kmmcrafts

I know I've seen a couple topics covering LED light strips. I've never messed with them at all so any info some might have on them I'm all ears.. Here is the project I'm currently working on.. It's not a great photo so I'll try to explain a little to what I'm trying to build and maybe some will have some suggestions.. Here is a photo of a 1/8" 12 x 12 mirror tile that I laser engraved. I have a frame design that this will fit into with a slot / opening to feed power cord through for the LED lights. I was originally going to just paint it ( maybe still will if the LED light plan doesn't work ) but thought putting lights around the inside of the frame might be a nice touch. BTW this is just a Christmas gift for my sons girlfriend so not something I'm selling. So I guess my question is.. what LED lights to use? I seen these at HF but 25ft is a lot and was hoping for something a little cheaper. I'm guessing I only need 4-5 ft of lights.. was thinking about painting the backer white and running lights around the inner edge of the frame so it's like a light box or box frame with lights, LOL. https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ft-led-tape-light-70030.html These lights would be perfect but 25ft is overkill, however if i could cut them up and make new lights for more of these mirrors it'd be great.. however there is only one remote and plug as far as I can tell. So maybe I need to look elsewhere for a shorter strip of lights or a roll of lights where I can make my own and buy power supply and remote individually. Or can I buy these HF lights and purchase power supplies and remotes separately somewhere? I placed this on my slider window frame to show how the light shines through.. just thought if I could get color changing LED's they could pick green for the grinch and have it light up.. if not then I'll just paint the back green. Sorry Photo isn't the best but it's pretty hard to take a picture of a mirror, LOL

Those smiles are worth more than any amount of money... hugs are a bonus on top of that.. Job well done.

I'm not scrolling anymore either, however I stick around here too as I gained many friends here. I also feel I owe the folks back for all the help with patterns and other shared knowledge, tips and tricks I've gained here over my time of scrolling. Would love to be still scrolling but just can't do it on a daily anymore with my sinus issues. Would love to have a place like this where I could show some of the laser / cnc stuff and share info, but most sites for those there is a bunch of disrespectful people on them that only want to criticize newbies rather than try to teach them and help them along.

Looks great to me too.. Nice work!! really sort of resembles the walnut and maple one I made.. I run across a picture of mine that came across my memories on Facebook the other day so I saved it to my computer. Here is a shot of mine.. I sold mine on Artfire marketplace years ago as a artwork piece rather than a toy and the buyer paid $110 + shipping

I kinda expected this because they're obviously looking for value of something they have no clue about. I originally ignored the topic because they were clearly not looking for info on how to use it or something pertaining to that.. but rather looking to sell it and wanting to know the value as if they may be hitting the jackpot. Those types never stick around for any type of conversation.. no thanks for the info etc..

Nice work! I did this same one several years ago.. maybe 2013 ish.. Always wanted to make another but never did get to it. I made mine from Walnut and Maple if I remember correctly. It's a fun one and also fairly easy one to make.

The thing with Hawk saws is... most all of them "look new" as they used a high quality powder coating for a finish and even if they sat outside the finish doesn't really fade or make the saw "look old and well used".. Unlike some of the other brands where the paint just falls off without even touching the saw, LOL This seems like a very low serial number so I would guess it's not worth much.. but I'm not going to put a value on something without seeing a photo and knowing more about it.. Location plays a big roll in value too.. places like California where there seems to be an abundance of older Hawk scroll saws you have a lot of them in the $100 - 300 range.. places like the north east the same saw might fetch $300 - 500... As low of serial number is I'm guessing this is very old round barrel clamp saw with the problematic motor so IF that would be the case I'd guess this is worth $150 - 200 at best..

Yeah, it has to be ordered in.. good news is shipping is free and for me it's here within a couple days. I believe this is what is sold on many laser engraving supply stores... but the laser sites seem to have way more options such as good on both sides and many more species including exotics and also various thickness available. There is also a lot of colored acrylics etc too on the laser supply stores. I've always wanted to try scrolling acrylic but never did give it a try.. same with lasering it.. need to order some sample / practice pieces one of these days. This is one of the sites I see thrown around on some of the laser groups / forums.. I've never done any business with them but as you can see they have dyed wood and many acrylics etc. https://makerstock.com/collections/wood

