kmmcrafts

Good price for these days. I paid $324 back in 2006 with stand and light from Grizzly on their holiday sales event. Run the saw a lot for 7 years and then sold it for $300.. oh never did install the light and sold it on eBay for $30.. Sure wish you could sell the higher end brands with that type of value.. I don't even think a Pegas or any of the other brand really hold the value like the big yellow saws do. Probably could buy this on sale and list it on eBay and make some money, LOL.

I don't know what Alex uses.. he is in a different country and maybe they have stuff we can't get in the USA? That said now that I play with laser engravers / cutters, and CNC routers as well I've learned there is becoming more and more demand for good plywood that isn't just plain old Baltic Birch.. There are project panels from Home Depot that I've used for both scroll sawing and laser work and it's pretty good stuff. This comes in many different species but it's difficult to find it in stock in the online store.. not sure about your area but, my local stores do not carry it in store either so you're stuck with trying to find it in stock online.. is free shipping so that's a bonus. 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 I've always used the 5/32" stuff so I don't know how the 1/4" stuff is.. I would assume it's the same quality as the 5/32 but just wanted to put that out there. I've also found that if you search for plywood for laser engraving you'll find all sorts of stuff. Trueflat name you'll see quite a lot and my personal opinion is... I don't care for it.. it's MDF which is nasty to cut on a scroll saw and some of the species is not real it's painted or ? to "look like" the species.. People in the laser community love this stuff but not me. I found a place in Canada that has some real nice plywood but shipping it to me in Michigan took forever.. but it was really nice plywood.. not sure what the core was made from but then I run across a dealer for some real nice stuff right here in my state.. they have a lot of size options as well as many different species. I ordered a sample pack a month or so ago and this is really good stuff.. may be the same brand as the stuff I found from Canada.. since it was in my state and only about 50-60 mile away it shipped very quickly and they mailed it out like next day. You can find them here: https://creativecutsupplies.com/ I haven't tried the prefinished stuff yet but that might be on my next sample order.. with laser work having it finished keeps the smoke staining around the cut from bleeding into the grain and staining the wood.. once cut you can just wash it with a wet wash cloth and the soot comes right off for a nice finish.. I currently had been spraying my plywood with either lacquer or poly before using it in the laser to keep me from having to sand the stains off the finished cuts. Anyway, there are many places to get decent plywood of various species etc. but you kind of have to search for laser plywood. Be nice to find these in full sheets but since most are geared for the laser hobbyist most laser folks use 12 x 19 sheets so most places only offer this size or smaller. Kind of a pain for me since my laser can handle 24 x 30" sheets.. some projects I have to do in multiple stages because I'm limited to the smaller sized sheets. Creative Cut Supplies does have bigger sheets so they may end up being my supplier.. and I can drive that 60 miles to go buy it in bulk to save shipping hopefully.

Right, most people really probably only would want maybe 50 - 100.. it gets kind of pricey in those smaller quantities unfortunately. When I first started using them for patterns was because my spray can either clogged up or ran out of air and nothing was open in the middle of the night. I had a order that needed to get made so I gave the shipping label a try since I already had them for shipping orders.. Never used regular paper again other than large projects that needed pieced together with several papers. Really speeds up the process and not dealing with clogged spray nozzles etc. was well worth it to me. I now use a thermal printer for shipping labels so those full sheet labels are only for patterns. It's real nice not having to deal with the spray glue getting all over everything around where you spray it and then also no sticky fingers from the spray glue, LOL.. Nice just to print the pattern and then peel and stick it.. I tried to talk more into using it and maybe doing a group by and splitting it up but nobody seemed interested at the time..

Thinking he does like I used to and buy in quantity/ for bulk or wholesale pricing. I buy mine from eBay as it was cheaper than Amazon at that time anyway. I buy around 1000 - 2000 sheets at a time and it last me a couple years.

I read somewhere they maybe rebranded it with a different brand name? It's still has the 77 on the can but sold under a different name? Gosh I don't remember now what it was about or where I seen this info but anyway.. it may look like a different product than it used to look. Do not know if there is any truth to any of this.. just remember reading something about it. Edit: I googled about it and it is still available according to google but the 3M 45 is the one they discontinued.. but it also states that 3M 77 cannot be sold or shipped to certain states because of EPA regulations..

