Rick Potter
09-28-2017, 1:22 PM
My latest novella.
I realize I am getting older, but this is ridiculous. I am going through that Mini Max SC3 I recently bought, and finding that it has been used very little. Anyway, time to remove the Forrest melamine blade, and put an all purpose blade on it. This model saw has very little space to get your hands into, and I don't have the original locking pin or wrench, so I used a drift pin in the locking hole on the arbor lock, and tried to find a wrench to fit the nut. Turned out to be 15/16, and my flat wrench from a unisaw will fit between the table and the slider. Great!
Doesn't work. Can't get the nut to budge, check to make sure it is left handed, and try again, with similar results. I get out my box wrenches and go to work through the small space in the side (this table does not slide out of the way like newer ones). I spray penetrant on it, and go through a series of wrenches, then move up to a socket. Still won't budge. Double check to make sure it is a left handed thread.
I then used some adaptors to run a 15/16 socket on my impact driver. Won't budge. Tools are all over the shop by now. They are not smoking hot, but I am. I really do not want to damage that nice Forrest blade, but I get out my automotive impact wrench, and a 15/16 impact socket. I find enough extensions to reach the outside of the saw base, and 30 seconds later the nut is off. Success...birds are chirping, and my whole household can now exhale.
Wait for it......the blade still won't move, the arbor washer is stuck. I tap it with a plastic hammer, several times, and finally after a good rap with the hammer the blade gets a bit of movement. I work a half hour on it, and finally get a putty knife between the blade and washer, but it won't budge, no bird chirping anymore. This goes on for another hour or more, with a variety of putty knives, scrappers, screwdrivers, and small pry tools. I now have a quarter inch of space between the thick washer and the blade. The saw arbor face is about three inches across and will allow me to do all this prying, thank goodness.
Finally, I cut two wedges out of hardwood, and tap them in above and below the shaft, going back and forth using that plastic hammer. I needed to do this several times, as the wedges would go crooked, and fall out occasionally, just to keep my spirits up. Remember, I am doing this semi blind, in a tight spot. Anyway I got to where the thick washer was to the end of the threads, and I had run out of wedge.
In case, by this point, you may be wondering why I don't use a gear puller now, since I now have a place to put the arms. Simple, I never thought of it. What I did was get my small framers hammer and got the claw under the washer. Then rocked it back and forth, going around the shaft, and it came off.
The arbor shaft was not damaged, threads are fine. The blade is undamaged, and came right off. The aluminum washer will not go back on the arbor without persuasion. I believe some idiot waay over tightened the blade, to the point where the 5/16 thick aluminum washer mushroomed, deforming it a bit into the threads. It is a standard 5/8 arbor, and I have other washers for it.
Moral of the story...........Do not over tighten your saw blade.
I realize I am getting older, but this is ridiculous. I am going through that Mini Max SC3 I recently bought, and finding that it has been used very little. Anyway, time to remove the Forrest melamine blade, and put an all purpose blade on it. This model saw has very little space to get your hands into, and I don't have the original locking pin or wrench, so I used a drift pin in the locking hole on the arbor lock, and tried to find a wrench to fit the nut. Turned out to be 15/16, and my flat wrench from a unisaw will fit between the table and the slider. Great!
Doesn't work. Can't get the nut to budge, check to make sure it is left handed, and try again, with similar results. I get out my box wrenches and go to work through the small space in the side (this table does not slide out of the way like newer ones). I spray penetrant on it, and go through a series of wrenches, then move up to a socket. Still won't budge. Double check to make sure it is a left handed thread.
I then used some adaptors to run a 15/16 socket on my impact driver. Won't budge. Tools are all over the shop by now. They are not smoking hot, but I am. I really do not want to damage that nice Forrest blade, but I get out my automotive impact wrench, and a 15/16 impact socket. I find enough extensions to reach the outside of the saw base, and 30 seconds later the nut is off. Success...birds are chirping, and my whole household can now exhale.
Wait for it......the blade still won't move, the arbor washer is stuck. I tap it with a plastic hammer, several times, and finally after a good rap with the hammer the blade gets a bit of movement. I work a half hour on it, and finally get a putty knife between the blade and washer, but it won't budge, no bird chirping anymore. This goes on for another hour or more, with a variety of putty knives, scrappers, screwdrivers, and small pry tools. I now have a quarter inch of space between the thick washer and the blade. The saw arbor face is about three inches across and will allow me to do all this prying, thank goodness.
Finally, I cut two wedges out of hardwood, and tap them in above and below the shaft, going back and forth using that plastic hammer. I needed to do this several times, as the wedges would go crooked, and fall out occasionally, just to keep my spirits up. Remember, I am doing this semi blind, in a tight spot. Anyway I got to where the thick washer was to the end of the threads, and I had run out of wedge.
In case, by this point, you may be wondering why I don't use a gear puller now, since I now have a place to put the arms. Simple, I never thought of it. What I did was get my small framers hammer and got the claw under the washer. Then rocked it back and forth, going around the shaft, and it came off.
The arbor shaft was not damaged, threads are fine. The blade is undamaged, and came right off. The aluminum washer will not go back on the arbor without persuasion. I believe some idiot waay over tightened the blade, to the point where the 5/16 thick aluminum washer mushroomed, deforming it a bit into the threads. It is a standard 5/8 arbor, and I have other washers for it.
Moral of the story...........Do not over tighten your saw blade.