Pinless blade change help for WEN

[Linzletters]

Hi!!! I recently got a WEN to practice on until I can afford a better saw (better I mean as in blade changes, size, power etc) the WEN pinless adapter things honestly well.. Suck. I've gotten them to work maybe 4x,2broken, and a million slip from holders as soon as i put tension lever down (before even turning to tension) I've tried using sandpaper for the ends, tightening with all my might using the Allan wrench but all fails most of the time. Is there anything, or any other blade clamps I could buy that'd work for the WEN? Changing for interior cuts is always a chore. Thanks in advance!! 

[lew]

I also have a Wen.....gonna be upgrading soon.

The blade clamps are def a pain! I had the same issue at first.... Make sure that the other screw....the flat head screw...is screwed all the way in. Tighten the heck out of it! That may apply just enough pressure to allow the Allen screw to tighten down on the blade. I am using # 2 Olsen blades which are very thin and I get no slippage at all. I also apply a strip of duct tape to the bottom blade holder to keep it on the holder. It kept falling off when I was inserting the blade from the top clamp thru the wood. Jes from Fla had the good idea to use a magnet to hold the clamp....that works real good!! After doing a bit of fret work you will see the limitations of the Wen, but it's a good saw to start with. I didn't want to drop 300-500 dollars until I knew for sure it was something that i really enjoyed!!

[Linzletters]

8 minutes ago, lew said:

I also have a Wen.....gonna be upgrading soon.

The blade clamps are def a pain! I had the same issue at first.... Make sure that the other screw....the flat head screw...is screwed all the way in. Tighten the heck out of it! That may apply just enough pressure to allow the Allen screw to tighten down on the blade. I am using # 2 Olsen blades which are very thin and I get no slippage at all. I also apply a strip of duct tape to the bottom blade holder to keep it on the holder. It kept falling off when I was inserting the blade from the top clamp thru the wood. Jes from Fla had the good idea to use a magnet to hold the clamp....that works real good!! After doing a bit of fret work you will see the limitations of the Wen, but it's a good saw to start with. I didn't want to drop 300-500 dollars until I knew for sure it was something that i really enjoyed!!

I was told to get these.. But I can't find any instructions to install them

[lew]

26 minutes ago, Linzletters said:

I was told to get these.. But I can't find any instructions to install them

Dont think they will work with the Wen....You need a gap between the pin that secures  the clamp on the holder...don't see that on the pic. Do you have the original clamps that came with the Wen? The package shows Rigid/Ryobi brand...I think that's the Home Depot brand of tools....

[Linzletters]

2 minutes ago, lew said:

Dont think they will work with the Wen....You need a gap between the pin that secures  the clamp on the holder...don't see that on the pic. Do you have the original clamps that came with the Wen? The package shows Rigid/Ryobi brand...I think that's the Home Depot brand of tools....

Well crud.. It shows here 

[lew]

13 minutes ago, Linzletters said:

Well crud.. It shows here 

I can see how the holder from Wen works....there is a little curve that holds the clamp on. The holder you have looks different from the wen version....is it the same??

Do you have the blade clamps that come with the wen?

[new2woodwrk]

I have a Wen as well,

Here's what I do

Get a magnet, attache your pinless blade to the bottom adapter, thread the blade through the table and attach the adapter to the bottom. Take the Magnet and and place it under the adapter so it holds it in place.

This is by far the easiest way to do fretwork with the Wen,

Here are some pics of how I do this

That round thing under the adapter is the magnet

Makes the blade stand up

Then thread through your holes and attach the top adapter and you're done

Hope that helps

If those other thingies work for you, more power to you - however I'm cheap and the magnets get used later when you upgrade your saw by making refrigerator magnets!

 

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by new2woodwrk

[spirithorse]

Greetings!
Attached is a pic of the blade Holder on the Wen and a link to a video showing the Pozsgai's Universal Blade Clamp Conversion kit.
Naturally, since the Wen was not made when this kit came out, Wen is not noted as one of the compatible saws but, you can determine
for yourself from the pics and having the actual Wen saw to compare to if the kit will work. Scroll sown to the E-Z Set Blade Holder portion
and a video follows to show the installation.
 

E-Z Set Blade Holder Systems for Scroll Saws
http://www.pozsgaidesigns.com/page0006.htm

Now, then,  here would be my solution.
If you purchase a pair of Barrel Clamps (I'm old school and believe that to be the correct terminology although some people may call them
cable clamps or bicycle brake clamps) Make SURE that the clamps will fit into your existing Wen Blade Holder. The clamps come in a variety of
sizes. Also, make sure that both ends of the bolts in the Barrel Clamp will touch in the center or get the proper sized allen bolt to screw into the
Barrel clamp so the bolts will touch so they will pinch the pinless blades in position. One end of this clamp is meant to be permanently positioned
and the other end has an allen head that screws into the center of the clamp (although some are also made with a slot for a screw-driver or a hex head
bolt for a wrench).

Very cheap, very easy fix as long as you make sure the barrel clamps fit into the existing Wen Blade Holder. You still have to replace the blades with
an allen wrench for blade changes unless you replace that allen head bolt with a bolt with a knob on it.

I got the last Barrel Clamps I purchased (for a different use) at an Auto Parts store that carries them for carburetor cables on old cars that still
have a carburetor. I'd check there first but, a bicycle repair shop may have them.

Please let us know what solutions you came up with.

God Bless! Spirithorse
 

 

[Ty Tice]

I bought a 10mm x 20mm bar magnet that holds the bottom attachment to the arm allowing for movement but not falling out of the holder while I am threading the blade through my project and reattaching the top holder before tightening the tension to begin the cut.  A set of 5 or 10 magnets is about $6  US    .   I have a WEN3920 Just finished a Steve Good flying eagle with 82 inside cuts.  YOU CAN DO THIS!

 

[Flaxcon]

 I have the Wen scroll saw and it works great.  You really need to use the clamp you have pictured.  Here is a video showing how to install.  

 

[OCtoolguy]

On 4/12/2018 at 6:02 AM, Linzletters said:

I was told to get these.. But I can't find any instructions to install them

Check out Steve Good's blog site. He just did a critique on them.

[jerrye]

On 4/13/2018 at 8:14 PM, spirithorse said:

Greetings!
Attached is a pic of the blade Holder on the Wen and a link to a video showing the Pozsgai's Universal Blade Clamp Conversion kit.
Naturally, since the Wen was not made when this kit came out, Wen is not noted as one of the compatible saws but, you can determine
for yourself from the pics and having the actual Wen saw to compare to if the kit will work. Scroll sown to the E-Z Set Blade Holder portion
and a video follows to show the installation.
 

E-Z Set Blade Holder Systems for Scroll Saws
http://www.pozsgaidesigns.com/page0006.htm

Scroll down that page just a little more and you'll see the Wen saw listed as compatible under 16" saws. These are the adapters I put on my Wen, as the factory pinless adapters as shown above, which came with my saw, broke after very little use. Pozsgai's adapters greatly improve the Wen IMO.

[Dennisfm56]

A picture is worth a thousand words. I have since upgraded from the Wen, but this is 

On 4/12/2018 at 9:02 AM, Linzletters said:

I was told to get these.. But I can't find any instructions to install them

A picture is worth a thousand words, I have since upgraded but this is how this adapter looks on the top, bottom just reverse. I did make a knob that fit over the wingnut to make blade changes a little easier.