This is what I use... https://www.amazon.com/GVS-Elastomeric-Respirator-Replaceable-Reusable/dp/B095YBV2T9/ref=ast_sto_dp_puis

I agree, My son has the Mac ( only because a co-worker over spent his money and couldn't pay the tooltruck bill and he offered it to my son for the payoff of them.. which was only 1/4 of the total cost and only a month old, LOL.. He got the whole set from 3/8 drive to 1" and let me tell you from experience.. It'll either loosen them or break them off, LOL. I was only using the 3/8 drive due to the bigger ones not having enough clearance to get on the bolt and that little bugger broke a 1/2" U-bolt in half.. Son says the guys with the Milwaukee ones are right up at the same level.. I have a cheapy HF one that's quite old now.. not sure the brand but it's before the Bauer stuff came out. Think it might be Earthquake or something.. Love the cordless impacts for working on cars and tractors etc.. can be out in the middle of a field and just grab the impact.. years ago before this cordless you had to have a tool truck with gas powered air compressor etc.. Anyway my cheapy got quite a lot of power but nothing like the good ones. I watch a lot of car restore type youtube and a lot of those guys run the DeWalt cordless and I've seen those do some things too.. I'd say they gotta be up there close to the Milwaukee etc. too.

I can't say I have any specific recommendations for a drill.. Of coarse the DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Hitachi were always a good known brand with quality.. That said I've bought some cheap Harbor Freight Bauer brand cordless tools over the last 4 or so years and I have not had one issue with them at all yet. I will say the DeWalt stuff I have feels better in my hand that the Bauer stuff like the hand grip area has some padding or cushion? I'm not sure but the feel is a lot better for the higher end stuff but rightfully so.. most business's use the higher end stuff.. I wouldn't want to run a Bauer drill for 8+ hours a day every day.. but DeWalt I would feel less tired at the end of a work day.. A couple of my Bauer tools I bought for just a specific job and figured I'd throw it away once the job was finished but I found I use these tools way more than expected and they've held up very well considering the price I paid and what my expectation was.

This is why I had 4-5 saws in my shop.. I like each one for different purposes and each set up to do certain types of work. Now that I've gone to doing more laser and CNC work I'd like more room in the shop and really don't need 4-5 saws any longer.. It's tough to decide which saws to sell off and which one stays. But that said I do like the way the Excalibur cuts through thicker wood and also like that the saw has a tilting head rather than tilting table for those very rare angle cutting projects that I do. I also like the Hawk saws big table and large 26" throat so I'm likely to keep the EX-21 and one of the two Hawks I have so I'll likely sell the Hegner and one of the Hawks. Actually have one of the Hawks listed on marketplace but only person interested was too far for him to drive at 90 years old. We were going to meet up but then he had time to think it over and decided he also didn't need another saw, LOL. Selling Hawks and Hegners is a whole different ballgame than selling a DeWalt.. years ago when I sold my DeWalt I dang near had people fighting for it, LOL. The last few Deltas I sold did okay too but man seems nobody wants to pay anything more than $150 for a Hawk or Hegner around here.. but sold that old DeWalt for $400 when I only paid $435 for it new and used it hard for 6 years, LOL. Too bad you're not close to Michigan as you could come try out several of my saws, and maybe take one home if you decided you liked one well enough to buy.

I guess I missed this question until I seen Tom quote it. Do higher end saws cut more easily? Yes, No, and Maybe... Some of the higher end saws have a adjustable blade angle ( for a lack of better term ) where you can adjust the blade to go more straight up and down for precision work or make the blade cut more on an angle for faster cutting. This is where the difference is when some say like driving a Cadillac or a Ford Pinto, LOL Cadillac has all the bells and whistles and the Pinto just a basic car. Lots of people don't even know there saw has these adjustments and others do know but are scared to mess up how it works for them now so they do not play around with these adjustments. The Bauer doesn't have these features nor does the DeWalt but the higher end older Excaliburs, Jets, Pegas, and I think the one Grizzly saw does have them features. I have to watch what saws I say do because many of them used to but no longer do such as the King.. The new King is basically like the Bauer now so many of the older saws made like the Excalibur do have but they've cheapened up some brands for the new models and now they don't have these features. The saws that have this feature will have slots in the motor mount plate and you loosen the bolts and spin the motor in those slots to make the blade change angles for a faster or slower cutting experience. When Tom mentioned he thought his Excalibur cut slower than his 788.. probably true because the EX may be adjusted to be less aggressive as that is a thing on these higher end saws.. Now with that said.. that is why I answered yes, no, and maybe is because it depends on ones personal style of cutting.. and how you have the saw adjusted. If you do fine detail work in thin wood you probably like the less aggressive position and if you adjust the blade angle you may end up messing up the cutting style that you're used to or it may make things easier who knows but having the option and knowing about the option and adjusting it to a cutting style you're used to can make a world of difference in your cutting quality and experience because, if you feel the saw is cutting too slow in thick wood you tend to "push" the wood too much and can make the blade bow and drift etc.. then you don't get good straight cuts. If you have the option to make it cut more aggressively then you can fine tune the saw to help meet your cutting comfort needs better which enhances your final cutting product too. Not only that.. pushing the wood harder into the slow cutting blade generates heat.. heat kills a blade and can also burn the edges of your project.. when you let the blade cut without forcing it through the blades last longer.. The newer Hawks have a fully adjustable end piece on the lower arm to change the blade angle and some of the older saws had two positions for the blade clamp to fit in.. one for thicker wood and one for detail cutting.. Their set up is easy to make the blade so out of whack that your not cutting square.. While I like the feature but I think the Excalibur style set up is much better. Hegner doesn't have a blade angle adjustment but they do have a longer and shorter stroke of the blade by changing the position of the connecting rod on the motor shaft.. bit more cumbersome to adjust but their theory is the longer stroke uses more of the blade and also would cut faster? I have not messed with this feature yet on my Hegner but plan to play around and experiment with it. So these are features that make the difference in cheaper saws vrs expensive saws.. not just about how smooth it runs or lack of smoothness.. They all have a blade that goes up and down and cuts wood and can do the same things.. but some have more features to make the experience that much better... IF people will experiment with those features and tune the saw to their own cutting preference.. Are those features worth that extra cost? is a question that would have a different answer from each person because not everyone does the same style cutting.. and not a lot of people go from cutting 1/32 plywood to cutting 2" wood in the same day etc.. but it can improve the experience and quality of completed projects for many people.. A lot of people don't adjust the saw but rather "learn to use the saw as is" and they get used to however the saw is set up to cut. As example my first saw was a 2 speed saw.. low speed was way to slow cutting for my liking but high speed was a bit too fast.. I was able to "learn to get used to faster speed cutting easier than trying to be patient at the slower speed.. Now I am still used to that so I run my saws at least 3/4 - full speed on the dial.. I learned to cut faster and that's just my style..

