kmmcrafts

Okay so this is the larger connecting rod I talked about. The first photo shows it with the pin and end caps in place then I show it taken apart. This thing was rusted about solid in place. I took two vise grip pliers and worked it back and forth along with some pb blaster got it freed up. The pin and caps was also welded together and took a lot of work to get apart. The pin really is discolored like it’s worn bad but I really don’t feel much if any wear in it, so I’m thinking I’ll just press in some new bearings grease it up good if I can’t find just the pin. Not going to spend $120 or so dollars if I don’t have to. The bearings likely $6 - 10 each. Two bearings side by side in this piece. If I can get the DeWalt parts back from my sons friend and they’re the same then I’ll likely replace the worn bearings and sleeves while it’s apart. Do a good grease job like I did with my DW and it’ll probably run better than a new one. Amazing how much smoother a saw will run even if it’s new when you take out the cheap grease they use and put it high end synthetic grease. I was amazed at how the old DeWalt ran after putting in a good grease. By by the way. There used to be a lot of people saying the Ex saws had sealed bearings. That is false for sure now that I took this thing apart. It’s assembly is no different than a DeWalt other than the tilting head and being able to adjust the motor. I wonder if one could make a adjustable motor set up on the DW saws like these have. I like the table on the DW better. Lol

More like a rubber mallet.. That's what I use on stuff like this.. though I didn't need to " hammer " at all once on the bench I just lifted up with two screw drivers and once it moved lightly was able to work it off..

I think I've done that ONCE... but never again, .. gotta learn the hard way once.. if you do it twice.. you're just stupid.. I read that somewhere..

Going to add some more photos a little later showing the bad parts. Phone died while working on it but I managed to get the rest of this apart. Pretty sure I can make the needed repairs without buying the whole assembly. Biggest thing is the one bigger sleeve is worn a couple thousands. Actually don’t think it’ll effect it at all so may try new bearings with the old sleeve. First will call Ray to see if he can get me just the bigger sleeve. Think it’s the same sleeve as the DW but not certain yet.

Well I was able to pull the motor with the connecting rod still on it.. once on the bench was able to pry up with two screw drivers and press off the connecting rod portion.. Now the whole back end of the saw is apart.. The one bigger connecting rod with the rusty screw and bearing.. that thing is locked right up.. with some PB Blaster I was able to get it to spin sort of.. I'm not sure where I'm going to go with it from here.. I really only need this one bearing.. though there are two or three other sleeves and bearings in not so good of shape.. those I believe are the same bearings as the DeWalt had.. and my sons friend whom I've sold the DeWalt too which I gave him the bearings & sleeves with the saw... he still hasn't rebuilt the thing so i may see if he'll bring them by and at least let me use what i need if they are the same.. then I'll buy new ones to replace them back to him.. or I'll just confirm they're the same and order what I need.. Seyco sells the whole assembly for $115 + shipping.. But I have a press and can get my own $10 bearing if I can get this rusty one apart... it's pretty messed up though.. Even if I have to buy the assembly from Seyco the saw is well worth fixing.. especially since I did love the saw once I got things half way working.. Liked it better than my Hawk once dialed in..and to think... the thing never really ran right.. it couldn't have with that dry rusty bearing.. seemed smooth.. just really noisy LOL..

