Cutting at an angle with a tilting head scroll saw

[TAIrving]

I am frustrated.  I was attempting to make a scroll saw bowl, along the lines of this one from Steve Good's pattern library newbowl.cdr (stevedgood.com).  i.e., start with a flat board, cut concentric circles of decreasing diameters at an angle and then stack them to make a bowl.  

I wanted to cut my wood at a 40° angle but ran into an issue.  The manual for my saw, Pegas 21”, says it will cut up to 40° to either side.  After some attempts, please don’t ask for details, I discovered that the blade hits the side of the slot in the table at 25° on one side and at 20° on the other side.  I had thought that I should be able to cut at up to 40° to either side without making any major adjustments.  This tells me, among other things, that my blade is not exactly centered in the clamps – minor issue.  

Question is, do I have to shift the tabletop in order to be able to cut at the desired 40° angle?  And then shift it back when I have finished this cut.  I haven’t tried, but don’t think that shifting the blade all the way over to one side of the clamps will do the job.

Has anyone else run into this problem?  How did you manage it?  Does your saw allow you to do this easily and if so, what brand saw?  

[Scrappile]

I would have assumed the same as you.  I wonder if it is the same on a Seyco.  I never tried cut at a slant on my Seyco when I had it.  One alternative you could try, is slant the table as far as you can without hitting the side the hole then make a wedge to make up the remaining degrees.  Would be awkward but might work.. however I will be very disappointed it this is true about the saw.  Would almost be false advertising.  Can not wait to read the answers.  Does the table have slot that the bolts go so it could be shifted right or left if needed?

[Ron Johnson]

40 degrees seems extreme for a scroll saw. I’m thinking a bandsaw would be better although I could be wrong. 

[OCtoolguy]

I have 2 Ex saws and have cut bowls with no problem. I think if you loosen the table hold down bolts and adjust the table so that it doesn't contact the blade at full tilt and then retighten them. You may have to readjust your blade clamps to compensate. Once you get this done you shouldn't have to do it again.

Edited January 10, 2023 by OCtoolguy

[meflick]

Maybe @Denny Knappen can give some good insight on the Pegas. I can’t. the one time I tried to do one of these type of bowls, I was using my Dewalt. You could not tilt the head, you had to tilt the table. I hade a really hard time trying to cut with the table tilted. That bowl became firewood as best as I can remember. That was fairly early in my scrolling, and I haven’t tried again, even with my saws that I have now that tilts the head versus the table. I’ll try again one day, so I’ll be interested in seeing what you learn.

[Scott M.]

I had several "alignment" issues when I first got my Pegas 21.

I called Michael Murray - 1 (732) 904-2174 who is a Pegas Tech in NY (??). He walked me through the processes and viola I can cut at 45 or bit more each side (if i remove dust collection). 

 

He's a good tech and knows his stuff. Give him a shot...

 

Scott McCaul  

[TAIrving]

Thanks Scott @Scott M..  I will call him.  

I talked with Michael Murray today and he was most helpful.  Per his suggestion, I loosened the 4 hex screws which hold the tabletop in place and shifted the tabletop to where the blade fit in the slot when the head is tilted. 

That did the trick with one minor issue.  When the head is tilted beyond 36°, the blade guard (the one under the tabletop) hits the underside of the tabletop and makes a lot of noise.  Michael suggested removing the lower blade guard as it serves little purpose.  it is not very often that any of us put ourselves at risk of cutting our fingers on the blade under the tabletop while running the scrollsaw.  

Kudos to Michael and Pegas for good technical support!  

Edited January 14, 2023 by TAIrving