Cheap, simple Saw Lift.

[patrol681]

  I bought an 'easy lift'  mechanism to hold the saw up when changing blades.  You will have seen them around, - the one with the spring, for use with the DeWalt 788

 

I could not get the thing to stay balanced, in part, because I have the, (heavy) lamp that came with the saw, deal.  

 

Being frustrated with that, I decided to make my own, and since I do not like to permanently attach things to my equipment, (in case of voiding repair warranties etc.)  I came up with this idea from just a piece of walnut scrap, and an unused hasp from a shed door padlock.

 

The pics should be pretty well self explanatory, but for clarity; I attached my "Saw Lift" with two electrical ties, and in the pictures, you will see that I have set in a small rare earth magnet, which has enough magnetic attraction to hold the 'lift' to the upper arm when not in use.  I also glued on  a small piece to prevent the 'lift' from going past vertical and letting the arm drop down.

[ike]

Looks good . If it works for you that's all that's matters. I still use the old 2X4. I have it chained to the side of my stand, with in easy reach and I don't loose it now I use it chained. I would rather spend the $30 on wood.

[Phantom Scroller]

Great idea  , that's the beauty of the EX21 stays up on it's own but then I'm bias   

[ubgoofy2003]

Nice idea !  All I did was tighten the pivot screw, so the upper arm stays up when I lift it & then just pull it back down when ready. Don't need a lift on my 788.  Thanks for a good idea. 

[patrol681]

  Where did my reply go to???

 

I answered Ike, (so I thought,) then I appear to have lost it, ;o(   to say that yep, I did shell out $30. bucks for a lifter that didn't work out for me, - before coming up with a $2.95 outlay and a bit of thinking, to make something that works for me.

[amazingkevin]

I use the easy lift and transferred it from one machine to the next ,as i gave away my first dewalt to a friend,BOY was he surprized when he came to pick it up.I told him i was throwing away something he might want!

[Clayton717]

pretty clever idea. I might have to make something like that(if I keep the dewalt). right now I just use a block of wood

[Fay Prozora]

I just use my hand to lift the arm for top feeding on fret work and that is as cheap  as one can get. Great idea on that little  thing... Looks great.. Fay

[Kepy]

I purchased one of the lifts but it has never been installed as I still haven't found a need for any lift.