kmmcrafts

Hope you're not using used toilet wax rings... Stay away from that scrap-pile

JT, My thoughts exactly... however I've been trying to stay neutral about my thoughts of the company and just post my experiences as they progress and let others decide what they think.. I don't really want to influence one side or the other.. just putting out there what's happening.. others can decide what they want.. I've been waiting it out more out of curiosity of what the outcome of it will be.. I ain't worried about the money either.. that stuff grows on trees around here anyway and I have jars of it buried under the foot of snow in my driveway.. anybody that wants a jar? just bring your shovel..

I did some bevel cutting years ago on my DeWalt.. even just a few degrees I didn't like doing it.. I've also recently tried bevel cutting on my Excalibur.. IF I were to do much bevel cutting.. I wouldn't be without a Excalibur... Not just because of the tilting head.. but the mechanism to do the angles is very simple and easy to get a angle spot on with the gear drive deal... I've heard that the Seyco saw is lacking the gear mechanism.. and is a pain in the neck to adjust compared to the gear mechanisms the Ex saws have.. I don't know how this setup is on the new Hawks.. But I cannot stand the tilting mechanism on either of my current Hawks.. the design is pretty crappy.. the table doesn't move freely so you bump it and it either goes too far or not far enough.. real clumsy setup to try to get that perfect angle .. and the knob to adjust it doesn't like to tighten down good on the table to hold it well.. I actually do not and would not move my table once it's set... I like to take care of my equipment.. so when i wax the table I don't stop there.. I wax the whole saw including the stands.. I often wondered if this is why it's hard to get the table to stay once it's set.. you don't dare bump or put too much pressure on one side or the other or it'll move the table out of whack.. I fixed mine by roughing up the washer between the knob and the mechanism so it holds pretty well now.. but I'm never moving it again on these saws, LOL

Thanks for bringing that up.. I had forgot about Dave going to tour the plant..

And that is supposed to mean what? Some sort of jab at me? I'm not sure where you're going with that statement but I find it quite rude.. Not to offend anyone here and especially Iggy.. but for someone that admits to not being mechanically inclined or knows how to tune a saw.. How much credibility is his experience really? Or because he bought during harvesting and it took 5 weeks for him to get his saw.. I expected it could be a while to get my saw because of Iggys experience.... so what.. I wasn't in a hurry and am still not.. i have two good working Hawks in the shop right now.. If I remember correctly.. in that 5 week time frame it took to get his saw.. it seems he called several times.. in a hurry to get his saw.. rush a mechanic and have the chance of a wheel falling off.. So he got a bad saw.. was it because they was trying to rush his saw out the door? Either way they sent him a bad saw and shouldn't have whether he was rushing them or not.. I get it.. How many people bad mouth DeWalts? yet people buying new ones every day.. People rave over the Excalibur saws... but my experience with mine was less than satisfactory.. issues with blade chucks.. bad vibration issues.. and now I tune it and it un-tunes itself.. sure easy fixes and I've worked them out.. but would someone not mechanically inclined be able to or would they have trash talked the saw and make others not buy them.. I might be the only one to complain about the Excalibur saws.. But I've only seen one bad review on the Hawks too.. and that was from a person not really mechanically inclined.. I like my other two Hawk saws.. so I ordered another.. I have no doubt my saw will come in time.. I also am proud to have bought a USA made saw.. and proud to support my fellow american company.. Do I think Bushton could use some better business practices.. yes.. but I also think most business's could.. DeWalt could grease their saws before sending them out... Excalibur could put a jam nut on the rear knob adjuster and make a quality clamp.. Especially on the Excalibur where it's only a couple hundred dollars cheaper than a Hawk.. Both could use a real person to answer the phone when contacting them about parts or service.. The point is they all have some flaw and only hearing 1 bad review on a saw isn't stopping me from buying a saw brand I like.. Maybe after I get it I won't like this one.. certainly a chance I am taking..But isn't buying any brand of saw taking a chance?

If I understood correctly is was a electronic part that was malfunctioning on their CNC..

Jim, I was told way back when that all the saws are built other than waiting on the one part that’s needed to finish them. She said they have saws scattered throughout her office and hardly room to move. So I think once the machine is up and running or the outsourced company can make the part it’ll be pretty quick to get all 18 of them out the door.

Yes Sir.. Awesome quality saws.. at least I hope.. I don't know much about the "new" ones.. but many many comments about how nice a saw they are on many of the forums.. My older saws I have are awesome. which is why I went with Hawk in the first place.. also like supporting small business.. especially American business's.. especially during tough times like they are having right now.. I've been there myself back in my autobody business.. Was in the middle of a total restoration of a 1963 Ford Gallaxy 500 and my big ol 80 gallon 2 stage air compressor bit the dust while sandblasting.. as well as a high end air sander.. That car restoration cost me a bunch of money.. because a lot of things bit the dust doing that car.. my buffer machine, DA sander, and the air compressor all bit the dust on that one job.. dropped $2000 on a new compressor, $500 for a new buffer, and a couple hundred for a new DA.. I charged $4500 for that job but by the time I was done I made $47 with about 112 hours, LOL.. I did get some new equipment though, LOL.. I look back on it and think about how funny it was.. but at the time.. stressing about it and trying to put food on the table.. was a tough time.. nothing went right on that car.. other than a completely satisfied customer and that car won some trophies at the shows.. word of mouth got me several other jobs.. but like I said.. was a tough time in those moments..