Okay folks... finally took this saw apart.. was determined to make it run as everyone claims they do.. I've toyed with the saw quite a lot over the couple years I've owned it.. but it's never been what I considered "working right" For those that don't know.. I'll do a little re-cap.. I bought the saw second hand ( though still in the sealed box ) back when the saw was no longer available in the USA for that short time.. The young man I got it from said he won it in a raffle at his job's Christmas party.. he also mentioned to me that his father worked at Home Depot and that his father claimed they was bringing the Excalibur back to HD in the USA. A few month later we all get the news that they are coming back but made in a new plant in China.. Not sure how the young man got his hands on the China made machine that I have.. I never knew it was a China made machine until one day while doing some organizing I run across the original box that said right on the sticker " Made In China " I did a double take on that.. then right away went to the saw and low and behold the I.D. tag said the same.. From day one I had issues with the upper clamp.. just was sloppy and would troublesome.. I thought it was just me being new to the saw.. though I used a DeWalt for 12 years and it's not that much different to be having such issues.. Buying the Pegas clamps solved most of those issues... Then started in with the self adjusting of the nob at the back of the saw.. was so bad that even doing small fret cutouts I'd have to stop and re-position that knob.. Finally tired of this I took the thing apart and put blue loc-tite on the treads which solved it.. The saw has always been a little noisy and kept getting worst over time.. I finally took it apart as best I could.. and so far I've not found any grease in the bearing that is pressed into the back connecting rod..Don't believe there was ever grease in this one particular spot as I had a heck of a time getting it apart.. once I did get it.. the thru bolt and inside where it goes through was just full of powdered rust.. Many of the other bearing sleeves are also pretty dry of grease however you can see it had grease in it at one time.. just very little I suspect.. and the sleeves are a little on the chewed up side at most of the pivot points that I've taken apart so far.. If I put this back together it'll need all new bearings and sleeves.. and grease, LOL So far I'm stumped on getting the smaller connecting rod off the end of the motor.. The nut is off ( yes left handed threads if anyone wondered ).. But the thing seems as if it's welded onto the motor shaft.. not wanting to beat on it too much and it's in there where you can't get too it very well to do anything with it.. Now that I have the link arms and the longer connecting rod portion apart and out of the way.. I might see if I can remove the whole motor with the connecting rod attached to see if I can work at it on the workbench.. Now a question.. do you suppose the new China plant makes that larger connecting rod.. Do you suppose they are just buying the parts from a supplier and assembling these in China... hard to believe they'd re-tool to make all these assemblies when they already have them in the Taiwan plant.. suppose the Taiwan plant is buying parts from the China plant? Be interesting to me to see how the new King, Pegas, Jet and other similar saws pan out in a few years.. when people get several hours on them.. I installed a hour meter on mine back in Feb - March.. I've got 60 hours run time on this machine since then.. and after having the hour meters on my Hawk saws etc I have a better idea of run time.. I'd guess this Excalibur has around 160 hours run time.. BTW.. Newest Hawk has 100 hours run time.. not a hiccup or anything.. Been lubed up 6 times. in all it took me about 2 minutes of my time to preform the maintenance over the coarse of those 100 hours.. I've got 5-6 hours time in repairs on this new EX, LOL I'll post some pictures of this thing in pieces in a while.. I have some on my phone.. but for now I'm going back out to see if I can get the motor off with that connecting rod still on it.. wish me luck with that, LOL

I haven't done a craft show in years... so my answer for a craft show seller is probably irrelevant.. My best craft show seller was ornaments..when I did crafts shows... angel themed ones sold very well back then.. Now with that said.. my online experience is most my shoppers are women looking for unique gift themed things for men / boys.. so car themed things sell well.. So with that said.. make things your shoppers would be looking for for the men in your local area I guess would be my best advice.. but it really depends on your local shows and what type shows they are..

My table saw has been on it's last life for a couple years now.. in fact it actually has a partial bad motor.. A bearing in it froze up while I was cutting one day and smoke rolled out of it for 10 minutes I think... I thought then the thing was toast.. but after it cooled down it worked for quick easy cuts so i took it apart and put a new bearing in it.. Not sure why cause it's a real cheapo one that I bought new some 20 years ago for like $60 on clearance, LOL.. The most use it gets is just cutting ply down to size.. so one of these might me very nice to take it's place.. I had at one time a B & D battery power one.. until someone stole the batteries and the charger etc.. only thing they left me with was the saw and a stud finder from that kit... It just doesn't work very well without the batteries.. batteries and charger cost as much as a whole new one..

Actually a lot of bandsaws do not come with the fence... that's an added expense in some cases... also a lot of them that do come with a fence... the fence isn't tall enough for resawing anything very big anyway.. This Pegas saw I think only accepts very small blades as it's a "scrolling" bandsaw so the blades for it I believe are only about the size of the "larger" scroll saw blades. With all that said.. It's "not" the traditional bandsaw as we know them.. and I also believe a "traditional" bandsaw will not run a blade as small as these do.. even with the Carter set-up.. ( I believe anyway ).. So as I've said before.. I think it probably has some value for it in someones shop that does a certain type of work... That shop is probably not "Our" shops.. Years ago I bought my bandsaw with the intent to re-saw and also make bandsaw boxes... It does great at both.. But with that said.. as much as I was switching back and forth between the two.. swapping set-ups from a 3/4 - 1 inch re-saw blade to a 3/16 blade all the time.. a dedicated bandsaw such as this Pegas unit doesn't look so bad in my eyes if I were still doing bandsaw boxes.. simply because I wouldn't have to continually change set up.. plus there is not the temptation or even ability to change the set up on this saw to re-saw anyway.. I gave up the bandsaw boxes mainly because of having to change set-up all the time.. That said.. the money for this saw and being limited with blade source's I'd be more apt to buy another traditional bandsaw so I could have the option for more flexibility if I needed it.. I'm not sticking up for this Pegas bandsaw BUT, before I write this Pegas saw off.. I'd like to use it OR at least see some feedback on it from some " Real " wood shops other than those promotional videos showing off their new invention..

