Jigsaw alignment

[tomlawton]

Greeting, oh most knowledgeable ones... (particularly the person with 6 jigsaws.. ;) )

I've recently entered the wonderful world of Shopsmithing, with a 1980 500 with bandsaw from Craigslist for $500. Once I'd waxed it up, and corrected the huge zero error on the speed dial (so it stopped throwing bandsaw tires when it said "D" but was actually going "FAST"...) it has turned into a lovely machine.

Anyway.. I'm addicted enough that I've eBayed a jigsaw- arrived yesterday- and a jointer- still on its way...

So, the jigsaw arrived, a little sadly packed, but undamaged, but in dire need of some TLC. Wifey kindly let me spend the evening stripping it down and reassembling :) ... Gearbox was bone dry, but no damage or scoring, there was a mud wasp nest in the top end, and the air pump plunger had a portion of its lip flipped back but may still work. All went back together OK (once I got both blade holders facing the same way :p ), no missing parts, but.....
The top blade guide, if lowered fully to the table, is about an inch to the right of the bottom blade holder... :(
So... I'm desperately hoping to find- but didn't have time, or a suitable "C" spanner last night- that the upper taper socket is drilled at an angle, so that rotating it changes the "aim" of the top blade guide?? I can see with a square that the top guide is not at right angles to the table at the moment...
Or, is my bow tube bent? (If it is, it is too "open", which is unlikely to have happened if it was dropped- I'd expect that to close it up, if anything...)

Any advice much appreciated... I'm planning on buying some blades at lunchtime, and I'd like to do it in the knowledge I'll be able to drive them straight up and down..!!

No sig yet...
Tom

[SDSSmith]

Greeting, oh most knowledgeable ones... (particularly the person with 6 jigsawThe top blade guide, if lowered fully to the table, is about an inch to the right of the bottom blade holder... :( [/I]
So... I'm desperately hoping to find- but didn't have time, or a suitable "C" spanner last night- that the upper taper socket is drilled at an angle, so that rotating it changes the "aim" of the top blade guide?? I can see with a square that the top guide is not at right angles to the table at the moment...
Or, is my bow tube bent? (If it is, it is too "open", which is unlikely to have happened if it was dropped- I'd expect that to close it up, if anything...)
Tom

I have had luck in the past aligning the upper and lower blade holders by rotating the eccentric wedge in the upper arm. It is P/N C3282 in the old Magna manual. As I recall, I loosened the bolt that screws into the special square nut behind the eccentric.

Otherwise, it would take a lot of force to bend the tubular arm.

[tomlawton]

Done it :)

Had to pull the insert partly out of the tube, and try it in a few orientations. It was too stiff to rotate in place- though there does seem to be a notch for a "C" spanner if one had one... When pulled out a little it presents flats that can be gripped with a wrench.
Having taken the bolt right out, the square steel nut inside the insert drops out; it might be possible to tip it in place while you engage the bolt, but I opted to pull the insert right out and secure the steel nut with a couple of drops of superglue.
The correct orientation (don't know if this is always the case) was with the slot of the insert uppermost. I'd previously positioned it downwards, preferring that so there was no chance of it collecting dust...

The top guide's now plumb above the bottom, so I risked a blade and all was well :) ...

Well, except... :rolleyes: the top blade guide is pretty loose in its square hole in the hose exit casting through which it runs. I may re-engineer this with a brass/ bronze/ UHMWPE/ PTFE/ something insert.. or is it considered OK for it to be a bit floppy up there, so far from the cut..?
And... the bottom blade support- the composite peg with the notch supporting the blade just below the table insert- is both very worn, and totally snapped in two... Are these still available from SS, does anyone know, or are they a standard consumable available elsewhere...?
Oh.. and the pump isn't really putting out much air... Probably in part due to the wear of the square hole of the guide, but is there a source for the plungers? Or should I machine one up with an "O" ring... If so, I wonder how to make it breathe... Does anyone know if there is a flap or other one-way valve in the hose exit casting?

Oh.. naughty... no 10W oil... so I put in Castrol GTX 10W30... I know.. it says "no detergent"... It's just until I get some sewing machine oil... or until it all drips out..! (Though no leaks yet!)

Right... Time to cut some curves before bedtime...!

Still no sig...
Tom