CharleyL

Yup, I've been there too. I now keep a spare, and blue Lock Tite handy. (Everything that I take apart that I don't want to come apart on it's own again gets blue Lock Tite). Its definitely the weakest point in a 788. Keep it tight and you should go longer between repairs and replacement. The next weak link for me has been that bearing on the motor shaft. Everything else seems to last a long time if you add some synthetic grease to the bearing needles (pull the sleeves out to add it) every now and then. Kevin, I would not be at all surprised if this was a problem in all of your saws. It may not be the only problem, but it is likely the main one. I'm not sure I like the stainless idea, but definitely a new bolt and nut, with blue Lock Tite. Charley

The names look great. Leg lift machine? It looks more like a gillotine. You aren't trying "self amputation", are you? Charley

I demonstrate at trade shows and teach scroll sawing and power carving. My DeWalt 788 goes on the road several times a year. I just remove it from the stand (changed bolts to studs in the stand and wing nuts) and place it on a moving pad/blanket in my SUV and wrap it up in the rest of the moving pad/blanket. The stand lays on it's side along side of the saw, also wrapped in a a moving pad/blanket. Then all of the supplies, displays, Junn-Air silent pancake air compressor, three 4' tables and 2 folding chairs, extension cords and other tools are placed in small boxes around where they will fit. My laptop computer and laser printer go on the front right seat of the SUV and my small ice chest goes on the floor in front of the computer. I have a folding luggage type hand truck that I take for moving everything in and out of the show, if I can't borrow a cart at the show. For outdoor shows, I also pack a 10 X 10 shelter with weights, tie downs, and side curtains to completely close it in, if bad weather hits, or for closing just one or two sides if the Sun is too bright or hot. The shelter and everything that goes with it, go in on top of everything else in the SUV. It is set up first and taken down last, so it works best for me to put it into the SUV on top of everything else. The 788 is quite heavy, but I haven't found any other saw that compares in quality of cut, that is also lighter than the 788. For now, my method of moving everything works well for me. Sure, a lighter saw would be great for this traveling. Maybe some day. Charley

It's not good to run any small variable speed motor as less than 20-30% of it's rated speed because the cooling fan in them is attached to the motor shaft and it also slows down. Very large industrial DC motors of 1 hp+ that need to run slow have a separately powered fan attached to them to cool them, so the cooling is the same for them at any speed. Charley

That bolt has a lot of stress on it. I have broken it too, so I now keep a spare. Check the bearing and sleeve for wear while you are there too. Pull the sleeve out and add a tiny amount of synthetic grease to the needle bearings inside the bearing hole, then reinstall the sleeve and rotate it several times before installing the new bolt. You will be amazed at the difference that this little bit of additional effort makes. Many of the bearings in these saws don't rotate more than 60 deg. They only rotate through a part of a revolution, in a repeating back and forth movement and the grease in them gradually migrates away from where the pressures are being applied, so these areas can dry up and wear more heavily than the rest of the bearing. A bearing that rotates a full 360 deg does not have this problem as the grease is pushed ahead of the needles all the way around, so it self lubricates. A little additional grease and rotating the bearing sleeve through several full revolutions will redistribute and mix in the new grease in as well as placing new very little used needle bearings in the positions receiving the higher workload. Dave, this may be your problem, but check all of the bearings and rocking pivot points in your saw, because any one of them can cause a knocking sound when they begin to fail. Charley

