Jet JSS-16 first cuts

[Walney Col]

My new Jet 16 arrived yesterday and I've just done my first cuts with it this afternoon. Overall a pleasant enough machine to use but already broken a couple of fine pinless blades and had a few slip out mid stroke through lack of clamping pressure so something to play with there. The blade also doesn't seem to be running true vertically with a bit of left-right motion being evident. It may be that the blade holders aren't in line in fact looking through the hole in the table I swear the bottom holder is at least 1/16" to the right of the top one.

I was too busy enjoying myself to want to start taking it apart to check alignments on my first day but it certainly looks as if it has potential. It's fairly quiet to use and doesn't vibrate noticeably anywhere below 90% of full speed, the blower works but only really becomes effective ABOVE 90% speed, changing pinned blades is easy peasy and changing pinless ones is only troublesome for fear of rounding the screw heads out with the allen key.

I may do a few mods to it once I've got my first trinket done and become a little more familiar with it but it's definitely a keeper.

Col.

 

[Scrollerman]

Hi Col.
A couple of things to try are :
If your machine allows it, you could try adjusting the position of the 'cam' on the rotor arm of the motor to the left by 1/16".
If that's not possible, try adding a 1/16" shim/washer to the bottom linkage between the motor cam and bottom arm.
Once you confirm how far out the vertical alingment is, just convert my suggested sizes as quoted by you, to what's required.

Please keep us informed of your progress and mods on this machine.
Happy scrolling.

 

[rob39]

Looks good keep us posted on how it performs, not ordered mine yet but its between the

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jss-16-b ... scroll-saw
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clarke-CSS400B- ... U8C3QP4UJH

 

[martinka]

Looks good keep us posted on how it performs, not ordered mine yet but its between the

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jss-16-bench-top-variable-speed-scroll-saw
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clarke-CSS400B-16-Scroll-Saw/dp/B006JOM6D0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2D5MV8HRRP6UT&coliid=I342U8C3QP4UJH

:mrgreen:

 

[Walney Col]

As predicted the allen head on the top blade holder rounded off today (in spite of still losing its grip on the blade a couple of times an hour) so I'm now having to use pinned blades till I can find a more suitable screw for it. A minor niggle I know but not something you should really have to fix on a saw that's only run a few hours. :-(

Col.

 

[ColeyS1]

I've got the same machine and don't want to spend any more on it. I replaced the soft bolts with harder ones but am now faced with having to find the 'sweet spot' to get pinless blades to hold. It makes using it a chore, so it doesn't get used much :?

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[Walney Col]

I have a set of axminster pinless blade holders I might try. By the look of it the small chromed metal part above the jet's stock blade holder (see photo) can be used as the top pivot required for an axminster style blade holder. It's a tiny bit too wide at the moment and I'm not sure whether there's the same setup on the bottom arm but it might be worth looking in to if you don't mind sacrificing using pinned blades as well.

Col.

 

[martinka]

I've got the same machine and don't want to spend any more on it. I replaced the soft bolts with harder ones but am now faced with having to find the 'sweet spot' to get pinless blades to hold. It makes using it a chore, so it doesn't get used much :?

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Make a handle for the clamp bolt, or buy an indexable handle, it make a big difference to usability.

 

[keithkarl2007]

I read somewhere that the pinless blades slip due to milling marks on the clamp. I think they can be easily tidied up with an appropriate file.

 

[Walney Col]

Thanks Keith and Martin. I actually took Martins advice and ordered a couple of indexable handles on saturday, I'll let you know if they put me back in business when they arrive.

Col.

 

[Walney Col]

I've not been having much fun with my new scroll saw.

The screw in the top blade holder rounded off which rendered it temporarily unusable so I ordered a couple of 4mm indexable handles only to find that even with them fitted the clamps weren't gripping the blade sufficiently to prevent it slipping out in use. I contacted axminster about the blade holder mounting holes being askew and quick as a flash they posted a couple of replacements out which arrived yesterday. Sadly the replacement blade holders had EXACTLY the same deficiency as the ones I already had, but at least between the two pairs I had one good pair, so that could have turned out worse.

So searching through the archives here I came across a post addressing the lack-of-grip problem and set to on the holders with a diamond wheel on my dremel with the object of thinning the so-called-flexible-part so that not as much of the clamping pressure was redirected into trying to bend a near-unbendable piece of steel.

That solved the clamping pressure problem completely. Yay me!

I then set to trying to figure out the blade's side to side movement which I reckon was at least partly to blame for the hish-speed vibration and violent occasional grabbing of the blade. And what I found was very disappointing. The side to side movement was nothing to do with the blade holders, but appears to be an inaccuracy in the lower arm.

The video shows just how out of whack the blade travel is as I hand crank the motor shaft.

