Shopsmith Forums

This information is for the older gray version of the scroll saw (555220). I don't have the teal one but it might be the same but take a look at your manual to make sure.

I have just finished changing the bushings in the arms of my shopsmith scroll saws. It is behaving much better and it is clear to me that it needed that attention. A 1/4" or more movement of the upper arm is just too much.

After getting it back together it was time to add a blade and finish the tune up by aligning the blade/table.

One of the things that needs to be done is getting the tension of the blade correct. The old story is that it should be a number of "clicks" a table is in the manual the number of clicks depending on the blade selected. Well those were the old days and this is what they provide with the old system to make it easier to get it right. If your saw is older then 1994 this is what you have.

When you put the upgraded system in place that method is gone. They provide a new method and when you are done it should be ready to go. The final test is to pluck the blade and hear a high C. If you are like me I could not even begin to guess what that sounds like. Well perhaps I have some idea but not much of a way of knowing where the blade is tension wise.

From experience I know what it should feel like when cutting so in the past I get to a point and figure that is good enough. Yea it works but it still bothers me that I can't actually know if it is too tight or too loose or even in the ball park.

So lets talk about this for a moment. The term High C is sometime called soprano C, I know that because I looked it up. It is also noted as C6 which I guess means something to piano people. It is also 1046.502 Hz.

So where did all this new found information lead me? To the net for more searching, where else? Turns out I found a free app that uses your android phone and displays all this good information. It is called DaTuner (Lite).

So using my tuned ear I set the blade and found I was low by a bit in what I thought I was doing. How far low? We will not talk about that.

Anyway now I know I've been looser then I should have been and have a way to practice getting it right with this handy app.

Read about it here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... tuna&hl=en

Maybe tomorrow I'll cut some wood. Had about enough of the saw repair and tuning.

C you later,

Ed

Ed,

Glad you got the scroll fixed.

As far as blade tension I don't know. My wife is the scroll sawyer. She has a Teal stand alone. That should not have anything to do with the tension on the blade. No mater the brand, tension is tension. When my wife has cutting problems she addusts the tension. Like a lot of other things in wood working there is not one perfect setting.

jsburger wrote:Ed,

Glad you got the scroll fixed.

As far as blade tension I don't know. My wife is the scroll sawyer. She has a Teal stand alone. That should not have anything to do with the tension on the blade. No mater the brand, tension is tension. When my wife has cutting problems she addusts the tension. Like a lot of other things in wood working there is not one perfect setting.

Is that a puzzle... Share the pattern? It looks amazing

So today's adventure. I haven't used the scroll saw much in the last couple of years due to the issues I have had so when I mounted it and fired it up I noticed that the whole upper arm cover assembly is flexing. I did not remember that happening before.

I had it running slow because I had it apart and I wanted to make sure I had not put it back together wrong. Since this was a couple of days of waiting on finding parts and then loosing the spring and well other stuff so I was worried that perhaps I had forgotten to tighten the two inside upper arm screws. Decided to be safe and take it back apart to check.

Turns out they were tight. So got it back together again and readjusted. When I ran it again it is still flexing. When running at 250 rpm setting that has the saw running at 400 and it is quite easy to see. As you increase the speed it is very hard to notice but it is still happening.

So for those of you with the powerpro can you test this out at low speed and let me know if that is how the saw should act? I have a feeling that it is that way but at operational speed it is just not noticed.

So then I found a new problem that I have. Now that I know how to tune the blade to the right tension the blade likes to pop out of the mostly upper holder. The saw has the new blade holders with the little lever handle. To be honest they hurt my fingers when I try to tighten them...... age related issue I think. So after having the top pop out 3 times and the bottom once I'm not loving those handles.

Now with the old system in all the times I used the saw I had a blade come out I think once. Since I changed to the new it seemed to be working fine too but since I was not getting the correct "C" tension I'm guess it was not as likely to happen.

I found a couple of the correct size allen head cap screws that seemed about the right length and installed them. Now with a 3/16 t-handle allen wench I can get them really snug. The top is pretty easy to do that way but the wrench I have is to short to work well on the bottom. Will see if I can get a longer one this weekend.

The test cuts are working well and I'm about ready for a project. Perhaps tomorrow.

Ed

Edit to fix incorrect information.

Flexing? I doubt that.

Rocking more like it.

Remember the pivot stuff that the tension rod presses against?


Lotta conjecture here!

See revised description above.

I will try and shoot a movie of it tomorrow.


Ed

JPG wrote:Flexing? I doubt that.

Rocking more like it.

Remember the pivot stuff that the tension rod presses against?


Lotta conjecture here!

??

Beave2012 wrote:

jsburger wrote:Ed,

Glad you got the scroll fixed.

As far as blade tension I don't know. My wife is the scroll sawyer. She has a Teal stand alone. That should not have anything to do with the tension on the blade. No mater the brand, tension is tension. When my wife has cutting problems she addusts the tension. Like a lot of other things in wood working there is not one perfect setting.

Is that a puzzle... Share the pattern? It looks amazing

I guess you could call it a puzzle. The pattern is from one of the wood working magazines so would be inappropriate to post here. Next time I am in the shop I will get the magazine name and issue.

I have the teal version but if you upgraded the blade changing system I believe it is the same as mine. Blade popping out of the upper holder is a problem for me too. I read a tip about using a piece of sandpaper to roughen up the ends of the blade. I also read a suggestion to grind the ends of the screws flat but have not tried it.

As promised a video of what I'm seeing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSF3uCd4PHg

Yes all fasteners are tight and I took it apart again to make sure they were. I think this is common but unless you run it slow it is pretty hard to see.

Ed