badpappy Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 I have tried to use the spiral blades and they break so easily. Is there a magic way to install and tighten them? My way sure isn't working. It seems that when I tighten the clamp to the top of the blade they snap. When I do get them in they work fine. Thanks bp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustLarry Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 (edited) Spirals can be a pain to get them into the holders right. The ends need to be flattened out a bit. I do this with a small hammer and a flat piece of iron. Just tap the ends flat and they usually fit. Not to hard or a tap or you will crimp the blade which will cause it to break. Some say they use pliers to straighted out the ends. I use FD new spirals so I do not know if this works for all brands or not. I sometimes crimp the blade if I get the holders to tight. You may also be getting to much tension on the blade if you are using the small spirals. Larry Edited November 29, 2017 by JustLarry SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chunkthekid Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 I had the same problem when I started using spirals and still do every now and then. Like Larry, I use FD new spirals and have found that I can get the bottom of my blade in place pretty easily, and when trying to tighten the top I will twist the blade just a bit until it sits in the clamp properly. Once I tighten it for my first few cuts, it usually stays that way and I don't have any problem after that. WayneMahler and SCROLLSAW703 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharleyL Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 How about telling us what make and model saw you are using. Every manufacturer uses a different style blade clamp, and sometimes has a different style clamp for each of their models. It's difficult to provide a good reply to questions like this without knowing more about the saw. Charley SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badpappy Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Thanks JustLarry and Chuckthe kid. Well CharleyL, Thank You for the fast reply, and you are right. I have a WEN, model 3920. I think it works fine for my needs. The pinless clamps seem to look like most others. I have enclosed a few photos of them. Also I made a wood "Tee" handle for the tiny Allen wrench. It works great. I had read somewhere that a person complained about the small wrench, because it hurt his tender little fingers. The first thing I did when I opened the box was to make a "Tee" handle. I have tender little fingers too... LOL Thanks bp SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badpappy Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 17 hours ago, JustLarry said: Spirals can be a pain to get them into the holders right. The ends need to be flattened out a bit. I do this with a small hammer and a flat piece of iron. Just tap the ends flat and they usually fit. Not to hard or a tap or you will crimp the blade which will cause it to break. Some say they use pliers to straighted out the ends. I use FD new spirals so I do not know if this works for all brands or not. I sometimes crimp the blade if I get the holders to tight. You may also be getting to much tension on the blade if you are using the small spirals. Larry Thanks SCROLLSAW703 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badpappy Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 16 hours ago, Chunkthekid said: I had the same problem when I started using spirals and still do every now and then. Like Larry, I use FD new spirals and have found that I can get the bottom of my blade in place pretty easily, and when trying to tighten the top I will twist the blade just a bit until it sits in the clamp properly. Once I tighten it for my first few cuts, it usually stays that way and I don't have any problem after that. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryD Posted December 1, 2017 Report Share Posted December 1, 2017 I had a saw similar to this when I first started scrolling and found it is very difficult to set up a spiral properly. The best piece of advice I can give you is to lightly clamp the blade to the top blade holder first. Make sure the top of your blade is level with the top of the allan screw in your holder. Now tighten your blade to the holder at the bottom. It will twist out of shape but if it is aligned properly it shouldn't matter too much. Remove your blade from the top holder and it should be fine to retighten several times because there is no excess blade sticking out from the top to twist. Hope this helps ( and makes sense ). Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkey Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 What brand blades are you using? I had that problem with Pegas spiral blades. I use Flying Dutchman New 3/0 spiral and have no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badpappy Posted December 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 Olson --- I can't remember the size right now. Well, there a lot of things I can't remember. I will have to look. Thanks bp says: Gettin' old ain't for sissies... danny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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