To be honest, I’ve never had an issue. I usually just get the blade in through the roller guides first, then I use my right hand to get the blade over the top wheel, and work my left hand down to get the lower part of the blade over the bottom wheel. I try to do both at the same time. I put my ring and pinky fingers at the top/bottom of the wheels, leaving my thumbs to swivel to push the blade back between the roller guides, and my pointer fingers to move the blade into the track on the back of the saw. Once the blade is over both wheels, and in line with the guide wheels in the front, and slot in the back, I spread my fingers out as much as possible to hold the blade where it’s supposed to be. Then I work one or two of my right hand fingers free, slide them over the top of the saw, and push the tension lever down. 9 times out of 10 I can get it done in just a couple seconds, real easy.
Usually if the blade comes out, it will be on the back or from between the rollers. But it rarely does. Sometimes it will barely work out of the rollers. In which I can usually grab it with a pair of needle nose pliers, gently twist, and put it right back in. If it’s too tight you can loosen the tension lever just a little bit. Not to the point where it goes back over the cam to completely loosen. This will generate just enough slack to move the problem area back in line, but still keep the blade tight enough that it doesn’t come off anywhere else. You’ll need to hold your hand on the lever when you do this though.
But I could see how using clamps could work really well. Especially on the back groove and possibly the guide wheels on my saw. So I’m gonna set a couple of the clamps by the machine next time I’m In the shop.
I DO use a larger plastic clamp, with a oval shaped(that has little teeth inside it) area between the spring and pinch point at the end, to clamp down onto the “on” trigger. It doesn’t look real fancy or high tech, but has worked great for years. I hear a lot of folks that use one of those foot peddles, that cut the power to their saws. I have one, but have never used it.
