I was changing over to the dado blade when I lost my arbor nut.  I emptied all the sawdust out of the bottom and sifted though it a handful at a time but no nut.  So I found a screen and put it over my vacuum and sucked up all the sawdust.  No nut.  I've felt around inside the saw and looked every where I thought it could go, but no nut.  The saw must have just eaten it.  Why can't they make a saw that someone with hands bigger than monkey paws can easily get to the arbor nut?

Now that is the million dollar question Roy! That is one of those awww sh*t moments, I just love reaching down there, and or unscrewing the dust cover on the cabinet stopping all operations for 15 minutes to find that dang nut. Then I laugh at myself and say, hey I am the real nut here! It's gotta be there somewhere Roy, you got any holes in the bottom of your cabinet?

What type of saw do you have Roy?

My crapsman has plenty of ridges and shelves inside it to hold the arbor nut hostage should I drop it.

Been there, done that, I lost one of the gears that raise and lower the scoring blade on my sliding panel saw. Went on the big hunt, spent the whole afternoon looking for it. I knew if I didn't find it I'd have to order a new one which would probably have to come from Austria. Never found it until some months later I was doing some routine cleaning inside the saw and there it was in the saw dust.

I have a Rigid and I have dropped mine a few times and it goes down the dust collector hose. Then I have to reach up under there and take the clamp loose that is holding the hose. That is fun

It is also amazing how they can hit something on the way down and travel as far as they do.

I spent the day cleaning in my shop and found a ruler I had been looking for and a couple of the screws that hold the jaws on the chuck for my lathe. It wasn't a bad day.

This is a 10 inch Jet cabinet saw. I dropped it and I saw it go straight down. There's nothing for it to bounce off so I don't have a clue where it could go. I do know a regular 5/8 left thread won't do it. I guess on Monday I'll go to to a place in town that sells industrial machinery. I think most of their stuff is metal working, but maybe in their parts they'll find one. If that doesn't work I suppose I'll be ordering one. Looks like they run between $5 and $7. And a regular old 5/8 nut is 31 cents.

John Hechel said:

What type of saw do you have Roy?
My crapsman has plenty of ridges and shelves inside it to hold the arbor nut hostage should I drop it.

Grab a speaker magnet and run it around inside the saw.

While you may have "Seen" the nut drop, they have a tendency to bounce and it could have bounced back up into the machine.

Check "Murphies law" on dropped nuts and bolts and I'll tell you a few stories about the Williams curse.

I almost lost my arbor washer on my SawStop when changing Dado blades. The washer is not used with a dado blade, only with a regular blade. I discovered I hung it on a hook on the side of the saw--about 10 minutes into looking for it. Without it, the arbor nut won't thread all the way to the blade.

I put it in a place where "I'll be sure to find it"...next time I thing I'll put it in a VISIBLE location. In fact, maybe I'll spray paint it orange.

You could try using a magnet (maybe tape it to a stick) while sifting through the sawdust. Or maybe it's in the dust collection hose?

Did you find it ROY?

I found it. I got thinking about what you said about it bouncing. This led me to thinking that the dust port is lower and the sawdust all slopes that way. I didn't think the vacuum was strong enough to lift the nut to the ceiling, so I pulled the hose and dumped it out and there it was. It must have gone in there right away and was just sitting and laughing at me all that time was sitting there on the floor sifting through a pile of sawdust a handfull at a time twice. Thanks for making me think.

dragon1 said:

Did you find it ROY?