From what I've seen talked about these over the past few months.. I think it could be a "okay" value maybe for someone doing bandsaw boxes and some puzzle work from thick wood.. However... my 14" Grizzly bandsaw will do the bandsaw boxes and resaw up to 10 - 12" wide boards along with many other things.. and for the most part of what I do.. I just don't see the need or value in it "for me" .. But as I said... there may be some call for something like this in someones shop.. just not in my shop right now anyway... I made a new rule for myself to never say I'd never own one.. since I said this for years about CNC's and Lasers and now I have both ..

I never heard of those blades from Judy.. But wow.. I might have to give them a try.. only $22 a gross from what little I looked on her site.. That's at least $10 cheaper than most any blades I typically use... I was short on time but didn't happen to see any sample packs.. That's usually where I go with new blades to see if I like them..

Yeah, I had to re-read that title a couple times,

That's kinda my thinking... I've done some of the ones I have this way and they've worked out decent.. I usually resize them to be about 5" wide or less so they fit into my gift boxes and then I cut them out as ornaments instead of puzzles... however I also make clocks out of them.. as well as the occasional puzzle.. so getting the puzzle pattern with some slight editing can become several different things off one pattern.. I feel guilty doing that too though as it's money that he could get from the puzzle / non-puzzle patterns..Not from me though.. at least this year as my budget is kinda tighter than I like it to be.. Then again most my designs I get I modify someway anyway..

I've been looking at the designs on your website.. Can't decide on puzzle or non puzzle, LOL.. Probably make a fairly sizable purchase once I decide, .. hopefully it'll still be this month so it'll benefit Harvey now..

No wonder I couldn't find you.. of coarse I didn't know what you looked like so everyone I ran into I asked if they was the "Woodmaster1" Everyone would just look at me kinda weird.. Hahaha.. I was running late myself.. I normally run my kid to school which is on the way then go from there to the wood expo.. However this time I realized two things.. one, I forgot to bring my packages that was ordered and needed to be mailed out.. and also the dog ( great dane ) never went outside for a potty before we left.. so I took the kid to school and came back home to get the packages and let the dog out... Dog decided to run through the woods and explore for 45 minutes, LOL I'd leave him out but he's getting kinda on the mean side now that he's getting older.. he was abused by the previous owner and he has his spells.. I rescued him from being put down when he was 6 month sold and had been through 4 owners.. Been a great dog through his years for us.. He's good with the all the people in the neighborhood but he don't like the Fedex guy at all.. likes the UPS guy.. but I just try to keep him inside if I'm not home... He's getting old and showing his age.. He's 11 years old now.. Vet says he's doing very well for his age.. Most those big dogs have hip issues at around 8 years old.. he is starting to have them now.. but not too bad yet..

I've watched all the ones here on the village for inkscape and gimp.. some years ago.. My issue is I buy most my designs and I don't do this enough to "remember" how to.. then I have to reference the videos..or ask specific questions.. I may have to take a look at the videos you've mentioned... I know I'm getting better and better at it doing custom work orders.. and maybe one day I'll eventually get the hang of it.. I was at one time getting pretty darn comfy with Corel Draw.. as that was what Steve Good always used and did some tutorials on.. so I sprung the big bucks to buy it.. Just about the time I was getting comfy with it Windows 10 came out and it crashed my system as I had a old outdated version by the time I learned it... and wasn't going to spend the money again for a new version only to have the same thing happen a few years down the road.. Thankfully Corel gave me some design experience that transfers to most any program.. just finding the right buttons etc. is the harder part..

