...........

[Claymore]

..........

 

[Stooby]

One of my plastic roller was snapped of in the box. Axminster poster 3 out, one broke in the post. Ford one and it has been fine since but am worried it will give up and use the last "spare". Still with the 3 year warranty I hope they will replace in the future if needed.
I like the look of the releases. I have worn out the Allen key that came with the saw and 1 clamp has given up the ghost. I mean to contact Axminster about this as the 2 spares that came, 1 is jammed shut, I have never been able to open it.

 

[scrimper]

Those blade clamp levers look a bit bulky to me don't they get in the way? Also why do you need one on the bottom blade holder, I would have thought that you only need a quick blade clamp on the top for quick pierced cut changes whilst the bottom of the blade stays in it's holder? Or have I missed something?

Regarding the quick tension release lever I can only suggest that you had a weak or duff plastic roller, they look identical to the ones on my Hegner, I bought it in 1999 and it came with 2 spare rollers but to date the old ones are still fine in spite of 1000's of operations of the lever, While you are waiting for Axminster to send replacements have you not got anything in your odds and end box that you can fettle to fit?

 

[scrimper]

One of my plastic roller was snapped of in the box. Axminster poster 3 out, one broke in the post. Ford one and it has been fine since but am worried it will give up and use the last "spare". Still with the 3 year warranty I hope they will replace in the future if needed.
I like the look of the releases. I have worn out the Allen key that came with the saw and 1 clamp has given up the ghost. I mean to contact Axminster about this as the 2 spares that came, 1 is jammed shut, I have never been able to open it.

Could you not fashion a couple of rollers from bit's in your odds and ends box? Perhaps a bit of plastic tube cut to length or even perhaps a bit of brass for a better roller?

 

[johnny5]

They look great and easy to use . Just ordered two for my AWFS18.
Much cheaper than the Hegner parts.

Thanks
John

 

[redmoorphil]

Hi claymore,
The first thing I did when I had the AWFS was relace the plastic rollers with bearings off a couple of small router bits.
They worked perfectly and were only held on with a piece of plastic tubing pushed on to each end of the pin.
There has been much discussion on these levers and I bought mine from mikes workshop. I never used it as the screw tightened straight onto the blade and this would have. Prevented the blade staying straight as the arm moved.
The hegner clamps, for example, have a bearing so the blade can still move when held.
I still have it in the workshop so if anybody needs one let me know and you can have it.
Phil

 

[finneyb]

Brian,

Personally no problem with roller, but was aware Stooby had an issue. Someone on here had replaced the plastic roller with metal bearings and said that it made it easier to move - I disagreed with the replacement at the time and still, do because the metal bearing surface being steel will wear the aluminium of the rocker arm - it will be expensive to replace the whole rocker arm whereas the plastic rollers are there by design to be the sacrificial item and be replaced cheaply.

The tension lever may be a little stiff due to newness or is your tension too tight?

Stooby,
Jammed shut clamp- can you use a screwdriver, or similar, to ease it open?

Brian

 

[Claymore]

.........

 

[scrimper]

Those blade clamp levers look a bit bulky to me don't they get in the way? Also why do you need one on the bottom blade holder, I would have thought that you only need a quick blade clamp on the top for quick pierced cut changes whilst the bottom of the blade stays in it's holder? Or have I missed something?

Regarding the quick tension release lever I can only suggest that you had a weak or duff plastic roller, they look identical to the ones on my Hegner, I bought it in 1999 and it came with 2 spare rollers but to date the old ones are still fine in spite of 1000's of operations of the lever, While you are waiting for Axminster to send replacements have you not got anything in your odds and end box that you can fettle to fit?

Hi,
They aren't as bulky as you think and they don't get in the way because you can move the actual lever once it has tightened onto the blade by pulling outwards and rotating to where you want, I put another on the bottom clamp as if you break a blade you still have to remove the broken bit from both clamps and due to my hand problems i found the allen key awkward to hold.
The levers are well made and like i said i just removed the 4mm screw from the clamp as seen on the table and replaced it with the lever.
To be honest i do think it was my fault the plastic roller broke because i tried lifting it and the tension might have been too tight (It had a blade fitted when it arrived here and as usual thicko here didn't read the instructions before messing about with it doooooohhhh)
Cheers
Brian

Ah I did not realise you had hand problems, that explains why you need 2.

