My Pegas-21 -Setup and First Week's Use

[Frank Pellow]

My new scroll saw arrived on Friday.  Only the saw and the stand arrived, not the footswitch or the lighted magnifying glass or the blades that I ordered.  Part of my order comes from Bear Woods USA warehouse and part from their Canadian warehouse.  It’s curious that the part coming from he USA arrived first. 

I’m going to set up the new saw close to the old one located in the basement.  The Pegas saw is quite heavy and my Festool dolly came in very handy for taking the box down the basement stairs:       

                

The dolly is especially designed for moving loads up and down stairways and it did its job very well.

Getting the saw out of the box proved to be a challenge.  The saw is heavy but not too heavy for me to lift.  Sitting right on top of the saw in the box is a warning not to lift it by the arm. 

I very much appreciated this warning, because I would have attempted to lift it by the arm.

However, when I did grab the saw as instructed, it did not want to budge.  The problem was not the weight; the problem was that, somehow, the saw was wedged into the box.

I ended up cutting one side off the box using a keyhole saw. (The black and yellow handle of the saw can be seen in the above photo).

Once the box side was removed, the problem became obvious:

     

The saw was bolted to a plywood panel.  That’s a good thing but, maybe, the warning about lifting the saw should also explain about the plywood.

The stand came in many parts with no instructions.  But, it did have a parts diagram and an experienced person can assemble the stand by close examination of that diagram.  I do think that it is a good stand.  Here is a photo of the saw on the stand:

   

The saw itself did come with a manual.  Very few tools come with good manuals; the best that one can usually hope for is an adequate manual.  The manual with this saw is just, barely, adequate.  The biggest problem I had with the manual, is that there is no description of how to either assemble or to use the tilting mechanism.  Most of the machine came assembled but the parts, including a gear, that comprised the tilting knob and locking components did not.  I figured out what and how to assemble the parts from a parts diagram and it seems to work OK but I am not certain.  In particular, there is a way to utilize hard stops at certain angles, including 90^o of course, and that seems cumbersome the way I have it set up.  I need to find a machine that is set up properly and compare what I have done to that machine.  But, I don’t know where to find such a machine.  Maybe a made-in-Taiwan Excalibur or Excelsior has the same mechanism and I should be able to find one of those at a nearby dealer.

I’ve only used the saw for about 10 minutes, but my initial impression is that this is a very good saw.  It certainly is quiet.  When I first turned it on, I thought that there was something wrong because I did not hear anything.  Then I looked and saw that the blade was moving up and down.

This photo gives a better idea of how my overall scroll saw area will be set up.

   

I will take another photo once the remaining parts for the Pegas have arrived and been installed and once I acquire a part to connect the small hose on my Festool vacuum to the larger dust port on the Pegas.

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Frank Pellow

[OCtoolguy]

Congrats on your beautiful new toy. I envy you the excitement. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

[Dak0ta52]

Congrats Frank. Enjoy your new saw.

[old sarge]

Congrats and enjoy!

[don watson]

Enjoy my friend.

[daveww1]

enjoy your new saw

[Frank Pellow]

I thank everyone for who liked my post and those who posted their congratulations and good wishes.

I now have the foot-pedal and the lighted magnifying lens.  I am still trying to find a reducing connector between my Festool vacuum and the dust port.

With most of my set-up complete, it was time to start sawing.  Here is a photo of the very first cut on this machine:

The project that I am sawing is appropriate because the two people in that photo (myself and my grandson Ethan) are the only two people that ever used my old EX-30 scroll-saw.  

My preliminary report based on only one short cut  is that the saw is quiet, solid, steady, and accurate.