FrankEV is the one that turned me onto these.. I've bought and used a few boxes of the 5/32 size.. back when I was first turned onto these there was a wide variety of species available but now it seems to be most of it is out of stock. They also have 1/4" thick but I've not used it before. The laminate is thinner than say BBply but I've not had any issues with it peeling or any issues whatsoever with this stuff.. The back is not always the same species I don't think.. Though on the maple and birch it's sometimes hard to tell what side is what.. however the walnut looks more like a maple or similar lighter color wood on the back... We've all seen many great pieces Frank has made from these panels and he is a pretty detail oriented person.. If the stuff was junk I would think he wouldn't have been recommending it.. What little I've used I like it.. in fact.. it's been tempting to switch to it rather than using the big sheets of BBply and having to cut them down.. These are 12 x 19 so easy to cut down if needed.. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Columbia-Forest-Products-5-32-in-x-1-ft-x-1-ft-7-in-PureBond-Walnut-Plywood-Project-Panel-10-Pack-5107/312981163

Took me around a year as well, and just like you.. If business was slow and not rushed to get a order out the door I would use the Hawk.. If I was rushed to get something out the door then I used my Dewalt at that time.. I still sometimes do that but now have the Excalibur and it really depends on the project at hand too. That being said the first Hawk I bought had a lot of issues and not knowing the Hawk saws didn't help that situation either.. but it was used a lot before i got it and many things were very worn that I didn't understand at the time.. Lucky I only paid $100 for it and that was probably $100 too much after basically rebuilding the whole saw and adding another $300 in parts it finally worked great, lol.. Without that experience though I still wouldn't know much about those Hawk saws.. but through a lot of trial and error I learned those Hawk saws inside and out. Of coarse much help from Bushton too..

Glad you finally got to a point where you truly enjoy the Hawk. Many people either love them or hate them. Doesn’t seem to be a in between with them and most that hate them usually do not properly tune them and or give them time to learn the clamps and tension system. They are a totally different experience from the average saw but if you get it tuned and learned good they’re also a totally different experience to use as well. Unfortunately many give up on them before that happens. I almost gave up on them as well when I got my first Hawk. They’re so different from the DeWalt that I had used for many years and also all the other saws I had before the DeWalt.

Just my opinion but when I made these back in the day I removed the doves / butterflies altogether. It’s beautiful without them and much less fragile.

It’s a must for the old saws before the Ultra came out as those old saws you had no adjustment screw under the front tension cam so those wore out quickly. This really only makes it easier to change the cam when needed replaced. No real benefit as far as scroll sawing experience goes but easier to work on when needs service.

I'm happy to help the village folks any time I can.. I'm glad the tips helped as having a properly tuned saw just makes the scrolling that much more fun to do. I think I remember you saying you didn't get a manual with your saw... They are available online through Bushtons website.. Here is the one for the G4 which I think is what you have if memory serves correct. http://www.hawkwoodworkingtools.com/files/SawManuals/manual_G426.pdf

I have a Christmas ornament pattern I had someone make for me several years ago.. If a ornament works.. Sorry for posting a link to the ornament.. I tried to right click save it to upload here but it won't work so I'll just post the link to the item. https://www.kevskrafts.com/listing/485054599/physical-therapist-or-assistant Probably could enlarge it and make a backer if you wanted to make a wall hanging piece out of it.. send me a PM and I'll share the pattern if it'll work for what you have in mind.

After that is adjusted correctly and if you still have issue with the lever at the back popping up.. You may need to replace the wedge shape thing underneath the lever at the back of the saw. That wedge should be pointed and not sharp like to cut you but it should be fairly sharp pointed.. You can just use a piece of fine sandpaper on a flat surface and sand the flat edges to make it sharp.. just be sure to sand both sides of it somewhat evenly..

Front tension cam has a set screw to adjust the tension lever on the upper arm. It’s a very small Allen screw directly on the bottom side of the upper arm right below where the tension lever goes into the arm. You adjust the set screw without a blade in you move the front tension lever as if you’re tensioning a blade and adjusted correctly you should feel some resistance about 1/8” - 1/4” before it is fully in the tensioned position. You should also have a small hole in the top or some saws have it on the side of the arm near that lever to place a drop of oil to lubricate the cam so you don’t wear the screw or ensentric out. If you can’t get it to have the resistance then you need to either replace the set screw or the encentric or both. Flip lever over and kinda let it flop over on its own. Should stop before hitting the arm and being all the way n tension position. This shows after I pushed it down the rest of the way. See the hole on top where I oil mine. As said before some have hole on the side instead. This is under the arm where the set screw is.

