Trouble changing arbor on Xcalibur table saw - help!

[Wizard9999]

Any help would be much appreciated.

I bought my Xcalibur table saw second hand off this forum and have been very happy with my purchase. When I picked it up it had the longer of the two arbors fitted which allows the dado tack to be out on the saw. I presume the last owner left this on as it is then easy to switch between a single blade and the dado stack, and I have done the same. However, the long arbor fouls on the top of the saw if you angle the blade to 45 degrees, which unfortunately is what I now want to do. The saw came with various tools including a spanner with two lugs in it and a large diameter Allen key. The lugs on the spanner fit into the part of the saw that the arbour screws into and the large Allen key fits into the end of the arbour itself. Looking at the shorter arbour which I want to fit it looks as though the arbour screws in anti-clockwise so needs to be turned clockwise to remove it.

Try as I might I can't get the arbour to shift. With the longer arbour the Allen key can only be fitted intot he whole at the end under the table and then by rotating the arbour you can get it above the tabletop, but that means I cannot use a longer Allen key as it then can't be rotated to allow access above the table.

The only things I can think of are to spray some WD40 as close as I can get to where the arbour screws into the saw and / or to get some pipe to fit over the short Allen key to give me more leverage. But I am a bit wary of doing either as I am not exactly gifted in mechanical matters, so there may be negative consequences I can't foresee.

Am I trying to turn this off the correct way? Any other suggestions as to how I can release the arbour without risking damaging the saw?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Terry.

 

[Limey Lurker]

My experience is that a saw-blade-securing nut or bolt will need to be turned in the same direction as the blade rotates to be loosened or removed.

 

[Wizard9999]

Indeed, from the side of the saw I am clockwise is the direction the blade turns in. I should have realised that clockwise would switch around depending on which side of the saw I was addressing the blade from and made that clear.

Terry.

 

[Steve Maskery]

On this saw the nut is LH thread, so when you remove the nut, you hold the arbor still and pull the nut spanner towards you. You always pull the nut towards you whether you have a saw that has the arbor on the right pointing left (as in your case) or a more modern saw with the arbor on the left pointing right (for a left tilt). Always pull the nut towards you to undo.

Then when you want to remove the arbor, you hold the shaft still and pull the arbor towards you, because that, too, is a LH thread.

I agree that the 45 deg fouling issue is a bit of a pain. It is the only aspect of the saw I don't like.

S

 

[Wizard9999]

Thanks Steve, at least that confirms I am actually trying to loosen the arbour and not just tightening it on more. Just a matter of how I actually get it off now :-k

Terry.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I use a length of steel tube. It fits over the Allen key and I jam it, or the spanner, depending on what I am undoing, against the front of the throat, whilst pulling the other, the spanner or the steel tube, towards me.

All assuming you are doing this from the front of the saw, of course!

 

[Wizard9999]

Indeed I am working from the front Steve. I don't have any suitable pipe so I have drilled an 8mm hole in a length of hardwood to try and perform the same role as your pipe. Have put some penetrating oil on it this evening and will wait until morning hoping it will help release the arbour.

Fingers crossed now.

Terry.

 

[Wizard9999]

Hmmm, still no movement.

Applied penetrating oil last night and tried this morning.

First I drilled out an 8mm hole in a length of dowel which was previously the rail in an old wardrobe. The trouble was that this was so thick it would not slide between the Allen key and the table so only engaged the top third of the Allen key. The dowel split as I applied a lot of pressure.

So I then tried slipping a 35cm section of metal curtain pole over the Allen key in the set up below

Still no luck. As I pull on the pole the spanner is jammed again the piece of ply protecting the table. There is no sign of movement from the arbour but I am starting to flex my lever, it may be the Allen key that is starting to flex but more likely it is the pipe as it is pretty thin walled.

I have done a bit more reading online and the only three ways of dealing with this in a non-destructive way seem to be; penetrating oil, impacts and heat.

I have applied oil, but it is not easy to get oil to where to the thread is located. This picture is the end of the short arbour I want to fit on, you can see from this that as the thread is on a narrower part with a large shoulder between it and where I can apply oil.