I use BLO mostly to bring out pretty grain and give nice wood a nicer appearance. It really pops the appearance of the grain, even in some relatively bland looking boards and Birch plywood. It can be the final finish, but I frequently use a dewaxed shellac coat over it to seal the surface, followed by a pigmented stain to color the wood, and then several coats of poly to protect it, if it will see any hands-on use. BLO by itself will seal the wood and make it somewhat water resistant, but not offer any extended protection like several coats of poly does. Years ago, when I owned wooden ladders, I used to put a coat or two of BLO on them every few years to help make them water resistant, should the ladders ever be caught in a rain storm or two while being used. This worked very well without making the ladders slippery, but it won't last if they are left out for months. When used as the only finish, it's easy to just add another layer of oil whenever desired. It bonds to the original layers very well. Whenever BLO is used, it's best to let it soak into the wood and dry some for 1/2-1 hour before wiping off the excess. If another coat is desired, let the previous coat dry a day or two before adding another coat. I treat WATCO finishes, Danish Oil, Tung Oil, and any other oil finishes with the same respect. During their drying the chemical reaction absorbs oxygen, and rags soaked in them can catch fire on their own (spontaneous combustion). ALWAYS open up your BLO or other oil soaked rags and spread them out on a metal fence OUTSIDE YOUR SHOP to dry, or SOAK THEM THOROUGHLY IN A PAIL OF WATER, if you don't have a special oily rag disposal container. Raw and boiled linseed oils are about the worst for spontaneous combustion and the oil soaked rags may actually catch fire an hour or two after you leave them bunched up and unused some place in your shop (your workbench ?). If this happens, you will be looking for all new tools and a new place to work. I once burned my hand by picking up a bunched up linseed oil soaked rag that had been sitting unused for a little less than one hour. I was still working on applying the oil to other parts of the table when this happened. BE SAFE! Don't leave them in your shop at all. Spread them out so air can freely reach both sides while they dry, then discard them after they have completely dried. Charley

To replace one bearing is going to cost you less than $10 and a little labor. I would certainly not want to take my type 1 saw into DeWalt and pay them $250 to take the label off my saw and glue it onto a new type 2 saw when only one bearing is bad that can be replaced easily. I know of several who have gone the $250 route and none were pleased with their new/old saw after the exchange. If you don't want to fix it yourself, see if they will just replace the one bearing for you. The charge should be much less than $250 for this too. Charley

AlexH, I just went to this site http://online.rapidresizer.com/photograph-to-pattern.php and it appears to work online free for me, although I didn't attempt to go all the way through it to actually printing a pattern. Maybe all the spyware in your PC is preventing it from working for you. I'm more comfortable with doing this on Photoshop, since I have many years of experience using it. Charley

If it's just the bearing that is bad, which is all I see bad in the pictures, just replace the bearing, and don't buy it from DeWalt or ereplacements.com. Take the number off the side of the bearing race, go to a bearing store (at least one in every major city), or buy one online. Press out the old bearing with the new one, and put your saw back together. You will save 3/4 of what that connecting rod assembly is selling for. Most bearings are also available in several grades, both with and without side covers, and with several different sealed in lubricants, and from several different manufacturers. For about 20% more you can buy a much higher quality bearing than the original, if you ask the counter person for the better one. It will last longer and run smoother than the original. Since that bearing is bad, you are likely past due for replacing all of the bearings in your saw. Do the same to acquire replacements for them and rebuild your saw completely while you have it apart. You will be amazed at the improvement. There are Youtube videos for instructions on doing this. It's time consuming, but not very hard to do. There is another recent post here at http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/19921-bearings-for-788-dewalt-saw/ that lists the bearing numbers, for replacing all with the original quality. Buy from a bearing store or internet and you will save a lot of money. Buy from the bearing store and you can get the counter person to provide the higher quality bearings at about 20% more cost. Charley

I do this the headache free and math free way for me. I load the image into Photoshop and re-size it to the dimension that I want, then print it. I'm very experienced with Photoshop, so that is my first choice for this. It can be done with many other software packages too, especially with those having layer capability.. For Photoshop I would just create a circle of the right size on a new layer, position and center it it over the clock circle in the base layer, and then transform the base image under the circle until the cut-out for the clock matched the circle in the layer above it, then hide the circle layer (for possible re-use) and print the base image. No math or experimentation required (and no headache). My old HP Laserjet 1100 laser printer was kept as a pattern printer for making scroll saw and carving patterns because it has proven to do better than my newer inkjet printers. Cartridges are getting cheaper for it too, down to about $8 each with free shipping the last time that I ordered some. Charley

