Slipping and breaking blades

[miamw]

After cutting for some time and determining my blade needed to be changed, I stopped and put a new blade in. I'm using a Delta SS250 16" with a quick clamp on top. I put the new blade in and usually I check my tension by plucking the blade after it's inserted and before attempting to cut. I noticed the blade made a high pitch sound once, but upon plucking several times like I usually do to make sure I hear the right sound (or close to it) I noticed the pitch started to get lower and lower. I looked at the position of the blade in the quick clamp and sure enough the blade looked like it was getting lower. So, I removed the blade, blew out the inside of the quick clamp, sanded the end of the blade a little then reinserted the blade. Same thing. Well, after a couple of tries at trying to figure out what was making it slip in the quick clamp, I sanded the inside slightly then blew it out again. This helped a lot.

After getting the quick clamp to stop slipping and heard the right pitch a few times, I started to cut. I cut about 1/2" far and then BANG! That nasty broken blade sound scared me to death, like usual! The blade broke below the cutting table. What does that mean?

Oh, and I did finally get a second blade in there after the first broke and strangely but interestingly the seconds blade didn't slip nor break.

Could it possibly have been a bad blade?

[MikeDingas]

Well, if the second and subsequent blades don't give you the same problem, your assumption is looking correct.

[Minnesota scroller]

It can happen. I had a new blade I could not follow the line with worth a hoot. I put in another and that took care of my problem.

[miamw]

Well, now the subsequent blades are slipping and breaking too. My daughter took over the saw after I got fed up with the blades figuring I needed a break. She has tried two more blades and the same things keep happening. The blades are breaking below the saw table. Please, help!

[lucky788scroller]

Problem isnt the blade. Where is the blade slippage at? Possibly its still slipping there, or at the other end of the blade?

[miamw]

The blade slippage is in the quick clamp. When I get it to stay put, the blade breaks below the table. I'm cutting 3/8" pine which shouldn't be a problem.

[Steviegwood]

Mia, it's just a thought but it is possible that the bottom clamp is to tight and that could cause damage to the blade and cause it to break. Hope to get you going. Steve

[lucky788scroller]

3/8 pine should be no problem at all, your right.Is your wood jumping a little, causing a quick snapping effect on the blade? And, its breaking in teeth, not on the solid of the blade right? Pop in a different blade, go to a number 5 or 3 , anything but what your currently using, and try one or two. I still think there must be some slippage issues. If nothing works, your welcome to pop over and use one of my saws today. dale

[miamw]

Dale, I'll be right over, after about 5 days of driving! LOL! Actually, the wood seems to be moving side to side a little if I loosen up my grip on the wood. I've already tried #5 and #3 blades. I'm using FD. Why would the saw seem to be moving side to side AND front to back? I was thinking maybe the clamp on the bottom is misaligned or something.

[lucky788scroller]

Im not familiar with your blade clamps, is it possible something is missing, a small bushing or something? Also, run your finger in the blade hole on the table. Any rough spot where the blade is possibly touching the table?

[Neal Moore]

Mia....check the post in "Beginners Scrollsaw" posted 01/24/2006 titled SS250 Delta #121 grommet. This may well be your problem as I had the same trouble with my old SS250. It will cause top tension problems and continuous blade breakage. The grommets are cheap but a PIA to replace!!!

[miamw]

I don't think it's the grommet, but I'll check. My saw has about 10 hours of work on it, still practically new. No, the blade doesn't touch any part of the table. The insert around the blade is not close enough for the blade to touch it. I just went and looked again because the side to side motion is haunting me and telling me that's the problem. I can't figure why, but both the top clamp and bottom clamp giggles left to right if I giggle it. Is this wrong? What can I do to stop the side to side motion of the blade?

[lucky788scroller]

m not sure on a delta, but on a yella saw there is a little bit of freeplay when wiggling the blade holders sideways, but not much. Now youve got me stumped!Its almost as if your saw arms must be fighting against each other or something.If you insert the blade, tension it real tight, and just let the saw run a minute without wood on it, does it seem to operate fine? I wish I could help more, i know its got to be really aggrivating.

[Steviegwood]

Mia, I have the Delta 40-650 18" variable speed saw. It has the quick release tension blade holder on top also. With the tension off of the blade the top and bottom blade holders have a tremendous amount of play in them but when I flip the tension arm over and try to move it from side to side I am moving the whole arm of the saw. I would think that these two deltas are very similar so there is a possibility that a roll pin came out or is loose in the blade holder. Steve

[miamw]

Hmmm, I'm at a loss here. I took pictures of the arm moving with my camera which has the ability to take muliple pictures up to 5 per second. I looked at the pictures on my computer and the blade is only moving 1/16" side to side. The weird thing is, on the back of the saw, just under the upper arm, there is a lot of black rubber shaving stuff that just appeared today. Is there some type of gasket back there? Maybe that's what's causing the blade to wobble?