Yeah she's a mix of indoor / outdoor, mostly indoor the last couple years but she still goes out just not too far away or for very long.. Thanks for digging in that info, I've never looked it up but we've always talked about that.. Vet says she doesn't look / act her age at all, and says she looks very good..

Today I went to the wood expo and bought some lumber.. I usually buy enough to get me through the year as llJohnson Workbench does a wood expo show every year during the first part of September.. This year money is a little tight so I only got a small amount of lumber.. though last year I bought a lot and have a little left over so I might be able to make most of the year with all that I have. Got home and opened up the van to unload the lumber but came in the house to grab my shop key and the animals was ready to go outside.. came back to find the cat inspecting the lumber.. This cat is quite skittish around cars etc.. and usually will not go near them.. so it's extra funny to us because she walked right up to it and jumped in, LOL . She's doing pretty good for being 19 years old.. she said I got a good deal on that lumber. but that last picture, she's asking what I'm going to do with all that lumber..

I've been wondering about him as well..

Yeah my printer is a 11 x 17.. I agree they sure are nice.. I guess I don't know how to get the scanner to do larger though.. The scanner bed / window thing is big enough.. but putting a large sheet in it only scans the standard letter size.. You know, it never crossed my mind to make a copy to cut up, LOL Duh.. I'm going to have to do that..

I thought hard about the scissors both years ago and yesterday.. the issue i had was.. some of the patterns I wanted are also on the back side.. so that meant I had to choose which one i wanted worst and which one got cut up.. couldn't decide so I folded this way and that way until it was about the size of a sheet of paper and scanned it.. several times i might add before i got the most of my sheet of papers worth o patterns.. I don't like to be wasteful with my shipping label papers.. so I try to get all I can on one of those sheets or sometimes I'll also cut them in half for patterns that only use a half sized sheet..

I'd pay more money for the subscription if they'd send out a yearly Disc with the patterns on it.. or give a link to subscribers only for a download of them rather than the papers in the magazine.. Oh well.. they sure have some great patterns.. just frustrating to see them and want to use them but the PIA to copy them hinders the actual use of them... by me anyway..

I'm hoping to be there Friday morning, I always say I'm going to hang around and watch some of the events but then I rarely do... as usual I've got orders to make so not sure how long I'll hang around. Usually there until about noon.. Weather man calling for some scattered showers in the morning on Friday.. it might hinder my plans and I might have to take the trip on Saturday instead.. The timing of this event every year is perfect too. My wedding anniversary is on the 11th. and this year makes 26 years.. I always get her some nice lumber for her anniversary and at good prices.. she isn't a woodworker so she always gives it back to me. Next year I might splurge and get her some tools too since they always offering up some good tools deals too..

The other day my mother in law called asking about if I had any more angel ornaments like I made for her to give out to some of her friends about 10 years ago, LOL.. I'm glad I remembered they was from a magazine and also glad that I only removed the pattern papers out of about three of the 100's of magazines I have as that made it easy to find them. So finding the patterns was the easy part, but trying to fold that paper up to fit into my scanner to scan the patterns to the computer.. well that is the challenging part. Fold it this way and that way etc and scan it trying to get all three of the angel ornaments she wanted.. First time round, of the three I got one of them.. other two got cut off. Take the paper out re-fold it differently got two of the patterns.. I tried 4 times and could never get all three completely.. even though they all should fit on one sheet of paper.. I finally gave up with worrying about getting all three and printed my patterns on a couple sheets of paper.. The struggle is real with those stupid magazine patterns, That my friends is the biggest reason I stopped getting the magazines.. I sure had a good time looking through those old magazines though and found several patterns I want to cut.. but quickly changed my mind when it came down to scanning the patterns, LOL

I've always heard that if you choke off the air to a shop vac it'll run hot and possibly burn up? Possible because of not enough air flow? When choking off the hose on a shop vac it makes it sound as though it's working harder.. But with the results you show.. I'm wondering if it is more like free wheeling or racing the motor RPM's so to speak.. rather than working it harder.. @octoolguy maybe the free wheeling / racing motor RPM's is creating more heat? Just guessing.. While I get the concept of no air to move = less drag on the motor... It kinda makes sense that the loud " working " sound may actually be the thing spinning many more RPM's = creating more heat.. Just guessing.. but it's the only thing I can think of..