[youtube]lWsLwClHgeo[/youtube]

I've contacted Axminster again today but I'm not sure there's anything they could tell me that'd make me feel any better.

I have to say that although the Jet 16 has some pretty nice features the lack of quality control during manufacture takes it out of the "decent" category of cheap scroll saws and put it squarely amongst the rest of the cheap far east saws.

Col.

 

[martinka]

Sorry to hear you are still having problems, Col. The problem with the blade being to one side could be the clamp, rather than the arm. Maybe you can slacken the clamp bolt and twist the clamp slightly, though you have probably tried that already.
One of the problems with that type of clamp is the sides aren't parallel when clamping onto a thin blade. I was going to make new clamps for mine but never got around to buying slitting saws thin enough.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Col. I really feel for you and the frustrations you are experiencing, it's so annoying. I have said this a couple of times in the past. Mass produced scroll saws from the far east leave a lot to be desired. There are guys on a production line banging these together with no thought whatsoever as to their use, all they are thinking about is the end of their shift and going home. There is very little if any quality control and at the end of the production line the saws are packaged up, put into a container and shipped to the UK and other countries. The UK supplier gets his container, puts the scroll saws into storage and then ships them off as orders come in. When you open the box it's the first time that scroll saw has seen daylight since it was packed in Taiwan.

When you think of the cost it's quite amazing the actual worth of the saw. The manufacturer has made a huge profit, then there is the cost of the container and shipping and then the supplier is also making a huge profit so it is possible that a £200 saw only cost about £25 to actually produce.

The only person I know with a high degree of skill in solving problems like yours in Martin and hopefully he will read this and offer you some advice on how to correct the lower arm. I sincerely hope you get it sorted. Scroll sawing is a wonderful and addictive hobby but it is spoilt by cheap shoddy tools.

 

[martinka]

That reminds me, I'm sure I remember someone broke one of the Axminster clamps and found that it worked better like that.

 

[Walney Col]

That reminds me, I'm sure I remember someone broke one of the Axminster clamps and found that it worked better like that.

Hahaha! I know exactly what you mean Martin. I would have cut through the whole half-clamp to reduce wasted clamping pressure to absolute zero were it not for the fact that I may one day want to put a pinned blade in. Come to think of it I now have two sets of clamps so it may be worth it if I can get the runout sorted.

Geoff... I know what you mean about swiveling the clamps left and right to try and align the top and bottom blade holders. Sadly, i my case, the amount of runout you see in the photos and video is WITH the top and bottom blade holders twisted to extreme opposing positions already.

Col.

 

[martinka]

The only person I know with a high degree of skill in solving problems like yours in Martin

Don't read too much into the above, Geoff just means I like tinkering.

 

[Walney Col]

Me too Martin. It'd be an easy enough fix if I had a small enough miller to make a new set of clamps but it's damn annoying that such an important feature in a scroll saw can be so far of of whack even in a cheap product.

I've not heard from Axminster yet so it looks like it'll be monday at the soonest before I know anything.
Col.

 

[ColeyS1]

In an ideal world it needs an aftermarket clamp fitting to it. I really need to see a hegner in action to see how it should be

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[powertools]

I don't normally get involved in this type of thread anymore but your solution to this problem is simple.
The main difference between a budget saw and a top of the range saw is that the more expensive the machine the more time will have gone into it's setup at the factory.
In your first post you said that your initial impression of the machine was good and vibration levels were not bad so that is a good start.
Having now played with it straight out of the box for a while you have encountered a few problems that are easy to fix.

Step 1 is to buy a good quality allen key for the clamp screws the one supplied with the machine will be rubbish.

Step 2 cut a slot in the back of the clamp about 1/2 way through it's thickness to reduce the pressure needed to tighten it.

Step 3 elongate the hole in the clamps that the fixing bolt goes through with a round file in order to be able to align the top and bottom clamps in a parallel fashion twisting the clamps in opposite directions to try and compensate for this problem will only result in the blade being twisted therefore increasing the width of the saw cut and still giving you the same problem by a different means

Step 4 oil the the thread on the blade clamp screw.

Step 5 enjoy the machine that you will now have a better understanding of.

Scroll saws are simple machines and with a bit of work in the set up even the cheapest can have potential.

 

[ardenwoodcraft]

If it helps, I used M4 x 15mm stainless steel caphead bolts in the clamps on my Axminster AWVFS scroll saw. They are a lot stronger and less prone to rounding off than the chinese plastic bolts supplied as standard.

Also, get a good quality 4mm T handled allen key to tighten them with if you can't get indexable handles or thumb screws in that size.

I also widened out the mounting bolt holes in the clamps and ground away some of the metal around the clamp sides to make them a bit more flexible. All of which helped to make it clamp blades reliably and made it a much more usable saw.

The guy I sold it to got a much better than out-of-the-box deal when he bought it from me.