kmmcrafts

Believe that is how they are made ( I think ).. I see that blunted one on my larger blades.. What gets me with these Pegas blades is they are never consistent.. (ie not every blade I use has that blunt ( I don't think ) and sometimes it's only a portion of the blade that way while other times the whole length is that way.. I don't get it.. BUT I never looked at them so closely either and it could be my old eyes messing with my brain, LOL. But that said.. they still are not consistent as in the length.. some have a pointy tip like they didn't get snipped correctly.. some don't have that and sometimes the longer snipped part is on the top of the blade while other times it's on the bottom of the blade.. at one time it was said they made them that way on purpose to distinguish the top / bottom of the blade but they need to make up their mind on which end is going to be marked and keep it that way.. Many folks may not notice this stuff because they run a saw that clamps the blade differently than the Hawk saw does.. most times I have to take a pair of side cutters and cut off a portion of the blade for it to fit into my saw.. had one the other day that was only 4" long instead of 5" LOL what the heck? While they all have always cut really well for me.. I do tend to break more of them in my Hawk than the Excalibur and also never break a FD blade in my Hawk so they aren't as strong of a blade they do stay sharp a long time for me.. I like them... but I'm also more impressed with the consistent FD blades.. Never had to fuss with cutting the blade to get the right length to work in my saw.. always know what the top of the blade is with the mark that they stamp on the FD blades.. I think I'm close to being done with Pegas blades.. I've mentioned it to Bob in the past and there was always a excuse reason for the inconsistency.. Great cutting blades but can live without them as FD blades are just about as good of cutting blade too.. and consistency matters.. at least to me it does.. Another peeve for me is.. hardly any sellers of the Pegas blades mention what the smallest drill hole should be to use for a said size blade.. Any selling site for FD I've been on list that size drill bit for the said blade size in the description.. While all of these are kind of petty things to some people.. I guess I just find it annoying to have to cut the blades to length to make them work in my saw.. The Hawk is designed to bottom the blade out in the blade holders / clamps and then adjust the saw tension and after that you have the correct / same tension every time you change a blade.. But when the blades are not consistent length that screws that all up.. and you never really get it right cutting the blades too. This is not an issue with saws like the Pegas, EX, Dewalt etc.. as you don't bottom out the blade in the holders..

Do a google search of the UPC numbers on the bar code that they use to scan at the register.. sometimes you get lucky and find other sources besides the dollar stores..

I see wood items from time to time in my local dollar tree.. Here is a link where I just searched "wood" and they have a ton of stuff I never seen in my local store.. I didn't go through all the pages but there's a lot of stuff.. https://www.dollartree.com/bulk/Wood

Cutting 1/8 BBply in the video.. but I have cut 1/4" Cherry and Oak ply as well.. 1/4" is about the max limit with my 40W laser.. The power output is different between laser types too so do you research on what you intend to do or use it for.. a 20W diode laser is less engrave / cut power than a CO2 laser.. then the same for fiber laser.. though I'm doubtful any hobbyist is going to buy a fiber laser.. LOL Not cheap. Lower powered ones can engrave but may not be able to cut.. time it takes will be different as well.. Just to do a logo maybe a branding iron is a cheaper option.. Guess you have to weigh out what you want to do with it. One could probably put a vent over the top of this like a exhaust range hood and vent it outside.. Not sure how much one of these cost.. I see used ones at restores and garage sales from time to time fairly cheap.. I would be reluctant to buy a new one as it may not have enough air flow to extract the smoke effectively. An enclosure would work well with a air flow exhausting out the smoke as well.. I want a larger frame laser like this.. and may buy this one.. however I can get a laser unit for my CNC and save room in my shop as opposed to buying a whole new unit to take up space..

Here is a small clip of me making some engraved ornaments.. Pay close attention to the smoke being exhausted out toward the white colored rectangle opening right at the top of the project. That is the built in exhaust on my K40 laser that has a hook-up for a 4" hose connector like a drier vent.. Right now I just have it set up by a window and open window and set the hose to blow out the window.. But I will soon be adding an actual vent system as some smoke can blow back in.. I set up the laser up in my upstairs loft of the garage and when I run it.. even with the exhaust going out the window I can smell the smoke downstairs etc. I now have air assist and some other upgrade goodies.. But at any rate.. I cannot imagine trying to run a open framed laser without some sort of exhaust.. no matter what I'm engraving / cutting. Here is the video,

Something similar might work well but I think hooking to a dust collector will just make the dust collector eventually stink and then even if you aren't running the laser the dust collector may smell up the shop like a campfire.. The best solution would be to vent it outside.. I guess my real point might be how much money would one have to spend to rig up a venting system.. might look into a better enclosed laser with more speed and power.. My K40 running is vented to the outside via a laundry drier vent type system that is sort of a built in system.. ( though weak powered fan that needs upgraded ).. It pours smoke out like a outside wood burner or a old coal powered train.. I can't imagine running something open framed like this if it smokes as much as mine does.. May not be bad just doing small names once in a while but a larger work area that this has I could see lasering photos and a lot of things where the machine might run a few hours on a project.. that's be some serious smoke in the shop. LOL

