Hey All. I have the Ridgid TS3650. The arbor bolt is stripped. Tried to figure out how to remove it so I could order a new one to replace it. Can’t seem to figure out how to remove it. Any suggestions? Anyone else had the same problem?
Thanks in advance.
Drew
Replies
Do you mean that the nut, not a bolt, that holds the blade in place is stripped and that it is still on the arbor shaft and can't be backed off?
John W.
No, the bolt is stripped. Can't get the nut back on.
Sorry, now I reread, may not be explaining right. The threaded portion of the arbor shaft is stripped. I need to remove and replace the arbor shaft.
This would be considered a major repair. First the motor would come off and the saw would be turned upside down to get at the arm that the arbor shaft goes through. After that, what has to be done would depend on the design of the saw's bearing assembly. It is possible that the arbor shaft might be easily removed, or it could require quite a bit more disassembly of the saw to do the job. The work requires some mechanical skills, especially with bearing removal and replacement, probably a bearing puller, and would take at least a couple of hours. It is possible the arbor bearings might get damaged in the process of removing the shaft, so I would also plan on replacing them at the same time, which won't add much if any additional labor to the job.John White
I would test them on their lifetime guarantee if it's a saw that the guarantee applys to !
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 10/2/2007 8:54 pm ET by BruceS
Have you contacted Ridgid, yet? I have that saw, and a few other Ridgid products, and the few times I have had to contact them, they were quite helpful. That should be your first step. They would then tell you whether you should remove the bolt to get it replaced, or follow another procedure.
Here is a link for repair sheets for the saw showing the exploded parts diagrams.
http://www.ridgid.com/ASSETS/FD9D936024C445A4B2DC94BB61DB3794/TS3650_402_PL.pdf
I am a bit concerned about how the arbor came to be stripped in the first place. Tightening a saw blade nut should be rather like installing a spark plug--just a bit past hand tight.
I also have a Ridgid TS3650. I think it is a GREAT saw for the price.
Does anything I want and I cut some pretty 'nasty to work with' woods.
Anyway, I cannot envision stripping those threads but I was in service for BIG machines and I guess I have seen everything.
I do not know how serious your problem is but maybe just running a Die on the threads may 'fix' it if it is a 'slight' issue with the threads. Do you have a Tap and Die set with your shaft size or a friend that has one?
I haven't looked at mine but I would doubt that replacing that shaft is something you can do without some special tools. Well, at least and have it run 'true' again'
Just a thought I had. If you can get the nut started on the shaft maybe you could get some blade stiffeners (used for thin kerf blades) and their thickness may move the blade/nut to a position where you have 'good' threads on that shaft.
blade stiffeners .. I think that is what they are called. They are metal plates 'As in BIG washers' that limits blade deflection.
Another option is locating a extra wide nut. Granger may have something.
Please be aware YOU must be the judge if anything I put here is worth doing because I can't see how 'bad' your threads are stripped. I don't want you hurt. Gee.. I just love people!
Edited 10/3/2007 1:48 pm by WillGeorge
Thanks to all for the responses thus far. Perhaps stripped wasn't the right term. What happened...have a cheep dado set. Put it on and used it then it got jammed on while trying to get the outer blade off. Basically didn't slide right off and got wedged on the threads. Managed to get it off eventually but it knicked the threads on the shaft. After continued use, the knicked thread eventually got worse so that now I can't get the nut past the kink. Not sure if this fully describes it. Looked at it last night and thought about trying to file the kink out but it didn't look possible (if it were, it should be safe as it is far enough out as to not affect the ability to secure the blade). Did call a service dealer today who said they can not just get the arbor shaft and replace it but would have to replace the entire assembly. Would still be covered under the warranty but woudl have to lug the entire saw all the way down from my house. Was looking for an easy out but not looking like it's going to happen.
Any additional thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Drew
"After continued use, the knicked thread eventually got worse so that now I can't get the nut past the kink."
1) Find out what the diameter and thread pitch are. (For example, it might be 5/8"-11 or 5/8"-18.)
2) Go to McMaster-Carr and do a search on "rethreading die." Click on the Hex Rethreading Die link.
3) Select the appropriate diameter and thread pitch from the drop-down list.
4) Buy the die (around $20).
5) Use said die to clean up the threads on the arbor shaft.
You'll be out $20, but your down time will be about ten minutes.
