Craftsman 16" SS

[Dawn]

A friend from work has let me borrow his Craftsman 16" Scroll Saw.
He hasn't used it in several years and it was just sitting there gathering dust and not the good kind, saw dust
Anyway, I have 2 issues at the moment.
1) There should be a yellow safety key that has to be in place before it will turn on, this is missing. (I'm sure he put it up and has "misplaced" it as he has 3 small boys.
2) I'm not sure which blades it uses, any idea? He said he "thinks" it uses the ones with a pin, but he's not sure.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dawn

[Tor]

I had a similar saw (and currently still own) until I recently upgraded. Mine didn't have such a key, but if you stick a small scrap of wood in the hole where the key went, you will fool the machine, allowing you to use it properly. The real purpose for those is not really required for a SS, but on a table saw, you can remove it, so that you won't unintentionally turn it on. Happy Scrolling.

As for blades, mine takes pin-end blades which you can simply hook on the blade holder, or you can use the screw to clamp in the plain-end blades. If the saw only has a hook with a slot for the blade, then you will have to use pin-end blades, or get a conversion kit (or perhaps you might choose to purchase a saw) if you want to use plain-end blades, which are used by most scrollers here. If there is a clamp with a screw on one or both sides, then you can slide in a plain-end blade, and tighten the screw to hold it in place.

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

Tor

[Popeye]

Dawn,
I have a craftsman scroll saw as well and I can use pin or plain end blades. My saw does not have the insert for the key. I did break mine this past weekend. My saw was only 10 months old and the tension rod snapped. One would think a lot of pressure was used to do this but I was just setting the tension on a 5/0 blade. Good thing was I had purchased the extended replacement warranty and did a quick switch and I am still cutting. Hope this helps.

Pops

[Dawn]

Thanks Tor and Pops. I'll play with it tomorrow (have to work my real job today).

Oh and yes, eventually, I'll buy my own saw, but currently I have to go the free route.

Dawn

[Dragon]

You can buy those yellow keys at Sears. They are real cheap. My father passed away and I got his sander minus the key. We bought replacements.
Mine would not start without it being in there.
Diane

[Kevin12]

I began with an old Delta my father-in-law let me "borrow". It was good enough to get me really hooked. Used it for a few years before upgrading to the DeWalt 788.

[Dawn]

I couldn't get it to turn on by other methods, so thanks to Diane, I stopped by Sears yesterday and picked up a pack.

Thanks to everyone for their tips and tricks. I bought new blades with the pins and now I'm ready to give them a try. Hopefully tonight.

Dawn

[Dragon]

Great Dawn. Now that she starts let's get scrolling
Diane

[david on the farm]

hello dawn, i also have a sears 16" scroll saw, my is also old, sounds like almost the same kind, my uses pin end blade, until just recently i bought a conversation kit for twenty dollars at sears so i can now use both pin and pinless blades my also has a yellow pull switch on it, the only problem is that i bought my without a air pump and hose to blow away the saw dust, so i just use a big fan, i was going to buy a new one, but my old sears still works great, i think is a good tool and will last a long time.

if you look at sears tools parts, you might find parts for it. the model number and serial number on my is under the table, it should be on there some where.

david on the farm in wisconsin