I realized too late that the blade I used was not a Pegas.  It was a Flying Dutchman #1 Spiral with Flat Ends.  Oh well, I do plan to be using Pegas #0 and #2/0 blades for the majority of the sawing on this piece.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Frank Pellow

[Frank Pellow]

IMPRESSIONS & COMMENTS AFTER 8 HOURS SAWING:

I now have the saw fully set up with dust collect and rear slightly elevated.  Here is a photo:

I do need to do something about all the wires but, other than that, this is where the saw and it's paraphernalia will be.

The points below are in no particular order, they will be just as I think of them.

1) I've spent 6 hours working on a real project (the one that you see on the table) and another 2 hours testing out things such as really thick wood and sawing with the arm tilted.

2)  I like the dust collection.  I thought that the noise of the Festool vacuum would bother me but, at least so far, it doesn't.

3) Notice that the two rear legs of the stand are sitting on a 2x6. Like many others I know, I like to saw with the saw's table slanted slightly towards the front.  I had thought that the adjustable bolts at the bottom of the legs would provide enough slant for me, but they do not.

4) I really really like the arm that stays up when one pushes it up.  It was very tedious to have to jam something (usually a paint can) under the arm of my EX-30 in order to keep it up.

5)  I mentioned in my first report that I find the hard stops at certain angles to be cumbersome.  I found another manufacture's saw that has the same tilting mechanism at a nearby store and that one is just bad.  Oh well, not everything about the Pegas can be perfect.

6) The blower is excellent!  I did install a similar blower on my EX-30, but this one is better.

7) The clamps, of course, are excellent.  One of the reasons that I purchased a Pegas was the quality of the after-market Pegas clamps that I installed on my EX-30 some time ago.

8 ) What did surprise me was that the clamps are much further apart than they are on my (about 20 years old) EX-30.  I measure the separation as about 89 millimetres on the Excalibur and about 114 millimetres on the Pegas.  That's a difference of 25 millimetres (or about an inch).  All of that and a little more is above the table and that allows me to work with thicker wood.

9) I find that since I can clamp the blades much closer to the end, blade installation is much easier and more reliable.  This also means that I am much let likely to break delicate blades.  So far, on my real project, I am breaking the, very delicate, 2/0 spiral blades at about half the rate that I have come to expect on my EX-30.  If this continues to be the case, the saving in the cost of blades alone will pay for my new saw. 

10)  I can saw at a slower speed on the Pegas.  I have already found this to be advantage when doing some very tricky sawing.

11) The table on my Pegas is slightly bigger and I like that.

 

[Bill WIlson]

3) Notice that the two rear legs of the stand are sitting on a 2x6. Like many others I know, I like to saw with the saw's table slanted slightly towards the front.  I had thought that the adjustable bolts at the bottom of the legs would provide enough slant for me, but they do not.

It almost looks like the stand has adjustable legs on the front & the back.  Is that not the case?

[Rolf]

Thank you for the report.

 

5)  I mentioned in my first report that I find the hard stops at certain angles to be cumbersome.  I found another manufacture's saw that has the same tilting mechanism at a nearby store and that one is just bad.  Oh well, not everything about the Pegas can be perfect.

Just Curious, Why Cumbersome?  The EX that I have has the button you push in as you tilt the arm. Yes it is a two handed operation, I use it only when I bring the saw back to 90 deg. the rest of the time I use a Wixey on the arm to set my angle. 

You mention that the clamps are further apart. Is the upper arm parallel to the table?

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Rolf

[Frank Pellow]

2 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

3) Notice that the two rear legs of the stand are sitting on a 2x6. Like many others I know, I like to saw with the saw's table slanted slightly towards the front.  I had thought that the adjustable bolts at the bottom of the legs would provide enough slant for me, but they do not.

It almost looks like the stand has adjustable legs on the front & the back.  Is that not the case?

I did mention that the saw has adjustable bolts at the bottom of the legs.  But, they did not adjust enough to give me the slant that I like.

[Frank Pellow]

1 hour ago, Rolf said:

Thank you for the report.