Hope you have a speedy recovery and can get back to your shop very soon.

Congrats to a nice new to you well, might as well say new saw, LOL. Sounds like a decent buy to me.

Maybe this is part of the hold down foot? that nobody uses.. Most take that thing off and pitch it into a drawer and then 5 years later cleaning the junk drawer they have no idea what it was for, I think the Bauer saw looks like a decent saw to play around with.. They're not bad for a beginner or hobbyist and the price of them is right. If you're content with it then maybe best to just wait until you wear it out or hit the lottery and just want to buy something, LOL It is fun to upgrade to newer and nicer quality saws but it's not fun going from a higher end nice saw to a budget type saw so make those decisions carefully if you live on a tight budget. Kind of like going from a Cadillac to a Ford Pinto or something, still does the job but not nearly as smooth or fun..LOL Or on the flip side going from a Ford Pinto with no A/C etc. to a Cadillac..

Are you sure it's a cable connected and not a hose? My Hegner has a metal pipe in the upper arm at the front with the hose running back to the bellows for the air to blow the sawdust off of your project. Two opinions on this set up if that's what it is on the one you're looking at. First thought is it's nice to have that blower out of the way and you never have to fuss with adjusting it etc. Second is after you actually use the saw it's pretty annoying to have the sawdust blowing directly at you and into your lap if sitting at the saw I get sawdust all over my jacket, lap and actually towards my face. So this is one thing I'll address if I ever use the saw regularly. Currently I just play around with it from time to time trying to learn the saw and see what all the hype is about Hegners. I don't think I would have ever bought a Hegner but since this one was free who can pass that up.. LOL. So far I love to saw with it aside from the sawdust blowing at me. Other observations include the table is quite small.. many fix that by making a top cover to slide over the table.. another is the upper arm doesn't lift up very high for trying to insert blade on larger projects could be a challenge. Saw runs really smooth and quiet. I think I could learn to love the saw quite easily with some minor mods.

Great cutting. I like the contrasting wood choices on the circular one. This was a real big hit for the last couple years for ornaments and other things.. I didn't get in on the bandwagon for them but it was highly talked about and searched for online last Christmas. Problem with this stuff is it's a fad.. and they come in strong and fade away just as fast. If I made a bunch of stock for next Christmas you probably couldn't give them away LOL.

Probably be a lot of varied opinions on this.. For me it would greatly depend on the saw's options.. many of the older Hegners do not have a blade tension lever at the front of the saw.. or quick clamps etc.. there are features that make the newer models more appealing than the older model Hegners and same deal with the Hawk saws.. While they all "look" mostly the same.. there are features or lack of features that would make or break a deal for me.. Many people seem to forget about the features and see a cheap price and tell everyone to grab it up when it really may not be a very user friendly saw like the newer model would be. On the Hegner I guess there is the options to buy the parts to get the nicer features of the newer saws.. but then you're dumping a few hundred into an older saw when you could just wait for the right deal on one that already has the goodies on it. IF I were you I would show photos of the saw and ask if it has the goodies or not if you personally don't know what you're looking at or for. Many folks on here know these saws well enough to spot the things to look or look out for. A 24" saw is a long reach if your blade tension lever is clear to the back of the saw... not a big deal if you're not doing a lot of inside ( fretwork ) cuts but could be a pain in the back side if that is the main type of cutting you do. Everyone is different and does different cutting so it will be a big opinionated question..