I started doing scroll type cutting in high school shop with a coping saw and liked it. Then I was given a Dunlap jig saw (cheaper Sears line of tools). It was major frustration and broke more blades than I can count, but I managed to make some nice projects with it. However most were simple scroll work parts of cabinets and furniture. I did scroll work like this for many years and went through two more used no-name jig saws. Then I got to try a true scroll saw (don't remember the brand) sometime back about 1980, and I just had to have one. I bought an imported Woodtek scroll saw from Woodworkers Supply, and went through 4 of them in a span of about 4 weeks because each one had a major construction flaw, but each was also a different kind of flaw, (maybe the rejects and last shipped of a production run?). When they ran out of the stock of these saws I got my money back, then later in the mid 1990's I bought a Delta Q3 saw when they first came out. I've had to rebuild it several times due to my heavy use, but I'm still using it as my back-up saw. A few years later I bought a DeWalt 788 after trying one at a woodworking show. I've rebuilt my DeWalt a couple of times, putting in new tighter tolerance bearings, and lubricating it several other times. It only recently broke down on me when I was trying to cut 1 7/8 black walnut, but it was relatively simple to repair it. One of the linkage pieces broke and the new replacement was easy to install. I won't try cutting hard wood that thick any more. My DeWalt saw is getting old but has served me very well, and it's about time that I bought a new one. I'm now seriously considering an Excalibur saw and setting money aside to buy one. The Jet is interesting, but I don't like the table slot. For now, I'm staying with my plans to get the Excalibur. Charley

Don't bother remembering Dixie Bearing either. Do a Yellow Page search for Bearings and you will find a bearing distributor near you. It doesn't matter if their name is Dixie Bearing or not, but Dixie has a few stores in the Southeast. Other places have bearing distributors under many different names. Just find the bearing store near you, take your list or the old bearings, and they will help you get new ones. If you ask if there are tighter tolerance bearings of the same size I'm certain that they will have them too. Then it's up to you to decide if the extra money for the better bearings is worth it. Mine were about 20% more than the original replacements. My main reason for posting was to help you find bearings that are better than what is in your saw, and cheaper than what DeWalt wants for them. Also, long after DeWalt and ereplacements.com stop carrying replacements for these bearings, you will still be able to get them. from these sources. This is true for all kinds of bearings, and not just limited to your DeWalt 788. For most bearings, there are also several manufacturers, some better than others. When you deal with a bearing specialty, they will know which is best for quality, which is cheapest, and which has the tightest tolerances. Also, which manufacturer has the best quality control. Don't settle for just replacements. Tell them what you want, and you will get better bearings. Charley

Saw manufacturers don't make bearings. They buy them. On the side of each bearing is a manufacturer's part number and usually a code that indicates the bearing quality and the manufacturer of the bearing. There are distributors that specialize in bearing and power transmission supplies, and just like industrial distributors (like Grainger, for instance), there is a bearing store in most major cities. In my case, the one closest to me is Dixie Bearing in Charlotte, NC. Find the store (whatever the name) in the Yellow Pages under bearings that's closest to you. Take your old bearings or list of needed bearing part numbers and go shopping. Many other parts of saws and tools are also purchased by the manufacturers of the tools. Don't depend on the saw manufacturers for these replacement parts. Buy them from the source or one of their distributors, knowing that at least these parts will never be discontinued, like the other special saw parts. You will likely also save considerable money in the process. Charley

