kmmcrafts

Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends.

Nice work!! I can't decide what one I like best.. So you do the whole thing as I do.. see how many projects I can cut on one blade, LOL.. Pretty sure you got me beat.. Also like to see how many blades it takes for those detailed portraits..

I bought my Grizzly model after asking around and many seemed to like the model I bought... which is why I bought mine.. I love it.. but like I said.. watch the spending and the options.. This is like the one I have.. mines a couple years old now and different colors etc but basically the same saw.. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-14-Deluxe-Bandsaw-35th-Anniversary-Edition/G0555LA35 Scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll also see the riser block like I bought for mine.. and the re-saw fence ( which one could just make one from the existing fence ) and the rolling base.. by the time I really was done he price was right up there with some of the bigger saws that actually came with the features I paid extra for.. add up the prices.. then look at this Laguna that JT mentioned.. as it already is set up to cut a 12" high board.. looks to have wheels on the base.. etc etc.. like I said... have to watch out for the features offered.. Some of the features I purchased at a later time.. so the price wasn't really considered high at the time I purchased.. otherwise I'd have bought a bigger saw with the features already to go... Laguna is on sale from woodcraft..https://www.woodcraft.com/products/laguna-14-12-bandsaw?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6rXeBRD3ARIsAD9ni9AWka0ZsGTV-jwCXM2t_Xsj_Kp1xxLnqqVPlExVrDKdl2IDNDM4GKMaAoV-EALw_wcB

Been doing the same thing for me as well.. for quite some time now..

Very nice!!! I'm going to try intarsia one day...

Wow sounds like a great turnout for you.. Good thing you bought that other saw.. now you can run two at a time.. Maybe Mrs Iggy will jump in on making a few puzzles ... About the only help I get with business from the wife is she'll do some packaging for the mail.. but she won't do any of the computer stuff ( which is my least favorite ) .. but at any rate.. the biggest thing she does is put up with me so at least I'm happy for that.

As with anything.. A crap bandsaw with a good blade can make the bandsaw 2-3 times better, LOL I started out with a cheap craigslist find on a Ryobi 9" bandsaw... For a cheap saw it had a decent roller bearing blade guides set up... I wasn't impressed with the way it worked when I first bought it.. but of coarse it was used and had a cheap blade.. not to mention worn out blade too... Changing the blade made the saw actually not bad for small work.. I used that little saw a lot.. made some bandsaw boxes etc with it.. nothing too big because the max. height cut was only like 4" or there abouts..even did some max cutting height resawing with it for thin boards to make ornaments with.. That all said.. I wanted to be able to do some bigger work with resawing and larger bandsaw boxes.. so I bought a Grizzly 14" bandsaw with riser block and a upgraded resawing fence.. a foxshop rolling platform to make it easier to move around the shop.. Talk about a heavy saw... It's about all I want to do to move it even with the rolling stand, LOL.. To do it over again... for the amount of money spent.. if you're going to go big.. take a look at ALL your options.. I have spent right near a grand for my set up... I could have bought a much better saw with bigger HP motor etc that was more set up for the bigger stuff than what I got.. BUT you live and learn I guess.. Grizzly may have some good deals on them with their holiday sales they typically are running through the holidays... Over the years I've seen nothing but good reviews on the Rikon 10" bandsaw.. since I'm not resawing like I thought I'd like to do.. I kind of wish I'd have went that route.. Nothing against my saw.. just I spend a lot of money for a resaw set up and just didn't find resawing for me was not as valuable as I thought it would be. and the rikon has some nice height for making bandsaw boxes and things that I do actually use my saw for.. Anyway I guess I have the option to resaw if I need it.. and yes I have actually needed it a couple of times.. the issue with that is my set-up has to be completely changed for resawing one or two boards.. swapping blades and what have you takes a lot of time for a proper setup.. So as the others have said.. think about what you want to do with the saw... and how big a saw you'll need... weigh in on all the options with the saw cost factor.. if you're going big anyway.. as I could have had a much better saw for about the same money.. My grizzly has good reviews.. and I like it.. just spent more on a lower end saw by the time I did the upgrades...

