Making a Spring-Loaded Lift Arm for a DeWalt 788 Scroll Saw

The DEWALT DW788 1.3 Amp 20-Inch Variable-Speed Scroll Saw is an excellent, and fun, tool. After you do a bit of scroll saw work, you start looking for better ways to keep the arm up while trying to feed a blade through a hole in a piece of wood. The easiest way to accomplish it is to prop it up with a block of wood, but then you have to keep track of the block.

I had heard about a product called the Jim Dandy EZ-Lift Arm. It wasn’t easy to find one for sale, so I made my own. It took some time to get the spring adjusted properly. The arm doesn’t lift by itself, but it stays in place once you lift it up.

DeWalt scroll saw modified with a spring lever

These are the websites I used for my research:
www.jamesriser.com
http://www.bgartforms.com (update: this used to have a page about blades and accessories, but the site has changed.)

I also found a good online discussion about the use of the EZ Lift. The link to buy one is also there.

The Jim Dandy EZ-Lift Arm is only $20 (plus shipping I’m sure), but I didn’t know about the website and once I had the idea I didn’t want to wait around. It was easy enough to make. Then again, I have a lot of tools. For many people it would be easier and cheaper to buy it from Jim Dandy Products