 

5)  I mentioned in my first report that I find the hard stops at certain angles to be cumbersome.  I found another manufacture's saw that has the same tilting mechanism at a nearby store and that one is just bad.  Oh well, not everything about the Pegas can be perfect.

Just Curious, Why Cumbersome?  The EX that I have has the button you push in as you tilt the arm. Yes it is a two handed operation, I use it only when I bring the saw back to 90 deg. the rest of the time I use a Wixey on the arm to set my angle. 

You mention that the clamps are further apart. Is the upper arm parallel to the table?

 

Yes, there is button that you push as you tilt.  I think it could be designed better.  I'm certain that I could design it better.

The upper arm is parallel.

[kmmcrafts]

I set my stand up in the same way you did.. I have the front legs as low as they go and the back legs as high as they go.. but the 2 x 4 added to the back makes it about exactly the way I like it.. I do wish my whole stand was raised up about 4 inch or so more.. My stool doesn't go real low.. I suppose I could get a new stool or build a platform.. LOL.. 

[OCtoolguy]

I've got 2 Ex's and both of mine have spring-loaded pins that must be pulled out to move the saw body and locate themselves into preset holes at popular settings. I don't find them cumbersome at all. I just make sure they are firmly seated in the holes.

[kmmcrafts]

I believe the Pegas has a different angle adjustment set-up than the old EX and Seyco saws have.. Maybe it's the same to move it but I know they have more stops for common angles? I'm about to splurge for a new saw.. I've been torn between the Pegas and the Hegner.. Couple things about both that I like.. 

[Rolf]

16 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I believe the Pegas has a different angle adjustment set-up than the old EX and Seyco saws have.. Maybe it's the same to move it but I know they have more stops for common angles? I'm about to splurge for a new saw.. I've been torn between the Pegas and the Hegner.. Couple things about both that I like.. 

If you are going  to do any bevel cutting or if you top feed the Pegas is the one I would go with.  The Hegner is an excellent saw but I have never been a fan of the clamps.

I miss my discussions with Hans, he was one of the owners of Advanced machinery, We would tease each other in German about what was a better saw The Hawk G4 or the Hegner.  All in good fun of course.

[Frank Pellow]

20 minutes ago, Rolf said:

If you are going  to do any bevel cutting or if you top feed the Pegas is the one I would go with.  The Hegner is an excellent saw but I have never been a fan of the clamps.

I miss my discussions with Hans, he was one of the owners of Advanced machinery, We would tease each other in German about what was a better saw The Hawk G4 or the Hegner.  All in good fun of course.

I've never tried top feeding because it was very difficult to do on my original generation Excalibur.  Since it is supposed to be easier on my Pegas, I will give it a try.

[kmmcrafts]

24 minutes ago, Rolf said:

If you are going  to do any bevel cutting or if you top feed the Pegas is the one I would go with.  The Hegner is an excellent saw but I have never been a fan of the clamps.

I miss my discussions with Hans, he was one of the owners of Advanced machinery, We would tease each other in German about what was a better saw The Hawk G4 or the Hegner.  All in good fun of course.

I never got used to top feeding.. I've mentally in my head made myself do it a few times but it's just natural for me to bottom feed. 

I only have ever angled my table in the 20 years of sawing about 4 times.. One was just to make a bowl, and the other time was to try doing inlay.. Now days I do inlay on the CNC as it's more precise and no drilling holes needed.. 

All that said, I'll more likely go with Pegas because I do like the way these saws cut.. slightly more aggressive and easier on blades. Real delicate thin stock cutting I still like my Hawk way better.. But cutting thick stock with not many inside cuts I'd rather cut on the EX.  I've got 410 hours on that EX since I rebuilt it.. most of them hours has been recent as I haven't touched the Hawk since last October, I've been making a lot of puzzles and clocks lately..  

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I never got used to top feeding.. I've mentally in my head made myself do it a few times but it's just natural for me to bottom feed. 

