kmmcrafts

Thanks for the link, funny I was just looking at another Youtube (whosthevoss I think is the name) where he built a fliptop table.. I need one of those too.. I think

The crate is wood.. I think it's probably 3/8" plywood.. I think this might be a temporary and possible permanent (since most of my temporary ends up being permanent) solution.. I think I'll glue and nail both top and bottom pieces together and then frame it build some legs from 2x4's.. I also forget than this laser will run via thumb drive or even wifi etc.. so it really doesn't need the computer connected.

Yeah, I found one that is close to the size and might work.. but it's close to $400 too.. I'm rethinking this now.. I might just have to go at it really slow and build what I need.. so long as no snow or rain I guess I could work in the driveway in the cold to make some cuts on my table saw and miter saw.. table saw is hooked to dust collector and not much comes off it.. don't have any step down connectors for the miter saw but might be able to do all of it on the table saw anyway.

I knew this would be the response and deep down I also know this is really what I need to do to really make it the way I want.. I may end up building a huge bench down one whole side of the shop so I can place my other two lasers on it as well.. then plumb the exhaust into one big manifold to exit out in one spot. Then I won't need to cut several holes in my wall to install the smoke stack, LOL. The bigger reason I don't really want to build it is I'm not really supposed to be doing any sawing of wood.. I think I could get away with it outside in the spring / summer.. just hoping to set things up before then.. and building my own is not a best option currently due to my doctor's orders..

Many of you know I bought a new laser a couple months back. I'm wanting to get a workbench to set it on but having a bit of trouble finding one that the laser will actually fit on. The dimensions of the laser are 48.8W x 34.3D x 26.4H and most benches I find are not but 24 inch deep, while the laser could overhang the edges some as the feet are not all the way out to the edge of it. I'd have to measure but I'm guessing a 30" Deep might work. Next issue is how tall the table is as the machine is already 26" tall so a 30" tall table would make loading and unloading the work a bit on the tall side.. but as it is only 26.4 tall leaving it on the ground as is I have to almost be on my hands and knees to load and unload it which is partly why I want to table. A 30" tall table would do better than leaving this on the ground though so I could probably live with that. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any nice larger benches that can hold this 300lb machine and have some room on either side to place the laptop and other things to run it.. Hoping to be able to put the chiller red thing off to the side in the picture underneath the table. Looking at the photos maybe 30" wouldn't be too bad after all because the laser table is half way down into the machine once the door is open.. I just gotta be able to reach and see the control panel on the right side of it.. I am 5.6Ft so that might work. I know someone gonna say build a bench.. I'd rather buy one.. but worst case I might settle for building one but I'm not much of a builder unless there is some real good blueprints.. I'm not great at just winging it like many of you guys are.. I've asked on the laser sites I'm on and 90% just deal with it on the ground.. a couple folks built a bench out of the parts from the shipping crate it ships in but the crate is exactly the size of the laser and I need a space for my laptop etc.. and those homemade ones looked pretty sketchy to me for a 300lb machine that probably would shake that whole table when the machine is running, LOL Anyway, anyone know of a site with many different workbench options? IF I have to build my own it's going to be a while as my truck doesn't get out in the snow and salt.. so like to buy so I can get this up and running. Thoughts and Suggestions? Maybe you guys will be more help than the laser groups.. most those folks are only into laser talk and show off of projects rather than shops and workbenches, LOL

Hmm, well that's just dumb.. now when you break a blade there is no lever at the back that pops up out of place that makes you get up off the chair so you can reach back and pop it back over into place. Great idea really.. as far as I know the lever action one has always been the design they have used and you're right.. it's over engineered and no reason i can see as to why it's like that.. other than years ago that's how they described how to tension the blade properly.. which was always way off from what they say on the sticker anyway.. at least for me on my saws.. IF you haven't maybe you should post that on the FB Hawk Group.. maybe Bushton will get the hint that we don't like that lever popping up out of place when a blade breaks.. BTW, I looked at a Hawk for sale once where they just threaded a nut on that rod.. I just assumed they lost the actual lever and too cheap to replace it.. now making me wonder if maybe someone did that on purpose I will say if your front tension cam isn't adjusted properly and or worn out that it'll make that lever pop up and not hold the blade correctly.. not sure if the knob would keep it on tension better or not..That's usually how I learn that I need to adjust that little set screw underneath the upper arm at the front of the saw..