I'm just glad I'm not in any hurry.. well short of just being excited to play with a new saw.. maybe I should word it.. I'm glad I'm not in a dire need of the saw.. LOL..

How much?

Just for curiosity I called Nicole from Hawk again today just to see if they ever got the CNC up and running.. and I wanted to ask a few questions regarding the business.. First thing.. the CNC got its part and from what I gather they got it running.. but now there is another issue.. the coolant / oil isn't pumping.. Sounds like they just got it together not long agao. and she said they are all out there working on it right now... She said they have been on a waiting list at a local machine shop to make the part for them.. and that shop said back in first part of Feb that they was booked out until sometime in March.. she mentioned this today and said either they will get their machine running or this local machine shop will call.. whichever comes first will be the one making the part so she can get all their saw orders out.. she said they have 18 saws ordered and are waiting on this part most of that 18 was ordered at Christmas time.... She apologized several times and said this isn't normal for them, LOL So.. I asked out of curiosity.. what is a normal time from someones order to get one made and in the mail to them.. She said normally 2-3 weeks.. I also asked if they build any of these and have them in stock or do they just make as ordered.. she said they try to keep one of each size ready to ship.. They want to have more on hand but there is not enough space to keep them.. They have a new shop going up ( so far just a concrete slab ) that will be a much bigger facility to keep more inventory on hand.. Anyway.. Just thought I'd share the update since I know many of you have been wondering as well as I have as to when this new saw might show up..

I'm going to use blue loctite.. that is the one recommended for small sized and for removable.. it's what we use for the set screws on the blade clamps.. and I'm using it because it's not the strongest hold but I think it'll hold quite well for this...Plus.. I have it on hand.. The red is not really permanent.. well.. it is sort of.. recommended removal is to heat it to loosen it up... I've used red in certain automotive applications when I was working as a mechanic..

Ray, I may be wrong.. but I don't think the saw stopping in a odd position should change the distance between the blade clamps.. I'm thinking more along the lines of the rod that screws into the wedge at the back of the saw needs loosened up to let the upper arm drop down a little lower.. Maybe I'm wrong on that.. Maybe you should raise up and lower the arm down a couple of times to be sure it has dropped down to it's lowest point.. a new saw sometimes has the bolts a little snug and the upper arm doesn't pivot real smooth and easy.. and will take a few hours worth of cutting to get it to sort of loosen up so to speak.. If that doesn't fix it then I would guess you'd need to adjust the rod.. which is underneath the cover where the power switch is.. the rod connects to the lever that you use to adjust the tension..

Well my hour meter experience hasn't been super great so far.. I ordered three of them from a seller on eBay.. Monday I received a package in the mail with 1 hour meter in it.. packaged in a Amazon package from UPS delivery.. which is what the tracking number said.. So right away message the seller.. stating that I only received 1 of the three I ordered and that I either want the other two or a refund for the other two.. Heading to pick up my son from school I get a message of a refund from PayPal but didn't read it.. on the way home I stop at my mail box and there is another package.. with another one... amazon packing again LOL... Get to the house and check my message and the seller claims they sent out two and refunded for the other... Anyway, I bought some wire today and will mess with soldering the connections and hopefully seeing if they actually work now, LOL

Well I never noticed it until I had issues clamping my blades or installing them.. it keeps rising up and to a point where the distance between the lower clamp and the upper clamp makes the blade too short or at least very hard to install and have enough blade to clamp too.. Now that I know to watch for it.. it's just second nature to lower it some until the blade fits between the clamps. I'm going to use some blue loctite on the threads.. shouldn't take much to at least slow it down.. pretty annoying having this happen a couple times in one project though.. I at first though my kids was just playing around with it as they do set at a saw every now and then.. but when it started getting to the point of changing during a project I realized it's doing it by itself.. LOL I do really like this saw.. the more I use it.. and I know I just gotta get the bugs worked out and get the saw tuned to me and my style of cutting.. but my experience doesn't seem to be as good as I expected it to be with everyone loving the Excalibur.. I don't love it yet but don't hate it either.. its starting to grow on me...

I don't use the Excalibur very much.. Mostly using the Hawk.. My Excalibur probably has about 30-40 hours on it in the year and a half I've had it.. So it's not getting used much.. mostly used to "Play" with and learn the saw.. testing things like the vac port and the new pegas clamps etc.. I want to use it more.. I do like the saw.. but things like the stock blade clamp issues I had with it and various other things have prevented me to use it very much... unless I'm just in the playing around mood and not rushed to cut orders etc..

