Blade Clamp

[moolcool]

Hello
I have a Mastercraft Scroll Saw my bottem blade clamp slips no matter what i do. I got a few suggestions by email but none worked. Does anybody have any tips?

[jttheclockman]

I am not familiar with that saw but here are the basic things to look for and do. The first is when you get new blades there is a small amount of machine oil left on them due to the manufactoring process. So you need to clean that off before installing a blade. To do this you can wipe it down with some mineral spirits or what I like to do is use acetone. Another way is to lightly sand all 4our edges where they will come incontact with the holder.

The second thing is after awhile especially if you use the saw alot and do alot of fret work the tightening and loosening makes the thumb screw worn down and becomes shiny because of the metal rubbing on metal. You want to take the thumb screw out and roughen the tip up with sand paper. Do this for bothe top and bottom. It is not a bad idea to take the setscrew out on the otherside of the blade too if it has one and do the same. If it doesn't I would take a piece of sandpaper and wedge it between the clamp and a few strokes and this is cleaned.

Third know how much tension to put on the blade. Also make sure the blade sits in the holders correctly and it in far enough for the thumbscrew to catch good. If it doesn't release the tension more.

Fourth and final if all else fails you may have a cracked holder and when you tighten the thumbscrew you spread the crack and the blade slips. To look for this do it with the blade in place and the thumbscrew tightened and shine a flashlight behind the holder and look for hairline cracks.

This is all I have for you at this time.

[Old Mooner]

By Golly JT, I thank you for the advice on why blades slip out of the clamp. We can all learn something from each other. I have been having trouble with some new #2 Flat-end spirals slipping and could not figure out why. Now I see that it is probably the newness and the machine oil thing. I am gonna try cleaning them like you advise. I have, at least, used the technique of "roughing" the thumb screw. That usually works well. Thanks again pardner.
Moon

[CanadianScroller]

Hi Moolcool, the Mastercraft Scroll Saw is made for Canadian Tire by Ryobi.
I have had similar problems with the Ryobi clamp.
After contacting Ryobi, they suggested a replacement clamp.
I took some emery cloth and buffed the inside of the clamp. I have had no problems since then.
I suspect there was a burr during the casting process.
The 1 800 number in the manual is great. they give good customer service.
The design of the clamp in my saw is like a pair of pliers hinged at the back.
The thumb screw is behind the fulcrum so the jaws have no set screw to adjust.
One thing you should do is clean the sawdust out from the clamp jaws. It does tend to collect there. I keep a paintbrush handy just to dust the clamps off.

[elswood]

Blades

Wow this is good information. Thanks guys. My blades have been slipping out of the top clamp. I guess the same ideas apply?
I will give it a try.
Linda

[bishopkerrie]

Blades

Hi Linda,
Just wondered what sort of saw you have. I have a 16inch Delta, I had problems with the blade slipping, used sand paper to roughen the actuall clamp that tightens onto the blade and it is much better.
hope this helps
kerrie