I'm not sure what you are seeing, he never edited his post.. The title still says EX-12 on my end.. But I believe he just did a typo..

Hmm, Haven't tried that stuff before but I've used the 5/32 size of this stuff from Home Depot and so far it's been good to me.. Though I was using it for portrait type work that was framed.. kinda bought it for the first time back during Covid when BBply was unavailable in my local stores and I run across this stuff.. Works great for using in my laser too.. actually designed for laser work.. some don't realize how toxic the "burning" of laser engraving the glues and don't realize you shouldn't be lasering just any old plywood.. Other sources to search out thin plywood is search for laser cutting plywood.. there are many different speacies of wood available besides just birch and maple etc.. in thin 1/8" and 1/4" so that might be a good option too if you're looking for something different. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Columbia-Forest-Products-5-32-in-x-1-ft-x-1-ft-7-in-PureBond-Maple-Plywood-Project-Panel-10-Pack-4940/312284408

The short blade life could also depend on what brand and type of blade they are using.. as when I first started years ago I bought some off brand blades from the local hardware store that was really bad and didn't last long at all.. so this could also be a cheap blade or wrong blade for the type project being made.. I agree with the Hegner saw.. I don't know about the 14" saw as it's not a variable speed saw.. make a difference for learning? I don't know.. Blade tension on them also is a learning curve and the parallel link arm saws tend to be more forgiving on blade tension etc.. I could also see kids misplacing the lower blade clamps and those aren't cheap for the Hegners.. so that all said.. I'm wondering if a Seyco, or Pegas might be a better option for school teaching. The Bauer from Harbor Freight looks like a decent saw but I'm not sure where you'd get parts as they're not the same parts as mentioned above.. while some parts are shared among the other brands but if you need a link arm assemble that would be different I think since Bauer is a 22" saw and a Seyco is 21" I believe?

The numbers on the bearing will tell you what sizes and type of bearing to get.. from there you can go cheap or a middle or high end bearing.. My experience for the "cheap" ones was that the ball bearings or the part they sit in had looser tolerance than the little better bearing.. probably the material it's made from is different too? I don't know.. I just remember buying some cheap bearings that were more loose and worn feeling than the ones I was going to replace, LOL.. I don't remember for sure but I think VBX bearing online is where I ordered from and you had the cheap, better, and best options to choose from.

Not to change topic but I recall you trying to sell your magazines? Did they sell okay or hard to get rid of? I have a stack of them I'd like to get out of my way.. not really looking to get money for them but not willing to ship them free either and the hassle of it.. I've been tempted to just toss them onto my next campfire or something, LOL

Thanks to @Denny Knappen for helping locate a pattern I finally made one.. then something bad or good happen depending on how you look at things.. lets just say.. I showed my wife and then she said... Hey, I have a great idea for this.. Any husband knows they're in trouble after those words come out.. SO... my daughter is going to be getting married pretty soon and they're in the wedding planning stage... I maybe should have waited a couple years to make this or at least show it to anyone, LOL... Little did I know that they was looking for ideas for table centerpieces for the reception.. now you know what I get to make a lot of now.. my reason for saying good or bad idea to show them... I made a few so far but really only sanded and dipped one in danish oil.. I so far made two out of spalted maple and one from cherry and one from walnut.. they cut really quite fast and easy to make which is good.. most of the other wedding things I make are pretty complex and take at least an hour or more and this can be cut in maybe 15 - 20 minutes.. I haven't tried stack cutting but that is also an option. As shown in the photo I've been playing around with mixing up the wood species to give off some contrast etc.. Probably going to have to make about 20? no idea yet as I have no clue how many tables will be needed.. she's just doing a smaller wedding maybe 150 - 200 people.. I don't know if Denny glues his together or not? I haven't done so and am hoping to not glue them as once we're done I may put them online to sell with the option to laser engrave the names etc. onto them... otherwise what are we going to do with 20+ of these.. another option maybe we could give one away to whomever is at said table as a competition or something.. no idea yet but selling with laser engrave option is something I had in mind once done with them. One nice thing about not gluing them is they breakdown quite easy and take up very little space.. plus can mix and match however you like with the wood species..