-Steve
If memory serves, the threads on the arbor are Acme style and finer than a standard Acme thread so finding a die may be difficult. You can make a chasing die out of a spare arbor nut however. File several square notches in the nut's thread and then run the nut on the arbor threads with lubrication. Order two spare nuts, one to make a chasing die and a new one to use, since the threads on the old nut are probably also damaged.If the damage to the arbor isn't too great, the notched nut may just straighten the threads out. No die will replace or repair threads that are completely destroyed however. Off hand, if the saw can be repaired under warranty I would go ahead and have the work done, the threads sound pretty far gone and will probably fail someday.John White
Thanks John. Apologies for the continued questions. According to ridgid, the pitch is 12 TPI. All I can find online are 11 and 18 TPI rethreading die. I may be misreading units or something but don't think so. Any thoughts? Again, thanks in advance and apologies for the dumb questions. Just want my saw functional again.
It is probably a special thread, in both its dimensions and the shape of the threading, thats why I suggested taking a new arbor nut and making it into a repair die. The die won't have to remove metal, just push it back into place.John W.
Another possibility, if it's not an Acme thread as John suggests, is that it could be metric, in which case it might be M16 × 2, which would have 12.7 threads per inch.
-Steve
I would recommend a Thread Restoring File from McMaster-Carr, Grainger also has them. I got one for a friend who messed up the threads on an old Hitachi jointer/planner. He was amazed he was able to save the motor shaft he messed up with a $9 tool. These files should be in everybody's tool box. Each one handles 8 thread pitches. They are on page 2358 on the McMaster-Carr site. Part number 2616A11 will handle 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 24 TPI.
P.S. I forgot to add than these files are also an excellent TPI gauge, quicker than trying to use a tap to determine TPI.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Edited 10/5/2007 8:35 pm ET by JerryPacMan
Jerry, we were just needing something like that thread restoring file to fix the shaft on a utility trailer. Thanks for the tip!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You are welcome forestgirl. I thing you will find that the thread restoring file is an amazing inexpensive tool that most everyone should own.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Thanks Jerry. Looks potentially like a good cheep fix. Apologies for my ignorance though. How does this thing work? Assume you pick the correct thread pitch on the file and run it along the threaded portion of the shaft and it reshapes/reforms the threads? Almost sounds to easy to be true.Thanks again.Drew
You use it like a file. Select the correct TPI then follow the threads using an arcing motion. Turning the shaft while pushing the file works best.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
cheep dado set.. AAAAAAAH! They had a problem with the arbor in some early saws as I remember that some could not use a Dado set Cheep or not!. I get with their service department and raise Hell.. While being nice.See if you can find any old post in here on the subject. There was ALOT of ranting in here about it as I remember!I have a early saw and may have the same issue but I never use a dado set on it. I use my router and router table for that.
Yep, that happened to me once, too. The thin aluminum shims with my DeWalt dado stack got "sucked" into the threads and mangled them slightly. This made it really hard to get the nut on and off.
At the advice of somebody here (I think), I bought the smallest file I could find and simply "chased" the threads. By "chased," I mean that I turned the arbor by hand while holding the edge of the file against the threads. This cleaned them up and got rid of any burrs, etc. Worked like a charm. I used a triangular-shaped file, I think. Any really small "hobby" type file should work, though.
TP
Toolpig (a.k.a. The man formerly known as "Toolfreak" and "Toolfanatic")
Edited 10/4/2007 8:42 pm ET by Toolpig
The only way you could have stripped the threads was by "crossing" them and really cranking on the nut trying to tighten it.
If you just bought the saw, there were some a few years ago that had defective arbors. Mine was one of them. The arbor was not "stripped," though. It had a low spot that caused problems when using a stacked dado. I had to take the entire saw to a repair shop an hour away to get it fixed under warranty. Pain in the butt, but the saw has worked great since then.
If it's truly stripped, or you just crossed the threads, try chasing them with a small file or get a "die" and try to re-tap the threads. Removing the arbor is best left to a repair or machine shop and probably not worth the trouble and expense.
TP
Are you sure it's the shaft and not the nut? Almost all the times I've seen one of them strip it is the nut because it is softer metal. If it is the nut you can get it off by putting presure behind it as you turn it. Wedging a screw driver behind it is one way. You need three hands to do this. But it can be done.
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