So if it is the thread that needs releasing, any oil has to squeeze between arbour and the hole it goes into, then travel along the shoulder eventually making it to the thread. All this in something held horizontally so it has limited help from gravity. So I am not sure how much oil is making it where it needs to, despite two applications and applying it front and back to maximise the chances of penetration.


What I have read suggests that giving the Allen key a belt with a mallet may be beneficial as the impact may break any seal formed by any rust. In an ideal world I think the suggestion would be for the impact to be onto the end of the arbour, but I can't do it this way so I have merely hit the Allen key when it is inserted, hard enough and often enough to wreck the face of the mallet. I have resisted belting the side of the arbour as the last thing I want to do is bend it.

Heat if I understand correctly is all about expansion and contraction breaking any seal between the parts. I have not tried this and I have no idea how much heat, where I need to apply it or how hot things need to get for this to work.

Having seen some of the old rusted monsters Wallace manages to get apart I can't believe this is a lost cause, so any further thoughts would be much appreciated.

Terry.

 

[marcros]

you could try tightening it a fraction before loosening it- sometimes works.

 

[RobinBHM]

I dont suppose you have 2 arbor nuts? -if so put them on, tighten both to each other then use a spanner on the inner one.

 

[paulm]

Might be worth picking up an individual hex end socket or small set like these http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... t-rail-1-2 and a heavy/long bar to go with it, if you think there is enough room for it to fit ?

If not enough room from above can you access from underneath by removing a panel or tipping the saw up (and securing it safely of course).

A trolley jack handle would work a treat on the end of the hex key you already have, but not much help if you don't have one of course, although a look in your local diy store might turn up a length of decent thickness steel tube if you are lucky ?

 

[SteveF]

is it me or are you going the wrong way?
is that nut not left handed?

 

[Steve Maskery]

is it me or are you going the wrong way?
is that nut not left handed?

He's got the nut off, it's the arbor he is trying to remove now, and yes, that, too, is left-handed, which is why he is trying to pull it towards him.

 

[SteveF]

I stand corrected
just I would have assumed that as the blade moves clockwise it would undo the arbour
Steve

 

[Steve Maskery]

OK. If this were a "normal" RH thread, then pulling it towards us would move it clockwise in its hole, thus tightening it. We do not want that. But this is a LH thread, so moving it clockwise, i.e. pulling the top towards us, will undo it. So the shaft itself is held tight against the front of the throat, with the spanner, and an Allen key in the arbor, with a length of tubing over it to increase its mechanical advantage, is position so that it can be pulled forward, thus releasing the arbor.

The problem is that it is stuck.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I stand corrected
just I would have assumed that as the blade moves clockwise it would undo the arbour
Steve

Have you edited your post? Mine doesn't make as much sense now!

Yes the blade moves clockwise, but the force on it acts against that, thus tightening everything.

 

[SteveF]

thanks Steve

it makes perfect sense now (embarrassed look on my face)

Steve

 

[Wizard9999]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions chaps, much appreciated.

I do have two arbour nuts as one came with both of the two arbours, but I will need to try and get a second spanner to fit the bit as the one that cam with the saw has the two lugs that fit into the saw where the arbour screws in and I need to use that two stop the whole assembly just turning as I try to unscrew the arbour. So probably a race now to see what I find first, sockets, pipe or spanner.

I may be kidding myself about my own strength but I am beginning to worry that I could end up just shearing off the arbour rather than releasing the thread. So I am beginning to think aout taking the table top off so I can get acces to apply some heat to the situation. If I do go down that route any suggestions on what to use to apply the heat, what part to heat up (the arbour of the part it screws into) and just how hot I want to get it.

Thanks again,
Terry.

 

[custard]

Is that XCaliber as in Woodford Tooling? If so I'd give them a call, I've always found them pretty helpful and it's a banker's bet that they've dealt with this issue many times before.

Good luck!

 

[Wizard9999]

Now why didn't I think of that Custard #-o

Terry