Garyrenee Posted January 6 Report Posted January 6 (edited) Just got my new dewalt 788 scroll saw. it came with 2 sample blades 5” long and they are not long enough. Am I doing something wrong or not seeing something obvious. I don’t have any old blades from my other saw. All lost in fire. I’ve never measured the length of the blades so I have no reference. Edited January 6 by Garyrenee Change Quote
kmmcrafts Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 Make sure your tension lever is all the way to the least amount of tension side? I cannot remember now as it's been almost 10 years since I had a DeWalt which was is untensioned and which way was tension but move the lever and make sure it lowers the upper arm to the lowest position. IF it is to the lowest position then you may need to adjust the rod that is underneath the lever... OCtoolguy 1 Quote
edward Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 I have a Dewalt and 5" blades do work never ran into that problem, you can try what Keven said. OCtoolguy 1 Quote
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 (edited) https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=dewalt+788+scrollsaw+blades+not+fitting&mid=19F2EB811935D315762819F2EB811935D3157628&FORM=VIRE It has been reported before that the bottom clamp at times got installed upside down from factory so check that also. May want to take some measurements between blade clamps before doing anything. Make sure that tension knob is all the way to the right when changing blades. Also check without a blade if you can hear ratcheting in that lever when you increase and decrease the tension on it. If not then that first video will tell you how to fix that. Simple little turn of a screw. Also make sure your blades are 5" long at least. When all said and done those blades should be sticking above the top blade holder so way plenty long enough. All else fails take some photos of top and bottom clamps for us to see and your tension lever. Edited January 7 by JTTHECLOCKMAN OCtoolguy 1 Quote
Garyrenee Posted January 7 Author Report Posted January 7 Ok I did all that was mentioned. Took table off again and discovered that the 5” blade fits but there is absolutely no blade whatsoever above the holding screw in either top or bottom holders. I use Pegas blades and on the old saw I always had at least a 1/2” of blade above the holding screw. I never measured the old blades and never specified any length when I ordered. This is very suspect to me in that there is such a difference. I will do what Kevin has suggested to see if I can get ANY wiggle room. Thanks for the input Gary OCtoolguy 1 Quote
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 Are you sure these are 5" blades ? Next if they work why are you worrying about having blade stick above the clamps. I have 2 RBI saws and each have blade clamps that have a limit that the blade sticks into the clamp and none goes past that. Maybe another brand blade will be slightly longer. Before you go taking the saw apart it is brand new and you can be asking for trouble. And before you attempt to open the saw I would call Dewalt and ask them what the solution is. Ask other here to measure Pegas blades and FD blades and Olson blades. Not sure if all sizes stay the same length. Just never crossed my mind at any time of my scrolling days. OCtoolguy 1 Quote
GNorton Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 (edited) I have that saw 5" blades work Olson & Pegas, retrofitted with the Pegas clamps, these are a big upgrade https://www.bearwood.com/pegas-blade-clamps-dewalt.html Edited January 7 by GNorton add link OCtoolguy 1 Quote
kmmcrafts Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 If they're Pegas blades they may be some bad blades.. I almost always get a few blades in a gross that are too short for my Hawk to use.. I put them aside as they will clamp into the Excalibur with some careful placement.. I'm not about the change up my whole set-up on the Hawk just to accommodate one blade. Pegas can't seem to make their blades a consistent length for some reason.. every single blade I get out of my pack is a slight different length.. Maybe I've been getting their scraps.. they work awesome but a real pain in the behind when you have a precision saw that once you set the saw up for a blade you don't have to adjust every time.. unless you're using Pegas blades, LOL.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote
Garyrenee Posted January 7 Author Report Posted January 7 I’m not going to take the saw apart. The measurement from centre to centre of blade holder is 5 1/16”. The sample blades that came with the saw are exactly 5”. Both holders are in the proper positions. The tension lever is all the way forward. Everything is exactly as it should be. I will be receiving my new order of blades from bear woods tomorrow. I will post again when I have the blades and see if in fact they are longer than 5”. My hope is that they are longer. Even a quarter inch will set my mind at ease. Thanks again Gary OCtoolguy 1 Quote
