kmmcrafts

I know DnD took it upon themselves to replace the blades and hoped to get refunded for the defective blades.. When I went to check that out they was sold out of stock.. Maybe not sold out.. but out of stock on the web site.. might be that they don't have any good ones in stock, LOL So then I seen BW's had them in stock.. so I ordered two gross hoping that I got some before the bad batch.. or some of the new ones that might have the issue resolved.. only to have both packs bad.. Oh well.. I think after the holiday I'll contact BW just to see what they say about it.. and at least let them know so that some other person doesn't get a bad batch.. It's not a huge deal because I can just snip the ends off.. but doing so and getting the correct length is kind of tricky.. though I'm starting to get use to it now, was a real pain during the holiday rush orders.. and I got fed up enough that I just started using the Excalibur and the DeWalt instead of the Hawk.. as no need to cut them at all on the other saws..

Yeah Jet saws changed a few years ago and they have a upper blade clamp that the tension lever also clamps the blade all in one step..

Well, I ordered several gross of blades from them... Unfortunately the two gross of #5 are the same messed up funky cut ends like the other gross of blades I had... was hoping to get a couple good packages of blades until Pegas got their issue fixed... I might just have to send these back.. I don't really need 3 gross of these screwed up blades... LOL.. DnD is sold out is why I bought from Bear Woods... These blades work okay in the DeWalt and Ex type saws where the blade length doesn't affect blade tension... but they can't be used in the Hawks... I suspected this could happen... The gross of #3 and #7 I ordered seem okay... Maybe I need to make me a jig so I can clip these funky ends off at the right length every time so the tension isn't compromised when using them with the Hawk..

Maybe time to upgrade your saw to the new Jet.. yeah you have the funky barrel clamp for the lower clamp... but if you're a bottom feeder.. that top clamp requires no turning of any knobs.. just flip the lever.. Hope you heal quickly and are able to make some sawdust very soon...

Well... The laser wasn't supposed to be here until Monday... but it showed up today... I wasn't ready for it just yet.. gotta figure out where the thing's going to be parked at.. Probably won't really mess with it much at all until spring.. I'm really in need of ( work before play at this moment ) because.. I need to build back some of my inventory.. took a hard hit this year.. I'm really looking forward to my new Hawk though.. but as for the laser and the CNC.. they may not even get set up until summer...

That's great news.. I always like to see new scroll sawers in the community... My neighbor also just got a scroll saw and so I gave him samples of about every blade I have.. even ones I don't like.. never know he may love them, LOL He has been a woodworker for years.. and now has picked p interest in the stuff I do.. he's always coming over to check out what I'm working on.. or to buy some clocks from me... he has become a clock maker this fall..

Yeah most my car patterns are already on the larger side for a desk clock.. making it bigger would also make it longer.. most are already 12-13 inch with the 1-7/16 inch clock... I just don't see it working on many of my designs.. Yeah the whole group of patterns I have from the Berry Basket etc would probably work.. but then.. those clocks aren't really my hot sellers anyway.. Maybe because the clock is too small..

Interesting find.. 1996 and never been apart.. probably never had any other maintenance done? short of a couple drops of oil on the wedge? Glad you was able to get it figured out..

I see they offer the Pegas too... noticed that when I was shopping for my new BM 226 last week.. I'm considering buying from them simply put... the busier they are the less likely they go out of business.. they are great people and.. well... I'd rather support a business I really like than one I know nothing about.. Not saying the folks from Bear Woods are not nice etc.. but.. supporting the business I like AND getting to know them on a more personal level by doing a lot of business with them can and will be an advantage some day if I was to ever be in a pinch and need something desperately, IMO.. On a side note about doing business.. The people in China that I order my clocks from.. even though I only order about once a year.. we message back and fourth all the time throughout the year.. They message me on holidays saying Happy New Year Happy Fathers day etc etc.. They do this because WHY.. they are doing this so the customer doesn't forget about them.. the extra little things that doesn't cost money to do ( advertising ) once one has some sort of contact info.. goes a long way.. and you get the feeling or sense of comfort level as if you know them... even though you've never met and in this case.. they are completely across the world LOL... Response to messages is usually within a couple hours.. That's good business.. Always hated when I order somewhere and never really get any kind of message that they even received the order, never hear about any shipping info... and next thing you know it just shows up in the mail... even though it might have been shipped quickly and arrived fast.. its better customer service letting the purchaser know Something , LOL

