kmmcrafts

All the pros I know of probably made a ton of scrap before they got to a point where they are considered pros.... The pros that I knew of was just free handing the puzzles and using the color tines of the picture to make their pieces.. I can't think of the couple of people that was doing these puzzles but they was making puzzle pieces that was all sorts of circle shapes and whatnot.. not really the " traditional " types with pieces that interlock.. I'll have to look them up.. some crazy difficult puzzles these guys was making.. Seem's like the one I'm thinking of passed away a few years ago.. Maybe someone else will chime in..

And one of the accessories on their site is leg extensions to make the saw taller.. or.. to angle the saw....

I've seen a lot of topics on this.. and researched it quite a lot since I had interest in doing some.. Anyway.. one thing about making puzzles that had stuck with me was.. back then there wasn't a lot of templates.. and the recommendation was to draw on the back of the project sort of a grid of the size puzzle pieces you want to make.. most jigsaw puzzles have slightly different sized pieces.. so just draw the grid on the back and free hand the pieces.. as best you can.. Many said they started out doing this way but after making several puzzles they could do very well without the grid.. Many cut the pieces along color lines and different color shades to make the puzzle harder to see on the photo and harder to put together too.. As others have said.. Steve Good has a few templates too.. I done one puzzle where I used a pattern glued to another plywood board and pit the actual puzzle as the bottom piece and then put a soft paper towel and then the piece with the pattern on top and taped everything together.. Turned out fairly well but did have some light smudging where the two vibrated together.. I always glued the photo to the wood and once dry I'd spray the photo with triple thick clear glaze spray... another light coat covered the smudge marks.. the marks was just scratched clear top coat.. I think it'd have ruined the picture without the clear on it..

Most times I post or reply... I look back and think I could have worded it better..LOL Sometimes I look at it and think what an A$$.. LOL I really don't mean any of my post to be that way.. sometimes it's just making a point or trying to make one... but reading back through a few days later sometimes makes myself wonder about myself, .. I've always said I like something about all the saws I have or have had.. none of them are perfect for every types or style of cutting.. I've mentioned many times that if I was primarily cutting thick wood ( puzzles ) I'd not use a Hawk.. The real reason I have to have all these saws...

Think this is why I now have 6 scroll saws,

Okay so yesterday I moved some things around in the shop and parked the new Hawk next to the others... now it’s the Hawks corner lol. I haven’t done any tuning. Of coarse saws come with a blade but they never say what size or style is in it, lol. Anyway release the upper arm and see that classic FD UR divot but also noticed the blade was bent so I remove the blade from the saw and also see the lower part is also bent in the hockey stick look. Couple turns on the set screws to get them in far enough fixed that. Should probably have been set up better than that but not the first new saw I’ve bought that needed this done either. In fact... every single new saw has needed this. Still feel they should have them set up better than that. JMO I cut this out ( Steve Good pattered ) from 3/4” saw run good cuts a little more aggressive than the other Hawks but I also haven’t done any tuning. The set screws I turned in on the clamps was off but I just wanted to cut on it and was limited on time. I broke about 3 blades trying to get through this project but near the end of cutting I finally started doing some adjustments. Since the original blade was bent I think they had the tension set too tight for the reason of why I was breaking the blades. Little more vibration than the other saws now that I’ve moved it but, as I said no tuning whatsoever short of those set screws. So far overall I’m happy with the saw, not too happy with the setup and wantnot that the company offers. It’s still limited use and everything but I feel the saw was well worth the purchase. But my experience with the company and the set up they do to these saws before shipping them out. I don’t think this saw is for a person that doesn’t expect to have to tune the saw. Something else troubling in my eyes is.. shortly after my first few cuts the tension lever started squeaking when applying tension. Not surprised that they never lubed the saw prior to shipping it either. I sprayed dry lube as suggested to all the areas suggested in the manual and the saw seemed to run smoother and the lever stopped squeaking too. I think once I get things tuned and everything set up I’ll really like the saw. Not to fond of the way Bushton runs the company is probably the biggest fault in the saw itself, Something I noticed right away that is different from the older Hawks that I don’t like about the newer one. The blade is out beyond the saws body so the dust lands in your lap and on the floor. The older saws the blade is back behind the tilt mechanism and a pile builds up back there instead of your lap / floor. Lol

Beautiful workmanship on all of them.. I always wanted to try to make the phone stands to sell but never did.. Must be the ADD/ADHD .. I see things to make.. then all of a sudden have a customer distract my thinking.. then forget because I see something else to make..

I cut a lot of BBply and you do have to change blades quite a lot.. for me probably about every 30 min. of cutting.. sometimes more often..

He’s a wheeler dealer kinda guy just like I was and still am somewhat. Made a lot of money hustling things from tools to furniture to cars. Some people just have this in their DNA. I guess. The trick is to win a awesome deal and see how much you can get back out of it. Gotta know what you’re doing though cause can loose your butt too. Got a friend that tries to do as I did and lost a lot of money trying..

