Thanks for the info! I had the aggressive cut issue with my 788 (type 2) as well. From the factory, the blade moved .070" (1.77mm) front to back. I used the method you described and it brought the front to back movement down to .029" (.73mm). Now, I can actually cut a tiny 3mm square out and have sharp 90 degree corners! It worked great and I didn't have to disassemble the entire saw as others described.
Two things I did to mine. First thing was sight down the arms from the top and make sure they were parallel to each other (they were off about 1/8") and then this fix. now it runs like a champ!!!
I just wanted to say Thank You for posting this "how to" video. My DW788 has been behaving badly for quite some time and although I had done quite a bit of reading on possible causes and fixes I was still left scratching my head. After reading the article on how to do this fix I have to admit that I was a little intimidated. I followed your instructions to the letter and after reassembly and checking to see if the blade ran perpendicular to the table I gave it a test run. It is vastly improved! Before the fix there was about a 1/8" slant to the blade from front to back, now it's right on the money. No more shredding thin pieces of wood and ripping them from my grasp. Phew! Again, many thanks!
I'm going to take mine apart and fix it right now!! My wife got me this saw about a two months ago and I've been tempted to send it back. I thought it was strange I could get better cuts from my 90$ Wen saw. Thank you so much for this video.
Question was "+Trevor Carter what are some of the signs that it needs to be adjusted? " I notice that my saw when cutting SIDEWAYS with a spiral blade the cut is wider than when I cut forward, almost twice as wide. Great tip!!!
Thanks jay...I'm probably not the best person to be explaining it I'm sure lol but at least their is a visual out there now thanks for checking it out buddy
Thanks for the vidio. I have two of these saws and the cut night & day different. I new there had to be a way of adjusting it but I didn't know how. I couldn't find anyone else that new how either. Thanks again.
Thanks for this "How To", I notice that your Dewalt and many other Dewalts I see are very quite. My Dewalt has been noisy and seems to be very jittery at the higher speeds. It's always been like this, and I just don't cut at the very high speeds. I have had mine about 8 years, and I love it, but it sure seems a lot different than others that I see. Dewalt definitely has too aggresive a cut. I did not understand this until I saw a video from Steve Good when he was comparing Scroll saws. Thanks agaibn.
Mine made the same jittery noise that you are talking about after trying to align mine using the method shown, turns out I took it too far forward and it was out of alignment ...try what I did here and adjust it a little bit at a time and I bet that noise goes away, their is a sweet spot on these things and you just need to find it
Hi Trevor, thanks for posting such a great fix video. You did a great job putting it together. My DeWalt will be in my shop by November. I can't wait to put it to work on some great projects I want. Derek
First off congrats on the new saw! And I'm happy you enjoyed the video I hope your new saw doesn't have the same trouble that mine had but if it does this should take care of it ...sorry to take so long getting back to you UA-cam didn't notify me of this comment till now ..happy scrolling!
Hopefully it works for you buddy. Don’t slot it out too far or it will knock and make noise but if you hit that sweet spot, it totally changes the experience with the saw
Thank You so much for posting this video, I have struggled with my overly aggressive saw for six months. Did your mod to it and it has become a real pussy cat now. I finally feel the saw is worth the money THANK YOU again..
Thanks so much Trever! This might save me from sending my new 788 Dewalt back. I will do it very soon. Do you know a fix for a mis-alignment that has my blade touching the side of the hole and not in the middle?
Fine video Trevor. Thanks for sharing your tricks. Do you plan to make a video on Dewalt 788 preventive maintenance such as oiling, ball bearing change, etc. Would be great.Thanks again.
+Braulio Perez thanks for watching! and sure id do a video on that stuff ..maybe next time i do general maintenance to mine ill turn the camera on thanks for the idea
Trevor, could you please tell me if your fix in the video will make the blade run straighter up and down. I want to use some jeweler saw blades to cut some coins and need better more vertical blade movement and to lesson the forward and backward travel.. My dewalt now has about a 1/8" forward and back movement in the up and down stroke. Hope I explained this properly for you to understand.
