Pegas saw

[sawdust1]

Review of my Pegas scrollsaw. I have made enough
items on it now to see if I like it.I like it a lot, it runs very smooth and quiet. Was real easy to adjust to my cutting style. If you were thinking of a new saw, I would look at the Pegas. There blade holders are standard so you don't need to pay an extra $100. to buy them. I had an Ex-21 before the Pegas and I like the Pegas better.

Bob

 

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, sawdust1 said:

Review of my Pegas scrollsaw. I have made enough
items on it now to see if I like it.I like it a lot, it runs very smooth and quiet. Was real easy to adjust to my cutting style. If you were thinking of a new saw, I would look at the Pegas. There blade holders are standard so you don't need to pay an extra $100. to buy them. I had an Ex-21 before the Pegas and I like the Pegas better.

Bob

 

I like your dust collection setup. Can you elaborate on it? Where did you find the hose, fittings etc?

[sawdust1]

The shop vac is a Fein. I had a fried with a 3D printer make me a y fitting for hose. Hose is just standard shop vac hose.

Bob

 

[lawson56]

Glad ya like it. I like your mag,lite you have set up.Do ya mind tell me where ya bought that one.The one I have is a clamp version.I can,t get it to work anywhere.(A gift.)

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, octoolguy said:

I like your dust collection setup. Can you elaborate on it? Where did you find the hose, fittings etc?

That lower hose piece looks like the one that Seyco sells.. it's the magnetic one? 

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, sawdust1 said:

The shop vac is a Fein. I had a fried with a 3D printer make me a y fitting for hose. Hose is just standard shop vac hose.

Bob

 

Thanks. Your hose looks different for some reason. Your friend should make a few extra y fittings for the rest of us. Lol! How about the fitting onder the table. That looks nice too.

 

[OCtoolguy]

17 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

That lower hose piece looks like the one that Seyco sells.. it's the magnetic one? 

It looks like it's held in place with wire Kevin.

Ooops! I Misread your post. Never mind.

Edited May 21, 2019 by octoolguy

[JimErn]

I'm interested in the mag lite too.
 

But the wood planks fitted to the table top with what looks like corian on top makes me real curious.

[Iguanadon]

Thanks for sharing Bob.  I'll chime in also if folks don't mind.  I've been happy with the Pegas saw.  I "like it", but I don't necessarily "love it".  The big factor will be how long it lasts before I wear it out, so time will tell.  I won't be heartbroken if I have to go back to using DW's again.

Attached are photos showing my very basic dust collection but it works great, capturing at least 90-95% of all dust from bottom and top and it connects to my Dust Deputy then to a small shop-vac.  I had some clear tubing laying around, standard waterline for a fridge icemaker.

The light is from one of my DW's.  I had to make a small support clip for it in order to get it to extend far enough beyond the front of the blade so as not to cast shadows.

Iggy

[sawdust1]

Both the light and magnet dust fitting under the table I got from Seyco. On top of the saw table is a piece of white magnetic sign material, very thin. Pegas table is black and I like white better. The plastic table  top with boards on out side is an aux. top for giving me more work space, just lifts on and off.

[Bill WIlson]

Iggy,

"I "like it", but I don't necessarily "love it". "

Care to elaborate?  I'm curious as to what your thoughts are and how you compare it to your DeWalt.

Thanks.

 

[Iguanadon]

Just now, Bill WIlson said:

Iggy,

"I "like it", but I don't necessarily "love it". "

Care to elaborate?  I'm curious as to what your thoughts are and how you compare it to your DeWalt.

Thanks.

 

Hey Bill,

Overall it's a fine saw... It's smooth, it hasn't given me any issues, although I'm having blade slippage issues in the top clamp that I can't quite figure out, but that's nothing serious. 

My only minor issue is that it isn't quite as aggressive as the DW and for 99% of folks that's not a problem.  Folks who know me know that I love the DW due to the fact that it cuts very aggressively and I have simply gotten accustomed to that and when I cut on a slower saw it's like coming up on a small town and having to drive 35mph after crusing along at 75mph for hours.

[sawdust1]

Bill I don't have a DeWalt.

Edited May 21, 2019 by sawdust1

[Bill WIlson]

2 minutes ago, Iguanadon said:

Hey Bill,

Overall it's a fine saw... It's smooth, it hasn't given me any issues, although I'm having blade slippage issues in the top clamp that I can't quite figure out, but that's nothing serious. 

My only minor issue is that it isn't quite as aggressive as the DW and for 99% of folks that's not a problem.  Folks who know me know that I love the DW due to the fact that it cuts very aggressively and I have simply gotten accustomed to that and when I cut on a slower saw it's like coming up on a small town and having to drive 35mph after crusing along at 75mph for hours.

Are you able to adjust the motor mounting on the Pegas, to increase/decrease aggressiveness, similar to the EX?

[sawdust1]

Yes you can adjust aggressiveness.

[Scrappile]

Or, maybe try a more aggressive blade on it?.. That is something I can't figure about those that advertise the Hegner as a "production" saw.  It certainly is as far a durability, but it is probably one of the least aggressive saws there is. The same blade type cuts a lot different on my Hegner than it does on my Seyco. I would assume that for production you would want speed.  I'm old and slow.....

[Iguanadon]

38 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

Are you able to adjust the motor mounting on the Pegas, to increase/decrease aggressiveness, similar to the EX?

Yes, there is a way to do that, however when I tried the full range it didn't make a whole lot of difference.  Again, it's pretty minor, but something that's a big deal to me.