I only have ever angled my table in the 20 years of sawing about 4 times.. One was just to make a bowl, and the other time was to try doing inlay.. Now days I do inlay on the CNC as it's more precise and no drilling holes needed.. 

All that said, I'll more likely go with Pegas because I do like the way these saws cut.. slightly more aggressive and easier on blades. Real delicate thin stock cutting I still like my Hawk way better.. But cutting thick stock with not many inside cuts I'd rather cut on the EX.  I've got 410 hours on that EX since I rebuilt it.. most of them hours has been recent as I haven't touched the Hawk since last October, I've been making a lot of puzzles and clocks lately..  

I have both Ex & Hegner. I prefer the Ex but I keep the Hegner for quick work. If that makes sense. I keep a #5 mgt blade in it and can just walk up to it and cut. At some point I'm going to force myself to really learn it. Since I learned on a Dewalt the Ex just feels like comfortable slippers.

[Frank Pellow]

5 hours ago, Frank Pellow said:

I've never tried top feeding because it was very difficult to do on my original generation Excalibur.  Since it is supposed to be easier on my Pegas, I will give it a try.

Well, I ran into a problem when attempting to top feed.

It seems that the Pegas comes with an unexpected safety "feature":  Un addition to the "regular" above the table hold-down and blade guard, the Pegas saw came with a below-the-table blade guard:

This is a bit of an annoyance when attaching the bottom of a blade when that is the first end to be clamped.  Until now, that is the way that I always secured a blade.

But, for me, it is show stopper when top feeding and securing the blade in the bottom clamp second.  In this case the guard really gets in the way.

Therefore, I decided to remove the guard.  But, in order to loosen the screw that holds the guard in place, one has to remove the table.  Metric tools are needed for this and I have them:

But, even with ratchet wrench secured on the nut below the table and hex wrench with e decent amount of leverage in the indent on top of the table, I could not loosen the bolt.  I'm not quite sure what to do about this.  For now, I will give up on attempting to Top Feed.

[kmmcrafts]

6 minutes ago, Frank Pellow said:

Well, I ran into a problem when attempting to top feed.

It seems that the Pegas comes with an unexpected safety "feature":  Un addition to the "regular" above the table hold-down and blade guard, the Pegas saw came with a below-the-table blade guard:

This is a bit of an annoyance when attaching the bottom of a blade when that is the first end to be clamped.  Until now, that is the way that I always secured a blade.

But, for me, it is show stopper when top feeding and securing the blade in the bottom clamp second.  In this case the guard really gets in the way.

Therefore, I decided to remove the guard.  But, in order to loosen the screw that holds the guard in place, one has to remove the table.  Metric tools are needed for this and I have them:

But, even with ratchet wrench secured on the nut below the table and hex wrench with e decent amount of leverage in the indent on top of the table, I could not loosen the bolt.  I'm not quite sure what to do about this.  For now, I will give up on attempting to Top Feed.

I suggest a hex socket rather than a hex wrench.. That guard was one of the first things I removed from mine as well.. LOL

Don't know if they have the size in this set that you need but just to show what I mean by Hex socket.. https://www.harborfreight.com/38-in-drive-metric-hex-socket-set-6-pc-69546.html

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I have both Ex & Hegner. I prefer the Ex but I keep the Hegner for quick work. If that makes sense. I keep a #5 mgt blade in it and can just walk up to it and cut. At some point I'm going to force myself to really learn it. Since I learned on a Dewalt the Ex just feels like comfortable slippers.

Yeah, I'd probably never sell my Hawk as I do love it for "certain styles" of cutting.. but cutting thick solid timber I like the style of the DW, Ex type saws.. I use both saws enough to justify having both.. Kinda annoyed with the cheap China made saw and probably be buying a new Pegas.. Like to try a Hegner one day.. I like the more compact stands and a "soft start" motor over the instant full speed of the new Hawk.. Both will have their place in my shop for various reasons / uses.. Probably put my EX up for sale and possibly one of the other Hawks to help fund the Pegas..

