kmmcrafts

If you used Red loc-tite.. I doubt the set screws moved.. Red is for permanent or for large bolts.. I use the blue which is for a tight hold but will move with tools but not vibrate out etc.. I'll be curious what you find out though.. so many variables of what could cause this from worn slots where the lower blade holder sits.. to roll pins that holds the upper clamp to the arm or even the bearings at the back of the saw... Also can be a bad bearing in the connecting rod ( my 226 did this) .. that goes from the motor to the lower arm.. I took the bolt out of the arm and found that upper end bearing was dry of grease and stiff moving.. funny how that little bit of drag caused that blade to get that blur look.. Good luck and let us know what you find..

Ray, they all have their good and bad points.. I like the DeWalt's Ex's etc etc.. I didn't like my Hawk for the longest time.. almost sold them.. but I kept on Trying to get used to them... why? because they are very well built... easy repairs / maintenance etc.. Being a production cutter all the saws I've had perform well and is more of a comfort zone opinion for me on the saws.. The two biggest points about the Hawk that sets it above the other ( for me ) is.. The blade mounting system is a no brainer once you get the hang of it.. Once the saw is set up correctly.. the blade mounts in the clamp the same every time.. no fuss no muss LOL.. Once you have the upper arm set to the height where it bottoms out every time the same place on the blade.. In the DeWalt Ex type saws.. one flaw that annoys me ( production cutting ) is the fact that you have to always.. lift the arm up.. Not a BIG deal but do that production cutting for 6-8 hours I have the Jim Dandy easy lift on my dewalt.. which is awesome.. but there is no such thing that I am aware of for the EX.. In the DeWalt / Ex type saws.. the blade can be moved up or down in the clamp ( ie every time you change the blade that blade could be mounted differently ).. not a big deal really.. One thing on the Ex / dewalt is there is slop in the upper lower arm and blade clamps.. so you have a learning curve to get the same tension every time.. for me.. I have to push down on the upper arm when lowering it at the same time as clamping the blade to get the tension good.. again.. not a big deal and comes natural at some point.. but again.. doing it production cutting for a while.. It's only milliseconds.. but why waist time at all if you don't have to.. The Hawk clamp has a bottom out in the lower clamp.. mount the blade.. the upper arm has a stop and once adjusted correctly that blade is mounted the same way every time... that tension is no guesswork every time.. Once you remove the tension and release the blade on the Hawk.. the upper arm is spring loaded and moves up out of the way on it's own.. Break a blade.. the upper arm pops up and says.. put in a new blade NOW.. lets get moving LOL Maintaining the saw is a 30 second job once a week for me.. but then.. not really any maintaining to a DeWalt / Ex unless you want to spend a half day taking it apart or just run it until you have an issue.. These are in no way a huge deal.. especially to a hobbyist cutter.. but once you get used to the Hawks system.. and go back to the other saws.. you figure out how spoiled the Hawk really did make you. LOL

Yeah, I'm looking forward to hearing if this changes in the up / down stroke at all.. If the set screws have moved.. the blade can still be square in one of the other position at the table level.. I once had this sort of issue.. and it turned out to be the blade was off when the arms were raised all the way up.. turned out to be the lower set screw had moved lightly.. but the saw running the blade would look blurry so to speak.. If the blade is square in both up and down position.. and still doing this.. it could actually be bearing or thrust washers Also that back wedge gets worn and sill change the tension of the blade during the stroke and really only shows up when the saw is running.. I've sharpened my wedge using some sandpaper and a flat surface.. BUT.. you can only do that so many times before the arm where that wedge rides needs to be re-machined..

