OK...Back to the questions

[OzarkSawdust]

In looking at Pegas Blade Chuck Heads I notice some ads say "Allows top feeding of your scroll saw blades!". So just exactly what is this?

[dgman]

You have to have a saw that is top feeding capable. Top feeding is feeding the blade from the the top instead of feeding the blade from below the the work piece. I started scrolling on a saw that was bottom feeding only. When I upgraded to a DeWALT saw, I immediately started feeding from the top. It made it so much easier and faster. What makes a saw a top feeding capable saw? The top arm lifts allowing the blade to feed from the top. Top feeders are the DeWALT and current Delta saws, the EX and clones like the Pegas and King saw and all the European saws that are EX clones.

Edited November 14, 2019 by dgman

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, dgman said:

You have to have a saw that is top feeding capable. Top feeding is feeding the blade from the the top instead of feeding the blade from below the the work piece. I started scrolling on a saw that was bottom feeding only. When I upgraded to a DeWALT saw, I immediately started feeding from the top. It made it so much easier and faster. What makes a saw a top feeding capable saw? The top arm lifts allowing the blade to feed from the top. Top feeders are the DeWALT and current Delta saws, the EX and clones like the Pegas and King saw and all the European saws that are EX clones.

I have an EX but still bottom feed. A habit that I can't seem to break.

[John B]

@octoolguy I still bottom feed too Ray.
I tried doing the top feeding, but just kept on bending blades.
I find that 90% of the time I don't have to look where the hole is.

[lawson56]

I,m a bottom feeder,I tried the other way,just couldn't get in the habit.

[kmmcrafts]

I've done both but actually prefer bottom feeding.. Maybe just because that is the way I started out on the scroll saw... I've had top feed capable saws for 13 years.. can do it both ways.. but always gravitate to bottom feeding. It's just habit and in order to top feed I have to make a mental note in my brain to do it..

There is way to many mental notes in there so this slows down the processor... Probably need more memory, ram, and a faster processor in order to be efficient with the mental notes..  Every time I tell my self I'm going to top feed on a project.. I do so on the first hole... maybe the second one.. then the 3rd one I have it already fed and ready to hit that foot switch when the light bulb goes off that I just bottom fed.. Not taking the blade out now to do a redo.. and that's how it all goes down.. Born a bottom feeder I guess..LOL

What made me decide to just stick with bottom feeding was the day I kept getting mixed up and lost several new blades.. You see.. I got all confused about what I was doing and unclamp the lower clamp and then instead of raising up the arm to switch to the next spot I reach up and unhook the top blade from the clamp.. the blade falls on the floor with several hundred of other broken or dull blades around my saw.. after a dozen blades.. I realize that I'm wasting new blades with only getting one or two spots cut per blade..    

[JimErn]

I've tried both I find bottom feeding to be the easiest.  For me, when the blade is in the top clamp and you start bringing down the arm to top feed, the blade end is actually moving in an arc, I found that to be harder to get the blade down through the piece and into the hole in the table. 

I bottom feed all the time.

That said, I top feed when putting a new blade, clamp it to the upper arm, lower the arm and tighten the bottom clamp.

Edited November 14, 2019 by JimErn
had another thought :-)

[TripleJScroller]

Another bottom feeder checking in.  Every once in awhile I get it in my head to give top feeding another shot and every time I do I quickly realize its not for me.

[MrsN]

I am also a bottom feeder, even though my saw can top feed. My first saw was a bottom only and it is a habit I just can not break.

[OzarkSawdust]

11 hours ago, dgman said:

You have to have a saw that is top feeding capable. Top feeding is feeding the blade from the the top instead of feeding the blade from below the the work piece. I started scrolling on a saw that was bottom feeding only. When I upgraded to a DeWALT saw, I immediately started feeding from the top. It made it so much easier and faster. What makes a saw a top feeding capable saw? The top arm lifts allowing the blade to feed from the top. Top feeders are the DeWALT and current Delta saws, the EX and clones like the Pegas and King saw and all the European saws that are EX clones.

Thanks Dan! So it's actually the SAW... not the Pegas blade chuck that allows you to "top feed". 

I have a King now (love it...the WEN sold Tuesday) so I could top feed. Think I'll try it today, if I can get the shop warmed up. The WEN was a bottom feeder and when I got the King last month I didn't know you could do it different.

That's OK...I've been called a "Bottom Feeder" before...

[OzarkSawdust]

2 hours ago, JimErn said:

I've tried both I find bottom feeding to be the easiest.  For me, when the blade is in the top clamp and you start bringing down the arm to top feed, the blade end is actually moving in an arc, I found that to be harder to get the blade down through the piece and into the hole in the table. 

I bottom feed all the time.

That said, I top feed when putting a new blade, clamp it to the upper arm, lower the arm and tighten the bottom clamp.

That's the way I put a new blade in also. I guess it never occurred to me to put it through the piece that way...lol

[Scrappile]

When I top feed, I release the blade from both clamps, thread the blade through the piece and table hole and then reclamp the blade.  Sounds slow and awkward, but I can do it pretty fast.  I don't even raise the top arm to do it.  I cannot feed a #2/0 blade down through the piece of wood, through a hole drilled with a #65-#70 bit, with it clamped in the top arm without destroying the blade.  I can get it done with the method I describe faster than it take my Fein Vac to automatically shut off once I stop scrolling to change to another hole,,, most times anyway.