The dispute was over a couple weeks ago according to my eCommerce news that am subscribed to.. maybe they gave me wrong info... even so.. an email saying they are in a dispute might delay them getting the order into the mail would go a long way.. Again, the time in the mail system isn't my issue with them.. getting it into the mail system timeline is what is bothersome.. 9 days from the day I ordered to package it and send it to the mail system is a long time.. especially when it's an international order and that takes a lot of time in the mail system.. I'm going to give the benefit of doubt on this one.. This is only my second time ordering from them... and the first time took a very long time too.. but...I didn't pay any attention to the process of how soon they got it in the mail etc.. I won't need blades again for quite some time.. but.. just for fun and a test... I'm going to order another gross in the summer months..

BTW , all my shipping experience.. I do send a lot of stuff over seas and most do take 2-3 weeks.. even though I mail out the next day ( when in stock ).. The Key is.. I mail it out the next day... especially.. international orders where I know it takes time... it's about Caring for the customer... waiting 10 days to get a package in the mail make me think they really don't care about your business... especially with no email indications or anything.. makes me wonder if it's standard practice... I know some people who only make 1 trip a week to the post office... I don't drive there.. they come to me because I'm special like that

Yes, that is exactly it... communication is a key factor.. I myself have many made to order items in my etsy store and web site.. I write on the very top of every made to order items description to allow up to 14 days for me to make the item before I can mail it.. Once a person orders.. I'll send them a message saying about how long it might be.. and I typically will give myself an extra 1-2 days in that email just in case something comes up.. Even in my busiest time.. the longest it's taken me to get an order made and in the mail was 8 days... This day and age people are spoiled and want their stuff now... but anyway.. to make a business thrive.. one needs to have at least good communication and customer service..on top of good lead times.. It turns people off when their order takes a long time.. and then people will start shopping elsewhere..

JT, I ordered the same 1-7/16 size.. A lot of my patterns I cannot change the insert size without changing the whole design of the pattern.. then the clock would end up much bigger.. I do want to change the size of those that I can though.. and will maybe once my inventory runs out of what I have that takes the smaller size.. Well, I gotta say that I have ordered other things from China and it did take a month to get here.. I don't know how she does it.. but can say the shipper is DHL and the tracking says DHL Express.. I'll also say that she didn't even send it out until Christmas day.. Here is a screen shot photo of the tracking.. I've never upgraded shipping or anything with this place.. just how they do the shipping.. I order every year about the same time.. Last year i ordered on Christmas eve and the was delivered new years day..

LOL, Maybe I expect too much from companies.. But.. I ordered 300 clock inserts on the 18th.. from China.. and they was custom ordered to my specs so she didn't have them ready made... They was delivered a couple days ago...so.. Location is hogwash.. but the time frame it's in the mail isn't what bothers me...as I understand that it has to go through customs etc.. especially this time of year... My point is... why does it take them nine days from my order day to bother to package and hand them over to the mail...Like I said... nothing was mentioned about being out of stock or back ordered... If they are in stock ready to package and ship.. why so long to be packed and shipped out.. I've always ordered from Mikes or DnD.. there was a time I ordered from Leslies Patterns.. and they was slow.. no big deal as long as I expected that.. I stopped ordering from them when they was out of stock on some blades and sent what they had saying they'd send the rest when they got more.. only to forget that they was supposed to send me more when they got them in... one time okay i get it... everyone makes mistakes.. but three times in a row and I was done with them.. I'm not in a hurry for the blades... I have plenty to work with.. I was only asking because I was wondering if this is normal practice for them to be slow at getting the order packed and mailed out.. I did expect it to take time in the mail.. especially as the Canada post had been on strike and the time of year.. they probably had a lot of catching up to do... just didn't expect the slow end of it to actually be them getting it to the mail system..

