coupla questions about 10ER jigsaw

[johnnlynn2]

I'm a newbie here The long part of the story is, I retired about a year and a half ago, have a shop with some tools, saw a 10 ER in a garage sale last spring, didn't get it so did some research on Shopsmith, found a 1981 Mark V with accessories in VG condition. Many can relate that "why not another?". Found a Greenie with many blades and other parts in addition that it had a new motor so it came home, found a 1984 Mark V for $75 which needed a few parts and rust on the bottom of the legs so it came home. Next I found a Goldie with a lot of accessories for $80 so it came home. A friend who we camp with had a cookout so I got to see the ER he was given and it was beautiful. A month later when we were camping, we went to an indoor flea market and I found a 10ER painted green and the man was asking $40. There was no bench and some of the parts were in rough shape so it came home. I took everything apart and cleaned things up, still haven't assembled it yet. Found another 10ER on craigslist in very good condition for $100, has a bench, speed changer and many extra accessories. It came home. The latest acquisition was a pair of 10ER jigsaws. Both are almost complete and the only things missing are a mounting bolt and spacer and a hold-down spring. My questions are:
what is the height of the spacer since the one I have is a stack of washers?
has anyone ever made a hold-down spring?
the blade guides are there but are broken off on the outside, is anything available that could be used for the guides?
the lower frames are different, one is solid on the bottom and the other is open on the bottom and sort of cups over the pulley on the headstock.was this a design change and does anyone have an idea who old they are?
Thanks for listening and I enjoy reading your posts.
I tell people I am a packrat but I'm getting better. I believe it came from something a buddy said years ago when he worked for the state highway dept., "it doesn't matter if you need it, it doesn't matter where you got it and it doesn't matter how much you paid for it, the only thing matters if you got a good deal."
thanks,
John

[rjent]

Hey John, sounds like you have both an early one and a late one. Many people don't use the hold down spring (I don't). I am not an expert, but I have used mine for a couple of scroll projects and the little machine is awesome. I get my blades from Skip at MKC Tools. The speed changer lets you adjust the speed of the oscillation to keep the 10ER happy. It can set up a kind of harmonic at certain speeds that makes it shake, but the speed changer lets you find a sweet spot that is smooth as glass. Skip has the guides. I have seen pictures of the upper blade holder that was made from a block of aluminum that looks sweet. I will see if I can get into the shop tomorrow and measure the bolt for you. I found mine on ebay, so you can look there.

I have two of the jigsaws as well and 4 10ERs. Great machines.

Welcome to the madness and family. LOL

[rpd]

John, welcome to the fun.

I also have two of the jigsaws.

Since you are using proper names for the parts, I will assume that you have a copy of the manual.

I believe the manual online must have been for the earliest production and they made changes/improvements as time went on. Neither of mine have spacers, rather they came with one piece bolts (rather like the ones for lawnmower wheels). The one that come with the earlier model has a hex head, and the one that came with the later one (with the built in belt guard) has a knurled head with an allen socket.

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The blade guide is a fairly soft, fibrous rod. I think you could probably use a wooden dowel. mound the blade backward to cut the slot, and perhaps soak the end in oil so it would self lubricate.

I don't recall reading of anyone making a hold down spring but I am sure it could be done.

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[JPG]

Shoulder bolt.

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[rpd]

Looking through this again in the cold light of morning. (and raining too), I have a correction to my previous post.

Neither of mine came with the spacer (134-21).

This part is only needed if you use the jigsaw with the upper arm removed, It then takes up that space so the bolt isn't too long. I suspect most have been mislaid over the years.

Doing a rough measurement of where it would go, it would be 1/2" ID and approx. 1 1/4" long. (the OD would not be too critical as long as the wall thickness wasn't too thin).

[chapmanruss]

As Ron said the spacer is 1/2" ID to slip over the bolt when the upper arm is removed. My original spacer that came with the Jig Saw is 1-1/8" long and is a thick walled spacer about 3/32" thick. I have restored 7 Jig Saws, 2 early ones without the belt cover and 5 with. There are slight variations on how tight the mounting bolt will be depending on where the leveling screws end up so washer thickness plays a part in that. You can find the mounting bolt both used originals and new replacements on eBay but I do not recall seeing a spacer there. I made a replacement spacer out of a brass sleeve from the hardware store.

The Blade Guides show they are still available from Shopsmith since they use the same ones as the Jig Saw for the Mark V. It is part number 502286 called the Lower Back-up.

The Jig Saw without the belt cover is the oldest and was replaced by the one with the built in belt cover. Other than the main casting, gear box cover and 2 or 4 screws to hold the gear box cover on the other parts are pretty much the same or interchangeable.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Shoulder bolt.

temp.jpg

Yikes, at first I thought that price was for a single bolt!

McMaster sells them individually for about four bucks.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#91259A726