 

[Servo]

Hi claymore,
The first thing I did when I had the AWFS was relace the plastic rollers with bearings off a couple of small router bits.
They worked perfectly and were only held on with a piece of plastic tubing pushed on to each end of the pin.
There has been much discussion on these levers and I bought mine from mikes workshop. I never used it as the screw tightened straight onto the blade and this would have. Prevented the blade staying straight as the arm moved.
The hegner clamps, for example, have a bearing so the blade can still move when held.
I still have it in the workshop so if anybody needs one let me know and you can have it.
Phil

Phil, Is this the normal clamp with the capscrew? Anyway I would like it plzzzzzz.

Bob

 

[Servo]

Hi,
I have just fitted 2 of these to my AWFS18 (top and bottom clamps).
http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/product/3606/cl ... y-wds-8189 the item number i bought was 8189-22120 and just screwed into the metal blade clamp no need to cut to length.
Makes blade changing a breeze and pretty cheap too.
I have also removed the blade guard and hold down foot as they get in the way, have been having a go with the saw today and find it lovely to use compared to the old saw..... will post a photo of my 1st attempt soon.
As you can see on the photo I have lost one of the plastic rollers on the tension lever grrr :x 1st time i moved it it was VERY tight and just dropped in bits so will get a replacement from Axminster but will just use the tension screw at the back when blade changing etc.... Is this a common fault or was i just too heavy handed with it?
Oh well still love the saw
Cheers
Brian
Ps I am still restricted to one hand as the others knackered at moment hence reason haven't used the machine much since getting it but fingers crossed it will improve soon

I replaced the plastic rollers with 4 bearings OD 7mm ID 4mm 2.5 thick and never looked back. You use the same spindle and washers. Been using them for the last year. Some say 8mm od, but I found the quick release lever would fly back..

The bearing are about £6-7 off the bay.

Bob

 

[redmoorphil]

Hi Bob it is the hegner quick clamp as shown at this link -
https://www.mikesworkshop.com/newprod.htm
Just pm me your address and I'll pop it in the post for you.
Phil

 

[Stooby]

Which quick releases will fit the Axminster? It is frustrating to have to reach the Allen key each time. I did a project without about 50 internal cuts and was getting fed up at the end, lost concentration and messed up the final cut!

 

[Servo]

Which quick releases will fit the Axminster? It is frustrating to have to reach the Allen key each time. I did a project without about 50 internal cuts and was getting fed up at the end, lost concentration and messed up the final cut!

http://www.hegner.co.uk/quick-clamp-for-piercework.html

works with the Axminster awfs18 but's it's £20 and can only fit to the top.

Bob

 

[Claymore]

..........

 

[Servo]

doesn't the Hegner quick clamp do the same thing as the lever i have just fitted or is it different size?

The hegner clamps comes with a huge knurled knob and a new top clamp, it was engineered to move using bearing to stop blades bending, they are well worth the money

Bob

 

[scrimper]

doesn't the Hegner quick clamp do the same thing as the lever i have just fitted or is it different size?

The hegner clamps comes with a huge knurled knob and a new top clamp, it was engineered to move using bearing to stop blades bending, they are well worth the money

Bob

This rotating bearing thingy only applies to later clamps, I had the quick blade clamp supplied with my Hegner and it definitely does not have any such thing and I can assure people that as far as I can tell it makes virtually no difference to operation. what I am trying to say is that a cheaper clamp or one of those featured in this thread will work fine, just leave the top blade holder free to pivot a little by not fully tightening the top bolt, this will allow the top blade holder to pivot slightly on the knife edge achieving the same principle as the new Hegner rotating type quick clamp.

 

[martinka]

Brian,

Personally no problem with roller, but was aware Stooby had an issue. Someone on here had replaced the plastic roller with metal bearings and said that it made it easier to move - I disagreed with the replacement at the time and still, do because the metal bearing surface being steel will wear the aluminium of the rocker arm

But probably not in our lifetime. Look at the back of the arms, at the tensioner rod. Two pointy triangular steel bits which bear on the ends of those same aluminium arms. I've yet to hear of the ends of the arms dropping off due to wear. On chippygeoff's Hegner, the opposite occurred, the steel part wore away.

 

[finneyb]

Martin,

Fair point.
Given the small additional cost, why haven't Axi put the metal bearings in?
Do you know if the relevant Hegners also have plastic?

Brian

 

[martinka]

Martin,

Fair point.
Given the small additional cost, why haven't Axi put the metal bearings in?
Do you know if the relevant Hegners also have plastic?

Brian

Brian, Hegner's also use plastic, or whatever it is. Bearings probably don't do a much better job, other than making it slightly easier to pull the handle over, so it'll likely be a matter of economics.
That small additional cost is going to be quite a large amount over thousands of machines. The plastic pieces might cost 1p to buy in or make, whereas a bearing might be 50p. It soon adds up.