My new (second hand) Hegner Multicut 2 just broke - fixable?

[jeffff]

I bought a used Hegner from ebay and it has just broken after about 10 minutes use. I was in the middle of making a cut and all movement of the arm stopped and I could just hear the motor turning. I removed the wood and tried switching it on again and there was a loud banging with each turn of the motor. I've since taken the cover off and can see that a piece of plastic that holds the motor to the arm has broken.

I made a video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9f799RJaMQ

I wondering firstly if I can get a replacement part anywhere. I imagine the machine is quite old, so I wonder if parts are still being made and if so whether it is economical to do the repair. I also need to get a new "bellows" for the machine.

I'm also wondering what would have caused such a break to happen. Is it just bad luck and the wear and tear kicking in as soon as I became the owner? Obviously I don't want to buy a replacement part only to have it break again is there is some other cause of the problem.

Anyone else had the same thing happen or have any suggestions?

The saw was also sold to me as being variable speed. I can't find any variable motor control - or is the speed just determined by the tension in the sping some how?

Thanks

 

[Jamesc]

Hi Jeff,

A quick google brought up this page http://www.hegner.co.uk/catalog/partlist.aspx?CategoryID=6964. Scroll down and you will find the bit you are looking for (at least it looks the right bit to me).

Hope this helps

James

 

[Blister]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the saw

If it was sold as Variable speed it should have a rotary speed control knob

If its single speed it just has a on of switch

I just photographed the 2 saw's I have

Best to ring Hegner re spares if you are not going to contact the Ebay seller

 

[mac1012]

im sure hegner will be able to direct you to the right part and give you some advice there tech guys are very helpfull , and seems it could be a low cost fix, looks like you had bit of bad luck might be worth a try if you can get a refund although may be hard to determine if it was like that when you brought it

mark

 

[mac1012]

it dosent look like it a variable speed from your video and if they were advertising as such you got a strong case to put pressure on them for a refund and also contact ebay resolution centre might be worth a try

 

[Elapid]

im sure hegner will be able to direct you to the right part and give you some advice there tech guys are very helpfull , and seems it could be a low cost fix, looks like you had bit of bad luck might be worth a try if you can get a refund although may be hard to determine if it was like that when you brought it

mark

Ebay always side with the buyer. My wife had someone say they hadn't received the item when the post office said they had and they even posted a facebook picture of the item. Their feedback showed that they had pretended not to receive items at least 10 times before yet ebay didn't care and sided with the buyer. They always do unless it's me buying something.

 

[CHJ]

Looks like a simple part to make if a spare is not available, a temp. one made from a bit of birch ply would get you going.

You could try an old kitchen chopping board, or perhaps aluminium or brass sheet would be better.

 

[mac1012]

hope you get it sorted jeff let us know how you get on , i think once you get the spare part hopefuly the machine will work ok unless your returning the machine let us know how you get on

mark

 

[Wildman]

looks a really simple part to make from brass

 

[jeffff]

Thanks very much for the replies. I've emailed the folks hegner.co.uk to confirm that the part listed on the above link is indeed the one that I need. When I know the price, I'll contact the ebay seller and try to come to an agreement with them for the break + non-variable speed. I'd rather not mess about with paypal and couriers again. Really appreciate all the advice.

Will update you with how I get on!

 

[mac1012]

you could give them a ring they would tell you straight away plus they might give you some tips how best to fix the spare part

Mark

 

[mac1012]

i meant fix back on machine

 

[jeffff]

Thanks again for all the advice.

I phoned Hegner in the end and spoke to a gentleman in the technical department who was really helpful. I ordered the broken part and the missing bellows and I've finally got a bit of time to fix them onto the saw.

As you can see from the video, the saw is a bit grubby, and since I'm going to be taking bits off to change the part - its probably a good idea if I give it a clean/oil.

Can anyone advise how I should be cleaning maintaining this? Should I use water, dry it and then wd40 each part - I'm guessing that will guard against rust? Or will I need something a bit more powerful than just water to do the clearning? Or should I only wd40 certain bits? Any advice appreciated

 

[CHJ]

I personally would keep WD40 well away from it, unless you are just using it as a solvent and drying well off afterwards.

WD stands for Water Displacement and is intended to lift water and any contaminants it carries off a metal surface* and then it will dry as a sticky coating that will attract dust, not something you would need to encourage I would have thought on a jig/fret saw.
*carrier bourne jet turbines , naval equipment, motors that have been accidentally submerged etc.


Use white spirit and a rag, or one of the household 'do it all' spray detergents and a rag, drying off well after use and then apply and buff up a surface barrier wax such as Liberon Lubricating Wax.

 

[jeffff]

Thank-you - I'll get some of that wax

 

[mac1012]

If it was me i would ring the helpfull tech guys and ask them if any of the parts you are taking of and replacing need lubricating and what with , i know one thing that you need to keep lubricated is the pivot points where the paralell arms attach at the back of the saw . i use 3 in one oil a few drops around were they attach. you need to keep oil of any kind well away from the tensioning spring assembly at rear of machine the wax should be ok for general parts that are rusty like the castings etc but i would just make sure with any internal gubbins what is the best way forward.

mark

 

[beech1948]

Just looked at the video.

Seems to be a simple enough part to make. The broken bit looks like a simple plate with two holes and a bit of rounding on the ends. Its difficult to see from the video but it also looks a bit like Zamak was the metal used...a trashy, poor alloy. If so then replacing with a bit of steel would ensure the longevity of the saw.

Al

 

[jeffff]

Looks like the replacement bit that I've got has some lubricant already in the middle of it. I might try and crack on with the replacement tomorrow while I've got some spare time, but I will check about lubricant reccomendations.

The part is actually plastic. When I was speaking to the chap on the phone, he said that the part is made of plastic so it can act as a fail safe - so its kind of designed to break if something wrong should happen. I'm a little bit concerned about why is broke in the first place... I wasn't doing anything strenuous - there's a chance it could have broken previously and been glued - something to check if you are considering a second hand hegner.

 

[pip1954]

hi i would consider if it breaks again to make a metal piece ,i would think it will take a lot of strain.
all the best
pip

 

[Scrollerman]

I agree with beech1948 that the part shown in the video is aluminium.
The black coating (anodised ?) is misleading so look closely at the core which is clearly metallic.
I've known many saws that had/have either plastic or metal linkages and that video shows a typical aluminium fracture/breakage.
I note from the video that at about 37 seconds in, you show a third broken piece with typical metal breaks which just don't happen with plastic linkages.
The noise that very small third part makes when you drop it at 43 seconds in is also a much heavier sound than plastic.
Plastic would generally only break on one side of the linkage and not both let alone into multiple breaks but most importantly, the core would also be black !

The original linkage is without doubt aluminium but if Hegner are now using plastic linkages on what is supposed to be a high-end saw, Doug would be turning in his grave !