven't had an issue since and that's been some years ago.. That said, many topics on this issue and most have found a way to wrap a rubberband around it in some way to keep it from turning. Not sure if your saw has a mark on the knob or not, some saws do and some don't, but you could mark it with some tape and mark on the saw with some tape and just keep an eye on it and when it moves just move it back. Over time though this gets worst and will eventually need addressed. Seyco suggest buying a new rod and that threaded block that it screws into.. but again, I used blue loc-tite as I had it on hand and no issues for a long time. It was really bad on mine too.. like every single cut I'd have to re-adjust that knob. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill WIlson Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 Interesting. When I was having trouble with my EX a couple months ago, one of the things Ray at Seyco had me do was move the arm adjustment knob. I couldn't turn it. I bought the saw in 2016 and have never touched that knob. It was tight, like the threads were seized. I eventually got it to loosen up. Now I hope it doesn't start spinning freely on me. OCtoolguy and kmmcrafts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 This is the parts I'm talking about in case someone doesn't quite understand. https://seyco.com/product/ex21-a58a-complete-rear-tensioner-assembly/ If you take it apart and put blue loc-tite on the threads it'll last a good while.. IF you let it be it'll likely wear out faster and would then "have to" be replaced. Either case it's kind of tricky to get apart.. there is a lock-nut on the bottom side of that block that is quite hard to access and hold while trying to unthread it to get it out of the saw... Maybe I should have taken more time to take more of the saw apart.. I ended up just removing the plastic above the upper arm off and using some long needle nose pliers to hold the lock-nut.. harder to do yet was reaching back in there to hold the nut and get it to thread back on, LOL.. IF you can do the rubber-band thing.. that might be the best option.. or plan to take the whole back part of the saw apart which might have been easier for me to do.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 Rubber bands work just fine. I bought a bag of the widest I could find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meflick Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 On 1/17/2024 at 10:40 AM, Denny Knappen said: The clamp material is soft and can be overtightened causing the clamp to be out of alignment causing poor contact. I suggest replacing with a Pegas Chuck Head for popular saws. I have them on my website linked below my signature. On 1/17/2024 at 9:45 PM, scrollingforsanity said: I also agree with Kevin. I have the Excalibur and Seyco. The blade chucks spread apart on both of them from me over tightening the blade. Replaced the blade chucks on both saws with Pegas blade clamps a few years ago and no more problems. Good luck. This was the issue when my Seyco (one of the first ones sold) started not to hold the tension on my blade and was releasing. I replaced the chuck head with a Pegas and try to remember to not over tighten the blade (and have told my DH over and over not to tighten it so tight ) OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 She sent me a message explaining all things that has been tried.. Claims to have replaced the upper blade chuck per suggestion from Seyco... and no change.. through all the things she has done there is still the lower blade chuck that hasn't been changed.. if I'm understanding the message correctly. That all said she also mentioned that her Excalibur also started doing this around the same time.. unless I misunderstood that.. Now I suppose the chucks could have spread apart on both saws like this at the same time.. but it also is making me wonder what blades she's using.. I've seen bad batches of blades slip through QT and end up in the consumers hands.. Hard to believe they'd stretch within 2 seconds of turning the saw on and having a very loose flimsy blade without even getting a chance to cut.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clocks and more Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 It could be the nut that is on the bottom of the adjustment screw inside on tee bottom of the long screw that keeps losing op. I HAD THAT TROUBLE . I hope you can understand my instructions. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 6 minutes ago, clocks and more said: It could be the nut that is on the bottom of the adjustment screw inside on tee bottom of the long screw that keeps losing op. I HAD THAT TROUBLE . I hope you can understand my instructions. Are you talking about this part? https://seyco.com/product/ex21-a58a-complete-rear-tensioner-assembly/ OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 Jane sent this to me in a PM a couple days ago, She got her saw back up and running. Yay! My saw is fixed !!! The threads at the bottom of the tilt knob had broken free of the original lock tite material because of age thus allowing the tension to go "wonky". Once I replentished the lock tite on both the upper and lower threads and had some awesome verbal help from "Midnight Scrollher" via telephone and video chat and the use of the digital square that came with the Seyco 21", the machine was adjusted and is in original condition. This lady has so many amazing, helpful videos on You Tube. Thank you everyone for your suggestions and support. If I could figure out how to post this on the website, I would. I have trouble navigating it. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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