Yes doing this will make your blade run straighter up and down. When I first got my saw it was like yours with about 1/8” movement and hard to control. This has made mine run smoother and a lot less aggressive
@@TrevorsWoodShop Thank you so much for doing this video. I'm going to get started on this today. Seems like such a simple fix one would think DeWalt would get their act together and tweak this on all models made from here on out. Thanks Again!!
Hi! My new DEWALT scroll saw when I’m putting on blade the arm barely reach the blades. My old saw I had over 1/2 inch of blade to play with. Is there a fix?
Hi, on my 788 the blade as it goes they the table seem burry (movement from side to side) more the the top of the blade does… makes it hard to start cuts and stay on the line. Any thoughts as to why this maybe happening?
I'm not familiar with this saw, but is it not possible to fit the blade in a slightly different position in its holder, to set it dead vertical without modifying the machine?
Yes, it moves the top fixture forward and in return makes the blade more parallel with the bottom blade clamp on the downstroke so it’s not as aggressive. Thanks for watching 👍🏻
Hi, Trevor. +Sterling Davis referred me to this video. My issue isn't aggressive cutting, but rather that the blade is off-center of the hole in the table and comes uncomfortably close to one side. Tilting the table makes it even worse. Based on what I saw here, I can see how doing this procedure on only the near side might adjust the blade out to the middle. Other than that (and the obvious filing of the table hole, which I'd rather not do) do you have any thoughts about this?
I'm Guessing you checked the obvious and have no bent arms or bad bearings ...On the opposite side of your thumb screws their should be set screws that are loc tite'd in place...you could try loosening or tightening them (whichever is needed) that should help set your blade back to centre of the table hole ..if you do this tho be sure to reapply some loc tite on the set screws and check blade alignment I hope this helps but if not find me on Facebook and I'll help you till you get it up and running 😀
would you recommend purchase of 788 in light of associated problems? Are problems of this nature common to all scroll saws? Thanks for your excellent video. New subscriber with no scroll saw. thanks
This isn't necessarily a issue with all the dewalt saws but with the way the arms move on this type of saw, it seems more Prone to this kind of problem then others. but without a doubt id recommend it I think it's a great saw and with a few little tweaks it could be an amazing saw ...thanks for watching
No not all them have this issue a friend of mine just got one and his seems fine but they are prone to having it due to having fixed blade holders...for many (myself included) this is just a small tweak or fine tune to make it that much more enjoyable
+Trevor Carter what are some of the signs that it needs to be adjusted? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions I am new to scroll sawing I have a old Delta that I can starting with.
+Joseph Poindexter the most noticeable sign would is that it simply won't cut a corner ...it will arch it's way around instead of leaving the square edge ...also excessive board bounce while turning the piece is a sign
Those old scroll saws are tuff as nails! I still have one of my oldies but I honestly believe brands don't make a saw, the person running it does and I've seen some of your stuff keep knocking it out!
I printed off a protractor and glued it to a thin piece of scrap and use it to line up my blade to my table, also going slow and not pushing too hard makes a big difference too ..let the blade do the work
+frehleycomet aggressive cutting on this saw means the top of the blade is tipped forward so on the down stroke it takes really hard cuts and too much material at one time
Thanks for the info! I had the aggressive cut issue with my 788 (type 2) as well. From the factory, the blade moved .070" (1.77mm) front to back. I used the method you described and it brought the front to back movement down to .029" (.73mm). Now, I can actually cut a tiny 3mm square out and have sharp 90 degree corners! It worked great and I didn't have to disassemble the entire saw as others described.
Two things I did to mine.
First thing was sight down the arms from the top and make sure they were parallel to each other (they were off about 1/8") and then this fix. now it runs like a champ!!!
It's Strange how they all have different faults but the same machine thanks for the tip ;) and thanks for watching
Trever , I followed your instructions and it fixed mine .
great job Trevor simple fixes and adjustments are necessary for good tool alignment
Thanks Patrick! Hopefully this video helps a few people
I just wanted to say Thank You for posting this "how to" video.
My DW788 has been behaving badly for quite some time and although I had done quite a bit of reading on possible causes and fixes I was still left scratching my head.
After reading the article on how to do this fix I have to admit that I was a little intimidated.
I followed your instructions to the letter and after reassembly and checking to see if the blade ran perpendicular to the table I gave it a test run.
