SCROLL SAW TIPS

VIBRATION TROUBLESHOOTING:

There are several areas to check out to see what the cause of the vibration is:

The first thing to check is that the tension rod is assembled correctly. The biggest culprit of misalignment in the tension rod area is the wedge pivot. Make sure that as you sit at the scroll saw and look back at the tension area you do not see a triangle in the wedge.

The triangle will be visible from the side of the saw as it sits in the arm but looks like a rectangle from the front. Some saws have enough of a slot in the arm to be inserted incorrectly. If the wedge pivot sits in the arm correctly, check to see that the tension is set correctly for the size of blade you are using.

Make sure that the saw is level using a bubble level sitting on the red saw base. Make sure the legs have a wide stance and don’t need kicked outwards. If the legs are bolted tight you might loosen the bolts to reset the leg positions.

If the saw is not level, adjust the glide feet to adjust the saw so that it is level.

Check your surroundings. If you are not on a concrete floor, look to see if the floor that your saw sits on does not flex or bounce. The biggest offender on this subject are prefab sheds and outbuildings.

Perhaps you need to add stability with bracings under the floor (most commonly concrete blocks for support) or compensate with sandbags at the base of the machine legs if the underflooring is impossible to shore up.

If all these are correct, we delve into a deeper level of repair:

To check the bearing in the arms: take the tension rod system out of the machine, keeping track of all the pieces. Once you remove the blade from the front of the arm, the upper arm can be moved freely. Move the arm up and down, feeling the action of the arm.

It should pivot smoothly throughout the range of motion without any click or gritty feeling. Any catch in the motion will only be magnified as the machine strokes. The same process can be repeated with the lower arm by removing the bolts attaching the bellows and pitman arm and moving it manually.

Again, you will feel for any catch or grit in the bearings. If the bearings need replaced you may either look locally for replacement bearings or call to order them from us. Once you have checked out all of the above and you haven’t located any problems go through the realignment instructions to make sure the whole saw is square and true.