Anybody have a problem with pegas tension lever?

[BillinNH]

So I just got my new 21" pegas two weeks ago and I finally got around to assembling this past weekend.What happens is some times the blade tension lever just pops up on it's own. Some times if I adjust the tension it works fine for awhile and I take the blade out of the top holder to bottom feed re apply the tension and the lever pops up again. Any body  have a clue as to what could be going on? The way I feel now I should ship it back and get a different saw..............super disappointed and dejected ,Bill  

[Denny Knappen]

Bill, you might contact Bob Duncan at Pegas.  He has helped several of my customers.  If you have a hard time getting in touch with him, PM me.

[kmmcrafts]

Have you went though and made all the adjustments to the saw first... I don't think these saws come adjusted right out of the box like some of the others do... Look in your manual and do the initial set up that is recommended.. Should be something in it to tell how to adjust the upper arm to be parallel with the table.. Making the adjustments will probably help your situation I'm thinking..  

 

[OCtoolguy]

I'll bet it will be a simple fix. Might just be a defective lever. As Kevin said, check everything re: new owner setup. That upper arm must be parallel to the table.

[JimErn]

There is some advice on the net, aimed mostly at excalibur owners, to push down on the upper blade clamp slightly while tightening the holding screw.  I know on my excalbur I had to do that, but I found that after the pegas clamps were installed I did not need to do that.  And when I did push down and tighten while using pegas clamps, the tension lever would pop up as you described.

Not sure if that applies but mentioned for what it is worth

[kmmcrafts]

Try installing the blade and then apply tension - release tension loosen upper blade from clamp and then re-clamp the blade and go about as normal.. I half question if your upper arm is not fully all the way down to the bottom.. NEW saws this upper arm many times is a little stiff working... and they don't always drop down "all the way" to their final resting spot.. Thus you end up getting real loose blades which will then make that lever pop up...

 

Jim, that seems weird to me that pushing down on the arm to force it to the lower position would do that. I do this on my saw every time.. and never had any issues.. I do however have those issues if I don't push down and clamp.. I have read a lot of issues with the "supplied" thumb screws that come with the Pegas clamps.. I didn't like the style / feel to mine when i got my new Pegas heads.. so I swapped them out to the DeWalt ones I had... never had any issues.. but as I said.. I have to push down and clamp or the blade ends up being too loose and will pop up the lever then.. 

[JimErn]

Kevin, the only thing I can think as to why experience such different results, is that you are way way north {grin}

I have not found any reason to swap out the thumb screws on the clamps, exactly what was the issue?  A sense of feel, or ...

pushing down on the clamp assembly not the arm itself, though we may be meaning the same thing

 

[tomsteve]

i noticed with the pegas clamps on my excalibur that when i have the saw at full throttle that lever pops up from time to time. back off the throttle a bit and no problems

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, JimErn said:

Kevin, the only thing I can think as to why experience such different results, is that you are way way north {grin}

I have not found any reason to swap out the thumb screws on the clamps, exactly what was the issue?  A sense of feel, or ...

pushing down on the clamp assembly not the arm itself, though we may be meaning the same thing

 

Jim it was just the feel of the plastic "wing" knobs on the end of the screw that was bigger clunkier for me.. Gotta remember.. I used the DW saw for 12 years and got used to the slim thumb screw handles they had on it.. Was nothing to do with the performance of the screws or anything like that.. But I've read where others have had issues with slippage with the original thumb screw on the Pegas clamp.. I have not but I also don't use the Pegas screws either, LOL   Not sure if they are using a cheaper thumb screw or those others was just user error..  

[kmmcrafts]

57 minutes ago, tomsteve said:

i noticed with the pegas clamps on my excalibur that when i have the saw at full throttle that lever pops up from time to time. back off the throttle a bit and no problems

I've never had that issue... my Ex stays on full speed 99% of the time... Though i do question if the full speed is actual what full speed is on the other saws.. Or I should say the actual 1500 SPM that it's supposed to run.. My older Hawk also runs only at 1550 SPM.. and it seems quite a lot faster than my EX.. The New Hawks run 1700 SPM.. but I don't run them only about 3/4 - 7/8 on the dial and they seem way faster than the EX does as well..  My speed or motor is probably taking a dump, LOL Seems like it was faster when i got it than it is now... I've checked the brushes etc.. so maybe my lever not popping up is because maybe my saw isn't running as fast as it should.. 

[tomsteve]

32 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I've never had that issue... my Ex stays on full speed 99% of the time... Though i do question if the full speed is actual what full speed is on the other saws.. Or I should say the actual 1500 SPM that it's supposed to run.. My older Hawk also runs only at 1550 SPM.. and it seems quite a lot faster than my EX.. The New Hawks run 1700 SPM.. but I don't run them only about 3/4 - 7/8 on the dial and they seem way faster than the EX does as well..  My speed or motor is probably taking a dump, LOL Seems like it was faster when i got it than it is now... I've checked the brushes etc.. so maybe my lever not popping up is because maybe my saw isn't running as fast as it should.. 

i wonder if  the shorter arm of my ex 16 has something to do with it. i believe you have the big EX?

[kmmcrafts]

40 minutes ago, tomsteve said:

i wonder if  the shorter arm of my ex 16 has something to do with it. i believe you have the big EX?

Maybe the difference.. I have the 21" 

[OCtoolguy]

I have an original green machine made in 2010 in Canada. I put the Pegas clamps on it. I run it wide open or down to very slow. I've NEVER had the lever pop up on me. I go along with the possibiliity of you not having the "slack" completely out of the arm/mechanism prior to tensioning with the lever. I always put the top end of the blade into the holder, apply the thumb screw, then gently pulling down on the upper clamp arm I flip the lever over to tension the blade. I've had a few times where I'd start cutting and the blade would come loose from the clamp but I attribute that to the oil that comes on the blades. I try to wipe them off and lightly sand the blade ends but sometimes I forget to do it. I think that the Pegas company is making a mistake by plating the clamp screw ends. They should have been left unplated to give more grip. I've sanded mine but not enough to get through the plating. They really need to be roughed up.