I know a few of you order from them.. I also realize that they are in Canada but.. Anyway.. I place a couple hundred dollar order for blades on 12-11 took them until 12-20 to even ship out my package.. still no blades.. The tracking number I received doesn't seem to work.. Got a message today from them about how my experience was with my purchase and wanted me to give a review, LOL... How can I give a review if I haven't even received my order.. I ordered one other time from them ears ago... ordered some clock movements and that took forever to get here too.. I'll certainly not be ordering again from them.. DnD orders come within about 4-5 days max.. I expected this order to take some time because it's coming from Canada.. I don't expect them to wait several days to even get my order in the mail though.. Anyone else have their order not ship out for several days after placing it? Just wondering if that is normal for them.. Maybe the one blades I order was out of stock.. they was on DnD which is why I placed an order with BW.. nothing was on the site about being back ordered.. no email saying it was back ordered.. just waiting in limbo for my order, LOL Not out of blade by any means.. but.. do feel they need to be a little quicker on mailing stuff out..

Looks to me as though it's had a replacement motor at some point in its life.. the replacement motors don't come with a identification tag sticker from DeWalt to decipher the model and type or serial number.. Where does the noise seem like it's coming from? back of the saw or up front? I'm betting since it looks as though maybe the motor had been changed.. makes me wonder if they put it back together and made sure to get everything nice and tight back there.. Watch the video's JT posted a link to.. they might help you better understand the inside of the saw and will certainly give you some pointers on what to look for.. I might suggest getting some solvent to clean out the old grease and repack the bearings ( provided they are in good shape ) with some good synthetic grease if you end up opening it up..

My Ex-21 upper arm was real stiff working for the first 4-5 hours use.. Hated that at first as it didn't go up easy.. and also would take some effort to move it back down until a certain point then it would go easier and slam down.. but that all worked out with some time on the saw.. My saw had several loose screws / bolts where front arms connect to the long arms that go to the back of the saw.. check all those for being tight enough.. they don't need to be tight but not so loose they are about to fall out like mine was, LOL.. I've said it many times.. but I'll say it again.. I just wasn't impressed with the saw straight out of the box.. Love it now that I've tweaked and tuned it.. But.. there was all sorts of issues at first.. I don't expect a saw to be tuned right out of the box.. but I also don't expect one to be falling apart from loose bolts etc.. either.. Make sure your getting the blade tension good and tight.. This is an issue I had with mine.. and every time I changed to a different hole I had to fight with the blade tension lever and the clamping part too.. my upper tension mechanism didn't work very smooth ( those two pieces that slide together ) those two pieces kept hanging up... probably on a burr or something and it was trying to go crooked sometimes.. Best thing I did and to keep my sanity was to ditch those junk factory blade chucks and upgrade to the Pegas.. I was ready to throw the whole saw in the dumpster for a while there, LOL Keep at it and it'll be running good and smooth.. Just getting the things set up, sorted out and tuned can be a headache sometimes.. I don't really know what to say about the blade not squaring up.. and also not sure about the angle thing.. I didn't have any issues there with mine.. gotta be something simple seems like.. Maybe someone else knows.. if not.. give Ray a call, I'm sure he can give some suggestions.. Edit to say.. Maybe look closely at the bolts up by the blade clamps etc... There is little washer / spacers that go between the bearing and the clamp itself ( I think ) and it could be possible that the washer didn't get pushed on to the end of the bearing sleeve correctly which would prevent the clamp to position correctly.. This could be why you are not able to move the set screws enough to get the blade to run square.. Just a idea..to check..

If cutting with the DeWalt or Excalibur.. I stack 3 1/8" pieces... I'm able to do two real easy on the Hawk 226 though.. I also do the blade size change from one style blade to another... but also do the same per saw I use... I find I use a larger blade on the Hawks and a smaller blade on the other saws... My main blades are Pegas MG #5 or FD UR #5 I like Olsen spirals.. but also like the FD NS spirals too.. Bought a few samples of the Pegas spirals.. but have very limited use on them yet.. I hink the number sizes on Pegas run smaller than that of the other brands.. ie a number 5 pegas seems more like what a number 4 FD-UR blade would be.. I know they don't have a 4.. just saying it seems a little smaller than a 5 but slightly larger than a 3... If that makes any sense LOL.. With spirals on the FD brand.. I typically use smaller sizes than I would for a straight blade.. ie if I normally use a number 3-5 straight blade on a cutting.. If I was to use a spiral... I'd drop to a number 1 or even a 0/1.. I very rarely use anything above a number 1 in a spiral.. as I don't care for the wide kerf it makes.. and the corners are not nearly as tight with the larger blades..

