Blade Tension Knobs and Material Hold down

[kcleere]

Hello,

I have a Dewalt 788 and I have two questions.

1. I have low hand strength and tightening the small knobs that secure the blade as well as the one that holds the material hold down is difficult.

Have any of you replaced these knobs with something that allows more leverage? Worse case I guess I could replace them with Allen Head bolts and use a T wrench.

2. Are there any replacement or improved hold downs for this saw.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Ken

[lucky788scroller]

Ken, although I havent done this myself, I have seen it done. Get yourself a lid off of a one liter bottle.On the Mt Dew bottle sitting here, the inside dia. of the lid is about 1 1/4" . Using the 5 minute epoxy (avail at any hardware, and most big box stores)put your blade holder screw in the lid, and fill it with the epoxy. Once its cured (which doesnt take long) you will have a knob that you might find you can use easier . As for the material hold down, you could do the exact same thing, although I cant think of anyone that I know that uses the holddown. It tends to get in the way, and is one of those safety features installed just to cover the manufacturers butt. If you remove the holddown, turn it upside down and tighten it back into its holder,you can have a nice little place to hang the plug if you ever need to unplug the saw Dale

[Dragon]

The holddown was in the box in a cute little plastic bag when I bought the saw. It is still there.
I find that although I don't do up the blade holder that tight it tightens itself when I use it. So when I want to change blade I must use a plair of pliers to loosen it.
Thanks for the tip Dale on the cap. Will look at that.
Diane

[kcleere]

Thanks Dale for the tip which gave me an idea also. I'm a woodturner so I could just turn my own hollowed out knob and epoxy the DW knob into it.

Also Dragon...it's interesting that your holders tighten during use. Makes me wonder if the blade clamping surfaces have a wedge to them that pulls it tighter.

Thanks y'all.

[Rolf]

Make a simple wrench out of wood to go over the clamp knob.

[Kevin12]

Like most people, I don't use the hold-down either. But if you don't have much hand strength, I can see where you might want it. Sometimes, especially turning tight corners, I do have to hold the wood down on the table to prevent "chatter." And if that's difficult, well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

But, hey, Dale, turning the hold-down upside down is a great idea! I'm thinking making something to hold pens/pencils, maybe reduced copies of the pattern for reference. An American flag! (or Canadian or British or whatever nationality) Maybe a little scrolled Xmas tree on a dowel in December! Good heavens, Dale, you've created a monster! <G>

[lucky788scroller]

LOL Kevin. I'm picturing a little Christmas tree there now! I like it!