[Iguanadon]

16 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

Or, maybe try a more aggressive blade on it?.. That is something I can't figure about those that advertise the Hegner as a "production" saw.  It certainly is as far a durability, but it is probably one of the least aggressive saws there is. The same blade type cuts a lot different on my Hegner than it does on my Seyco. I would assume that for production you would want speed.  I'm old and slow.....

Agreed, the Hegner is a great saw, but like the Hawk, it's not aggressive at all and that's fine, they have their purpose.  I already use the Pegas Modified Geometry blades which I have found to be the most aggressive (and best cutting).

[kmmcrafts]

20 hours ago, Iguanadon said:

Yes, there is a way to do that, however when I tried the full range it didn't make a whole lot of difference.  Again, it's pretty minor, but something that's a big deal to me.

I've played around with my Excalibur and also find it doesn't make a huge difference in the cutting speed / time.. I think this short link arm style types saws all cut about the same way.. The difference between the Pegas / Ex saws from the DeWalt is the SPM ( strokes per minute) .. The Pegas and like saws only run at top speed 1500 SPM where as the DeWalt runs 1750 SPM.. 

I don't cut many puzzles.. and don't cut much of any wood over 5/8"  thick.. When I do cut thicker wood.. ( puzzles ) I do NOT use the Hawk simply for the reason you mention.. they cut slow.. 

[Bill WIlson]

55 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I've played around with my Excalibur and also find it doesn't make a huge difference in the cutting speed / time.. 

Aaahh,  I'm glad you said that.  When I got my EX a few years ago, I played around with adjusting the motor to change the aggressiveness.  I didn't find that it made any practical difference.  I have read for years about how you could fine tune the cut of the saw and presumed there would be a more noticeable affect.  I figured it was just me.  

[kmmcrafts]

6 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

Aaahh,  I'm glad you said that.  When I got my EX a few years ago, I played around with adjusting the motor to change the aggressiveness.  I didn't find that it made any practical difference.  I have read for years about how you could fine tune the cut of the saw and presumed there would be a more noticeable affect.  I figured it was just me.  

I think it probably makes a big difference if you're cutting very thin stock and or doing a lot of fine detail cuts.. That's where you notice the difference.. not so much in the speed of the cutting... 

Another difference with these types of saws over the Hawks etc.. is the blade is mounted ridged to the clamps and the clamps are fixed to the saw.. The Hawks blade clamps are mounted with a roll pin and are designed to move or flex a little.. if you push / feed the wood hard with the Hawk the blade chucks flex... If you do so with the EX type saws you're pushing the wood through it faster as there is no flex or give to the blade chucks.. 

 

[Rolf]

Thanks Sawdust1 (aka Bob) for a nice review. We all cut different stuff, Most of my work has a lot of fine detail that I need to sneak up on so it doesn't end up looking like crap.

So based on that I want a saw that has as vertical a stroke as possible. Precision is much more important to me than speed. For you speed demons it would be interesting to have a variety of saws side by side with the same blade and get a real idea of the cut  time difference between them. Without doing that what you all think is fast may be very different than what I think is fast.

Kevin you were typing at the same time, so your thoughts about the clamp movement are an interesting point. It is a major design difference to have a saw like my Hawk G4 26 with its long flexing arms and the short rigid EX style. I really need to spend some time on one of the Pegas saws. I wish someone in our club would buy one.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Rolf

[kmmcrafts]

12 minutes ago, Rolf said:

Thanks Sawdust1 (aka Bob) for a nice review. We all cut different stuff, Most of my work has a lot of fine detail that I need to sneak up on so it doesn't end up looking like crap.

So based on that I want a saw that has as vertical a stroke as possible. Precision is much more important to me than speed. For you speed demons it would be interesting to have a variety of saws side by side with the same blade and get a real idea of the cut  time difference between them. Without doing that what you all think is fast may be very different than what I think is fast.

You need to stop by and give them a try, LOL I've got a Excalibur and three different Hawks, LOL.. I've experimented much with the different saws and same blade and even cutting on the same project just as a test.. The DeWalt is by far the fastest most aggressive cutting saw.. followed by the Excalibur.. but it is definitely slower.. but also is easier to get the finer detail work than the DeWalt.. but not as precise as the slower Hawks.. If I'm doing lots of detail work I always use the Hawk.. otherwise I use the EX.. I sold my DeWalt because it was quite worn for the third time of needing rebuilt.. A very happy medium speed saw with ability to do detail work would be the EX type saws.. I think with tuning the EX for minimum blade travel and adjusting the blade speed one can do just about as detailed work as one can on the Hawk.. No so with a DeWalt though.. DeWalt is a great saw for primarily cutting thick stock without a lot of fine detail.. Now that the Pegas saw is on the market.. I wouldn't even look at the other similar saws.. Their blade clamps and competitive price makes it the top choice saw in my opinion...   

 

I actually use the EX a lot more than I think I do.. and if I could only have 1 saw I'd choose it over the Hawk for my type / style of cutting.. I've got 40 hours on the meter of the EX.. 30 on the Hawk ultra and 20 on the New Hawk.. I find myself going to the Excalibur to do the majority of my cutting.. now that I have it running decent..  

Edited May 22, 2019 by kmmcrafts

[Bill WIlson]

I found that my EX was more aggressive than my Dewalt was.  Now admittedly, that is my own, unscientific and subjective opinion, based on nothing more than arbitrary, anecdotal evidence.  But it was the reason I tried to tune it down a little when I first got it.

[Kepy]

I am really liking my Pegas although I haven't had much time on it.  I had a small vac that isn't as loud as a chop vac but had a smaller hose so I cut a round wood piece that would fit in the exhaust hole and then a hole in it that the vac hose would fit through.  Seems to work fine as I am cutting in the kitchen and haven't had any complaints.