Few scroll saw pointers please

[Russ59]

I have finally got my shed come workshop in order, now ready to start the odd project.
I was having a play with my scroll saw but would like a bit of advise about a couple of things before I go any further.
In the first pic what is the adjusting wheel to the top left for and in the second pic the height adjusting rod for the foot is hexagon/allen key shape, and when I lift or lower the foot and tighten it up it pulls to one side.
To me that looks like its the wrong part and should be round and not hexagon shaped. Has it been changed somewhere in its life.





All advise appreciated
Russ

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Hi Russ It looks to me that the black knob at the rear of the machine is to tension the blade,screw it clockwise and see if it tensions the blade.I would assume that the front one just holds down the wood.Personally I do not use a foot to hold down the wood.I now find that it gets in my way and would sooner not use it.

Bryan

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Russ. I go along with Bryan. The black knob is for the tension. When not in use slacken it off. I would do away with the hold down as they are not needed and I would also do away with the red blade guard. Hopefully you can use pinless blades on this saw. Before usoing it I would firmly bolt it down as you will get loads of vibration and it will dance off the bench otherwise. I wish you well with it and hope you can make a few things.

 

[powertools]

I am a pure novice with the scroll saw but I think that the height adjuster shaft is hex shape to prevent it from turning and allowing the foot to come into contact with the bladed. I must admit that the foot seems to get in the way of my vision but I have left mine on at least until I get better because it will prevent my fingers coming into contact with the blade.

 

[martinka]

I'm wondering if the red guard is to stop the blade flying about if it breaks? Just a thought. How about some photos of the blade clamps? I suspect a saw that age will be pinned blades only, but it might be easily converted to pinless blades.

Looks like a Chinese factory began making a Hegner clone but decided not to go all the way.

Martin.

 

[Russ59]

Thanks for info guys, I'll have a good look and play with it tomorrow.
What are pinned and pinless blades?? :? :? Is one better than the other?
I do have a couple of spare blades taped to the top of the machine, I'll take a look at those too.

Russ

 

[martinka]

Pinned blades have a small pin through each end of the blade, at 90 degrees to it, which locate in the top and bottom arms of the scroll saw to hold the blade in place and allow you to put tension on the blade. Pinless, or plain, blades, as you might guess, don't have those pins and instead are clamped in place. Older saws used pinned blades, newer ones can generally use both with adapters to clamp the blades. The more upmarket saws tend to cater solely for the plain blades. There's a much bigger selection of blade sizes and types in the plain blades. A main difference is that they can be much smaller so that the blade can pass through a hole drilled in the wood in order to make internal cuts.

Hope I made sense, because i am falling asleep here.

Martin.