kmmcrafts

Hey thanks for your report.. I always wondered if anyone ever made any to try from my video... or was it just a waist of my time.. I get asked all the time what finish I use etc.. but nobody ever reports back if they did it... Thought the video might help.. but still until now never really got any feedback.. This finish does give the best look to the wood that I have ever tried.. also makes the wood feel smoother.

I also like the DeWalt over the EX for cutting thicker wood.. when i say thicker wood I mean anything more than 5/8" I kinda kick myself in the behind for selling my DeWalt and hanging onto a couple of my other saws.. But they are doable anyway.. just a bit slower.. and I don't cut a lot of thick materiel anymore. Good luck getting it back together and all dialed in.. For me putting it together wasn't bad at all.. but getting things all dialed in and adjusted up was as much time consuming as the re-build..

Congrats on the new saw... I'll be taking a hard look at the Pegas when I'm ready for a new saw... that might be a long time though since I have the new EX, and Hawk's.. But Pegas will most likely be my saw of choice.. of coarse something new will probably be out by then anyway..

I sell all my portrait work un-framed... but I do state they are designed to be framed since I make them from 1/8 material some are quite fragile.. What the customer actually does I don't know.. I do put a backer on them.. not felt though since I don't care for felt.. I use foam sheets from the craft stores.. I used to sell them framed.. but I tend to sell them better unframed.. I don't like framed because everyone has a different frame taste for every project.. and what matches their decor style... sometimes I display them in a frame but I don't sell it framed..

Where did you get those at?? I haven't seen those at Harbor Freight yet.. I'd like to get a set..

Very nice work! You've been busy.. I figured if you are't posting pictures you must be cutting and no time for pictures LOL..

Those are very nicely done.. I never was much for painting wood but these look great painted..

Well, that's one way to flip everyone the bird.. ( those metal pieces look like a hand with the middle finger sticking up, ) What a great idea.. for holding the sandpaper.. I really like that.. I might make me one.. except it'd always be flipping me the bird.. but I have several people I'd like to make them for anyway.. Maybe the younger folks will know what they are if you say the metal bird flippers... I think they have an emoji for that.. so you can text them a picture.. Okay I better get out of here... having too much fun with this one.. I bet whoever designed these did it by accident.. they was just mad at their boss..

My understanding on the China made saws is similar.. BUT.. my understanding is the only Excalibur saw made in China was the 21" saw.. and that the 16" are made in the Taiwan plant still.. I'm not saying that the new China made saw's are less quality or junk... BUT.. I would say that the first several made is very possibly less quality.. simply because they are NEW to making them and they always find issues with machinery etc running production on new stuff at first... at least that is my belief.. they may make a very well made saw as was done and still is done at the Taiwan plant.. Back when DeWalt moved from Canada there was all kinds of bad quality on the type 2 saw.. most of that was the first few runs of production at the new plant.. Now most of the type 2's are good saws.. They got a bad reputation on the type 2 saws because of the first few runs of them did have quality issues.. and this is how I think the EX-21's will be.. My saw I wouldn't say is junk but is not the standard I expected from a EX from what others tell me.. But I have had to make many repairs and adjustments that I feel I shouldn't have to have made... My saw had to be one of the first few made since I got it 6+ months before they even released the 21" back on the market.. If I was in the market for a new saw of this style.. I would hold off and buy the Pegas... just from what I've seen with the blade chucks and also what I've seen with how they handle problems..if a issue does arise..

I've found that sometimes actually going to a smaller blade will cut through better than a larger blade.. That said you have to watch for the blade bowing so be careful not to push through too hard.. I do not have any experience cutting compound cuts so not a lot of offer.. other than the blade size sometimes works...

I've bought many tools from them and always had good luck.. The one thing that I did have an issue was.. back in 2007 I bought a Dremel 1800 scroll saw and the first one mailed to me didn't work.. They gave me a form to print and take to the local UPS to send it back.. they sent another one out right away just as you said.. the only hassle I had was getting it to the local UPS store.. which wasn't much hassle because we drove by is every time we went to town.. Could be an issue for some if there isn't one very close by..Probably now days they do it different anyway..

