Pegas Scroll Saw bottom or top feed

[Christian Bergeron]

Good day, i would like to know if you guy use bottom or top feeding for your blade. I'm a top feeder, i see some of you use bottom feeder.  Do we get use to it after doing it for a while. I did try it for a while, but i was having difficulty to secure the bottom part because i could not see it ? Do you guy have any hint that does make it easier to secure it ?

[OCtoolguy]

Christian, a bottom feeder, releases the top clamp. A top feeder releases the bottom clamp. I am a bottom feeder because I found it difficult to re-clamp the bottom clamp. Does that make sense?

[Christian Bergeron]

34 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

Christian, qui utilise la méthode du bas, desserre la pince supérieure. Une méthode utilisant la méthode du haut desserre la pince inférieure. Je suis une méthode utilisant la méthode du bas car j'ai eu du mal à resserrer la pince inférieure. Est-ce que c'est clair ?

Oui c'est clair merci beaucoup.

 

[rafairchild2]

I am a bottom feeder as I wind up bending blades trying to top feed.  only larger projects give me fits once in a while. If I can drill a larger hole, then top feeding is an option when bottom becomes problematic.

Edited January 11 by rafairchild2

[preprius]

i have learned from the hawk videos.

the bottom clamp comes and out you mount the bottom clamp on the side of the top of c arm. This allows you to install and tighten the blade in the clamp.  Then you take both clamp and blade and carefully put the blade through the bottom table hole and slide bottom clamp into slot. There is a long slit in the top table so the blade can pivot to place blade top thru a hole in the wood.  Then you can place the blade into the fixed top blade. 

Also pushing the blade from bottom to top, the teeth dont dig into the wood. 

it is really hard to top feed with the hawk style machine. 

 

[Dan]

I'm a top feeder. I learned to connect the blade to the bottom holder by touch. Been doing it for years with no trouble. If you practice it will come to you.

[Scrappile]

I was born and raised a bottom feeder,, Kinda like a Carp.

[kmmcrafts]

I do both depending upon the project.. that said I mostly bottom feed and only top feed when I'm working on a very large project that makes it easier to top feed.. which isn't that often. I learned to saw on a saw that only allowed bottom feeding so it's a habit to do that way.. but when big projects come I top feed just because it's easier then.

[TAIrving]

3 hours ago, Dan said:

I'm a top feeder. I learned to connect the blade to the bottom holder by touch. Been doing it for years with no trouble. If you practice it will come to you.

I do same as Dan.  It gets easy with a little practice.  I suspect that bottom feeding takes a little practice also.  Pick one and practice doing it.  

[BadBob]

I have a Pegas and an EX-21 scroll saw, and I bottom-feed. I had two other saws before, and AMT and Hawk. I never thought of top-feeding until I saw it on this forum. I tried top-feeding for a while and bent a lot of blades, so I don't top-feed anymore. The choice may depend on what you make. I don't make anything with internal cuts larger than about 12 inches. I can see where cutting large pieces might require top feeding. 

[TAIrving]

For me its about fretwork and trying to find all those tiny little holes from the bottom. Easier for me from the top.  

[rjweb]

Some saws you can only bottom feed release the top clamp. The jet is one is what I have and it’s like clock work for me except when doing larger fret projects, RJ 

[Denny Knappen]

I am a top feeder.  Don't know how I started, but it is easier for me.

[rafairchild2]

My 2ns comment as a bottom feeder.  I think the only way i could top feed a large piece would be to remove the blade from the chucks top and bottom, thread from the top lifting the piece a little to make sure I go through the cutting deck hole, then attach the chucks.

[Roberta Moreton]

I am a top feeder.  My fingers know how to fasten the blade in the clamp.  For the large fretwork pieces, it’s just easier.

[TAIrving]

19 hours ago, rafairchild2 said:

My 2ns comment as a bottom feeder.  I think the only way i could top feed a large piece would be to remove the blade from the chucks top and bottom, thread from the top lifting the piece a little to make sure I go through the cutting deck hole, then attach the chucks.

That pretty well describes the only way I can bottom feed.  

The Pegas supports both top and bottom feeding.  Not all other saws do that.  

[Jim McDonald]

With my Dewalt, I was 95% top feed. Now on my Pegas, I have switched to bottom feeding as I guess I am cautious to not feed into one of the sawdust holes.