The new laser hasn't even been plugged in yet.. been too busy to mess with it. I need to make a trip to town to get a 6" dryer vent and build something to set into the window so I can vent it outside.. Not quite sure where the permanent parking spot for the new laser will be so not quite ready to bore a big hole in the wall only to decide to move it later. Actually wanting to move my other two lasers from upstairs to downstairs.. Looking like I'm going to be selling off both my Hawk scroll saws and keeping the Excalibur for hobby purposes.. Doctor says no more scrolling or limited scrolling because of my allergies.. and they also found I was born with a defective valve in my heart so in combination something is messing with me when wearing a mask... Say the heart looks great and strong but may at some point need to have surgery to fix / replace that valve.. hope they don't go to HF to get a new valve.. I want a nice stainless Kohler valve that'll last.. I can scroll all day without issue but soon as I try to protect my lungs with a mask it messes me up for a few days... so forced to flipping over to laser and cnc work.. CNC will be getting a enclosure to limit the amount of dust etc.. lasers vent outside so I should be able to stay in business for a few more years anyway.

Yes me too, and the red matches all three of my lasers and the CNC router.. I suppose the Hawks too but are they more orange than red? They're certainly not true red.. more in between a orange and red I guess.. Not the greatest picture of the Hawk and it looks more red in the photo than they actually are but you get the idea.. I guess red matches better than yellow. Edit: There seems to be a fair amount of yellow in the background.. DeWalt miter saw, table saw and drill on my makeshift table / dresser, also not shown is the DW planer LOL.. Look outside you see my punching bag through the window.. That's for when I'm almost finished with a project and it breaks..

I also like these discussions to an extent but sometimes it gets out of hand and goes to a personal level.. It also gives a bad image for newcomers to the site as well.. I know a few newer people that "were" on here and recently moved onto another scroll saw page because we were to standoffish so that's not a good image to get new people onto the best site the internet (my opinion) has to offer to the scrolling community. As for the Bauer and Hercules brand.. Yes Hercules is better quality... unfortunately the most tool options are in the Bauer brand.. they seem to push that brand further so that is the battery system I have and use ( besides my DW stuff ).. I have actually been very impressed with the Bauer brand stuff that I have purchased and used so far they have far exceeded my expectation.. But if they fail I'm not out much either.. I would have rather went with the Hercules but many of the tools wasn't available in that brand so that was my reason for going with the Bauer stuff.. we all know once you get locked into the battery system you're kind of stuck with that brand.. I'm sure that is why this brand is pushed more and more tool options offered.. they know what they're doing.. but I'm also buying this stuff with that in mind.. I also have DW battery stuff so if it's tools I'll use a lot I'll go that route and pay up the money. As impressed as I've been with the Bauer stuff though.. I've been more and more ditching the higher end stuff..

I don't think I ever said or even implied that this HF saw was better than DW nor did I imply or say that DW is better than this HF saw... I also believe I mentioned in the original post that these are too new to have a longevity test done on.. The video I posted was merely a "visual comparison" of similarities and that it "appears" to be very similar built.. Many of the folks here are older retired and not working the field anymore.. many on fixed incomes and see no reason to buy a commercial tool when a HF tool will do them just as good and then they have more money for the bingo cards on Friday mornings at the local McDonald's senior bingo day..

Good to see you dropping in here Randy.. I hope you'll stop in more often.. Back in the day I almost bought one of those cw-40's but I opted for a refurbished Dremel 1800 instead.. was a good saw for the money I paid as I production cut on that saw for 2 years before I upgraded to the DeWalt and sold the Dremel.