I totally agree with what you say here... If I was in a construction or other type business where these tools got used all day long every day.. I'd be buying higher end stuff.. but those prices are way overkill for my needs.. and most my tools in this category don't ever wear out... they need batteries and those cost as much as another cheap set cost.. I only have my DeWalt drill because it was a good deal on Black Friday and it was a $199 set that I bought for $60 with a coupon etc that I had.. I just don't buy stuff unless I'm getting a deal on it.. The only tool in my shop right now that I paid full price for is my new Hawk... Most times I don't buy something unless I feel I can resell it for the same money or at a profit..

The very best cordless drill I ever had was from Harbor Freight... it was my first cordless and was a Christmas gift... not something I would have chose myself.. but ended up being one awesome tool.. This was 20+ years ago.. and the drill isn't what gave out.. it was the stupid batteries died after 7-8 years of hard work.. and they was some oddball batteries and I couldn't find any replacements.. I built a lot of stuff with that drill and used it as a sander and a wire brush back in my painting days.. On the flip side.. I needed a sawzal for a couple of days when building my shop back in 2012... had a coupon etc and with all the deals I got one for $4.99 LOL.. I only needed it to cut a few sections of 2" PVC pipe.. That saw almost made it through my first cut.. My wife was headed out to town to pick up a few things so i had her swing in to get a replacement.. That saw made it through 4-5 cuts.. and then it went to the trash can.. HF at the time didn't do returns but would exchange under the warranty.. but taking the thing back every few cuts was not going to cut it ( no pun intended ) for me.. Now.. be different if they was across the street.. That all said, I have bought a fair amount of their cheap power tools and have had good luck with it for my intended purpose.. short of that one sawzal.. most stuff has been good to me for the price. I'll also say.. they've stepped up many of their tool lines to some higher quality stuff from what they offered years ago.. and they have more variety from cheap junk to better cheap junk.. Like these drills we've been talking about.. they have some real cheap ones that might get you through a job.. or they have two other lines that are more money but also higher quality..

This is what I thought you all might be talking about.. This one says compare to Ryobi P1811... whatever that is, LOL Anyway this one on sale for $59.** https://www.harborfreight.com/20V-Hypermax-Lithium-12-in-DrillDriver-Kit-63531.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiMjEwNDE1NTMiLCJza3UiOiI2MzUzMSIsImlzIjoiNTkuOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk IjoiMTIxODYifQ%3D%3D &cid=paid_facebook-{campaign-name}-{adset-name}-&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&mkwid=[marinadid]-pcrid-[marinadid]-pkw--pmt--pdv--slid--product--pgrid--ptaid--&utm_campaign={campaign-name}&utm_content={adset-name}&fbclid=IwAR2uGyH5MHmmEP9GiBezRllg8kGRh_z1qKtlQ9ZX4ZiqMShDSXTuRWxwDYA

You need to stop by and give them a try, LOL I've got a Excalibur and three different Hawks, LOL.. I've experimented much with the different saws and same blade and even cutting on the same project just as a test.. The DeWalt is by far the fastest most aggressive cutting saw.. followed by the Excalibur.. but it is definitely slower.. but also is easier to get the finer detail work than the DeWalt.. but not as precise as the slower Hawks.. If I'm doing lots of detail work I always use the Hawk.. otherwise I use the EX.. I sold my DeWalt because it was quite worn for the third time of needing rebuilt.. A very happy medium speed saw with ability to do detail work would be the EX type saws.. I think with tuning the EX for minimum blade travel and adjusting the blade speed one can do just about as detailed work as one can on the Hawk.. No so with a DeWalt though.. DeWalt is a great saw for primarily cutting thick stock without a lot of fine detail.. Now that the Pegas saw is on the market.. I wouldn't even look at the other similar saws.. Their blade clamps and competitive price makes it the top choice saw in my opinion... I actually use the EX a lot more than I think I do.. and if I could only have 1 saw I'd choose it over the Hawk for my type / style of cutting.. I've got 40 hours on the meter of the EX.. 30 on the Hawk ultra and 20 on the New Hawk.. I find myself going to the Excalibur to do the majority of my cutting.. now that I have it running decent..