 

[BillinNH]

Sorry for the delay folks,just got out of work a bit ago. I feel like an idiot sort of, the manual made no mention of the lever position other than saying either open or close it. Then I came across this on the bear woods website apparently I was doing it wrong 

Edited January 21, 2020 by BillinNH

[BillinNH]

And thanks for all the replys

 

[kmmcrafts]

Thanks for coming back to report the problem... This may help others at some point.. 

 

[BillinNH]

13 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Thanks for coming back to report the problem... This may help others at some point.. 

 

Thanks Kev, I've been working crazy hours lately so my shop time is precious to me right now that's probably why I was more upset than I should have been. And for anyone interested the pegas manual is lousy.  for instance it says to check the upper arm is parallel to the table but no info on what to do if it isn't, no instructions on how to load blades and of course the clamp thing.You would think a $750 dollar saw would have a better manual, heck my brand new $79 dollar dewalt  random orbit sander had a much larger and informative manual than this saw.  Anywho that being said the saw cuts very well now and is quiet and practically no vibes what so ever,so all's well that ends well, lol 

[Be_O_Be]

 My question, based on the pictures,  to the folks that have this saw or type of clamp on their saw is this , does the lever or the clamp have a flat spot or notch to let you know that the tensioner is in the correct position or is this done strictly by feel?  What keeps you from going to the wrong closed position?

[kmmcrafts]

4 minutes ago, Be_O_Be said:

 My question, based on the pictures,  to the folks that have this saw or type of clamp on their saw is this , does the lever or the clamp have a flat spot or notch to let you know that the tensioner is in the correct position or is this done strictly by feel?  What keeps you from going to the wrong closed position?

When I tension the blade in my Excalibur with the Pegas clamp.. There is a "feel" spot where you feel it sort of lock.. kinda I guess like a "click" feel in a dial.. but it's not real pronounced and if one doesn't pay much attention.. one could easily go past this spot and put it in the "unlocked" position.. The blade still has plenty of tension when you go past this locked position.. BUT you'll have the lever pop back up to the tension release position so with that said... people having the "pop up" issue.. may be putting the lever in the wrong position.. 

These type "feels" positions come natural to me because I learned to saw on a old Delta that has a "Cam' lever lock down.. as does the Hawk and many other saws... The DeWalt doesn't have this type of "Cam Lock" system.. so if one is used to that style it may take them some time to get the "Feel" for it.. 

[OCtoolguy]

On 1/21/2020 at 2:55 PM, BillinNH said:

Thanks Kev, I've been working crazy hours lately so my shop time is precious to me right now that's probably why I was more upset than I should have been. And for anyone interested the pegas manual is lousy.  for instance it says to check the upper arm is parallel to the table but no info on what to do if it isn't, no instructions on how to load blades and of course the clamp thing.You would think a $750 dollar saw would have a better manual, heck my brand new $79 dollar dewalt  random orbit sander had a much larger and informative manual than this saw.  Anywho that being said the saw cuts very well now and is quiet and practically no vibes what so ever,so all's well that ends well, lol 

If you want a really good detailed manual, go online and download the one for the original Excalibur 21 saws. Everything except the clamps should be the same and it explains the arm leveling in detail. 

[OCtoolguy]

On 1/24/2020 at 6:40 AM, kmmcrafts said:

When I tension the blade in my Excalibur with the Pegas clamp.. There is a "feel" spot where you feel it sort of lock.. kinda I guess like a "click" feel in a dial.. but it's not real pronounced and if one doesn't pay much attention.. one could easily go past this spot and put it in the "unlocked" position.. The blade still has plenty of tension when you go past this locked position.. BUT you'll have the lever pop back up to the tension release position so with that said... people having the "pop up" issue.. may be putting the lever in the wrong position.. 

These type "feels" positions come natural to me because I learned to saw on a old Delta that has a "Cam' lever lock down.. as does the Hawk and many other saws... The DeWalt doesn't have this type of "Cam Lock" system.. so if one is used to that style it may take them some time to get the "Feel" for it.. 

I tried to push my tension lever to that extreme position just to see what the deal is all about. I would have had to exert extreme pressure on the lever to do it. So either the lever is defective or the operator is overpowering it when pushing it to the tension position. A bit of "finesse" might be required. When I tension my blades there does feel like the lever is laying in a "detented" position and to go further would be to override that detent.

[kmmcrafts]

6 hours ago, octoolguy said:

I tried to push my tension lever to that extreme position just to see what the deal is all about. I would have had to exert extreme pressure on the lever to do it. So either the lever is defective or the operator is overpowering it when pushing it to the tension position. A bit of "finesse" might be required. When I tension my blades there does feel like the lever is laying in a "detented" position and to go further would be to override that detent.

I agree.. as I also tried it yesterday and I'm not able to push it further than the initial detent... But I know I've done it before.. Maybe it was before I learned to push down on the upper arm to help make sure the arm is down when clamping the blade? maybe it'll go past that spot if there isn't enough tension going on with it?  OR I'm thinking of the original EX chucks.. I know I've done it.. but not sure how LOL or what chucks it was on... thought it was the Pegas.. Tomorrow I'm going to try with the blade a bit looser than normal when clamping it in to see if that was the case..    

[BillinNH]

I'll have to check out the excaliber  manual. My lever is not difficult to push to far, That being said now that I know where to put it it works great.Despite my earlier moaning the saw  is very good.they could improve the manual though.