DeWalt miter saw arbor problem – help!
I bought this 12″ DeWalt Miter Box from my neighbor to re-sell. It is an older straight chop – no compound. It cleaned up nice and I replaced the switch and plastic slides under the turntable. Now for the easy part – put a new blade on. There was a recall on the saw arbor bolt so I ordered a new bolt to mount the blade to the arbor.
The old bolt would not back out. The neighbor fiddled with it weeks earlier when I bought it – removing the blade and replacing the bolt. We worked for 10 minutes and finally got the old bolt out. A small part of the bolt is missing upon inspection. I blew the hole out and tried to mount the new bolt – of course no luck.
I’m guessing I need a fine left thread tap. Any experienced machinist out there with advice. I might have to replace the arbor but I not want to.
A used tool at quarter price is sometimes still too much.
Hammersparks
Replies
DeWalt uses a left hand SAE thread on its arbor. It's probably a 3/8 x 24 LH. You can get a tap from any good industrial supply house, or from MSC in Chicago thru the mail. Get a plug tap, and after cleaning up the first few threads you gan grind the end off to make it into a bottoming tap.
Thank-you. Come to think of it I know a local guy who might have the tap you recommend for the job.
Hammersparks
If the only problem is the length of the bolt, you can shorten it on the grinder or beltsander at 90*, then clean up the starting threads with a small file. I do this all the time.
First, the obvious, you are turning the bolt counterclockwise as you try to thread it in? Do the threads and diameter of the new bolt match the old bolt? Is the new bolt also a left handed thread?
You said a small piece of the old bolt is missing. Is it in the arbor? If it is, you aren't going to be able to run a tap in to clean up the threads. You might be able to drill out the broken end of the bolt, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Take a real close look at the existing threads in the arbor. If they're badly chewed up, rethreading might allow you to thread in the new bolt but the repaired threads will be very weak. Having the threads strip while the saw is running would allow the spinning 12 inch blade to drop right out of the saw and come at you at waist height, a risk hardly worth taking.
John W.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
I can see threads and they are not all chewed up. New bolt, supplied by DeWalt for this saw is 1/4" longer than the old bolt.
Thanks.
Hammersparks
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