A34 Jigsaw up and running!

[Huckster79]

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I got my jig saw running last night! Seems more like a scroll saw though and that’s how we will use it.

I’m missing the pieces to tighten and hold the workpiece spring loaded holder/blade guard but that should be fine.

I’m going to have to make the shims for the table piece as the inserts fall under the plane of the table- looks like there was a shim of sorts in there from the factory - I’ll look it up, but probably just have to make one.

But she’s cutting wood!

[chapmanruss]

Huckster79,

Nice looking Jig Saw and Model 10 too.

I would not recommend using your Jig Saw without the Hold Down Assembly in place. It keeps the material pressed down on the table during cutting. If you do use the Jig Saw without the Hold Down Assembly, use extra care to hold the material being cut against the Table.

The Table Inserts are leveled by set screws in the Table Casting on the four corners of the insert adjusted from the underside of the table. The set screw holes are indicated by the 4 arrows in the picture below. The 4 set screws are 1/4"-20x1/2" size.

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The Jig Saw is different from a Scroll Saw even though the names tend to be used for each other. The Jig Saw uses spring tension on the upper arm for the blade while the lower chuck is moved up and down. The Scroll Saw locks the blade between the upper and lower arm and the arms move together. Both have their pluses and minuses. The Jig Saw can have its upper arm removed and be used like a Sabre Saw with single ended blades. The Scroll Saw because of how it works has less tendency to bend blades and is better for fine cuts.

[Huckster79]

Thanks Russ! Great info on all. I’m going to try to make the piece I need for the hold down as I’ve looked for parts without luck…

[chapmanruss]

In the picture below of the pair of A-34 Jig Saws you can see the Hold Down Assembly and the lock that holds it in place.

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A-34 pair.jpg (98.75 KiB) Viewed 5151 times

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Sorry I don't have a picture of just the Hold Down Assembly but it is mostly visible in the picture above.

If you are missing the entire Hold Down Assembly, are you missing the lock consisting of the Hold Down Lock Lever, Cylinder and Washer too? The Hold Down Lock parts are shown below. The Washer is on the Lock Lever.

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These parts will be difficult to find separate from a complete or mostly complete Jig Saw. Currently there are very few individual parts for sale.

The Hold Down Support Assembly can be one of the more difficult parts to find. It is a steel rod with a cast on alloy piece that can be easily damaged as seen below.

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Hold Down Support Assembly damage.jpg (187.57 KiB) Viewed 5151 times

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The one in the picture above is not the only one I have seen crumbling like that.

[Huckster79]

Oh man beautiful pics- what great looking tools. Thanks for the detailed picture of the locking mechanism- that’s the piece I’m missing but looks like I can manufacture something there.

My hold down piece shows some cracking. I’m going to encase it in some jb weld to hopefully help stabilize it, but looks like that too could be fabricated if need be, maybe not as pretty but functionable… hope it doesn’t come to that…

Cut done jig saw puzzles with the kiddos today so that was fun. I definitely can see where the hold down piece would be handy

[Huckster79]

In the picture below of the pair of A-34 Jig Saws you can see the Hold Down Assembly and the lock that holds it in place.

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A-34 pair.jpg
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Sorry I don't have a picture of just the Hold Down Assembly but it is mostly visible in the picture above.

If you are missing the entire Hold Down Assembly, are you missing the lock consisting of the Hold Down Lock Lever, Cylinder and Washer too? The Hold Down Lock parts are shown below. The Washer is on the Lock Lever.

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Hold Down Lock.jpg
.
These parts will be difficult to find separate from a complete or mostly complete Jig Saw. Currently there are very few individual parts for sale.

The Hold Down Support Assembly can be one of the more difficult parts to find. It is a steel rod with a cast on alloy piece that can be easily damaged as seen below.

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Hold Down Support Assembly damage.jpg
.
The one in the picture above is not the only one I have seen crumbling like that.

I got my plan to resurect my hold down piece. I beleive I know how to remake the lock, it’s going to take some creativity. I don’t have many metal working tools but I think I can do it- the hole is .55 so 1/2 rod is too sloppy, I’m going to take 5/8 rod and put it in the lathe and sand it down from .625 to .55, I know that’s going to be a project but without metal working tools I don’t see another option.

Then I’ll drill both holes and tap the one for a bolt for the hold down rod.

My foot piece had cracks, here was my solution to try to nurse more life out of it:

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It was still together but had cracks showing. So I encased it all in a coat of jb weld after a good cleaning w brush and alcohol. Pic below is todays progress- I’m going to sand it out to have a respectable shape and contour and then I’ll paint it and it should look decent and will hopefully milk some more life out of it, not sure but besides remaking it out of an aluminum block I figured this was worth a shot!

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Oh I used the dado setup tonight, so I’ve turned on lathe, used jug saw and now the table saw/dado. So far very pleased.

How is the jointer? I have the fence portion? My son has a 6” Wen we used last night to mill some 8/4 walnut, it was a bit light duty for that… more table wise than power, it did a fine job but they were 8’ and 6” wide and the verticle fence had some play in it- looks like it held 90 but I could see it flex left/right as it sort of pivoted from the middle.

[chapmanruss]

Hopefully your fix will give the Hold Down a bit more life. At least until you can find a replacement.

Although I have Jointer-Shaper Fences and Spindle Mount 2-1/2" Jointer Heads I do not actually used them. I have the Model 4E Magna 4" Jointer (see below) for the Model 10s which I have used but generally use my Mark Mount Jointer which has a dust chute and current upgrades.

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Below is the Jointer-Shaper Fence,

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Below is the 2-1/2" Jointer Cutter Head

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If using the Jointer-Shaper Fence and Jointer Head exercise extreme caution. This set up has nothing to provide any protection between you and the cutter knives.

There is a reason It was discontinued.

Just an FYI, not only can the Model 10 Jointer-Shaper Fence be used on the Model 10's so can the Shaper Fence for the Mark 5 with the original Table System AKA 500. It is shown below on my Model 10ER. Interesting side note, the original instruction sheet for the Shaper Fence shown below has it on a Model 10ER. Those instructions are dated 8 53 which is prior to the introduction of the Mark 5.

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