The only problem I have with it is if I go back to bottom seeding after doing my method of top feeding for a while, I forget I am bottom feeding, reach down and release the bottom clamp and there goes my blade to the floor.... Then I slap my forehead, reach for my magnet on a stick tool and retrieve my blade and get setup to scroll again.

[Denny Knappen]

Well Gary, I am a top feeder.  I started on a DeWalt and then to the EX21.  I prefer top feeding, but it is a matter of preference.  Your new saw works both ways.

[OCtoolguy]

I find that it's more difficult for me to release the lower clamp and then have to fumble around to reclamp it. Much easier to see and do it all above the table. I can certainly understand if you're doing a lot of fine fret work it might be easier to see the holes on top of the work but to have to work under the table to reclamp the blade each time would be much more difficult. But, I'm old so what do I know!

 

[OzarkSawdust]

I tried it for a while...with mixed results. It's easier to get the blade through the hole in the piece. A little slower through the table because I have the plastic piece for the built-in vacuum. Not bad putting in and clamping bottom without looking.

For some reason I bend up the top of the blade, when bottom feeding, and have a heck of a time getting it through the piece. Top feeding helps that. I'm using a #56 bit and I may be punching it too fast. I use a Dremel plunge setup. The #3 and #5 blades don't always want to go through without a fight. 

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, OzarkSawdust said:

I tried it for a while...with mixed results. It's easier to get the blade through the hole in the piece. A little slower through the table because I have the plastic piece for the built-in vacuum. Not bad putting in and clamping bottom without looking.

For some reason I bend up the top of the blade, when bottom feeding, and have a heck of a time getting it through the piece. Top feeding helps that. I'm using a #56 bit and I may be punching it too fast. I use a Dremel plunge setup. The #3 and #5 blades don't always want to go through without a fight. 

If the pattern doesn't necessitate it, try using a larger bit. I use Pegas #5 but the projects that I am making allow me to use a 1/8" bit in most cases. No need for a tiny hole if you have the room to use a larger bit. I've never bent a blade inserting it.

 

[JimErn]

I use a #61 drill with the pegas MG #3 and have no problems bottom feeding it.

When I did try the top feeding I always felt like I was fighting the teeth in addition to trying to find the hole in the table

[Scrappile]

2 minutes ago, JimErn said:

I use a #61 drill with the pegas MG #3 and have no problems bottom feeding it.

When I did try the top feeding I always felt like I was fighting the teeth in addition to trying to find the hole in the table

And you were.  Especially difficult with the aggressive teeth that blade has.

[Jim McDonald]

I started on a single speed Delta that was a bottom feeder, which continued on my Hitachi. But when I go the DeWalt, I immediately went to top feeding.

As for attaching the blade on the lower, in my youth, I worked in a newspaper darkroom and got good at doing things I could not see. In a way it is just like threading film on a reel. My mind's eye tells me where too move my fingers.

[tomsteve]

19 hours ago, octoolguy said:

I have an EX but still bottom feed. A habit that I can't seem to break.

i tried that top feeding on my EX. i couldnt get the hang of it so went back to being a bottom feeder.

[jerry1939]

Never saw such a bunch of absent minded people in my life !!!      (Gave our saw to a son in another state 2 months ago.  Became a top feeder & never looked back.  First saw would only bottom feed.  Too often was inserting the blade into a tiny hole I had already cut).

jerry

[JimErn]

14 hours ago, octoolguy said:

If the pattern doesn't necessitate it, try using a larger bit.

 

Using a larger bit normally that would mean changing bits, I am lazy. so .........

I have a wen dremel with the #61 and another with a 1/16th bit and the drill press has the 1/8th bit

Drill press hardly gets used, and the only real time I use a #5 or larger blade is for outside pattern cutting, of course I rarely cut anything over 3/4 inch, even stack cutting doesn't get higher.

[Roberta Moreton]

On 11/14/2019 at 10:00 AM, OzarkSawdust said:

Thanks Dan! So it's actually the SAW... not the Pegas blade chuck that allows you to "top feed". 

I have a King now (love it...the WEN sold Tuesday) so I could top feed. Think I'll try it today, if I can get the shop warmed up. The WEN was a bottom feeder and when I got the King last month I didn't know you could do it different.

That's OK...I've been called a "Bottom Feeder" before...

That depends, the Jet is bottom feed because the bottom blade needs to be put is a holder first. Then the holder is placed in a clip at the bottom. Now you raise the arm and bottom feed the blade. I believe the Pegas blade chuck fixes this and allows top feeding. 

[jerrye]

4 hours ago, Roberta Moreton said:

That depends, the Jet is bottom feed because the bottom blade needs to be put is a holder first. Then the holder is placed in a clip at the bottom. Now you raise the arm and bottom feed the blade. I believe the Pegas blade chuck fixes this and allows top feeding. 

Not only do Pegas clamps fix this on the Jet, they also set the blade high enough to engage bottom teeth on reverse toothed blades like Pegas Modified Geometry. They also are far easier to use. I was constantly annoyed by the Jet factory top clamp system.

[herrwood]

Decide to comment as basic user I only scroll for fun not for sales or profit.

I had a dewalt & now a Delta both top feeders. I do set up initial blade from top but do most other cuts with blade connection on bottom.