WHERE did that set screw come from?!

[David Hostetler]

Okay here is a real noodle scratcher for you...

I have a Chicago Electric (HF) 98194 12" Sliding Compound Miter Saw. I know a cheap POJ, but it works and is pretty accurate, and it fits my budget nicely...

Well the other day, when I was working with it, I noticed something odd in the piles of sawdust on it. (Have I mentioned dust collection on this stinks, and I REALLY need to come up with a good hood design?), well in the dust pile was a black set screw. Now I haven't measured it, just eyeballed it so the size may be wrong, probably since I have to tell you in SAE measurements instead of metric... But it looks to be about 5/8" long, and about #10 diameter. All black, no head, just inset hex for an allen wrench... Now I figure it had to have fallen off the saw somewhere above the sawdust pile, but I have been all over that saw, and I can't find where the set screw could have possibly come from, so I looked at the manual, and again, I can't imagine where the screw could have come from.

It IS possible that this came from a bin of misc hardware that I was sorting and managed to drop, but it would have had to bounced 3+ feet to get there... I just want to make sure this dumb thing did NOT come from my saw!

[Matt Cook]

Maybe take the guard assembly apart and see if there's something missing in there. Since set screws are used for retaining things, I'd be looking at moving assemblies and where things are connected to other things. Maybe it goes in the base near the material support leg (the extendable one) or is used to retain a tool to the base (that came with the saw)?

It's also possible that it found it's way into the box the saw came in by mistake, got itself lodged somewhere in the saw, and found it's way out during use.

When I find stuff like that, I put it in the top drawer of my tool box. Over the years that little stash of "dunno what this is for's" has really accumulated.

[Richard Rodgers]

I have the same saw and it also works fine for my needs. I will have to take a look at it tonight to see if I can find a similar screw on it.

[curtis rosche]

maybe it was a double set screw? is there a hole with a set screw already in it but had room for one on top to hold the first set screw in even more?

[David Hostetler]

That's what's driving me buggy, without taking the motor housing apart, there is nowhere that I have found that a screw like this could have come from. There are a couple of MUCH larger set screws here and there, and if this came from somewhere that I can't see such as inside an assembly, how on earth did it make its way out? Unlike everything else, it's perfectly clean, not a speck of dust on it (I said it was IN a sawdust pile, not exactly true, next to is more like it). I did take the guard, and the blade off and checked in there, nothing even vaguely close... But it did give me a chance to clean the blade :-)...

It IS possible that it was up in the area above the big spring that tensions the saw head, but I would think it would be coated with dust, especially with all the construction grade pine I have been working with lately, that stuff is sticky...

The only odd behavior I noted is that the locking mechanism for the head isn't as easy to use at it originally was, but then again, sawdust... I really, really, really need to improve DC on this thing... That is one of my current projects...

[David Hostetler]

maybe it was a double set screw? is there a hole with a set screw already in it but had room for one on top to hold the first set screw in even more?

That thought occoured to me. It is an Asian import piece of wierdness after all...

[Brett Robson]

Just a shot in the dark, but it sounds like the black setscrew that's used for the depth stop. I circled the area in yellow for reference.

[Gary Curtis]

Those type screws are common in the trade of machining. Often found on pulleys to lock them against a flat surface on a shaft. On fan blades, drive belts and such.

[David Hostetler]

Just a shot in the dark, but it sounds like the black setscrew that's used for the depth stop. I circled the area in yellow for reference.

Well I had thought we had a winner, then I thought again, that pic looks like the 10". The 12" doesn't have that. The Depth stop is on the other side, and the set screw / locking nut are on the other side, and right where they should be...

IT is possible, and getting somewhat more likely, that my lovely bride has something to do with this. Since then I have found 3 wood screws, and 2 star knobs in the same area... I think she is finding stuff in my pants / shirt pockets when she does the laundry and must be placing stuff on the table of the miter saw to make me put the stuff up... I love her but this is gonna drive me crazy!

[ray hampton]

David, do you worry about your bride finding money in your
pockets ?

[Neil Brooks]

If it were me ... I'd throw that set screw away ... virtually guaranteeing that -- within a few days -- you'll figure out what it was for, and that is was important ;)

[Don Wacker]

If it were me ... I'd throw that set screw away ... virtually guaranteeing that -- within a few days -- you'll figure out what it was for, and that is was important ;)

That is the set screw to lock down the thrust bearing on my brand new Powermatic 24" band saw. Please send it back to me Ive waited over a week for PM to get me a new one. :)

Don

[Neil Brooks]

Don-

If the theory works, then ... the one _I_ threw away _should_ be on your shop floor.

Swap ??

[David Hostetler]

David, do you worry about your bride finding money in your
pockets ?

Nope... I've got none to speak of anyway... stupid economy...

[David Hostetler]

I found it, I found it!

I've been paranoid to use the saw since that dumb thing was found on the table... I finally found where it goes. There are, on the back side of the hinge housing, 2 set screws that hold the hinge pin in place. One of them had worked its way out. I put a drop of Loctite on it and ran the thing back in, and it's as good as new. Didn't even impact any adjustments...

This is probably my least favorite part of the HF tools I have owned. They seem to be afraid of Loctite... They don't bother using it much...

[ray hampton]

are you sure that it is the one, just kidding , screws are a pitn when they decide to fall out