Refurbing a Scroll Saw

[paulrussell]

Moving my refurb to this thread. (Thanks JPG!)

A night of penetrating oil loosened up the final weighted shaft and it is now soaking in EvapoRust. A lot of playing with washers and threaded rod later, I have finally pushed/pulled the four main bearings out of the casting. Given the penetrating oil, rust on the exteriors of the bearings, and all the lateral banging they endured while I worked to remove the shafts, I ordered replacements for the main and connecting rod bearings.

I think this particular scroll saw "saw" more neglect than use, and I suspect the bushings to be OK. If not, there will be a future go-round.

Back to the shop to see how the rust removal is doing, and to decide which (if any) screws need to be replaced.

[paulrussell]

I'm not sure if someone has worked on my scroll saw before, or if there was an assembly error. The spring washers, (as shown in JPGs photo below) are nowhere to be found.

[paulrussell]

I was thinking about the bushings. JPG had machined the flanges to match the arms. I think that my solution, should I need to replace them in the future, will be to machine the arms to accept the bushings, and when I buy bushings, I'll get a lifetime supply.

[paulrussell]

One part that was in pretty rough shape was the rear cradle lock shaft. Today at Menard's I found what might be a great replacement. As long as the slot clears the rear trunnion it will work perfectly.

[paulrussell]

Waiting for bearings (seems to be the thing in my shop, both scroll saw and bandsaw). Not as purty as JPGs, but does match the powerpro and bandsaw. Since I've got the time, I'm going to paint the stand as well. BTW, only black and dark bronze, other apparent colors are due to lighting.

[JPG]

FWIW, my scroll saw manual does not show those spring washers either.

The dowel nut may need to have the threads bored out.

It was easier for me to reduce the flange on the bushings rather than bore the arms. Either works!

[paulrussell]

The screw went cleanly through the dowel nut. Once installed, other than the slot in the front end, you would be hard pressed to know it wasn't the factory part. It is just a tiny bit bigger in circumference, but that does not affect its function.

Just out of curiosity -- JPG, what is the silver (aluminum?) block on the left rear of your saw? (visible in the right foreground of photo below)

[paulrussell]

I have a theory about the cams which were offset by a tooth or two. Gravity does a pretty good job of alignment, but not perfect due to bearing resistance. I suspect manufacturing let gravity do the alignment for them.

And now, the newest member of my two tone matched crew, ready for another quarter century:

[BuckeyeDennis]

Sweet!

[JPG]

Nice color combination.

That silver thingie is a jig for installing blades onto the blade holders. Newer version has that built into the table.

New blade holders do not need it.