MiniMax 16 Blade removal

[tim walker]

I have had my MM16 since 2004 and it has been mothballed quite a good portion of that time. It went in to storage with a 1" blade on the de-tensioned machine. Now I am having difficulties removing the blade from the area behind the wheels. There is a simple slot for removal but since the blade is slightly curved, there is a tendency for it not to line up with that hole. Any suggestions to help remove it?

[jerry cousins]

if the blade is behind one of the wheels (or both) you should be able to lower (or raise) it enough to get the blade off to the front of the other wheel – then you should have enough slack to get the blade in front of the other (first) wheel – once you get that, finesse it through the slot on the saw’s spine and then out through the table slot.
seems there’s a lot of should's here – hope I understood your situation
jerry

[Bruce Page]

What Jerry said, and wear some good gloves.

[Matthew Hills]

(I think he is talking about having difficulty getting it out of the slot in the spine)

Matt

[tim walker]

Got it. The problem was that the door wouldn't open far enough. I had to move machine forward to get it out. Then I found that the mobility base also caused an obstacle, but eventually got it out. Thanks all. Prob solved.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, on the MM16 (and many machines of this type) the doors have to be fully open to maneuver the blade on/off at the spine. The wider and thicker the blade, the bigger the challenge in this respect.