My DeWalt stand is adjustable.. I do not know what each of the slots are in height.. I have mine on the highest level though.. I tried to raise my other saws but found they pick up more vibration being tilted.. I'm sure if I really looked into it I could get them smoothed out with some tweaking.. Guess it just was never that important to me... Do like them tilted though.. My DeWalt is the most comfortable saw to sit at if I am running it for a long period of time..

My first NEW saw was the Dremel 1800 that had the disc sander on the one side and a spot to hook up a Dremel flex shaft.. Well maybe I should rephrase that.. my first new saw that I kept and used.. LOL.. before that saw I bought a craftsman.. it vibrated off the counter.. and the variable speed didn't work.. returned it and ordered the Refurbished dremel.. which I used for a couple years.. good saw.. but not built too well.. I had to replace the back connecting rod in it twice in those two years and was bad again when I finally bought my DeWalt..

Those DeWalts are very hard to beat for the money... and they seem to hold their value.. a lot of 20 year old type 1 saws out there still bringing $250 -300.. ( what you suppose they cost back then? I paid $350 for mine during the Grizzly holiday sale in 2008 ) You pay $1200- 1500 for a Hawk and are lucky to get $700-800 for a fairly new one.. lots of 20+ year old ones for $250 and up.. That point right there was why I chose to buy my DeWalt 12 years ago.. I don't personally see a lot of real value for the Ex vrs. a DeWalt other than two things.. and you'd need to do a lot of bevel cutting to make that tilting head worth while.. the other nice feature is the ability to adjust the forward / back movement of the blade.. but... I found that I set mine up to cut just slightly less aggressive than the DeWalt.. It is easier to do tight turns with the set up slightly less aggressive.. but in my book... that feature alone isn't worth the added cost over the DeWalt.. In My Opinion.. from someone with both saws... I'm pretty much thinking the build design will give you about the same durability of the DeWalt also.. They possibly could use a better quality bearing.. but they are all the same size and type of un-sealed bearing.. so take that into consideration. I have no experience with the Delta saw that seems to be a lot like the DeWalt.. since you go through saws quick.. I'd almost give one of those a try.. they are a lower priced saw with a 5 year warranty.. Then again.. if you order every year.. Grizzly runs a sale on those every year for the holidays.. Think it usually starts around Oct.. and typically runs to the new year.. Just buy every year during the sale.. LOL

The Pegas will be a better deal in my book... simply because the blade chucks are $100.. and I couldn't get the hang of those junk Ex blade chucks.. so if I was buying a new saw.. I'd be getting the Pegas if those prices are correct..

I see many of you all run a vac line at the bottom or your blade and one at the top of the table... While collecting as much of the dust as possible is important.. I wonder how much dust actually gets collected from the top hose.. and is that one really all that important.. My Hawk has a plastic plug at the bottom of the blade in the base of the saw.. I often thought this must be for some sort of dust hook up thing that maybe Hawk was planning to do? I don't see any other reason as to why they'd put that big hole there right below the blade.. I think the hole is about 1-1/4 diameter.. (just guesing) .. I've thought about inserting a wide mouth dust collection fitting in that hole ( provided there is room) such as a jointer DC fitting.. and hooking the hose up underneath the stand.. I'm thinking there may not be enough room.. Anyway, I just know that the EX-21 dust port get's about 98% of the dust created.. and thinking that probably a box fan on the opposite side of the dust blower tube would probably take care of that other 2% and a lot less noise.. I don't know but at any rate.. at a minimum I'll be running the EX-21 with the vac hooked up until I decide what I'll be doing with the Hawk for dust control.. Plus.. I bought that saw to use.. so I might as well use it and give the old Hawks a break for a while.. since I am only cutting ornaments right now anyway.. as I hate cutting anything very big on the EX-21.. blade is way too close to the end of the table on the EX-21.. or something.. as I'm not too fat but I end up hitting my gut when spinning the wood around on much of anything larger than 10-12 inch.. maybe the stand design and it allows me to practically sit on top of the saw.. I don't know but at any rate.. I don't like sawing larger stuff on the EX-21.. which is why I say ( for me ) a EX-16 would do me just fine.. in the EX line of saws.. cause I'm not cutting big stuff on one of those.. My hats off to those that can and do cut large stuff on them.. doesn't seem like much table support out there near the end of the table..

