Scroll saw blade conversion kit questions

[Jim Laumann]

All

I have a Craftsman 16" boat anchor - err - I mean scroll saw which uses pin end blades. Sears has a kit to convert from pin-end to pinless blades - the stock # of the Sears kit is 9-22259. Olson also has a kit, #49610.

Does any one have either of these kits? Are they worth the money = work (Sears is about $22-23, the Olson kit is about $30 on Amazon)?

If you have the Sears kit, is saw model 113.236111 listed?

I'm looking at these kits as a short term upgrade until I can come up w/ the $$$ to get a DeWalt or possibly an Excalibur.

Many Thanks

Jim

[Charles Lent]

First, look at your saw to see if the blade is pulled up by a spring or by a mechanical linkage. Many of the older scroll saws used a spring to pull the blade up and a mechanical linkage to pull the blade down. In my opinion, any scroll saw that uses the spring to pull the blade up is a very poor design and not worth spending money on.
Any binding of the blade prevents the spring from lifting the blade but the mechanical linkage to the bottom of the blade continues causing the blade to buckle and break. If the blade is pulled up by a mechanical linkage (arm) then the saw is of a better and more recent design that makes it more worth spending money to upgrade. If you have this type of saw and a kit is available to use pinless blades then it is probably worth doing. With this type of saw the blade is both pulled down and up by mechanical arms making blade life much greater. You can also use much finer blade sizes than you can with the older spring lift saws.

Charley

[Kevin McCluney]

Looking at the pictures of the Sears and Olson kits it appears that the lower blade holder is the same as what I had on my old "Delta" scrollsaw (the identical saw was sold by numerous companies differing only in the saw's color). The Delta had the same holder for the top as well. Getting the blade centered properly between the pins was critical - otherwise as the saw ran it would pull the holder over one way or the other. Once the holder contacted part of the saw it no longer could pivot on the pins which quickly led to the blade breaking. When that happened it sounded like a machine gun, with the broken blade flailing around, usually under the table near where the switch is located. It was startling to put it mildly - I'd get to a point I'd have to put the saw away for awhile to get my nerves settled. One thing I did that helped considerably was to get a foot pedal switch. IMO these should be standard equipment with any scrollsaw. With the pedal I could run the saw in spurts and check that the holders were still positioned correctly. Despite the problems with the saw I did use it successfully for a number of projects, but eventually upgraded to a Dewalt. The Dewalt is an absolute joy to use. Practically zero vibration (passes the nickel test) and I don't think I've ever had a blade break on it.

[Richard Gonzalez]

I had that same saw and used 2 separate plain end blade conversions. One had two separate clamps that attached to the blade and then installed using the same holders used with pin end blades. This was a pain to get the spacing right, and also to hold them to tighten the blades into the clamps. I finally made a small wooden block to hold the two clamps at the correct distance. It was not ideal but did allow use of the vastly greater selection of plain end blades. It was virtually impossible to do pierced work though.

The second version was a set that mounted directly to the upper and lower arms permanently after removing the pin end holders. This type i can recommend, as it allows doing pierced cuts relatively easily. It required using an allen wrench to tighten blades and is a little tricky to tighten while keeping the blade positioned correctly. Edit: looking at the Olson it appears that this may have been the one I had. I did not have the little block to hold the lower clamp to tighten on the blade - i just used the fins of the motor.

I was eventually able to find a used dewalt type 1 on craigslist for $150 - it is a vast improvement over the craftsman even with the plain end blade holders. Keep an eye out and be ready to move fast - around here they were going fast whenever listed. Toolless blade changes and quick tensioning is a joy.

[Jim Laumann]

Rchard, Kevin, Charles

Thanks for your feedback.

I've done some more snooping, found the install inst. for the Olson kit on the Olson blade web site. Looks doable - my saw is parralel arm, although needing to use wrenchs to tighten/loosen a blade will be a bother.

$30 (Amazon) is the worst I can loose - can always go back to pin end blades if the kit is a flop.

Jim