It is vastly improved!
Before the fix there was about a 1/8" slant to the blade from front to back, now it's right on the money.
No more shredding thin pieces of wood and ripping them from my grasp. Phew!
Again, many thanks!
I'm happy this helped you out! 👍🏻 Happy scrolling and thank you for watching
I'm going to take mine apart and fix it right now!! My wife got me this saw about a two months ago and I've been tempted to send it back. I thought it was strange I could get better cuts from my 90$ Wen saw. Thank you so much for this video.
Geez, DeWalt, it takes a UA-cam vid to make a fix your engineers should have known in the first place! Good job on the vid!
Great fix Trevor. When I get mine in a week or so doing this first.
Thanks mike! And I know you are gonna love that new saw congrats again buddy
Between you and Sterling, scrollsaw needs to happen for me !!!
I'd love to see the work you would do on a scroll saw! Be aware tho they are addicting lol thanks for watching buddy
Question was "+Trevor Carter what are some of the signs that it needs to be adjusted? "
I notice that my saw when cutting SIDEWAYS with a spiral blade the cut is wider than when I cut forward, almost twice as wide.
Great tip!!!
Great fix! Good insight into the adjustment and what it's for.
Thanks jay...I'm probably not the best person to be explaining it I'm sure lol but at least their is a visual out there now thanks for checking it out buddy
Thanks for the vidio. I have two of these saws and the cut night & day different. I new there had to be a way of adjusting it but I didn't know how. I couldn't find anyone else that new how either. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching Mark and I hope it helped you ..keep me posted on how you make out 👍🏻
Thanks for this "How To", I notice that your Dewalt and many other Dewalts I see are very quite. My Dewalt has been noisy and seems to be very jittery at the higher speeds. It's always been like this, and I just don't cut at the very high speeds. I have had mine about 8 years, and I love it, but it sure seems a lot different than others that I see. Dewalt definitely has too aggresive a cut. I did not understand this until I saw a video from Steve Good when he was comparing Scroll saws. Thanks agaibn.
Mine made the same jittery noise that you are talking about after trying to align mine using the method shown, turns out I took it too far forward and it was out of alignment ...try what I did here and adjust it a little bit at a time and I bet that noise goes away, their is a sweet spot on these things and you just need to find it
Hi Trevor, thanks for posting such a great fix video. You did a great job putting it together. My DeWalt will be in my shop by November. I can't wait to put it to work on some great projects I want. Derek
First off congrats on the new saw! And I'm happy you enjoyed the video I hope your new saw doesn't have the same trouble that mine had but if it does this should take care of it ...sorry to take so long getting back to you UA-cam didn't notify me of this comment till now ..happy scrolling!
Great video with great instructions ! Will do this to my delta 20in scroll saw tomorrow !
Hopefully it works for you buddy. Don’t slot it out too far or it will knock and make noise but if you hit that sweet spot, it totally changes the experience with the saw
Thanks for this simple fix!
thanks Trevor , Very good information for the initials in the scroll saw
Thank You so much for posting this video, I have struggled with my overly aggressive saw for six months. Did your mod to it and it has become a real pussy cat now. I finally feel the saw is worth the money THANK YOU again..
I’m happy this helped you out! Thanks so much for watching
Just what I needed to see! Thanks for the video!
You're welcome I hope it helped! Thanks for watching
Thanks so much Trever! This might save me from sending my new 788 Dewalt back. I will do it very soon.
Do you know a fix for a mis-alignment that has my blade touching the side of the hole and not in the middle?
Fine video Trevor. Thanks for sharing your tricks. Do you plan to make a video on Dewalt 788 preventive maintenance such as oiling, ball bearing change, etc. Would be great.Thanks again.
+Braulio Perez thanks for watching! and sure id do a video on that stuff ..maybe next time i do general maintenance to mine ill turn the camera on thanks for the idea
Great. I will wait for it. Tks.
Outstanding job...Thanks
+David Grindel your welcome! and thank you for watching :)
Trever, I have a saw like yours ordered and would like to know just what kind of problem you had ?
I'll give it a go. Thanks for sharing.