How does one deal with the smoke from these things? I don't really see a exhaust for it or since it's all open framed not really a way to exhaust the smoke.. Not a very healthy thing to breath in all the smoke from running one inside.. especially if working with acrylics.. I like the size of the machine as opposed to my K40 but I don't like that it's open framed and no exhaust.. I'd have customers complaining about my scroll work smelling like smoke if I did this in my shop area where I store my scrolled project inventory etc.. That would be a no for me on this unless there is a smoke extractor..

My son works for the county road commission as a mechanic. They are having trouble getting simple needed things for the big semi plow trucks.. such as brake shoes and many other common wear parts... and this is common among the normal car repair parts too.. brake pads and the like are getting hard to get your hands on them.. Some medications too, I've been hearing some folks that get 3 month supplies for their meds are only able to obtain and month or in some cases a couple weeks supply at a time.. The rippling effect of all this could last for a few years after getting things under control.. I've heard the shortages could get worst before they get better... at least for certain things..

I wouldn't be concerned about having to wait for a new pegas because just like the Hawk.. they are good saws.. and well worth the wait. IMO .. unless you have to have the saw immediately for some reason.. It's unfortunate how bearwoods has handled the situation.. But I'm not totally surprised either.. I've not had a lot of respect for their service department.. or maybe it's the order / shipping department.. few years back and my first dealings with them I ordered blades and it took them 2.5 weeks just to get the order sent out.. I suspect it was to do with inventory then too... If a person get's their website set up correctly it's quite simple to put in little notes like Back Ordered.. etc..

Yeah I did, but I need two of them.. .. well maybe not "need" but I've been wanting the laser attachment for it.. but that alone cost $400 ish.. for $500 more I can have the machine with the laser so I can laser on one and route on the other.. My current stand alone laser is limited to a 8 x 10 ish size.. I want something that I can laser large portraits with... My currect CNC work size is 24 x 24 x 7 inch. The smaller one I'm thinking of buying is 12 x 18 x 3.. perfect for laser work.. and if to small it's easy to swap the laser head to the bigger machine.

Majority of my lumber comes from LLJohnson's workbench.. a few tools too.. I rarely buy the store boards inside the store though.. I typically buy bulk for wholesale pricing since I can mill my boards to the required size at home. Just was there a last week picking up 10pcs 5x5 BB ply sheets, and a couple weeks ago picked up 120 board foot of Poplar.. That store is only about 30 minute drive for me. I'm about to go back next week and buy another CNC.. They are having a sale plus a rebate.. a $2000 machine will be $900..

Anyone else been seeing all the complaints on FB about how they ordered a new saw back in early / mid Dec. and still have not received the saw.. they received a email recently saying it'll be another 2-3 weeks.. I gather from reading that this is like the second or third time they had set a ship date only to get a email saying it'll be pushed back another couple weeks.. A lot of folks not happy with Bearwoods either because there is no mention that the saw is back ordered and I guess you can go order on their site still thinking you'll get a saw in a week or so, LOL.. Gosh... sounds kinda like Bushton MFG now.. I've heard Denny mention that some things were back ordered but I didn't know it was for saws..

I rarely use tape on wood anymore but I've had some packing tape that would hardly stick to the boxes I was packing up.. real annoying trying to get orders packed and the tape peeling off after you stick it.. I agree.. hard to beat the Duct brand stuff.. I like the Duct " Easy Start " kind as it's quiet when you unroll it.. seems heavier and stronger than most the others. Also like the Duct "Crystal Clear" but it's pretty sticky stuff..

I have mixed thoughts on it, LOL.. I'm glad I have it, as it does a wonderful job keeping my floor and lap cleaner but.. it's not as effective as I'd like it to be. The top side of the table gets dust build up as you work and still puts some sawdust in my lap and on the floor.. into the air etc.. I think if it had a suction hose also on the top side of the table where your saw dust blower blows the dust toward the vac pickup hose it'd help a lot more. Just not sure the little vac would have enough power to do that.. I intend to get some adapters / fittings and try to see if it'll work.. Probably something I'll mess with this summer when it's warmer out there. The vac itself is quieter than any normal shop vac I've seen / heard.. but it's still not a real quiet system.. I think a Festool vac would be much quieter.. but it also comes with a big price tag.. Over all I'm happy I bought it.. just not 100% satisfied with the results, but certainly better than nothing.

