sw1 Posted December 28, 2010 Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 I have a Delta scroll saw and I am thinking about getting rid of it. I purchased it about a year ago when I was first getting in to woodworking. I found it on craigs list and thought I had to have one. I have tried to use it a few times, and I hate it. It seems no matter how hard I try to keep it flat on the table it always wants to jump up. I have the hold down installed and I push down hard, but it still will yank the wood up. At this point the damn thing seems more dangerous than a table saw so it just collects dust. My question is what do you use them for and why do I keep having this issue. I am leaning towards just getting rid of it, since I haven't found a good use for it yet. Thanks, Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted December 28, 2010 Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 I wonder if you might have the blade installed upside down, so it's trying to cut on the upstroke instead of the downstroke. -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iSawitFirst Posted December 28, 2010 Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 I wonder that too. You could have a slight twist or bend in the blade as well. Try some high quality blades installed correctly and see if that helps. If not, buy a DeWalt DW788. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bywc Posted December 28, 2010 Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 I would say 100% Russ is right, when I am rushing and install them upside down the wood dances all over the table but when I switch it around it takes very little effort to hold it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw1 Posted December 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 I wonder if you might have the blade installed upside down, so it's trying to cut on the upstroke instead of the downstroke. -- Russ I have new blades installed and they are on the correct way. The blades I have are BORG specials vermont american brand. The have about 6 or 7 teeth at the bottom that do go the other way, and I think those are the problem. I wonder why the teeth do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bywc Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Those are the upper and lower cutting blades which reduce chip out on the bottom side of the wood leaving an edge that hardly needs sanded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nateswoodworks Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 I have a Delta sc as well and it isn't as smooth as I think it should be but nothing like yours sounds. If the blade is not in upside down the only thing I can think of it the the two arms are not co-planer. Just thinking here as I have never heard of this before but if the arms don't line up with each other when it cycles back up the blade isn't going to go into the saw kerf and causing it to catch making the stock jump. Just a thought, keep us posted. Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw1 Posted December 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 I have a Delta sc as well and it isn't as smooth as I think it should be but nothing like yours sounds. If the blade is not in upside down the only thing I can think of it the the two arms are not co-planer. Just thinking here as I have never heard of this before but if the arms don't line up with each other when it cycles back up the blade isn't going to go into the saw kerf and causing it to catch making the stock jump. Just a thought, keep us posted. Nate I played with it again last night and I noticed the tension lever would slightly loosen up as I was using it. This would quickly bend the blade and ruin it, so the wood would really get jumpy after that. I will say this, even at low speeds with thin material it gets your attention in a hurry. This is a later model Delta 40-540 and may not be a great machine. I am still leaning toward selling it, because I hardly ever use it. I always hesitate to get rid of tools, thinking I may regret it later. Any ideas on what it might be worth? Or any ideas on why I should keep it? Thanks for all the help, that sneaky lever really caused me some tense moments. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bywc Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Tighten the lever and keep it better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nateswoodworks Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Yep that's the same saw I have. One other thing is the inside of the quick clamp sometimes needs to be scuffed up a tad to give it grip to hold the blade. A few years ago I had trouble with the blade slipping out of the clamp, I scuffed it up and it made a world of a difference. Good luck Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhell Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Blade could be skewed or it could simply be the wrong blade for the wrong wood. What kind of wood are you trying to cut? You might also be pushing the work into the blade. Let the blade cut. If its not cutting, you are using the wrong blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlestrum Posted December 31, 2010 Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 I have the Delta scrollsaw myself. It runs silk smooth providing the tension is set properly. The abilities of a scrollsaw are quite amazing but only if you have a use for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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