Comments on: Reader Question: Miter Saw Troubles

By: Bubba

Bubba — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:48:29 +0000

Harbor Freight and Chicago Electric.

I have heard that Chicago Electric reconditons tools. Do they recondition to a lesser standard? For instance, Take the bones of a Dewalt saw and recondition it to Chicago Electric standards and sell it as new? Any body have any comments?

By: Toolmonger » Blog Archive » The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger » Blog Archive » The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:01:57 +0000

[...] Reader Question: Miter Saw Troubles Kimberly in Salt Lake wrote to us about a problem she’s having with a Chicago Electric miter saw. The head of the bolt that holds the blade on sheared off and Kimberly is looking to get it repaired. [...]

By: flarney

flarney — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:47:25 +0000

Thanks Brad Justinen

Gotta love this site. Seems my two saws are so old they don’t register, nothing for 34-079 or 36-220 showed but some parts for other machines look very likely to be compatable [I hope]. Ordered a belt and now keeping an eye out for the brushes. I will make sawdust again.

By: Brad Justinen

Brad Justinen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:56:32 +0000

@ flarney

I have the same Delta miter saw. Ereplacementparts.com has the best selection I’ve ever seen. They have exploded parts diagrams for just about 90 percent of the tools out there.

Here’s a link to the parts you need:
http://www.ereplacementparts.com/delta-34080-type-1034-miter-saw-parts-c-3275_3503_9490.html

They have the belt and brushes in stock.

By: flarney

flarney — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:53:05 +0000

Thanks Gough,

I will give it a shot. I had a similar experience with 3M dust mask. You had to buy a different housing for each type of cartridge [ a scam in itself] , then they stopped making the the cartridges. A North dealer took the mask in exchange for one of his after I bought a bunch of cartridges for the new one. We were both happy.

By: Gough

Gough — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:04:33 +0000

flarney

Since DeWalt bought Delta/Porter-Cable, they’ve been dropping parts and accessories like crazy. I was after some motor brushes and finally went to my local automotive electrical specialist and asked to looked through their selection of brushes. Sure enough, there were identical brushes from some alternator or some such.

By: flarney

flarney — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:13:49 +0000

I’ve found the “quality” tool makers don’t stock even consumable parts for long. I’ve got a Delta chop saw whose drive belt wore out. They don’t stock the part any more. They don’t stock the motor brushes either. If I’d bought a cheaper saw the cost/use would have been less. I keep tools for a long time because I maintain them but I’ve been left in the lurch one too many times by the name brand guys who don’t keep parts available. As long as it does the job get the cheapest tool you can find that works.

By: Gough

Gough — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:29:41 +0000

On the economics of cheap saws: I found out the cost of an easily mis-aligned saw fence and the resulting kickback- $1800. And that was for a relatively small nick on the tip of my finger. For some tool, it’s worth it to pay a little more.

By: Dave H

Dave H — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:20:33 +0000

I too have had good luck with the HF power tools. The key is keeping the printed instruction booklet with the part numbers. You can get the parts easily with that info and as stated above, the PDF books are available right on their website.

By: Chris W

Chris W — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:20:25 +0000

My Chicago Electric recip saw stopped working yesterday. It gave off a big cloud of nasty smoke in its death throes. We have a saying in the electronics repair business. Things stop working when all the smoke leaks out of them. The smoke is what made them work.

By: bob

bob — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:06:29 +0000

Lisle makes/made an in an out that was a straight-ribbed spline; works fine on reverse thread bolts.

By: HANK

HANK — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:22:19 +0000

Can’t address the bolt issue, but can address the 10in Miter Saw issue. If you use your miter saw much, you should get the 12in. model. Owning a 10in. quickly shows you it’s limits.

I have owned a Dewalt 12 compound miter for as long as they have had them out and am delighted. Used a 10in some and don’t like it’s limits. I am not a giant fan of DeWalt the way I used to be, but getting a 12 in. is worth the money.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:01:38 +0000

Getting the right bolt will be the biggest hurdle. I’d buy two.

I have no idea how Kim’s broke. I discovered the blade retaining bolt on my saw was left-hand thread “the hard way”. It didn’t break but it was the worse for wear.

I bought two. I’ll remember its left-hand thread next time I replace the blade. But I am not the only one who uses the saw. Taped the bolt under the saw’s base so I know where it is when the time comes.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:39:06 +0000

I agree with Aboxman, if you have the paper “manual” it has an exploded parts diagram/list that HF phone service can use to replace your part. Do maybe try to get it out first though.