Trevor, could you please tell me if your fix in the video will make the blade run straighter up and down. I want to use some jeweler saw blades to cut some coins and need better more vertical blade movement and to lesson the forward and backward travel.. My dewalt now has about a 1/8" forward and back movement in the up and down stroke. Hope I explained this properly for you to understand.
Yes doing this will make your blade run straighter up and down. When I first got my saw it was like yours with about 1/8” movement and hard to control. This has made mine run smoother and a lot less aggressive
@@TrevorsWoodShop Thank you so much for doing this video. I'm going to get started on this today. Seems like such a simple fix one would think DeWalt would get their act together and tweak this on all models made from here on out. Thanks Again!!
Awesome. Thanks for the tip.
Hi! My new DEWALT scroll saw when I’m putting on blade the arm barely reach the blades. My old saw I had over 1/2 inch of blade to play with. Is there a fix?
Are you sure the blade tensioner is all the way back?
Hi, on my 788 the blade as it goes they the table seem burry (movement from side to side) more the the top of the blade does… makes it hard to start cuts and stay on the line. Any thoughts as to why this maybe happening?
I'm not familiar with this saw, but is it not possible to fit the blade in a slightly different position in its holder, to set it dead vertical without modifying the machine?
Does this put any stress on the arm mechanism and bearings?
Awesome video. What did slotting out the holes accomplish? Did they help in allowing you to move the assembly forward?
Yes, it moves the top fixture forward and in return makes the blade more parallel with the bottom blade clamp on the downstroke so it’s not as aggressive. Thanks for watching 👍🏻
Hi, Trevor. +Sterling Davis referred me to this video. My issue isn't aggressive cutting, but rather that the blade is off-center of the hole in the table and comes uncomfortably close to one side. Tilting the table makes it even worse. Based on what I saw here, I can see how doing this procedure on only the near side might adjust the blade out to the middle. Other than that (and the obvious filing of the table hole, which I'd rather not do) do you have any thoughts about this?
I'm Guessing you checked the obvious and have no bent arms or bad bearings ...On the opposite side of your thumb screws their should be set screws that are loc tite'd in place...you could try loosening or tightening them (whichever is needed) that should help set your blade back to centre of the table hole ..if you do this tho be sure to reapply some loc tite on the set screws and check blade alignment I hope this helps but if not find me on Facebook and I'll help you till you get it up and running 😀
Thanks
would you recommend purchase of 788 in light of associated problems? Are problems of this nature common to all scroll saws? Thanks for your excellent video. New subscriber with no scroll saw. thanks
This isn't necessarily a issue with all the dewalt saws but with the way the arms move on this type of saw, it seems more Prone to this kind of problem then others. but without a doubt id recommend it I think it's a great saw and with a few little tweaks it could be an amazing saw ...thanks for watching
Is this something that all the DeWalt 788 have issues with? I don't currently own a Dewalt.
No not all them have this issue a friend of mine just got one and his seems fine but they are prone to having it due to having fixed blade holders...for many (myself included) this is just a small tweak or fine tune to make it that much more enjoyable
+Trevor Carter what are some of the signs that it needs to be adjusted? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions I am new to scroll sawing I have a old Delta that I can starting with.
+Joseph Poindexter the most noticeable sign would is that it simply won't cut a corner ...it will arch it's way around instead of leaving the square edge ...also excessive board bounce while turning the piece is a sign
i hope this helps anyone running the dewalt 788 scroll saw having trouble making tight turns
Cool hack. I can only wish to have a REAL scroll saw. I think mine are as old as me.
Those old scroll saws are tuff as nails! I still have one of my oldies but I honestly believe brands don't make a saw, the person running it does and I've seen some of your stuff keep knocking it out!
is the blade suppose t0 be perpendicular to the table
+Paul Blot yes it should be
Paul Blot. How do you get it to be perpendicular? I cut puzzles and it drives me nuts trying to get the blade straight. Thanks
I printed off a protractor and glued it to a thin piece of scrap and use it to line up my blade to my table, also going slow and not pushing too hard makes a big difference too ..let the blade do the work
What do you mean by aggressive cutting
+frehleycomet aggressive cutting on this saw means the top of the blade is tipped forward so on the down stroke it takes really hard cuts and too much material at one time
Gotcha buddy