Nice tray.. I'll bet a lot cheaper than the side tray I ordered with my new Hawk too.. I think mine was $40 and it's pretty cheesy they way it's designed to only be held on with one bolt..LOL I may drill it for another bolt..

I see a LOT of Hegners on homemade stands.. Makes me wonder since the stands are rigid if they create vibration on un-even floors. so they build their own..? Adjustable feet on the bottom? for uneven surfaces?

I've seen pictures of Hawks for sale where they was mounted to a homemade stand.. I think you'd be fine so long as the stand is heavy enough.. I think as for vibration goes.. a lot of people can deal with small vibration.. For me.. I loosen stands etc. on all of my saws and let them settle.. for me.. that's just part of the tuning process for optimal performance.. It's not something specific to Hawks.. My first Hawk had small wheels on the stand.. that thing was usable at various speeds.. It was vibration 90% of the speeds... My Excalibur was quite shaky too until I let it settle to the ground.. I do think the Excalibur is smoother than any of the Hawks.. but not by too much.. It still has more vibration than the DW.. but I'm still toying with it too.. and honestly it's smooth enough..

Honestly not sure how you'd go about mounting it to a flat top table.. Hawk does make short legs for table top use...

I think one actually could top feed with the "Ultra" style Hawk like you and I have.. but it wouldn't be all that easy, LOL.. If you go look at the pictures of my new saw. you'll see that the lower arm protrudes through the angle mechanism.. where the ultra and earlier made saws the lower arm sits back behind the angle mechanism.. while the newer saw has a roll pin type upper and lower clamp.. they are different than the ultra ones.. also the plastic tab on the lower arm to hold the blade clamp in place.. those are spring steel on the new saw and hold the clamp up tighter to the lower arm than the plastic ones of he ultra saws.. Unlike the Excalibur.. and DW saws.. the Hawk saw you bottom out the blade into the hole on the clamp.. both top and bottom.. though on the top you have to lower the arm down until the blade hits against the roll pin stop.. You can adjust how far the arm will come down.. so it stops at the right position.. The blade will be installed in the exact same position every time.. In a EX or DW you place the blade in the clamp and you could place it ( depending how the saw is set up ) up to 1/4" higher or lower and still be able to clamp them in and cut.. Put it too low while using a reverse tooth blade you could be skipping the few reverse teeth at the bottom.. The Hawk the blade will only go in so far into that lower holder.. so every blade is going to be in the saw the same way every time.. My DW may have quite a lot of wear.. but I can put a blade in that saw and have a good 1/4 - 3/8 inch above / below where the thumb screw clamps the blade.. actually more like 1/2 probably cause it's quite a lot.. and using that saw I have to be careful how I position the blade as the reverse teeth don't come up high enough. Anyway top feeding would be a pain to try to lower the upper arm while reaching around behind the tilt mechanism and get the blade into the little hole while the holder/clamp is loosely flopping in that slot.. and getting the blade to bottom out in the clamp and then tighten the thumb screw..

You must have had one of the early ones..All of the newer ones have the tension release at the front of the saw now.. They've came a long long way from those days... blade clamps are much different tension release up front... the newest ones from about 2005 ish and newer can be top or bottom feed.. There is considerable less vibration from my early saw 1993 to my newer saw 1998 and my newest one.. 2019.. Not saying they are the best saw.. I like each saw I have for different things.. Still don't like using the Hawk on thick wood.. 3/4" plus thick.. I like the Excalibur or DeWalt better.. My new Hawk once I set it up and cut.. I might like that one for thick wood.. don't know yet as I haven't cut anything on it yet.. Gotta clean out the shop and find the parking spot for it..

Then you have people that don't know the other side of the coin... My older brother went to a show and he's not up on the woodworking stuff.. he knows scroll saw stuff but that's about the extent of it.. He was telling me some guy had all kinds of nice stuff but the edges was all burnt.. then he laughed and was talking about how the guy must be running his saw way too fast trying to make all of that stuff.. he was like every piece he had was burnt edges.. Then I had to educate him about lasers, LOL A properly set up laser.. these days can cut and only slightly darken the edges.. they are getting these things tuned in so good that they are starting to be hard to tell if it's laser cut or scrolled.. I haven't even fired my laser yet but I've been following a guy that worked with lasers most his career.. retired now and has a cheap laser to toy around with.. his videos are so informational.. Hoping to fire it and my CNC up late spring early summer..Since I haven't even unboxed these two machines yet.. but did unbox and set up my Hawk scroll saw... you can see where my interest really is.. I'm only toying around with these two machines to just learn them.. that is... if I ever open the boxes, LOL

Sounds like a great person to deal with.. This is how I go about treating customers on my website.. Going the extra mile for someone makes you a return customer and or at least someone talking about how nice of a person to deal with.. Just as you have done here.. now everyone here might possibly see something they like just from you posting the situation... Not ALL sales people are greedy and only see the $$ sign.. some are extra nice and go an extra mile to and see the extra $$ later on down the road.. if not.. then at least make a new friend etc. so to speak..

