pegas blade slippage

[jerry walters]

This past Christmas I gifted myself with a Pegas scroll saw.  After about 8 months of usage, I experienced blade slippage from the lower blade chuck.  I replaced both the thumb screw swivel and the set screw.  All was good for a couple of months when the slippage started again.  I tried making an adjustment to the set screw which seemed to help, but it is beginning again.  I'm wondering if I should remove the lower chuck before making any adjustments or replacement to better see what I'm doing.  I also wonder if I'm not placing the blade correctly in the lower chuck.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  Note, I had a RBI scroll saw for about 25 years and never had an issue with blade slippage.

Thank You,

Jerry Walters

[Zoot Fenster]

I did a couple things to improve the Pegas slippage.  Wet a paper towel with mineral spirits and clean the upper / lower chuck faces.  Two, the ends of each blade are pulled through 400 grit sandpaper.  That seems to remove to lubrication from the ends.

[WayneMahler]

I clean my clamps and blade ends with denatured alcohol. Works great dries fast. Don't have a Pegas, but I run an Excalibur 21. Same style clamps.

[Denny Knappen]

You mentioned blade placement.  The blade should be about 1/8" above the set screw on the upper chuck.

[kmmcrafts]

I think the Pegas clamps are more fussy than any other clamping system I've ever used.. They seem to need cleaning up quite often or they'll start slipping. As has been mentioned.. I've never had an issue with the Hawk at all and rarely clean the screws etc. up.. I've had regular excalibur chucks and not as much issues either, nor the DeWalt I used to have.. But those Pegas I do from time to time need to clean and or dress the ends of the set screw etc. I guess lots of people make an extra step to sand the blade ends.. not something I do but I will say I remove the oils from each blade ends by taking the whole bundle of them before unraveling the wire and I spray the ends off with automotive brake parts cleaner.. 

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, Denny Knappen said:

You mentioned blade placement.  The blade should be about 1/8" above the set screw on the upper chuck.

Denny, I place the top of the blade even with the top edge of the red clamp body. I then feed the blade down through the table to the lower chuck and tighten the clamp. Then I go back to the top and loosen it , oull down on the mechanism to remove any slack and re-tighten. Seems to be working as I have no slippage or breakage. I also wipe the oil off the blades before insertion.

[Denny Knappen]

1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said:

Denny, I place the top of the blade even with the top edge of the red clamp body. I then feed the blade down through the table to the lower chuck and tighten the clamp. Then I go back to the top and loosen it , oull down on the mechanism to remove any slack and re-tighten. Seems to be working as I have no slippage or breakage. I also wipe the oil off the blades before insertion.

What works for you, Ray is always good.

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

Denny, I place the top of the blade even with the top edge of the red clamp body. I then feed the blade down through the table to the lower chuck and tighten the clamp. Then I go back to the top and loosen it , oull down on the mechanism to remove any slack and re-tighten. Seems to be working as I have no slippage or breakage. I also wipe the oil off the blades before insertion.

Is your upper arm parallel to the table? I've never tried putting the blade that high up in the upper clamp.. and I'm not sure I'd even be able to clamp the blade in the bottom clamp if I did.. It'd have to be pretty close to the very tip of the blade I think on that bottom clamp.. Maybe wrong and maybe some difference between the China made saw and the Canada one, LOL. I'll have to look and see on mine. 

I always "try" to mount the blade so at least a couple of the reverse teeth would go up beyond the top of the table level so they're being used to keep fussies at bay but also not so high that I'm not using the full potential of the actual cutting teeth. Ideally the reverse teeth really only need a couple of the teeth to surpass the table top since the fussies are always at the very bottom edge of the wood. Obviously not a right / wrong way so long as the blade is the right direction. Would think being that high you might be cutting slower since possibly only a few of the "cutting" teeth are actually being used. I think I probably mount my blades more like Denny does with about 1/4" of blade above the top of the thumb screw.. This just goes to show how everyone sets up the saw differently and why I tend to shy away from offering advice on those questions of "what blade to use" because saw set up and blade mounting can vary greatly between users. All that really matters as it works for the user. 

[OCtoolguy]

16 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Is your upper arm parallel to the table? I've never tried putting the blade that high up in the upper clamp.. and I'm not sure I'd even be able to clamp the blade in the bottom clamp if I did.. It'd have to be pretty close to the very tip of the blade I think on that bottom clamp.. Maybe wrong and maybe some difference between the China made saw and the Canada one, LOL. I'll have to look and see on mine. 

I always "try" to mount the blade so at least a couple of the reverse teeth would go up beyond the top of the table level so they're being used to keep fussies at bay but also not so high that I'm not using the full potential of the actual cutting teeth. Ideally the reverse teeth really only need a couple of the teeth to surpass the table top since the fussies are always at the very bottom edge of the wood. Obviously not a right / wrong way so long as the blade is the right direction. Would think being that high you might be cutting slower since possibly only a few of the "cutting" teeth are actually being used. I think I probably mount my blades more like Denny does with about 1/4" of blade above the top of the thumb screw.. This just goes to show how everyone sets up the saw differently and why I tend to shy away from offering advice on those questions of "what blade to use" because saw set up and blade mounting can vary greatly between users. All that really matters as it works for the user. 

Kev, I check my upper arm quite often to make sure it hasn't moved. So yes, it's level. And I looked at the bottom clamp and there is plenty of blade still to be clamped. 

[barb.j.enders]

7 hours ago, Denny Knappen said:

You mentioned blade placement.  The blade should be about 1/8" above the set screw on the upper chuck.

Thanks for this info Denny.  I think it is the first time I have ever seen information on where to place the blades.  My Pegas clamps seem to have a small horizontal line, just above the set screw, that I try to line it up with.

[barb.j.enders]

6 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I guess lots of people make an extra step to sand the blade ends.

I have been doing that on my Pegas blades, lately.  Not so much on the Flying Dutchman blades.

[John B]

I used to have that problem every now and again on both the Dewalt and the Ex21. For years now I just drag the blade ends through a piece of 600 emery cloth and never a problem.    Occasionally I will lightly clamp the emery cloth between the blade clamps and pull it through.

[Norm Fengstad]

Lots of good info For me bottom blade slippage is often caused  when I don't chuck the bottom blade correctly.

[jerry walters]

Thanks to all of you for your responses.  You can bet I will be trying each and every one of them.

I began my programming career in the early 70's.  At times some of the equipment had issues.  One of the work arounds was cleaning the contacts with alcohol.  Always had alcohol around.  It's true, what goes around comes around.  Also, what is old is new again.

Thanks again for your responses.

Jerry

[scrollingforsanity]

I do the same as Kevin except I take the wire off to expose the blade ends better. Spray with brakes parts cleaner. Dries fast. Works for me.

[Roberta Moreton]

Check to see if the arm needs adjustment.  I have an EX 21 and after all else fails, that is usually the problem. 
 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Roberta Moreton