kmmcrafts Posted January 7 Report Posted January 7 Well, This wouldn't be the first time I've seen this problem.. and it ended up being that the saw's tension rod needed adjusted.. Not sure why these seem to get past quality control like this.. I'm sure what happens is they only test one every now and then.. rather than each saw.. When you get a saw from a dealer such as Seyco, Hawk and probably Hegner they test each saw before they ship it.. Maybe Seyco doesn't do this anymore? I don't know.. I know Hawk does.. Anyway.. It really is quite simple to take the saw apart and adjust this.. it's fairly close so backing the rod out a few turns will allow for the arm to drop down more and probably enough to clamp a blade in.. BUT if you're not comfortable doing so then you could probably either take it back or to a service center.. just know that a replacement might have the same issue and a tech at the service center is likely not a scroll sawer and probably won't know how much to adjust it so when it comes back it may be too low or still too high, LOL OCtoolguy and BadBob 2 Quote
OCtoolguy Posted January 8 Report Posted January 8 (edited) On 1/7/2025 at 9:22 AM, Garyrenee said: I’m not going to take the saw apart. The measurement from centre to centre of blade holder is 5 1/16”. The sample blades that came with the saw are exactly 5”. Both holders are in the proper positions. The tension lever is all the way forward. Everything is exactly as it should be. I will be receiving my new order of blades from bear woods tomorrow. I will post again when I have the blades and see if in fact they are longer than 5”. My hope is that they are longer. Even a quarter inch will set my mind at ease. Thanks again Gary You say the tension lever is all the way forward. It should be all the way to the right side. It has to be that way for the arm to be fully down to it's lowest position. Also, make sure that the saw didn't get turned off in a spot where the arm is in the up position. I had that happen a few times and had to hit the on switch just a bit to get the mechanism to settle to where it should. The only other reason would be as mentioned. A quick adjustment of the tension rod. We can help with that if you need us. Edited January 8 by OCtoolguy flarud 1 Quote
barb.j.enders Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 18 hours ago, OCtoolguy said: You say the tension lever is all the way forward. It should be all the way to the right side. Shouldn't that be all the way to the left, while facing the machine? Either way, it should be at zero/one. Scrappile 1 Quote
Scrappile Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 37 minutes ago, barb.j.enders said: Shouldn't that be all the way to the left, while facing the machine? Either way, it should be at zero/one. That is how I visualized it from my old memory banks. Quote
kmmcrafts Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 Should be able to see the direction the upper arm is moving while moving that tension lever.. if nothing else rest your hand on top of the arm while moving the lever and feel which way has moved it downward to the lowest position. The lowest position would be when you install the blade.. then apply tension by moving the lever to "raise" the upper arm until the proper tension is applied. Quote
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 (edited) Facing the front of the saw the lever goes all the way to the right when releasing tension. To add tension push to the left. The numbers are left to right. Arrow is in center of the turret. Edited January 9 by JTTHECLOCKMAN barb.j.enders and kmmcrafts 1 1 Quote
OCtoolguy Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 3 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: Shouldn't that be all the way to the left, while facing the machine? Either way, it should be at zero/one. On my Dewalt, I would slide the lever from my right to my left but it usually hit the right tension in the center. barb.j.enders 1 Quote
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 In the link to a video I provided the guy actually tensions his blades twice. first puts the blade in and tensions the lever and comes to about 4 or 5. He then releases tension and once again tensions it and it comes to a 2 and is perfect. Quote
barb.j.enders Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 (edited) 20 hours ago, OCtoolguy said: On my Dewalt, I would slide the lever from my right to my left but it usually hit the right tension in the center. Deleted because I went to look at the other comments and I now stand corrected. Edited January 10 by barb.j.enders OCtoolguy 1 Quote
OCtoolguy Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 7 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: Deleted because I went to look at the other comments and I now stand corrected. I realize you are in Canada and maybe left and right are different up there. LOL. JJB and barb.j.enders 2 Quote
barb.j.enders Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 17 hours ago, OCtoolguy said: I realize you are in Canada and maybe left and right are different up there. LOL. That might apply to those "down under" OCtoolguy 1 Quote
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