Well, now that I give out the name of the FB group ( File Kingdom ) they go and change the name today.. Now it is: " CNC - Laser -Vinyl Cutter- 3D Printer- Files & Support"..

The groups on FB is mainly CNC groups but there is a few CNC files sharing groups as well.. The newest one I just joined up with is called " File kingdom " They seem to upload more files in a day than I can have time to look at.. LOL They have I believe around 3 TB of files uploaded to a shared google drive that I haven't even accessed yet.. as I haven't even touched the surface of what they have loaded up in the FB group, LOL.. Some files show pictures.. some don't.. I'm not sure what viewer software one would use, I have the CNC programs that will show me the design.. One I used to use was called something like DXF file viewer.. many CNC designs are DXF file types..

The more I think about it the more I think that pattern was on a laser cutters group.. But I do see scroll saw patterns on the laser group and also see laser patterns on the scroll saw sites so.. they do kinda go hand in hand.. and boy there is a lot of free CNC files / patterns in some of those groups that will work as a scroll saw pattern. The issue is it takes a cad program or at least a cad viewer to be able to open and view them..

Reminds me of a Sue Mey design.. I think she has several of these patterns.? Off to look at her site to see. Edit: It's not on her site but there are many beautiful tree designs on her site. I've seen this somewhere.. actually think I have a copy of it somewhere maybe.. I belong to sooo many graphics groups and with CNC and laser art groups that I'm not certain where I seen this but I know I seen it, and probably have it in my files somewhere, LOL

I really liked doing business with them because they carried both Pegas and FD blades.. If I remember right they also sell Olsen.. was nice to be able to order all 3 brands from one source.. as I do use certain blades from each brand.. I'm not sure what was going on in the past.. I know there was a lot of complaints here and other scrolling sites about them..

They had a rough period a few years back and I think the owner couple went through a divorce or something.. not sure how they are these days but that was pretty good to deal with at first.. But then that rough patch made the customer service terrible and they wasn't sending out the whole orders etc.. taking forever to get things shipped out.. If I remember correct they are in northern portion of OH and I'm southern MI so it shouldn't have taken 2-3 weeks to get an order.. I finally had enough and found another source which was DnD.. But now I prefer Denny at Artcraftersonline.com always a pleasure to do business with him and he is right here in the village group with us..

This morning I was going through all my saw blades and gathering the ones I don't use.. as I gave them to another member here so someone could get some use of them.. anyway going through the file cabinet where I keep blades I found a unopened envelope and low and behold.. a gross each of Pegas MG #3 and 5 that I purchased a long time ago.. maybe 4 years ago. LOL.. when I used to deal with Lesleys Patterns I think is the name.. so that's been a while ago.. Since I ran out and had been trying to use up my FD blades to sort of clean up my file cabinet.. before ordering more Pegas..

If you are ordering the scroll saw you'll have to contact him directly.. he doesn't have those on the site.. only blades and other small related things are on the site..

That's my issue with the FB groups.. you have a couple people posting the same project amongst all the groups and if you're also a member of all those same groups your news feed is plastered with the same thing from several different times. I have one that I'll frequent and that's about it. There is a couple CNC and one Laser Group with a bunch of friendly folks, and as always there is a couple with folks that make you scared to ask a question because they'll wine about you not searching first.. the search functions of most sites bring up irrelevant results more times than not and have to sort through it for hours to get the info you're looking for. Maybe I just need educated on how to search, LOL I do wish there was a active "good" CNC forum like we have here with the village for scroll work. Travis has done and still does a wonderful job with this site.. and most of the regulars get along.

Yes, many of us has been there.. including myself when we first started online selling etc.. This is a big reason why I talk a lot about selling online.. I get a lot of PM's from folks asking selling / shipping questions and always happy to help share my bloopers ( experiences ) to maybe help another from learning the hard way. Many give up when they loose money or aren't making money like that think they should.. Giving up is when you loose, When you get back up and brush off is when you're closer to winning. Loosing money from shipping happens all the time.. it lets me know that it's time to adjust my prices.. not give up selling to other countries and loose business and customers just because one time you lost.. Loses happen all the time in business and in many ways.. When you solely doing it for the money those loses hurt more.. I do it for the money but also for my pleasure as well as making the customer happy in anyway I can within reason.. many times that means loosing money.. but that customer may come back and give a profitable order.. or a family / friend of the customer.. Happy customers talk and angry customers also talk.. no matter the case I strive to be talked about from the happy customer

I've never made them before but my brother does make and sell a few.. I don't actually know his website links.. he sells a little on etsy and it took me a few clicks to figure out his store page.. He actually has some listed on etsy so I'll link to that.. If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to send him a message if needed.. though I'm sure someone here probably has done a few and maybe can answer your questions.. https://www.etsy.com/shop/1920HookandHammer?ref=usf_2020