Do you know of a newsgroup that is strictly about scroll saw projects and problems? I am getting arthritis in my hands and having difficulty turning the blade release knob on top of my scroll saw when doing fret work. Does anyone have any thoughts on this.
Thanks for your advise in advance.
Kathy
You've got a scroll saw. Make a bigger knob ;-)
there are forums for scroll sawyers with many well informed and helpful people who are willing to help. Off the top of my head are justwoodworking.com and scrollsawportraits which is an msn group.
Without seeing a pic of the scroll saw and release knob I can't say how you might fix that problem, but simple mechanics says that is you can somehow attach a longer lever of some sort to that knob, you will require less force/effort to release it.
-- Regards,
Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews
- Workshop Essentials Under $30
- Festool PS 300 Jigsaws
- Delta Universal Tenoning Jig
- Ryobi Reciprocating Saw
- Infinity Router Bits
------------------------------------------------------------
I'm new to the machine, having just gotten one for Christmas. I haven't played with it much yet.
One of the books I got shows all manner of different scroll saw designs, and I have to say that the blade retention system on mine seems to be much better-designed than average when compared to the pictures in that book.
To release the top of the blade, I just flip a fairly large (3" or so) lever forward, then move a smaller lever (1" or so) back. The blade comes right out, goes through the hole in the work, and right back into the guide. Flipping the smaller 1" lever back to "tension mode" requires some strength, but you could probably use some small bit of pipe or something to give you a mechanical advantage. Flipping the larger lever is pretty easy.
It still has knobs for fine tuning the clamping action of the upper blade holder, and for tuning the tensioning action of the upper lever, but you don't need to make use of these in the course of doing a project with a lot of mid-workpiece holes; just when changing blade types.
I have no idea what kind of saw you're using now, or what your budget is, but something like this might really offer a nice alternative for you. It's a 16" Delta, variable speed. Might be small by your standards if you do a lot of scroll saw work. I have no idea if they offer a larger model.
The presser foot thingie is all but impossible to adjust so that it doesn't vibrate into the blade, and the blower nozzle is useless. It's definitely not a primo machine, but blade changes are really easy.
Take this FWIW, and good luck!
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.