Several years back I tried gluing up a painted backer to one of the themed crosses that Sue May designed.. While it held together... some areas did pull apart and was clearly not the best bond.. It's been so long ago now so I couldn't tell you what glue I used.. It could have been the glue, not enough glue since I was trying to not get much if any squeeze out etc.. I don't know... I posted on one of the forums and the consensus was not to paint first.. if you can avoid it... Ever since that experience.. I stay away from painting.. and now pretty much just use natural wood colors for contrast.. Typically use Birch and Walnut together.. Still think on certain projects.. some color would look nice.. but I hate to have a customer contact saying the piece fell apart too...

I took the foam thing out and put my old parts in the box. since my OEM clamp only had about 20 hours use I figured it was worth keeping for a backup. Don’t think I’m going to need it though, lol

Yeah I know what you mean about the hearing protection.. Spent many years working in a sawmill..with various job duties including making pallets with the noisy air nailers.. Then several years working in a factory until I started doing autobody repair.. which is also very loud.. My intent is to buy a higher end vacuum ... I've been looking and have had demos on fein and Festool.. both quite pricey.. however I am one that doesn't like hearing protection to much.. having the big headphone style ear protection tends to give me headaches and the others bother my ears.. I do wear hearing protection when running loud equipment.. as this doesn't bother me like wearing it all day in the shop but for short periods doesn't bother me.. So I plan to buy a quieter vac system.. and the higher end ones have the speed adjustment.. pretty sure one could run it on lowest setting which is quieter yet.. and still be plenty good suction for the fine dust.. also designed to turn on / off a lot with the tool.. Thinking the lower power may not hae as loud of a sucking noise too.. May put the vac.. upstairs in the shop and run the hose through the floor... so I'm betting the only noise will be the sucking sound.. hopefully more tolerable.. Even with this dust collection.. I still wear a my mask...

I need a quieter vacuum or a 50ft hose to put it over in the neighbors garage. But I have to say.. I really like having some sort of vacuum dust collection rather than just having the blower blow it away and the box fan trying to handle all that dust blowing toward it.. Also need to hook the other saws up to the vacuum..

My DeWalt didn't like much below 25-30F it'd spit and spudder for the first couple of cuts.. I didn't like running it that way so I put a heater back by the motor and let it warm up a little before I started sawing... Then I bought my Hawk.. I think that thing would run in anything.. but I do know it wouldn't run when the power went out once,

Okay just thought I’d share some info with The Excalibur. I have some big orders that came in over the last few days so I’ve been doing a lot of cutting. Yesterday I hooked up my shop vac to the dust port provided on my EX21. I cut out 130 custom Christmas ornaments yesterday and about 30 so far this morning. I was going to take a picture last night and forgot. Then was going to today before I got started. But went right to work. Just thought about it and looked to see just how much mess I’ve made. Not too much as normally there’d be a big pile on top of the angle adjustment knob etc. I do have a small amount on the floor that I believe is more from the top of the saw table as some of the dust I noticed up top and on the table, but even that is minimal compared to just using the box fan. I didn’t have that set up during this test but I think I’ll try that on the other half of this order. Anyway, 160 ornaments cut and not much mess to show for it. Going to have to make a mess so the wife don’t think I’m just playing around instead of cutting this order.