VBX is where I bought bearings for one of the saws I had rebuilt over the years.. They have some decent quality and also lower grade cheaper in the same sizes.. or at least they used to.. Ray, I looked up on Grizzly for the saw and they have parts list with prices on the site for the Grizzly version.. I do not know for sure if they're the same sizes etc.. but I assume so because they are made in the same place as the Seyco, King, and the others.. Not the place where the new EX's are built.. even those had all the same bearings / sleeves or at least the one I rebuilt did, LOL Check it out, scroll down for the price list https://www.grizzly.com/products/g0969/parts

Yeah there are some folks just using the system unfortunately.. I'm guessing this was about the more recent car pattern you did. I asked what year and no response from them either.. Also as JT mentioned, happens allot with people looking for information as well.. they come ask a question and several answers replied to them and no solution or thank you ever replied back from the original person asking the question. I don't know what happen to politeness over the last few years but it's gotten really bad with this type of thing. Just yesterday on another local FB group people were talking about the FB selling adds and how you make appointment to go look at something and they sell it before you get there and never contact you to let you know it sold even though they know you're on the way.. Guess someone drove 4 hours one way and someone did that to them. That kind of thing is happening more and more and is a real crappy thing to do.. seems nobody has any respect for others..

They also have a nice individual parts list.. it'd be really nice of some of these other "supposed higher end brands" would put together a parts list and individual purchase options rather than buying the whole guts of the machine because of 1 bearing and one sleeve..

The sleeves are also included.. it comes all assembled other than the one larger bushing and the spacers. That larger bushing and bearing seems to be the one that really gets beat up also seen where the connecting rod part that connects to the motor I've seen some have issues.. Other than that the rest of the bearings always look decent inside the saw.. Now at the front of the saw I see some issues especially with the bearings in the lower arm.. probably from all the fine sawdust falling onto those bearings.. The link assembly doesn't include the parts at the front of the saw.. IF you could get a bushing from Jet.. and some good bearings it might be cheaper option now days.. I see they raised the prices of them on Seyco.. Then again everything went way up so maybe bearings and sleeves are still the way to go..

Pegas has parts but not individually, just like seyco and Excalibur you have to replace the whole drive link system as a kit rather than the one or two bearings that are usually the main issue. Seyco sells the drive link for Pegas saws as does bearwood. But if you just want to order pieces nobody other than Jet has the individual parts unfortunately. With all that said, back when I was researching for my rebuild the individual parts if buying all bearings and sleeves was more money than just buying the link arms as a whole and then you don’t need to press the old bearings out and the new in etc. Back then I think the assembly was $114 but last I heard it’s more now. Best thing is if you have a spare saw is to pull one apart and just grease it up good before you need parts.

It doesn't matter at all with a Excalibur or like saw... but the tension changes with the blade length variations on a Hawk or Hegner if you're installing the blades in the clamp properly by bottoming them out in both clamps which if the blades are exactly the same length then you should be able to set the tension and never have to touch it again unless you need another tension for a different size blade. I've had some Pegas blades so short they wouldn't even reach the clamps in the Excalibur.. Hawk and Hegners saws are way more picky about correct blade tension than any other saw I've ever used.. Improper tension almost always results in a broken blade.. But with the short rocker arm saws you could almost forget to apply tension and not break the blade.. sawing experience will make a difference of coarse but the blade doesn't break or slip out of the chuck. I do nip the pointed tip off the ends on these blades which does help but it's still something we shouldn't have to do IF the blades were made properly with the same length like all the other blade brands..

I've been able to easily find bearings as that was how I originally intended to repair my saw but my issue was finding the sleeves. Rolf also ran into that issue when he rebuilt a saw for a friend in their club. The only thing I've ever been able to find individually was bearings from a bearing supplier.. What I did find more recently of coarse right after buying that whole assembly was that Jet sells individual parts and appear to be the same sized bearings ( again according to the manual ) and you can buy those sleeves through any dealer that sells Jet parts such as ereplacement parts etc.. Might be something for you to look into more.. as far as I could tell you could get everything through Jet.

I'm not sure why they are there.. at one time it was said to be to determine what was the top / bottom of the blade... however they're never consistent with whether they are top or bottom or even have that at all.. It's been my biggest peeve of these blades because they're also not consistent in length.. so for a Hawk or Hegner user where you bottom the blade out in the lower clamp and then pull the upper arm down to the top of the blade and bottom out then it's never consistent blade tension from one blade to the next.. The way Hawk and Hegners are set up you shouldn't ever have to mess with tension unless changing blade sizes but when running the Pegas you need to check it with every blade..