Having problems with my new scroll saw, please help

[Archer]

As some of you know I bought a new scroll saw a couple of days ago. Its a like-new Taiwanese made Excalibur and I'm having some problems with it.

 

As shown in the first picture the upper and lower blade arms\clamps are not aligned so the blade does not run square.

As shown in the second picture the lower blade clamp hits the bottom of the table when the saw is running.

I'm also having some problems tightening the tension lever but that may just be me I'm not very strong.

Any information you all can share is welcome. Please help.

 Edit: since posting the above I discovered the top arm was not pushed down all the way. I pushed it down and that seemed to stop the lower blade clamp hitting the table. The rest of the problems are still there though.

 

 

Edited March 30 by Archer

[OCtoolguy]

There is a way of adjusting the motor that should bring your blade clamps into alignment. It requires loosening the 3 bolts that hold the motor to the saw and rotating the motor. Some saws actually require moving the motor to the next set of holes. There is much info available but I think you might be well served by calling Ray at Seyco.com. He is the guru on Excalibur saws. Check his website for the phone number. 

[Archer]

17 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

There is a way of adjusting the motor that should bring your blade clamps into alignment. It requires loosening the 3 bolts that hold the motor to the saw and rotating the motor. Some saws actually require moving the motor to the next set of holes. There is much info available but I think you might be well served by calling Ray at Seyco.com. He is the guru on Excalibur saws. Check his website for the phone number. 

Thank you, unfortunately I live in Australia so calling Ray is not really an option for me. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Hang in there, there are a few people here that know those type saws inside and out and they will be able to help you. Once they see the questions. There also have been past threads on this so if you want you can do a search feature here to check them out in the mean time. 

[ChelCass]

Also, you can go to Youtube and ask your questions there.  I bet there is a video showing how to adjust your saw.

[kmmcrafts]

I recommend starting at the beginning and tuning the saw as I believe it is way out of adjustment to be having the arm hitting the table.

First thing to do is adjust the upper arm so it is parallel to the top of your saw table by turning the adjustment knob at the back of the saw. I like to use some blocks of wood and put them under the upper arm at the back then you can slide the boards from back of the arm to the front until you get the arm level ( parallel ) to the saw table. Once you get that adjusted you should never adjust that knob again.. many people mistake this knob as a blade tension adjustment which it is in some ways but when you use it for that you should always mark it and put it back to where the arm is parallel as you may find it's easy to keep adjusting it and slowly you end up with the saw being way off. I suspect this may be the issue you're having here. You really shouldn't need to adjust this for blade tension other than it you use really small blades like 0/2 and smaller. Most of us just install the blade with a little slack when using the small blades.

Once you have the upper arm adjusted then you can adjust further with the saw motor. I like to put something with a straight edge behind the blade. With blade installed and tension applied, adjust the saw speed as slow as it will go then run the saw and you will see the blades forward and backward movement. You can loosen just slightly the 3 screws that hold the motor on just enough so you can rotate the motor assembly in the provided slots and while running on slow speed and watching the blade movement you will see as you rotate the motor the blade either moving more or less in a rocking motion. You want to have as little rocking motion as possible and you may need to turn saw off and completely remove the motor screws and rotate the motor to the next set of slots and replace the screws snug them enough so you can still rotate the motor and turn saw back on and repeat until you get the blade going as straight up / down as you can get. It'll take some tinkering to get this dialed in but once you do the saw will run smooth as butter.. Just for your info I had to rotate my saw to the different slots 2 times to get it dialed in.. 

[don in brooklin on]

Steve Good has good video on his impression on the EX-21.  3 part series and in part 2 and 2 he discusses the parallel arm and the motor adjustment.

https://youtu.be/n5r3Jp8LiXA?si=zvs6YilgAaDG1N2Y

Another video that discuss the set up is https://youtu.be/R1M6hwoFJ8M?si=BtYEaxEQA5AWJqRX

I adjusted the motor over 10 years ago and check occasionally that the arm is parallel.

Also, check that the motor bolds are tight.

 

 

 

 

[Archer]

I think I've solved all the problems. 

Adjusting the arm stopped the lower clamp hitting the table.

I had to shift the motor as far as the cord would let me and it could probably be turned further if I could but its running smoother now.

The tensioning issue is just me and something I'll get used to in time.

Thanks to everyone for the help, and if anyone knows how to move the motor further please let me know.

 

[don in brooklin on]

P

3 hours ago, Archer said:

 

Thanks to everyone for the help, and if anyone knows how to move the motor further please let me know.

 

Part 3 of Steve's video shows that there are screw holes that will let you move it further.  I only went all the way to end and it has been fine.

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

3 hours ago, Archer said:

I think I've solved all the problems. 

Adjusting the arm stopped the lower clamp hitting the table.

I had to shift the motor as far as the cord would let me and it could probably be turned further if I could but its running smoother now.

The tensioning issue is just me and something I'll get used to in time.

Thanks to everyone for the help, and if anyone knows how to move the motor further please let me know.

 

I don't know if this even makes sense but the motor is mounted on a circular ring with the slots for adjusting the blade etc.. so if you moved it half way in one direction but run out of electrical cord to move it further, couldn't you move it in the opposite direction to rotate to the same position  of the other half of that circle to achieve the desired position? 

When I adjusted my motor I run into the same thing sort of but, I was able to dial it in but the cord is stretched about as far as it'd go. however for me I could turn it slightly more but it was starting to get more blade movement so the sweet spot for my saw was just a hair before the cord was stretched as far as it'd go.  

[OCtoolguy]

9 hours ago, Archer said:

I think I've solved all the problems. 

Adjusting the arm stopped the lower clamp hitting the table.

I had to shift the motor as far as the cord would let me and it could probably be turned further if I could but its running smoother now.

The tensioning issue is just me and something I'll get used to in time.

Thanks to everyone for the help, and if anyone knows how to move the motor further please let me know.

 

That should not be necessary. Going any farther might start to make things worse. 

[Archer]

5 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

That should not be necessary. Going any farther might start to make things worse. 

I can always move it back, but I do think it could run smoother. But it runs nice enough now anyway. And just in time too, I got a time sensitive commission for a dozen alpaca magnets yesterday.