Just for fun.. since I don't ship large stuff much any more.. and I know they've raised prices considerably..since I used to mail tractor parts.. cost for non commercial rate to ship 70lb from MI to California is $138.. Guess I've been out of the loop on heavy stuff for many years. as about 2007 ish I quit selling parts.. Now I have a small commercial discount from that price compared to most because of business and I believe my discount is 10%... Also... it's my understanding that many BIG business just pay a yearly premium and the shipping companies have to ship all they mail out.. contract deal.. In reality.. they might be shipping it free if they've sent a lot of products.. I do see what you're saying though.. and yes.. very happy to get free shipping on things I buy.. Studies show that many people shop online and only looking at the FREE shipping option.. even though many times the item might actually cost more over all than someone selling a lower priced item with cheap shipping... This is something I'm planning to add to my website soon.. Raising the price enough to cover shipping and offer free shipping.. since that is what the majority of shoppers look for.. so much so that many places.. eBay Etsy etc have a shipping filter to filter search results to only show items with free shipping, LOL.. so many people use that filter for free shipping. that it's starting to become the standard for search now.. so those that charge shipping are getting the last of the pages in search results.. most people that do a search only look 1-4 pages before rephrasing their search to get different results if they can't find exactly what they are looking for.. JUST A FYI .. not that you care, but someone might find that FYI informational. LOL That saw is such a good deal I'm surprised you not ordering one..

The 16" saw weighs 68lbs.. just 2 pounds from the USPS limit.. I believe shipping for non commercial rate for this would be around 60 - 70.. UPS and FedEx is lower cost shipping on heavier items than USPS.. so.. Also remember that.. most all retail pricing is marked up 200+%.. selling online.. they don't have to pay for inventory and display space in a physical store... They do have website fees and processing fees though.. but for the most part.. they also have those same fees in a actual store now days with everyone using a debit / credit card.. anyway in the whole scheme of things.. they probably only pay $200 at most for the saw that they probably don't even lay any hands on.. short of a electronic sale and drop shipped from a warehouse from some where.. On a side note. that's probably about the best price you'll see on a NEW Ex-16.. Never know what Black Friday Deals might end up being.. though...

That's what i was looking for.. something for the live edge.. I will probably coat the whole thing but first want to make the grain pop.. so may wipe it down good with Danish oil or I do have a little BLO / Mineral spirit mix left.. may use it.. was also thinking spray lacquer.. but actually I think the poly on the edges might be a better way..

And all this time I've been striving to be as good as you.. Maybe we all just need to relax a bit and cut things..who cares if we run off the line a little.. that's what make the piece our own custom design.... sometimes we have a bon fire with ornamental fire wood.. at the end of the day.. and roast marshmallows.. so no matter what.. the day ends with a good time..

I use the "wordart" font a lot for my patterns.. simply because it's readily available and is a program to be installed on the computer to be able to run that text in any of the select pattern making software I happen to be using.. I hate nothing more that cutting and taping text onto my pattern to make it work for me.. It's okay for a one time project or have done it then run it through my scanner to save a copy for later use.. but sure is more time consuming that manipulating the text within one of the pattern programs.. I like many of those fonts that looks to be from Charles Dearing.. I heard a rumor that he is getting out of selling patterns.. but will continue to do custom work or something like that..

Back before I bought my first Hawk... I was looking pretty seriously at the Delta.. until that Hawk showed up for $100 I probably would have bought the Delta.. They are a lot cheaper and basically the same machine..

I sometimes know the feeling.. while other times I find it very relaxing to just putz along and plug away at it... I don't do too many of the real large portraits.. because I get anxious to get projects completed.. I'm not real good at working on the same thing all week long.. which is why I like making the clocks ad ornaments.. most are easily done in a hour or so.. while some of the more detailed ones might take a couple hours.. Ornaments I can cut a few per hour.. Every now and then though I just have to make one of those WOW big picture portraits with several hundred cutouts.. just for the challenge... Don't think I could do those on a daily / weekly thing all the time.. though..

I don't have any experience with these personally.. My nephew has one that lighting took out the circuit board or motor.. and many parts are obsolete.. He loved the saw better than his DeWalt and would like to find another one.. ( just his preference and maybe his style of cutting ) I've read that a lot of people do not care for them as they are a more aggressive cutting saw.. I'd probably describe the cutting to a Ex saw that the blade instead of being perfectly straight up and down for fine fretwork is set to a more aggressive front to back motion.. Like I said.. I don't know how aggressive because I don't have any cutting experience on them.. That all said... I know many people that would love to find one for that price.. LOL I don't think they have any tuning ability for blade movement like the EX type saws too.. just thought I'd mention that..