[OCtoolguy]

3 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Yeah, I'd probably never sell my Hawk as I do love it for "certain styles" of cutting.. but cutting thick solid timber I like the style of the DW, Ex type saws.. I use both saws enough to justify having both.. Kinda annoyed with the cheap China made saw and probably be buying a new Pegas.. Like to try a Hegner one day.. I like the more compact stands and a "soft start" motor over the instant full speed of the new Hawk.. Both will have their place in my shop for various reasons / uses.. Probably put my EX up for sale and possibly one of the other Hawks to help fund the Pegas..

Too bad you are where you are. There are 4 Hegners for sale near me that all look good. Some price haggling would be necessary but I'm sure they could be talked into lowering their prices. It's all in knowing what is on the saw and what it's lacking. That last one I bought for $40 and put another $100 into it did get me $400 because it was a nice saw once I fixed it up. This one has been on the Marketplace for 10 weeks so I'm sure he'll deal. It's nice saw and only needs the Quick clamp to make it great. And that could be fabbed it you have any skills.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1279570249178765/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Afbfce953-ca77-4b83-9cbd-efa8b8f3ab38

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by OCtoolguy

[kmmcrafts]

25 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

Too bad you are where you are. There are 4 Hegners for sale near me that all look good. Some price haggling would be necessary but I'm sure they could be talked into lowering their prices. It's all in knowing what is on the saw and what it's lacking. That last one I bought for $40 and put another $100 into it did get me $400 because it was a nice saw once I fixed it up. This one has been on the Marketplace for 10 weeks so I'm sure he'll deal. It's nice saw and only needs the Quick clamp to make it great. And that could be fabbed it you have any skills.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1279570249178765/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Afbfce953-ca77-4b83-9cbd-efa8b8f3ab38

 

Yeah, there was one here just like that one that the guy had for $500 or so.. CL listing kept expiring and each time he relisted it with a lower price.. I almost bit the last time he listed it at $200 but it was at Christmas time and I really didn't have the time to go get it etc.. he never took the ad down and it finally expired.. hoping he'd list it again but maybe he sold it and just let it expire.. Not sure.. I keep watching for it.. There is another older one in Ann Arbor for sale but it's old.. before they had the front tension etc. etc. and it's priced at 4? 0r 500. way too much for what it is.. to me anyway.. LOL

[OCtoolguy]

3 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Yeah, there was one here just like that one that the guy had for $500 or so.. CL listing kept expiring and each time he relisted it with a lower price.. I almost bit the last time he listed it at $200 but it was at Christmas time and I really didn't have the time to go get it etc.. he never took the ad down and it finally expired.. hoping he'd list it again but maybe he sold it and just let it expire.. Not sure.. I keep watching for it.. There is another older one in Ann Arbor for sale but it's old.. before they had the front tension etc. etc. and it's priced at 4? 0r 500. way too much for what it is.. to me anyway.. LOL

Well, to the trained eye, watch for the size of the table, whether it has the center piece for the blade hole, look at the type of spring at the rear. Newer ones have a coil spring rather than the zig-zag type. It should have the tension lever at the front(rear ?) and a Quick clamp to make it all right. Then, ask for all the blade clamp holders, and the Tee wrench. A quick look at the bellows too. They are usually shot but can be replaced by a CV boot. Make sure it's a variable speed too. If it has all that stuff and looks like it's not been run over by a truck, it's a good deal at $500-600. Nothing more because they pop up all the time. I'm watching one now that has nothing mentioned and the seller thinkis it's worth $1000 because he looked them up on the net and knows nothing about all the changes over the years. I've contacted many sellers trying to educate them The one I bought for $40 I told the seller they were nuts and it was worth 10 times that amount to the right buyer. She said they just wanted it out of their garage so I drove about 75 miles each way to get it.