New blade clamps

[Woodmaster1]

I just received and installed new Pegas blade clamps on my delta 40-694 scroll saw. It took less than 15 minutes to install. They work great and are made very well. I will give a complete review after using them for awhile.

 

[Rick Kr]

I just recently received and installed the same, Pegas Heads for my DW788.  I was impressed with how well machined they are and how precision they fit, specifically the precision sleeves that go through the arm bearings and also through the head pivot holes.  The stock DW cast heads ride on the threaded part of the mounting screw as the sleeves do not extend beyond the sides of the arm pivot heads/bearings. 

I started a review of them, but felt I should use them a bit first and have not gotten back to using them yet.  One thing that I noticed and am concerned about, despite all the precision in the sleeves and head, the DW bearings (needle bearings) themselves have a lot of slop, so there is still a lot of wiggle in the heads, particularly the lower arm on the upper head.  I wonder why there is so much slop in the bearings.  Is there a design/function purpose for that, or just cheaper bearings.  I checked the bearings to be sure the Pegas sleeves fit properly.  The sleeves fit precisely into the bearings and the bearings would not take a precision gauge pin that was 0.001" larger in diameter, so that tells me the slop is within the needle bearings, not the fit between the bearing needles and Pegas sleeve. 

So, the heads were loose before pulling tension and trying a few small cuts.  The heads tightened up a lot when tension was applied to the blade.  I was very impressed with how much less sideways blade movement there is and the cuts seemed WAY smoother and easier to control.  It was like I wasn't fighting anything anymore, turns were easier and the wood didn't seem to be jumping all over the place. 

So far, I am quite impressed and pleased.

Rick

[thatknobtony]

Recently got my clamps for the Dewalt as well. I have them installed but haven't tried them on a test spin yet. That's on my list of things todo for today. I will give my 2 cents worth as well when I know.

[ike]

I don' see how they would be worth installing and the cost for a DW 788.It only takes uder 1 minute to install a new blade and 30 sec to re attach wne cutting fret work.

IKE

[ike]

If you are top feeding it might be a little different.

[tgiro]

I have the Pegas clamps on my EX and they are working fine, so far. Where did you get the aluminum knobs showing in your pictures in place of thumbsrews?

[NC Scroller]

3 hours ago, ike said:

I don' see how they would be worth installing and the cost for a DW 788.It only takes uder 1 minute to install a new blade and 30 sec to re attach wne cutting fret work.

IKE

Ike  these are precision milled out of high quality aluminum and not cast aluminum like comes standard on the Dewalt.  In theory they should eliminate the blade holders from striping out and blade slippage which are both known issues on the Dewalt. They are also lighter then the standard and are supposed to reduce vibration.

[Iguanadon]

On 7/8/2018 at 4:01 PM, tgiro said:

I have the Pegas clamps on my EX and they are working fine, so far. Where did you get the aluminum knobs showing in your pictures in place of thumbsrews?

If that knob is the same one... here is information about them.  I ordered one small and one large and installed them on my DW788 a few months ago, I love 'em.  You can email them and they'll ship them to you and then you mail them a check.  scrollsawcomfortknob@gmail.com

Scroll down a little on this page:

http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2017_04_27_archive.html

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Iguanadon

[ike]

I looked them up incase mine ever gives out but the $90 was a litle pricy.

IKE

[Woodmaster1]

 

2 hours ago, ike said:

I looked them up incase mine ever gives out but the $90 was a litle pricy.

IKE

Ike the pegas clamp for the Dewalt and Delta saws is only $64 because the tension lever is not used on that version. I kept the original ones, but the pegas is made a lot better. I don't see the pagas clamps wearing out anytime soon.

[OCtoolguy]

I'd like to hear from anybody who may have tried the original ones made for the EX on their Dewalts. I liked the idea of the tension lever and not having to use the round tension knob on the Dewalt. Anybody out there tried them?

 

[Rick Kr]

On 7/8/2018 at 2:29 PM, NC Scroller said:

Ike  these are precision milled out of high quality aluminum and not cast aluminum like comes standard on the Dewalt.  In theory they should eliminate the blade holders from striping out and blade slippage which are both known issues on the Dewalt. They are also lighter then the standard and are supposed to reduce vibration.

I had read that the new Pegas clamps were lighter than originals (of any brand, not just DeWalt?).  Using a freshly calibrated Ohaus precision digital scale, I weighed mine.  DeWalts: 63.3g, Pegas 73.8g.  My DW788 is very new.  Perhaps DeWalt changed their design to lighten their clamps.  No matter, I like the Pegas clamps better.  They are definitely more precision made and I really like the precision sleeves that extend through the clamps, on which clamps pivot. 

Rick

[kmmcrafts]

27 minutes ago, Rick Kr said:

I had read that the new Pegas clamps were lighter than originals (of any brand, not just DeWalt?).  Using a freshly calibrated Ohaus precision digital scale, I weighed mine.  DeWalts: 63.3g, Pegas 73.8g.  My DW788 is very new.  Perhaps DeWalt changed their design to lighten their clamps.  No matter, I like the Pegas clamps better.  They are definitely more precision made and I really like the precision sleeves that extend through the clamps, on which clamps pivot. 

Rick

I guess I didn't know they made a replacement upgrade for the DeWalt and Delta saws.. But I know they originally made them for the Excalibur... and I'm wondering if the light weight hype is more geared toward the Excalibur instead? 

I must say also that I've owned and used a DeWalt for a good 10 years doing production cutting of fretwork type projects.. When I bought the saw new I also ordered extra clamps because everyone was talking about the aluminum stripping out etc etc.. I still have my original clamps on my saw and working flawlessly.. maybe I'm just not over tightening the thumb screw and others are? I've used it enough to need new bearings and a rebuild a few times now.. but the blade clamps are still the originals..