My son works for the state as a mechanic repairing plow / salt trucks, graders and anything from semi trucks to weedwackers, LOL.. They have snap-on and Mac trucks come through but many of them run the Icon from HF because the tool trucks only come through once a week.. if you break a tool just as he's leaving out the driveway you gotta wait until next week.. HF is right up the road.. and they replace them free just as the tool trucks do.. Yeah they gota send someone into the store but that's better than waiting a week.. They're great tools.. and less than half the cost... Heck even the cheaper Pittsburg tools get replaced free..

Most my tools when I first got into the business was purchased as refurbished Hitachi and many of them was still working great when I upgraded to larger DeWalt models.. I honestly liked the smooth operation and comfort of the handle grip on my Hitachi better than I do the DW one I replaced it with.. All tools are or were refurbished up until more recently..

I'm sorry I guess my small mind thought some folks might like to see a video of the side by side comparison of the DeWalt and this HF saw.. I apologize to anyone that wasted their time watching this. I seem to forget there are many more smarter people out there than me that already knew about these saws and why they are priced so differently yet very similar.

Just run across this video and thought I'd share.. The ending part of the video is where this guy compares this saw to his DeWalt.. Most these tools are too new to the market to test for several years or see how long they are trouble free for.. I haven't looked real hard at the bigger power tools like this but maybe should have looked closer at them when I bought my new DeWalt miter saw and table saw.. Pretty impressive for the price I think but I'm sure others will think diffrently

Yeah, most people use a pegboard with hooks to hang the ornaments on.. Nothing wrong with that method but I feel like they all get blended together and don't really stand out.. building a rack so the boxed ornaments can stand up at an angle towards the isles to grab attention is key.. IF customer wants to get all touchy feely they can simply open the box.. the box with cotton also gives a bit of protection from the kiddos that like to grab and touch everything too..

I have never seen anyone selling them or displaying them in boxes either.. Not many do it that way.. sometimes it's good to be different than the others.. and is some cases make it better selling..

I was turned onto these boxes by @Rolf many years ago... I think he sells at a few shows displayed in the boxes maybe he can chime in on this.. I no longer sell in person so maybe the craft shows now days would be better without the box. The boxes are cheap enough when buying bulk that it's really only raising the price by around $50 - 1.. Most craft shows I've been to the people selling ornaments are only charging $5 - 8 as my area isn't the greatest area for shows.. however back in the early 2000's I did fairly well at $10.. It's been a few years since I've even seen anyone selling ornaments at the shows..and back in 2014 at a show there was a vendor selling laser ornaments for $2 or 2 for $3 LOL.. probably why I don't see too many selling handmade ornaments much anymore, LOL Giving the option for a box is a great way to go about it I suppose.. I've always tried keeping things simple.. and the boxes are cheap enough that I never really raised my price just because of the box.. in fact I lowered the prices for in person sales as back then I was selling ornaments online for $12 but I rolled it back to $10 so I didn't have to make change etc. also out of the $10 I paid the sales tax.

The clear top gift boxes are a great way to display ornaments at the shows if you build a stand to make the boxes sort of stand up at a angle to show them better.. When I did in person sales almost everyone commented on how nice the packaged ornament is to give as a gift.. I'd have to get me old computer out to get the photos off it of how they're displayed in the clear top gift boxes.. When I switch to the boxes sales went up.. I no longer use the clear top ones since I'm shipping them the cardboard boxes give a little more protection and I'm not needing to display them at a booth anymore. Edit: I remember I have a photo on my FB page from back in 2016 where I was packaging some orders for the day that is showing the ornament displayed in those clear top boxes.. You can see that a business card fits in nicely.. having these set up on a rack at a show in the box is how I displayed them and I used address return labels to hold the clear top on in some cases.. The return label with printed just like a mini business card. When displayed at a show I would use colored paper to place behind the ornament on top of the cotton to make the contrast better and make them more Christmas looking with red and green paper behind them.