I think it probably makes a big difference if you're cutting very thin stock and or doing a lot of fine detail cuts.. That's where you notice the difference.. not so much in the speed of the cutting... Another difference with these types of saws over the Hawks etc.. is the blade is mounted ridged to the clamps and the clamps are fixed to the saw.. The Hawks blade clamps are mounted with a roll pin and are designed to move or flex a little.. if you push / feed the wood hard with the Hawk the blade chucks flex... If you do so with the EX type saws you're pushing the wood through it faster as there is no flex or give to the blade chucks..

I've played around with my Excalibur and also find it doesn't make a huge difference in the cutting speed / time.. I think this short link arm style types saws all cut about the same way.. The difference between the Pegas / Ex saws from the DeWalt is the SPM ( strokes per minute) .. The Pegas and like saws only run at top speed 1500 SPM where as the DeWalt runs 1750 SPM.. I don't cut many puzzles.. and don't cut much of any wood over 5/8" thick.. When I do cut thicker wood.. ( puzzles ) I do NOT use the Hawk simply for the reason you mention.. they cut slow..

That lower hose piece looks like the one that Seyco sells.. it's the magnetic one?

Mine is hardwired in, so it's always plugged in I suppose.. just turned off, LOL.. If I go on vacation I hit the main breaker in the shop.. also shut off most of them in the house.. most my appliances are electric.. no sense heating water that I'm not using..

I also had a nice B&D set.. that has the 5-1/2" saw, light, jigsaw, and drill.. Loved the set but someone stole it.. assuming it was a kid because they took my son's BMX bicycle and the drill with the Hitachi cordless batteries and charger.. I can't remember what all it was because that was like 12 years ago.. but anyway they got the drill with the wrong batteries.. and left me needing batteries for the Hitachi one I had and batteries for the drill they took they left with me but stole the charger. However it worked out I had to buy either batteries for the hitachi or a drill and charger for the B&D..

I had a shut off ( pressure switch ) failure once.. and it just kept running.. lucky I was in the shop at the time and thought it was running a long time.. but before I could get to it to shut it down the blow-off safety valve went off.. I'd never leave one powered up without being in the shop.. I do leave it with air in it all the time.. run it about 1-2 times a month to fill it back up with air.. Run it much more in the summer months as I always blow the grass off the mowers before putting them away.. had a friend that had a riding mower and a bearing went bad in the mower deck.. he never cleaned off the grass and that bearing got hot enough to set that grass on fire burned his little shed down that he kept yard stuff in.. and of coarse the tractor.. Also.. I never put my mowers back inside right away.. I park them outside for a few hours to cool down before putting them back in the garage..

I have the DeWalt 20V now for about 5 years.. been a good drill..but I don't have much to say about the others.. my previous drill was a Hitachi 18V and it was about 20 years old.. Still worked great but batteries was getting hard to find and the price of the batteries was about the same as the new drill.. LOL.. That old Hitachi drill was heavy too and the battery took a long time to charge.. My deWalt charges in one hour..but last a really long time too compared to the Hitachi..

That's how mine are on the EX.. and that is also how they were with the original ones.. being loose like that keeps it from binding and breaking something..

Yup, Craigslist is where I found mine.. new sealed in the box still for $350.. Also Facebook marketplace is where I found my still sealed in the box Hawk 226 Ultra.. for $400... IF one has the patients to wait it out and save up so you have cash on hand.. there are lot's of deals on these ad sites.. just waiting is the hard part..

Well, I'm not sure here.. and I wouldn't personally be afraid to buy the china made saw.. BUT.. since there in production at the old plant where the Pegas is made still.. I also believe that quality will go up on these saws from the first production runs.. which my saw had to be one of the first runs since I bought mine from that young man that supposedly won it from a contest.. and this was before the word was out that Excalibur was coming back... in fact the young man told me this news as he said his father was some big wig at Home Depot and that they was going to be bringing the Excalibur back.. They got there hands on a China made one before they was even for sale here... I'm going to take the thing apart and see what I can find one of these days.. Yes Jim I really do like the tilting head of the EX but I rarely do any angle cuts.. I really like the saw and the design.. just my saw lacks quality.. and I guess I sort of seen that very early on which put a bad rap on the brand for me.. I wasn't seeing the quality saw that everyone raved about.. But now I see the made in China on the tag and all the quality issues I've had with my saw.. It now makes sense..