Yeah, putting the loctite on it was what I was thinking.. I may just do the line of paint ( paint marker ) for a reference.... what direction makes the cut more aggressive? lower the arm or raise it? can't raise it much the way I have it set up.. as parallel makes it to where the blade just fits nicely.. it could raise some but not much.. and probably doesn't make a big difference in cut... I didn't think about that being part of why it is adjustable.. I was only thinking the motor movement.. there are times I like a more aggressive cut too.. but I usually just go to the DeWalt for those task.. LOL

This took some time for me to figure out at first until I seen someone else posting about it on another forum.. then I was like duh... LOL The upper arm is to be parallel to the table.. when I set the saw up I did just that.. as time went on.. it seemed as though the blades was getting shorter.. but seemed to work the same in my other saws.. Turns out the knob at the back of the saw turns on its own over time.. and is raising the arm up so it is no longer parallel to the table.. This isn't a big deal if it takes several weeks / months I suppose.. but my saw seems to move quite a bit.. Like every project or two my blade is too short to clamp.. Now that I know what is going on it's not such a issue.. But it's quite annoying to me.. Anyone put lic-tite or a jam nut on this thing? I'm about to fire up the welder and weld the dam thing permanent, ... at a minimum paint a line on it so I can see it has moved or needs to be put back a little every once in a while.. I checked for a line on the knob and there is non... while others claim there is a white line on the knob.. Maybe the paint wore off from me having to turn it back so many times already What other purpose does this have? seems like the designer could just build the saw so it's parallel and make it non adjustable.. then this silly issue wouldn't arise.. DeWalt doesn't have anything to adjust the arm.. I guess Hawk does but once set it stays.. To me this is a design flaw or poorly / cheaply designed as a jam nut or something simple as a nylon washer could save the user a lot of frustration.. I bet the engineers laugh at everyone of these going out the door... There... my little rant is over.. But I would like to know if anyone has done anything to keep this from turning on it's own.. I'll be looking into something... maybe just the welder.. as that's cheaper than a jam nut, LOL

You should never have to adjust that knob at the back of the saw for adjusting blade tension.. If that is what you're talking about... though it does move on its own some times.. That is only used to make the upper arm level or parallel with the table..

Not all the Walmart stores have that great of a craft section.. There is a Walmart in each of the surrounding towns I live by.. of coarse the farthest one away has the best craft section, LOL... one of them doesn't really even have a craft type section.. LOL On another subject of Walmart products and prices.. Motor oil... The same brands from the local autoparts stores is about 30% higher.. some brands even more than 30%.. I do my own oil changes etc.. and buy the big 5 quart jugs they have.. the parts stores are more money for the jug but not just that.. they also only come in a 4 quart jug and the one quart size at the autoparts stores is almost as much as Walmarts 5 quart jug.. LOL..same deal with Transmission fluid.. Not sure on other things like car / tractor batteries as I buy the factory blemished ones from Interstate battery.. $35 for a brand new Interstate battery that has a ticker on upside down or something is awesome compared to the $130+batteries from the auto stores, LOL

I didn't take any offense to your reply.. I was just merely stating that I've never needed to add weight to any of my saws.. and I would guess that a lot of people wouldn't need to either IF they set up their saw and level it to the spot where the saw will be parked at.. The DeWalt is the only saw I have that has a three legged stand.. others are four legged..

I've never added any weight to any of my saws.. nor have I had the need to.. Now that said.. I did at one time years ago add some carpet padding between the saw and stand on a Dremel 1800 saw I had.. helped a lot..on that old saw.. but my Dewalt, Excalibur and both my Hawks just needed the legs planted firmly to the floor.. by loosening the bolts of the stand and letting things settle to the floor where they are parked.. this is greatly important.. and even just moving the saw slightly can sometimes pick up some vibration simply because its not parked where it was adjusted at / to.. My new shop has a real smooth and level concrete floor.. this isn't quite as much an issue in the new shop.. old shop had concrete floor as well but was one of those DYI jobs that shows when you're setting up things on it like this.. to look at it.. it looks good and flat.. but it's not..lol

Yeah that one is my favorite one.. especially when you envision it with a nice Walnut backer and have the clock installed.. I think it'll be a hot one to sell once it's complete.. Though those VW's sure are popular too..

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and likes.. Starting to feel a lot better with this sinus infection.. I maybe working in the shop soon again to finish up the half done projects.. LOL..

I drill appropriate sized hole in a piece of scrap 1/4" or 1/8" BBply.. drill the hole just the right size so the screws will actually thread into the wood.. thread both or all four as I do into the wood put a couple strips of wood on each end of the plywood high enough to keep the screws off the table and run my orbital sander with 100 - 150 grit paper and sand all the screws at once.. you only want to dress a minimal amount so screw the screws in the wood just about flat with the wood.. just enough to touch the sander.. Works great for me.. You could use the belt sander too in this manor.. but screwing the screws into the wood helps hold the tiny things and also helps in holding them flat so you do not round over the edges etc..