Okay so the direction you cut will vary by which direction you tilt the saw.. I really can't explain it in words since I don't do this on a regular basis and really know what I'm doing well.. I just tilted the table and looked at what way I needed to cut.. Trial and error on some scrap will let know what way you want to cut.. and is needed anyway to see how much angle you need for the size blade and thickness of wood.. Also depends upon which piece you want the inlay to go into.. You can set the angle and cut in the direction so that the bottom piece fits into the top or the other way around.. that is dependent on what direction you cut.. I hope I explained this in some way that you and others can understand.. Because in all honesty I just play around on scraps until I find what is going to work for the piece I'm working with..

What’s a good finish for live edge fretwork? I cut this out today and plan to give it away in a drawing later this month or next month. Not sure what type of backer I’ll be using yet. Plan to drill two holes at the top and use Suede rope as a hanger maybe. Anyway looking for finishing info. This live edge was cut from trees from my neighbors yard a couple years ago ( he has a hobby Sawmill from the 1800’s and fires it up from time to time ) . He typically gives me a lot of slabs to play with and I have lots of it. Lol I tried to peel off the bark on the one side but it’s not coming off. Kind of wish I’d have left it on the other side but was too wide to go through my planer. Any finishing tips, backer tips, or other suggestions welcome as this is just a play around piece so I’m trying for unique one if a kind piece.

The crosses are Sue Mey patterns and the clock patterns are from a designer that retired back about 2009 -10 bought an RV and is traveling now.. so not sure how they can be contacted designer name is Sylvia.. sometimes known as " The Sawdust Mistress" or JR Ranger was her screen name on many sites..

Might be a drive but I have my stock clamp that doesn't have much time on it if you need to get to making dust before the Pegas arrives...

My table saw has a little more space on the left than the right... but I use the right more often than not because that is what is more comfortable for me to do.. I've done cuts on either side.. and the left side is just awkward for me... so I hope I'm not supposed to be using it on the left.. Maybe I have a left handed table saw LOL.. I don't have a lot of experience it using table saws soo I'm looking forward to what the experts have to say on this... as I've always kind of wondered myself...

You know I posted on my personal Facebook page the pictures of the military clocks and sold 4 of them so far. Wanted to give another opinion for those that are on a budget. So today I bought this set of patterns and cut them. They are now out drying after dipping in Danish Oil. Picture taken straight off the saw so they do look much better now. I’ll get some better pictures in a few days. Once they dry and have the ribbon on them. Also cut 3 more of the Airforce clocks for the Facebook customers lol.

Yeah sure does, pretty sure that was her screen name. Thanks Jim

Definitely agree with Ray.

Not sure why but I most often cut in a counter clockwise direction.... so I thought it all out before tilting my table and drilled my entry hole accordingly.. I think I started cutting in this direction several years ago when I was making the collapsible baskets.. I do cut either direction.. just for some reason I typically just cut counter clock wise... maybe I'm just trying to unwind,

All the patterns I have of hers was just signed Sylvia.. in hand written cursive... I'll definitely send you a copy of the patterns IF / When I send that hard drive in to try to get the patterns off it.. I do have a lot of them that I copied to a CD disc.. but as I said.. most of them were lost on the hard drive.. I know what you mean about the $$ value of not only the tools but the inventory of finished work as well...

Thank you!!

Awesome work as always.. I like them all but have to agree with the Life Is Better At The Beach.. LOL

Very well done!

Yeah the wrench wasn't too bad to cut and the most challenging was the teeth / threads on the adjustment knob.. Good to see you getting back in the groove of making some sawdust.. your work has always been top notch.. I always enjoy looking at the extra touches you would do to your projects..