Wife tried to have me committed several years ago and found it only made it worst, LOL so then we built another shop.. LOL..

Glad to see I'm not the only one that jumps all over the place with blade types, sizes, and brands.. I have a few Olsen blades that are my go to blade for certain saw and materials I use.. Also use a few of the Flying dutchman brand and sizes and yes.. my most used blade is the Pegas modified geometry.. but again... this really depends upon what saw I'm cutting on.... and.... the project at hand... This is why I always hate to answer those " what blade to use " questions that seem to pop up on here about once a month, LOL.. and many will reply with their opinion of the best blade.. but neither mention what type of project they are working on... LOL..

Yeah they are going to be running a big sale at the new year.. so is axiom brand... axiom is offering a tool box with the stand or something like that.. The $500 discount doesn't come with the water cooled spindle.. I'm in pretty good with the guys at the store where I got mine.. the one guy told me about all the upcoming deals and wanted to know if I wanted to wait.. at that time I was looking at the smaller $1600 one which will be right around $1000 starting the new year.. but the one I got is much bigger work table and the free water cooled spindle is a $700 value.. so I bought that one instead of waiting.. plus.. I was looking for a tax write off for this years taxes LOL..

As far as the arm not going up when releasing the blade.. that could be just a weak spring.. there is a spring at the back of the saw that pulls the arm up when the blade is released.. those springs get weak over time.. Mine is weak as well and I now have to give it a tap or light bump to help it go.. I need to get a new spring for it.. I think you can probably just take it off and match it up to one at a hardware store.. or just help keep Hawk in business and order one from them.. The added vibration could be a bearing running dry on grease... It seems to me the ones that I've seen from reading others postings and my own experience the main ones that I've seen people having to replace is the main connecting rod ones.. this would be the bearings in that flat stock rod that connects the motor to the lower arm.. I've seen a few cases where people have had to order a new connecting rod.. I opted to just press out the old bearings and pressed new ones in.. but you need to make sure not to bend that rod... it is just light weight aluminum.. though about 1/4 + thick.. but could be bent pressing bearings in or out if not careful...

The one he has is advertised as a 50watt.. however it actually only has a 40 watt tube.. so power is same as what I bought.. These Chinese laser builders will say they are 50-60 watt but only a 40 watt tube.. and just rate it overclocked.. and running them at full power shortens the life of the tube dramatically.. His has a larger work bed, has adjustable bed height and a rotary attachment to work with round stock.. All of these are capable with mine other than the larger work bed.. I can stack things under the work table on mine to raise the piece up or whatever.. His is from the same company I believe but the more $$.. I'm on a few laser groups and there are a bunch of guys running these cheap lasers like I got for their business's.. and seem to have great luck with them..

This is a good place to start.. they play for me in sequence so I just bookmark my last one I watch and go from there... too many for me to watch all in one sitting.. LOL

I do agree.. only power tool I bought new that didn't really need anything was my DeWalt 788.. I expect to fine tune a saw... Don't expect to have loose bolts that hold the actual saw together etc.. but having to level the saw table and square blade up is something to be expected.. For what it's worth.. my saw was before they moved to a different plant.. so maybe they are better now or mine was just a fluke deal.. I had a lot of issues with mine... not only with the saw but believe mine may have had a defective upper clamp.. Someone brought up a good point about Ray tuning every saw before they left his business.. I know they sold tons of them from places besides Seyco too and have heard a few instances where they had to call Ray to help get their saw running right.. there could have always been a quality issue with them that Ray took care of.. so many people may not have seen any issues like those that may have bought elsewhere.. They are great little saws once they are tuned...