Well, the other posters seem to have supplied you with all of the numbers. All I can add is that I went to Dixie Bearing in Charlotte, NC to buy mine. I asked them if any better quality bearings were available as replacements for these numbers, and they gave me these "better bearings". Of course, it cost me a little more, but only about 20% more. Now, if I could only find the receipt for them I could give you the new numbers and the prices that I paid. The "better bearings" are supposed to have slightly tighter tolerances and better quality lubricants and I depended a lot on the counter person to give me these "better ones". Still, my saw seems to be much better after these bearings were installed. Dixie Bearing is my local bearing distributor, but there is a similar bearing supplier in almost any major city. The Yellow Pages should help you find the one near you. Give them the numbers listed in the previous replies and ask for higher quality bearings for each. You can do the same thing with many bearing part numbers. I replaced the bearings in my Unisaw arbor with better bearings than the commonly available numbers that are listed by Delta for replacements. Tighter tolerances and type of lubricant are the most important, but type of seals are also very important when being used in dusty and dirty locations. Cheaper bearings are also frequently available, but with a lower quality of fit and lubrication. They may also be available with no dust seals or several different types of dust seals. Most will have the same part numbers, but with different suffix letters or numbers and Manufacturer codes after the part number. Only the bearing experts know the differences. Most of the bearings used in scroll saws don't rotate 360 deg when being used. They only see back and forth rotation over just a small portion of their 360 degree capability. This is very hard on bearing life, since the lubricant in them is gradually worked out of the area being used. For some of the bearings that are used in the DeWalt 788 saws, there is a sleeve in the center of the bearing that is actually the inner race of the bearing. If you want to re-lubricate these bearings it will be necessary to remove this sleeve and then carefully apply a small amount of grease to the needles inside of the hole in the bearing, then replace the sleeve. It's also a good idea to rotate the sleeve after you replace it to distribute this new grease around the inside of the bearing and hopefully re-position the needles to a new area of the bearing so when you put the saw back together it has a new set of needles and bearing race to ride in. I use a synthetic instrument grease that stays very close to the same viscosity over it's entire life. I don't like the automotive greases for scroll saws because they tend to thicken as they age, which further leads to them being driven out of the working area of the bearings. My pint can of synthetic grease is "Tenneco Anderol" made by Chempoint www.chempoint.com, but your bearing distributor may have something similar that is more readily available. I've had my can around for much of my adult life and I still have about 1/2 of it left. I don't remember where it came from, but saved it from my vending machine business when I closed it down as I found it ideal for lubricating the amusement vending machines and jukeboxes. Charley

Picture #2 seems to show the blade way off to the right of the lower clamp slot. Is it caught on something, or is this just a photography illusion? It looks to be wrapped around the bolt head. Please take more pictures of this or clarify what I'm looking at. The blade needs to be straight with the ends held straight in the pinching type clamps. That saw doesn't have much adjustment capability, so fine tuning to remove the wobble may be impossible. I'm thinking that what I see in picture #2 is the source of your "Wobble" problem. That's a nasty bunch of rust on that table top too. It should be rust free and waxed to get good scrolling results. If you can get the table off, some navel jelly should help remove the rust (follow the directions on the bottle), followed by a good wash and dry. Sanding it off with fine sandpaper (200 grit) on a random orbit sander might get the bulk of it off, but be careful to only use the sander flat on the table surface or you might sand divots in the surface. If there's any evidence of rust after the sanding, the Navel Jelly should remove it. Then apply some WD40. Let the WD40 soak into the cast iron for at least 1/2 hour and then wipe it off well. Follow that with several coats of Johnsons Paste Wax or Butchers Wax, letting the wax form a dry haze and then wipe off the excess with a clean dry rag. Repeat this at least one more time, then repeat again whenever it doesn't feel slippery while you are using it. When I'm scroll sawing all day I apply another coat of wax before starting work every day. (Yes, it's that important). Keeping a coat of wax on the table will prevent it from rusting, but it also helps to keep the saw inside an environmentally controlled area with less than 45% RH. Charley

First we need to know which model of Delta scroll saw that your saw is. From that we may be able to tell you what needs to be done. Delta changed the design of their blade grips several times over the last thirty years and they didn't even use the same grip for their different models that were made at the same time. The model number on your saw will help us provide a better answer. Charley

If the wood is burning, you are cutting too fast for that blade. Overheating the blade will remove the temper and it will dull very fast. Consider using a different blade or slowing the saw. Use an ultra reverse tooth or Polar blade to remove the sawdust more efficiently. Sawdust not removed from the cut will build up and can overheat the blade and also slow the cutting process.. Frequent application of blade lubricant, either a wax stick or by covering the work with packing tape, can reduce burning. Any one or all of the above may be required to solve your problem. Charley