By: Aboxman

Aboxman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:01:27 +0000

Actually, HF has a pretty good parts department. If you can find the correct HF model number (which is not always the # on the tool) you should be able to find the manual on HF’s site. With that you should be able to find the part number. Then see http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/cs.taf If you can’t find the model number their people are usually pretty good at finding the information for you. Actually, I’ve had better luck with HF’s part department than some of the BIG names.

By: fred

fred — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:45:30 +0000

@ Mr P

Nice link to what look like nice extractors.
Staring my first business as a plumber - we’ve used the Ridgid variety for many years - but use Cobalt drill bits (with LH bits usually the first choice - but RH bits sometimes working on reverse - thread

http://www.toolup.com/ridgid/35585.html?AdCamp=CA&utm_source=CAfroogle&utm_medium=CA&utm_term=ridgid+35585&CAWELAID=318054975

I agree, however with other comments that finding a flanged metric - reverse threaded bolt might be well nigh impossible - and having one machined - much too expensive. I think that I’d scrap the saw.

By: MR P

MR P — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:22:18 +0000

remove the broken bolt with one of these http://www.boltmasterusa.com/
and buy the bolt you need on http://www.mcmaster.com

By: Mike47

Mike47 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:36:37 +0000

As a follow-up to what Barrie said, if the bolt is left-hand thread, drilling a hole in it with normal right-hand twist drill will tend to back it out. Also, a tapered reamer will sometimes work well as an easy-out on a left-hand thread. May need to use a product like Kroil or WD-40 to help move it along.

By: Roy

Roy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:30:25 +0000

If Kimberly has the saw linked to in this story at Harbor Freight , a manual is listed in the sale url. The phone number for support is listed in the manual, so is the spindle bolt, item 58 in the breakdown. It is reverse threaded. Good Luck.

By: Barri

Barri — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:21:45 +0000

Good luck getting a reverse threaded bolt that has sheard off out with any removle tools. These tools only work with a standard Lefty losey, righty tighty nuts and bolts. Your best bet is to try and cut a slot into the bolt and remove with a screw driver.

By: Gary

Gary — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:12:39 +0000

I know not everyone has the $ for good tools, but any powered saw is not something I’d cheap out on. Too many things can go wrong - resulting in an untimely trip to the ER.

I’m also wondering if the bolt is reverse threaded. The two other times I’ve heard about something like this the person didn’t have a manual and snapped the head off by turning in the wrong direction.

You could probably find a decent vintage manual miter box and saw for what you paid for this. If you’re not cutting a lot of thick material and the saw is sharp, they work quite well. I’ve got an old Miller Falls I use a lot.

By: BJN

BJN — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:48:24 +0000

I wouldn’t go to a hardware store to look for a replacement bolt. The head shape is important (does it have a flange?), as would be the tensile strength of the bolt (something apparently not as important to Harbor Freight):

http://www.unified-eng.com/scitech/bolt/boltmarks.html

Is the bolt reverse thread perchance? That would add another degree of difficulty finding a substitute bolt.

By: John

John — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:15:10 +0000

I’d say get an ez-out and remove the stud of the bolt, and find the size/pitch and length of the bolt, then order one from McMaster-Carr

By: Joel Spangler

Joel Spangler — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:12:59 +0000

I have one of these saws + its done well for me.. plenty of power, however I have the model with sliding rails… they bend around which keeps accuracy low.. wouldn’t use the saw on a fancy molding job, but its been a great saw for framing + just about any job I’ve thrown at it.

As far as getting it serviced - can’t say that you’re going to have much luck getting it professionally done. Not sure how the bolt got sheared off, but if it took a hit + the end of the bolt just popped off, you could probably get one of those reverse drill bits + get the remaining part of the screw out.. then take what you got out to a local hardware store and find another screw. If it broke off while tightening a blade on, you probably had the threads mis-alinged and you probably won’t get the screw out… a machinist MIGHT be able to get drill the screw out + re-thread the hole (at a larger size), but I doubt it… if this is the case (broke off by brute force when tightening), you’re probably better off to get another saw.

By: PeterP

PeterP — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:58:53 +0000

Wait, while you where using it? That would rank up there in my “terrifying moments using power tools” list.

It should be fairly simple to get an EZ-out, remove the bolt, take what’s left to a hardware store and find a replacement.

I second Brad’s opinion, though. If its at all feasible, lose the Chicago Electric saw and get a quality brand. It’s more expensive. but less likely to remove digits…