Modding my budget Clarke Scroller

[twodoctors]

I bought mine for £40 and it was about 3 years old. No warranty so ripe for modding.

I've installed a speed controller which surprisingly works. I won't post the details here as it's not for the faint hearted. :-O

Also modded it so that the tension adjuster is on the top. It needed a bit of dissembling and drilling, but not difficult to do. Should have taken some pictures but essentially it's just a matter of removing the tensioning screw and flip it 180 degrees. You will need to drill at the top of the pillar so the stem can come through. The other thing to do is to swap the "triangles" around as only one of them had a screw thread. Takes about 30 min to do.

Happy to answer questions if anyone needs help.

Adrian

 

[scrimper]

I've installed a speed controller which surprisingly works. I won't post the details here as it's not for the faint hearted. :-O

We are not faint hearted, please do publish your details!

 

[twodoctors]

:-D

Please don't attempt this mod if you don't know what you are doing.

I'm not that clever, so I bought a speed controller. If it was DC current, then all you need really is just a variable resistor which can be bought from Maplin for a quid or two. Because we are dealing with AC and main current, I bought something off the shelf from the bay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191875361533? ... EBIDX%3AIT

I paid £8.18, not sure why it's now £10.30. Anyway it was the cheapest one with it's own casing. There is a bit of circuitry inside with transistor/thyristor looking thing inside. All you need to be concern about is the input and output which is clearly labelled.

Unplug the scroller (obviously) before opening it up. The other thing to do is to press the on switch with it unplugged to discharge the capacitor inside, otherwise you could be in for a big shock (literally). The cables are laid out like this:

Main end Switch Terminal
L--------------L-------------L

N-------------N------------N

You will need to disconnect the circuit at the terminal and feed the power from the switch to the speed controller. And then feed it back to the Terminal.

Main end Switch Speed Control Terminal
L--------------L-------------L (in) SC L (out)---------------L
N-------------N------------N (in) SC N (out)----------------N

If you try to put the controller before the switch then it may stop working when the current is reduced because the current may not be high enough to power the magnet that hold the switch closed (On).

There is a bit of modding involved. The capacitor was in the way for me because of where the wires need to come out of the original enclosure to the controller. I removed the capacitor, made the hole bigger and fed the power from the switch through there. I drilled another hole on the side near to the main body of the scroller and screw the capacitor back on there. I didn't give myself enough room so the terminal blocks could not be put back to its original place, so I put some electrical tape round it and replace it back in the original enclosure. Drilled a third hole to feed the power from the controller to the terminal... couldn't fed it through the first hole because the wire I was using was too thick. The capacitor was in the way for the second screw as well so I taped it on the box for future.

All should be apparent when you open your own one up. I reiterate that if you don't know what you are doing then don't do it. I'm not rocket science but it's is electricity.

And the tensioner mod.

Next mod would be a foot switch. The only drawback to that would be losing the safety NVR switch (unless I wire it just after the SC... hmm).

Hope that helps.

Adrian

 

[NazNomad]

Nice mods, especially changing the tensioner to the top. They are awkward underneath, I know. Wish I'd done that with my old Ferm saw.

However, your saw would be greatly improved by bolting the damn thing down. :-D

 

[twodoctors]

My workshop is the 2 small corner of my garage... I have nowhere to bolt it down. Looking to get some thick ply at some point then I can clamp it onto the worktop (but that's not secure either!).

Adrian

 

[NazNomad]

I still maintain that a budget saw bolted to a heavy bench will out-perform a Hegner that's allowed to rodeo all over the workshop. ;-)

 

[twodoctors]

Actually there is/was a Henger 2 single speed for £90 in Stockport... if only I live near Stockport. Unsold for a week. Not sure why.

Adrian

 

[Claymore]

I love these type of threads! I have always enjoyed taking things to bits, when i was a lad I used take televisions apart and then find a way of getting them working again (my mum used to mad) I didn`t know about them storing high voltages etc and used basic tools and a homemade tester with a light bulb on then I moved onto motorbikes etc but still love taking stuff apart.
That Hegner is mega cheap and surprised if its still for sale now

Cheers Adrian and look forward to further mods!
Brian

 

[AES]

If it's any help at all, I too suffer from lack of space, so I've bolted my saw to a table on castors (small band saw one end, scroll saw on the other, thick ply top screwed on).

Yes, it (both actually) do still vibrate, but much less so than if left free-standing on the table (I tried).

The castors that came with the table (it's a cheapo metal typist table) are very hard rubber "balls", and one of these fine wet days I'm going to get around to replacing them with hard nylon wheel-type castors (which I do already have in stock!!!) in the hope that these may further reduce the vibrations.

AES

 

[twodoctors]

Or make a solid table without wheels and swap the scroll saw / bandsaw around as required. Predrilled holes with those bike quick release bolt (the ones they use in wheels). Food for thought...

Adrian

 

[martinka]

If it's any help at all, I too suffer from lack of space, so I've bolted my saw to a table on castors (small band saw one end, scroll saw on the other, thick ply top screwed on).

Yes, it (both actually) do still vibrate, but much less so than if left free-standing on the table (I tried).

The castors that came with the table (it's a cheapo metal typist table) are very hard rubber "balls", and one of these fine wet days I'm going to get around to replacing them with hard nylon wheel-type castors (which I do already have in stock!!!) in the hope that these may further reduce the vibrations.

AES

I fitted castors to my Hegner table but ended up removing them because of vibration. There were sweet spots where the vibration was very minimal, but they didn't coincide with the speeds I wanted to run at.

I built a table to bolt two grinders to. I fitted non-locking castors to that, but every time I start grinding something, I have to chase it round the garage. Just this afternoon I bought 4 locking castors from Toolstation for it - and typing this has reminded me I already have two locking castors off the Hegner table. Doh!