If you are going to sand the ends of your blades, it would be preferable that the sanding or grinding scratches run lengthwise, (up and down), as opposed to across the narrow width of the blade. Across the metal scratches can easily become fracture lines. In working with steel that is subject to flexing, like scroll saw blades are, you might significantly reduce the blade's life by doing this. I don't grind or sand the ends of my scroll saw blades, so I don't have any experience here, but when making leaf springs for guns and other needs, it's a known fact that scratches running across the width of the steel will eventually lead to the steel breaking at the most significant scratch. The springs that I make are always ground and sanded so that the scratches run lengthwise from end to end, or at least lengthwise in the area being sanded or ground, for this reason. Maybe some of you who grind or sand the ends of your blades can inspect your broken blades very closely to see if they are breaking at "across the blade" scratches left from your sanding or grinding operation. It might be interesting information for all of us. Charley

Both Lowes and Home Depot also carry Watco products. Charley

The only woods that I don't like cutting are those with strong grain or those that smell very bad. Yellow pine is my least favorite. It's very difficult to stay on the line when going through a very hard growth ring into very soft wood and back to hard growth ring again. Cutting with the grain it also deflects the blade when you hit the hard grain lines. Occasionally, when cutting pallet wood I have come across a wood that smells like horse manure when being cut or sanded. This is also way down on my desirability list. I have no idea what it is, but I commit it to the firewood pile as soon as I smell it being cut. Charley

No, but I've used Heli Coil products for years and wouldn't hesitate if my saw needed it.. I'm a retired automation engineer (EE) and spent most of my working career working very closely with mechanical engineers and tool makers, designing and building new specialized high speed manufacturing machinery, sometimes only one or two of a kind. Most of what I did was design the electrical controls for these machines, but I worked very closely with the mechanical guys when changes or repairs were needed and they needed extra help. Machine shops use Heli Coils quite a bit when making something that will need to be frequently assembled and dis-assembled, even if made from steel. They will install them in any piece of steel, cast iron, or aluminum machinery when the original bolt hole gets worn or stripped out. It's a very common fix. Charley

DW, I agree with you. However many people are confusing the old "jig saws" with the present "scroll saws" and think they can buy a jig saw and use it to scroll saw. Many sellers are pushing jig saws by calling them scroll saws, which they are not. I agree with you, but many who are new to this craft are wasting their money thinking that these old saws are what they need to get started doing what we do. My post was intended to keep these people from making this mistake. I avoided the name "jig saw" for that reason, rather describing their mechanical function instead. Charley

If you discover that the threads of the blade clamp screw holes in the aluminum arm are worn out, you can replace the arm, but you can also replace the threads with stainless steel threads and they will last forever. You will need to buy a special kit from a company called "Heli Coil", which contains a larger tap, a special Heli Coil installing tool, and about a dozen Heli Coil "spring like" threads. You follow the instructions to thread the hole larger with the included tap. Then place one of the Heli Coil threaded pieces on the installer tool, and thread it into the newly threaded hole. A metal tang is then broken off the end of this thread like spring, which locks it into the hole, preventing it from backing out while in use. The end result is new stainless steel threads that will fit your present blade clamp wing bolt and they won't wear out like the original aluminum threads did. You can buy Heli Coil kits from automotive parts stores and from Grainger, MSC, McMaster, etc. Just make certain that you are getting Heli Coils, and not threaded inserts. Threaded inserts are solid metal bushing type pieces with threads on both the inside and outside. They require a larger hole to install them, and they frequently do not stay in place. The locking feature of the Heli Coil brand works very well to make them stay in place forever, but they can be removed and replaced easily if they should somehow ever wear out or get damaged. Charley

Mimi, The curved end is OK. It's the length and general condition that is important. From the curved end to the spring should be a minimum of 3/8-1/2". If less than that, replace them. New brushes won't have the curve. They wear that way when used. When you put a "still good" used brush back in make sure you orient it so the curve follows the rotation of the motor. When facing the back end of the motor, install the brush with the curved side of the brush facing you. You can actually use a shorter brush, but plan on replacing it with a new one very soon. If you let them wear until the spring touches the commutator, the motor will be ruined, and scroll saw motors are extremely expensive. Charley

It looks very nice, and sturdy. I hope those casters lock or you might end up chasing the saw around the room. I'm not a fan of casters on a scroll saw, but I very much like the stand. Charley