Yeah, several years ago I bought some clock movements from them and they took 2-3 weeks. I never have bought anything from them since then.. Bought my Pegas clamps from qtena.com as they was on sale.. even though I've never heard of the place.. but I think my clamps was here in like 4 days..

I guess on a more positive note... at least it's not raining again today... Not sure where you ordered this from but seems like it's been quite a while... I'm thinking mine only took a few days..

You know that chart is helpful to me as all the printers I've ever owned never say the paper size in inches... it's always these letter/number combos.. and I hate that because I don't never know which is what.. My printer is the big one.. that will do the big sheets.. My kids and wife laugh at me when I brought this new printer home.. I never thought about the physical size of the printer and I have a very small desk... Anyway.. I set the printer up on my desk and it takes up more than half the space.. good thing I have one of those small monitors because this printer has me squeezed into the corner with barely enough room for my monitor.. I don't like the keyboard down on the little tray so it sets up on top of the desk in front of the monitor.. anyway.. very cramped for space.. but at least I can print those large patterns on one sheet of paper... Now that I bought the big printer.. I rarely do portrait type work.. so that make this even more funny cause I really don't need it anymore.. Oh and the mm's is much nicer to work with for me when designing my own patterns.. because I have no idea how to convert 1-7/16 or the other clock sizes into a decimal.. math was never a strong point for me.. good with basic math but doing the fractions and whatnot I struggle with.. somehow the metric system is easier for me in designing patterns.. though I have no idea how they convert to inches etc.. LOL

I also get mine from Johnson's Workbench.. awesome place.. I've also ( many years ago ) bought from woodcraft a couple times.. Not sure they still sell it or not.. it's a lot farther of a drivea and in the big city.. I hate crowded areas... etc

Yes exactly.. they saw puts out a lot of fine dust you don't really see floating in the air.. but when it gets captured in that white pleated filter after only a short time of cutting.. you realize just how much dust they really do produce..

Having lots of blades is part of the learning curve.. I have a few stacks of blades that I bought back in 05- 06 when i was first scrolling, that I most likely will never use too.. actually same goes for some pegas blades.. I just ordered a few months ago some spirals.. the sizes on pegas seem like they run smaller than the FD that I normally use in the spirals.. as i ordered same numbers rather than looking at tooth per inch and actual blade dimensions.. So now I have some blades I won't use.. so then I ordered some paying more attention and got the correct sizing.. only to find that i personally don't like their spirals.. also have a few sample packs of most of their other styles and sizes.. I seem to only like the Modified Geometry blades from Pegas.. at least on the Hawk saw.. Just got an idea while replying... maybe I need to try all these blades on the Excalibur.. since they work differently on each saw..

Similar to what my findings have been.. and yes I use that same filter on my box fan.. actually probably more efficient than the ceiling mounted unit.. My DC needs a better bag as it is inside the shop.. That said.. I wear my dust mask about any time I'm in the shop.. Again that said.. I see fine dust landing on my tool boxes etc.. so there is dust floating around in the shop.. I clean this dust up a few times a year.. and would like to eliminate more of it.. If it's landing on stuff.. then there is room for improvement.. also if it's landing on stuff.. any time you go into the shop.. and just move.. it'll stir up that dust even though you cannot see it.. doesn't mean it's not getting stirred up. so in reality.. one should have a mask on at all times in the shop even when you're not really " woodworking" ... i work on my cars and things in the shop quite often.. and so I notice this fine dust maybe more than others do that strictly have their shop as a wood shop.. The point I make here is.. this fine dust is what is harmful to you.. and you don't really even have to be woodworking to need the mask.. or need much better filtration... much better filteration is something I'm going to be doing..mainly because I don't want to wear a dust mask to work on my " other projects " ... also be nice to only have to do a deep cleaning only a few times a year rather than every week or so..