These saws are either a love hate with others.. I hated how high it stood when I got my first one.. I also hated how slow it seemed to cut.. but now that I'm used to it.. I don't like the DeWalt.. too aggressive.. but the EX is way too short for me.. way shorter than the Hawk or DeWalt.. the Dewalt is high as well but I put my foot switch in the lower portion of the stand on the DW so it was comfy to use.. the Hawk doesn't have a spot lower for a foot switch to set on.. I have a cutoff of on of the 6x6 post from when my shop was built.. I set that off to the outside of the stand and put my foot switch on that.. then it's all perfect height.. Hawks cutting style took me forever to get used to.. I was determined to like them so I cut everything on the one for a good 6-9 months I'm guessing it took me a good 4 months of production cutting to really get used to and like the saw.. I wanted to like it because of how simple they are made and easy to work on.. Funny how I changed because I remember complaining a lot about how slow they cut etc etc.. But finding the right blade to use and just getting comfortable sitting at that saw was hard to get used to the change after running the DW for 8 straight years of production cutting.. I can cut about as fast on it as I did on the DW now that I'm used to using it.. maybe faster because tight corners and blade changes are much easier once you get it down... Maintenance is quite a lot faster too LOL.. But a lot of it is just what we're used to using.. and I'm learning that first hand.. They sure have a different style / feel of cutting compared to the short link arm style saws..

I burn cherry almost every time when using the DeWalt.. not sure what it is about that particular saw.. even slowing the speed etc etc.. but I've never burned the wood using the Hawk and Excalibur.. not sure why that is.. Something that I recently started doing a little of is video myself cutting.. then you can review what you're doing.. even watching in slow motion really shows what's going on..

I've tried cutting it but it just wanted to melt back together, even at the slowest speed my saw would run.. guessing a skip tooth blade may have worked better? I think I was using a FD ultra Rev. blade.. anyway.. I found it worked best by sandwiching the acrylic in between some BB ply.. I never did finish my project with it.. so i don't know how it really turned out.. my sons friend was just trying to make a square to replace a window and I tried helping with it.. before I left to town.. so I don't know what they ended up with or if it even worked.. LOL

Here is a bit of info that they didn't put in the older saw manuals.. I bought a replacement tension mechanism for my old 220VS.. and the basic info on adjusting the cam lever tension is in the first bit on this page.. Might check that.. as the cam gets worn and needs adjusting.. I found about every saw I've looked at was out of adjustment.. Bushton now recommends dry lube for the wedge and the front cam tension.. you'll see that info farther down on this sheet..

Certain career fields I feel is a must for schooling and a degree... others not so much.. and yes.. there are dumbos in every group.. I also am very strong believer of the fact the college isn't as good as it was 30+ years ago.. heck even 10 years ago.. colleges and professors are NOT keeping up with the times.. Marketing schools and business degrees are way off.. they are teaching the old ways of doing business.. before internet.. But that's another story.. My son when to a career center as I did for a certification.. now days they don't get a certification unless they go for more training than just the career school.. I'm talking career school but its basically just a shop class like high school used to have.. My son went to a class that was for heavy diesel repair.. had three years of this class during his high school years.. was top in his class.. got a job through the career center when at the end of the year they bring in local business's that are looking for young help.. He started out two weeks after high school graduation.. making $14 hr.. while friends was working $8 at McDonald's and racking up college dept.. most those kids dropped out.. still working fast food chains or.. finally now graduating college with $80 - 120,000 in dept.. many having a hard time finding work.. can't file bankruptcy on college dept. and can't find a job.. My son is on his third job.. 3 years at the forklift dealership from graduation when he quit there he was $22 hr . Went to work for a race engine builder until he got laid off.. while laid off he was looking for other work.. landed a job for a International semi tractor dealer.. now making $25 hr.. but in a year and a half can be making $45hr... college kids can't land a job.. starting life in dept. There is getting to be more and more of this type thing.. and the economy is going to crash.. not from a housing crisis this time.. I believe the next one will be because the college's charging outrageous fees to kids that have no idea what work is.. and they are loaning these kids all sorts of money or outdated schooling for jobs that aren't going to be there... Not sure about other areas of the U.S. or the world.. but here in Michigan.. employers are struggling to find skilled trade workers.. a lot of companies are doing apprentice programs to recruit workers..

I use a home version of the steam cleaner.. nice units that require no shelf full of expensive chemical cleaners that if you drink them you'll die, LOL Not that I drink them.. but at one time I had little kids that might try, LOL

It’s about 20 miles to the nearest anything for me LOL

Okay, LOL... so looking for a app to measure vibration.. I learn more than I needed too.... word to the wise.. careful how you word your search term when searching something like that... Who knew there was... well never mind.. not going there with that one..