A wrench in the works

Rennie Heuer

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I was getting weary of finding a piece of scrap to jam into the blade every time I needed to change a blade on my table saw. The nifty bright yellow blade locks looked interesting, but I just never wanted to lay out the cash for one. The arbor allows for a wrench to hold the shaft still while you back off or tighten the nut, but a normal 7/8" open end is too fat for the clearance allowed.

So, last time I was in sears I stopped into the tool section to find a skinny wrench. (Careful Chuck:rofl:) I never knew this before, but they are called tappet wrenches, and sure enough, they had a whole set of them - 4 in all. Unfortunately, they wanted $28 for the set. Too much for me. OK, how much fr just the 7/8"? $24.00 !?!?!:huh::huh:

On to eBay. Picked this 'oldie but goodie' up for under $9 including shipping. Works great, and better than a piece of scrap.
wrench.JPG
 
Good to know! :thumb:

You'd think Click and Clack the Tappet brothers would have mentioned that on the Show at some point...

I made a blade holder by just cutting a kerf edge on in a piece of 3/4" pine. As long as I can find it, it works fine, otherwise I generally pick up a piece of scrap... :rolleyes:
 
Hi,

I have an orange almost half circle, blade holder. It works. That is all of the credit I will give it.

As soon as there is any amount of pressure to make the blade want to rotate, old orange starts to let it slip. However, since the natural tendency of the nut to tighten itself, when the blade is in use, there have been zero problems. I have been using old orange for something like 15 years.

I read an article that said that you should NOT really tighten a TS blade because you can easily add warp to the blade. The article also said that the nut tightens itself more as the blade is used.

I am a very small guy. I do not tighten the nut beyond what is comfortable. When Glenn comes and uses my tools he leaves everything so tight I have to get pliers or a wrench to loosen the knobs. And, he does not think he is really tightening things.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Great find Rennie! You can still find a deal or two on ebay though they are getting fewer and farther between.
I agree on the tightening of the blade. I have worked with people that feel you need to compete with an industrial impact wrench to tighten a blade or shaper knife onto a machine. All you need is to get it just past snug. Enough to keep it from slipping.
My ts has 2 wrenches that came with it. When I put a new blade on I get the wrenches so that they are just offset from each other and then with one hand give them a squeeze to tighten the nut. Have never had a problem with blades slipping and I don't need a 4 foot breaker bar to get it back off.
With my old delta contractors saw the scrap block got real old real quick but it doesnt have those flattened sides on the shaft for a wrench like my cabinet saw.
 
My tablesaw came with 2 wrenches also. But I've in the past ground down the sides of a wrench or two when I needed clearance on a project. (Cheap ones, never my Craftsman or Snap-on)
 
Rennie

My old Unisaw that I rehabbed didn't have any wrenches so I got a couple of used ones & took a angle grinder to one & skinnied it right down been working fine since 2004. Did the same for a Hitachi M12V router because the arbor lock was worn out when I got it.
 
Yep, tappet wrenches. Used to adjust the valve tappets/spring on generally Chevy engines. Little longer than normal, thinner than normal. Good for you Rennie, me, HF, grinder, now if I just remember where I put that last ground wrench so I don't have to grind another!!!:doh::eek::huh::dunno::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Oh, that is also why they come as open ended wrenches due to the tight spaces they are designed for.
 
They also sell thin wrenches called "pump wrenches" or "check nut wrenches" The new ones form industrial tool suppliers are pricey for what they are, but if you're looking for something online, it's a couple other names to search ebay for.
 
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