Nice work, just recently went through my stash of trivets that I had made over the years and gave some away. If I had to guess the wood type since so much is shipped in from China I'd say that looks similar to Acacia wood. My first big job with my laser was engraving 260 cutting boards and they supplied the boards from Hobby Lobby and it was the first time I worked with Acacia wood. Kind of reminds me of working with Mahogany.. May be in the same family as Mahogany for all I know. Can be lots of color variations in it though most of it was a darker tone.

It's always a good time with the little ones when you can make them things. My daughter had me make a bunch of stars and she colored them with glow in the dark markers then stuck them to the ceiling in her room. LOL

I ordered a new Hawk in 2018 and back then shipping was around $100 so yeah little pricey BUT, they are in a huge box and they weigh around 130lbs. plus the packing materials so I'd bet the shipping weight must be around 150lbs. I see they raised the prices of the saws since then too. In 2018 the 26" saw was $1500.. Best bet is find a good used saw local to you.. seems the resale value on these is only around $300. I've got two of them and now since going to laser and cnc side of things I don't need 4 scroll saws taking up space. I've had one saw listed now for about 4 weeks listed at $450 and only one person was interested but he thought I was in a different town closer to him. Two towns pronounce and spelled very close to each other but on opposite sides of the state, LOL. I always get inquires from people thinking its the town on the other side of where I am, LOL. Otherwise no bites on the saw.

I don’t know what it is about the DeWalt thumb screws but I’ve always switched out my screws for the DeWalt style. For me it’s about the shape of the plastic grip handle shape and style. Maybe because I ran a DeWalt for so many years production cutting and just got a feel for those screws. Id like to give a Bauer saw a test drive someday. Doubtful I’d actually buy and use one as arm lock thing would be an issue with me I think. Maybe with time I could get used to it. I’m used to a spring loaded arm of the Hawk and I broke the spring on one of the saws I had which drove me nuts having to lift up the arm. Had to stop my project and go to the hardware for a spring and repair that right away as I couldn’t take it.

I think it'll be fine, I would put a cloth or breathable cover on it as you don't want to "trap" the moisture in it... if you're going to cover it. My experience is when the temps start warming up in the spring time the floor and everything starts sweating.. that's when you may want to either run some fans to help circulate and sort of dry the air etc. Most times here in lower Michigan the dampness isn't too bad especially during the coldest part of winter.. but like I said when that spring thaw comes and we have those damp weather and sometimes foggy misty days.. Had a friend back in high school that had a old car he was fixing on and over the winter he covered it with some big plastic like drop cloth thing that wasn't breathable... car sat covered like that for a couple years and once uncovered it was a big pile of rust, LOL.. It's better to have air flow than anything so it can dry out etc. That being said, might be better for it to run a fan on it during those thaw high humidity days than covering it up.. Maybe someone else has a better idea.. Could also put those moisture absorbent cups / packets things all around it?

Before I had heat in the shop I run my saw year round out there.. Yes, I run it out there even when it was only 7F in there and below zero outside, LOL.. I never had any issues for the first 10 years with no heat.. Back then I was really busy so the saw may not have sat long enough to cool off .. Sometimes idle machines have more issues than ones that are used everyday so you should go out there and use it.. Now that I'm older and have heat in the shop I don't want to go out and work because it's a cold 20ft walk to the shop and it's just too cold to get to work so I have a lot of snowdays in the winter now.

Unfortunately I feel everything is going to go to a pay to play deal.. seems you need a subscription to everything now days. I've never used the rapidsizer one. You might look into the Posterazor. I use it but I'm not on a Mac either.. maybe they have a mac version? I'm assuming you want it for enlarging patterns etc?

My son bought a really cheapy tool kit from them just to have some stuff inside the house rather than having to run out to the shop every time. He was quite impressed with the quality of the set he got for the money.. that could be saying a lot since he is a heavy equipment mechanic and he's used to the tool truck companies tools.

Well, I just went to my wave account to see what has changed.. appears you have to have the paid version to automatically import the sales data from etsy and amazon, and doesn't have any mileage tracking options etc.. It is $5 a month cheaper but I guess for me I'm spoiled with the features I use with Quickbooks. Still is a great option though.