Excalibur Tuning Resource

[Keith Fenton]

In the forums and sometimes via email, we often see people asking how to adjust the Excalibur's front-to-back blade motion. I found myself explaining this process often. I used to link to Rick Hutcheson's page where he explains most of the process, but I wanted to add a little more info with regards to the upper arm position and how it affects the blade motion. I also touch on some other small things about the saw and hope to add some more to the page in the near future so that hopefully people can use that as a one-stop Excalibur resource page.

I hope you guys find it useful: NEW!!! Excalibur Scroll Saw Tuning NEW!!!

I encourage you let me know if you have any problems with the page or if you find any mistakes!

[hotshot]

Really, Seyco should include this info when they sell their saw. Now, who is going to post some better instructions for assembling the stand. The sheet I got was not only poor, but wrong.

----Randy

[Keith Fenton]

At least with Seyco, they do that adjustment before shipping the saw. If you get it anywhere else they don't. Of course, it's only going to be optimal if you have the upper arm close to parallel with the table.

I'm thinking that maybe for the type of cutting that many people do, the difference is not that big of a deal. I purposely turned the arm down to give the blade some front-to-back motion the other day when I had many hours of thick but easy cutting to do. I didn't notice any downside whatsoever with such easy cutting (ornament silhouettes with no inside cuts)... What I did get was noticeably faster cutting. So it does depend on what type of work people use it for.

[wood-n-things]

I read you article when Sheila posted it the other day and it was spot on. Thanks for the info to point people toward. Would you prefer a link on my website pointing to the article or may I use the article on my website with proper credit of course.

[Keith Fenton]

Thanks Mike! That would be awesome if you would link to it from your website. I really would not like to have it copied though.

[tvman44]

Thanks for the detailed instructions.

[B'ville Scroller]

Renewing Excalibur Blade Clamps

Keith et al,
Thanks for summarizing the tuning processes for the Excalibur in one place. It is really a great service for the scrolling community.

I have a nearly 3 year old Excalibur purchased from a local dealer. Recently I started having issues with the blades not holding and the "tensioner" knob moving. We have several folks in our group that have the saw so we discuss issues and fixes for the Excalibur and other saws on a regular basis at our meetings as part of our Q&A. Well, our group discussions missed - and it is missing from your Excalibur tuning page - the most important process - RENEWING YOUR CLAMPS. I learned about the process by calling Seyco. Ray's wife told me about the document on their web page - Seyco Links.

Read the 3 page document "Quick Clamp information". Essentially, your screw clamps need to be removed and sanded regularly to roughen them up so the blades hold. Ray provides instructions for creating a jig to handle the process but I can tell you my flat block with 80 grit adhesive paper did the job until I find the right size tap. My husband criticized me for using 80 grit but Ray indicated I was correct in using that grit.

I can say that Ray is a wonderful resource EVEN IF YOU DID NOT BUY your saw from him! He also sells some excellent accessories for the saw - a lamp, different screw clamps, foot pedals, etc. I also purchased his Scrollers Drill and LOVE it.

When calling Seyco it is a good idea to have the serial number of your saw in front of you as well as date of purchase.

As an FYI, if you misplaced your manual (we have because of our house move), he also has the manuals on this same web page.

[Keith Fenton]

Barbara,

I can't believe the coincidence! Just this morning I was thinking to myself that I had to work on that article some more and one thing that I knew I needed to talk about was the blade clamps. We must have been on the same wavelength today

I spoke with Ray about them a few weeks ago and ordered some new screws or what I believe he called a "Clamp renewal kit". This kit was simply a new set screw and a new tip for the thumb screw. In talking with Ray, he mentioned that PDF article on the Seyco site and suggested I go take a look at it.

That article has a lot of good information and I will put a link to it on my resource page. I will also mention about the manuals too since many of us tend to misplace such things!

Ray has been very helpful whenever we have any issue or question and I really recommend that people in the market for an Excalibur buy from him if at all possible. Not very many businesses nowadays offer that kind of quality of service.