Grumpy Old Bear

Rjweb, this is a Ryobi SC165VS 16 inch saw. Thank you Octoolguy for the link. I'll be ordering a cyclone on Monday. I know my setup looks kind of cheap-being held in place with electrical tape. I did that on purpose, so when I need to oil the bearings, I just have to cut the tape, remove the piping, and retape it when I'm done. Cheap and easy. Can't complain about that.

In the "Curious" post I mentioned the dust collection I installed on my saw. I've had requests for pictures, so here goes. It works pretty good. I can saw, with the door closed, and my wife does not even have to turn the TV up. Sorry it took so long to post the pictures, very poor internet at home, and too busy at work, where I usually visit this site. Thanks for looking Jim

I also have my saw in a spare bedroom. Very nice not having to go up and down stairs. Last night I finished a new dust sucker thing-ee for the saw, so the little vacuum I use will grab both the top and bottom dust. That keeps the wife happy.

I do not have hearing aids, but I need them quite badly, just can't afford them I wear a pair of 3M WorkTunes headphones. They are fantastic, whether I'm listening to the radio or wwhen I plug my MP3 player iton them, they work great. No noise from the saw.

As someone who has also worked with handicapped kids and adults, I know you will miss some of them quite a bit. I did my old job for 19 years and I still miss talking to a lot my friends. Not everybody can do that kind of work, so you should be proud of your retirement job.

About 4 years ago I was part of this community, and I loved it. I had to get rid of my saw so I could repair my truck. I just got a new Ryobi saw (haven't even put any wood on the table, yet) and I thought I would check in and see what I have missed. I am in the Rogues Gallery, page 11. My screen name then was Stupid Donkey. Now I'm just a dumb a**, but Grumpy Old Bear is nicer for mixed company. Thanks for letting me join again.

Cutting through a knot in pine is very pleasant to my nose. Another smelly wood is Lignum Vitae. This wood takes some getting used to, though.

I want to thank everyone for their advice and assistance. I know I have gotten some of this info in an earlier post, but this reinforces all of that knowledge. I will be spending my weekend either at the library watching videos or in the shop looking in my saw. Thanks again everybody.

I have been having trouble with my 788. I was told the speed control 'pot' was fine and did not need to be replaced. when I turn the speed up past 2½ or 3 the saw makes all kinds of racket. My main question is: When bearing go bad do they rattle and make noise at any speed or do they only react at certain speeds? The other questions is: in order to remove the circuit board from this saw, are all the wires just like plug and play, or is there de-soldering to be done? I do not have th saw with right now so I can't open it up to look, and the exploded view doesn't help much. I appreciate any and all help I can get. Jim

OI am so glad I posted this question before I did any modifying. I had my wife get the wrong size pot; I have no idea where I got 50K. Guess I don't do any cutting this weekend. Thanks again Charley. Hopefully the 10K is the proper size. I'll give my wife the old part to take along to make sure. Everybody have a safe and fun holiday weekend.

I am happy to announce that the fuse was replaced and the saw does work, I was able to reattach the blow tube, which is better now than when the saw was new. The speed is still kinda wacky, so I had my wife pick up a replacement 'pot' for me. My local Radio Shack is going out of business and they didn't have the part I needed but they recommended another local store that did have the correct part, sort of. The original part fits in a 5/16 inch hole. The replacement part needs a 3/8 inch hole, and is quite a bit bigger, physically. It is a 50K ohm Linear Taper pot, so electrically it should work. It appears the shaft is a bit larger also. I am wondering if I should go ahead and modify the saw to use the new 'pot', or keep checking to see if I can find the proper part. Any thoughts and/or concerns would be greatly appreciated. BTW, even though I am 55 years old, I can't talk about a pot without chuckling like an 8th grader

Charley, like I have said before, you have a lot of useful knowledge stuffed in your head. Me, being smart a** that I am I was going to reply and say my saw is old enough to feed itself, but after reading the information you offered, I didn't want to detract from its value. Thanks again for the great information.

COWABUNGA DUDE. That is nice.

Like Don (Hawkeye10) said, I wish you were my neighbor. You definitely have a great deal of knowledge stuffed in your head. I would like to thank each and every one of you who have offered tips and advice. I did find out that the fuse was blown. My assistant (wife) will pick up some fuses today for me. I will attempt to work on the blow tube tonight after I get the new fuse installed.

Thanks Joe. I'm going to give that try, after I get the saw running again. I appreciate all the help I have gotten with these problems.