kmmcrafts

Ultra I think just is a name they came up with to change from the VS.. But.. the I.D tag will still say VS.. as mine says 226VS.. but it's actually an Ultra.. The Ultra saws was a redesign with a different lower blade clamp and... the the lower arm has two positions for the blade aggressiveness.. otherwise.. I think it's probably the same saw.. I'd like to have a BM226 simply because the blade can be fine tuned exactly how you want it.. ( variable adjustment rather than the two positions ) I think I read somewhere about the G4 being variable adjusting? anyone?

Unfortunately these saws don't really bring all that great of money considering what they cost new.. Maybe just my opinion but I feel that saw is a little on the high price side.. If I could get $600 for mine.. I'd sell it in a heartbeat if I was looking to sell it... and mine was brand new still boxed in May 2017.. I have the VHS, box of pattern books, blades, and 10 blade clamps, original sales slip, etc that I received from the original owner.. he bought it new in 1998 and before it got mailed to him he had a stroke.. never opened up the box... by the time he went through the therapy etc he had lost interest in sawing.. or couldn't do it.. not sure.. either way he sold it to me.. gladly paid his asking price without even trying to talk the price down.. The best reselling saw in my opinion is a DeWalt.. old type 1 saws selling at $300 still.. while new that saw may have only been 300-350, LOL I think mine was ( on sale ) priced at $379 or something.. (less than $400 shipped ) with stand and light from Grizzly during the "Holiday" sales back in 2009.. Betting I could sell it for $275+ still.. even though I've used the crap out of it and rebuilt the thing a couple times.. and quite honestly still think the DeWalt saw is really the best bang for your buck.. really they are quite hard to beat for the money..and quality isn't too bad either for the pricing you pay.. Now.. not to say that there aren't deals on used DeWalts.. just saying the majority of them sell at more than I'd pay.. Hawks and most other higher end saws just don't seem like they hold the value.. in my area.. most all the Hawks are priced around $250 - 400 for a 220 and the 226 seem to be mostly in the 350 - 600.. most of the $600 ones seem to be listed for many months before they are taken down or sold.. with that said.. even though I gave $400 for mine still boxed.. I don't feel I could get much more if any than that out of it...unless I sat on the thing for several weeks / months..

Well as far as blade clamps go.. only way to " upgrade" those is you'd have to replace the lower arm.. as the barrel clamp and the newer clamping is different.. I have both a barrel clamp and a square type clamp with a roll pin through it.. I cannot say either one is any more of a pain to do / learn over the other.. maybe the newer square type one is slightly easier.. The saw in the link looks like a nice saw.. Biggest worries I'd have with it is the motor.. otherwise the saw has the options you most wanted... it is a variable speed one..has the tension lever at the front of the saw.. only thing I see that would get changed.. is I'd upgrade the blower hose and or.. hook up some sort of vac instead of blowing it in the air.. I upgraded my older one to the flex hose and it's long enough to blow the sawdust to the side and or toward the back of the saw.. the way those older hoses are just clamped to the saw aiming the sawdust right toward you was why I upgraded that part on mine.. The kit was bought from Bushton.. but.. to do over and the price of the kit.. I'd probably try to build me a vacuum system instead..

Well, any Hawk with the round lower blade clamp doesn't have the adjustable blade aggression.. ( If that matters to you ).. saw will cut great without this.. if.. you aren't used to a aggressive cutting saw.. The Ultra saws ( I believe 1996 and newer ) saws have a different lower blade clamp and you can ( for the Ultras and Maybe later saws ) position the lower clamp in two different slots on the lower arm.. front slot for thin ( less aggressive cutting ) and the other for thick wood ( aggressive) cutting.. I personally find for "me" the front slot not quite aggressive enough and the other slot a little too aggressive.. Again.. my style cutting etc.. this would be different for each type of work and type blades used and many other factors.. For a hobbyist just looking to go out and "play" I don't see where this would be a huge issue I suppose..( from my perspective ) but.. I don't do a lot of different style cutting.. Hotshot likes a saw that have about a complete straight vertical for cutting the coins.. as small as the coins are and the detail he puts into them... I see why he wants a saw set up like that.. For a hobbyist.. doing fretwork style cutting.. I think any older Hawk would be just fine.. as for updating a old Hawk to the newest features etc.. I wouldn't say doing it would be at all worth it.... I'd just mainly look for a older Hawk at a good deal and not worry about the bells and whistles..etc short of maybe staying away from one with that older motor that had issues.. unless you think you have the ability for retro fit a new motor on one yourself.. or good motor shop to help you do that.. If the price is sweet enough I'd buy one with the older motor, which I have with my old 220VS I figured for $100 I wasn't going to get burnt too bad if it stopped working shortly after I got it.. I just was looking for some cheap experience with a Hawk.. to see if maybe a better newer model would be worth the additional money..

Not real sure what all you want to know about it.. but by the serial number I'd say it's a 1994-1995 model.. due to the barrel clamps it's not an ultra.. so it doesn't have the adjustable blade positions for aggressive cutting.. Not too sure about the motor issue.. you'll need to call Hawk on that one.. I only know that it's newer than my 1993 because my serial number is 23059.. I think it was 1996 when the ultras came out.. The motor issue was with a certain brand motor.. and I believe the issues with them is the speed controller rather than the motor itself.. but.. because the motor is wired to the controller and the company that makes the motor is no longer in business the only option is to replace both motor and controller as a unit.. I'm betting a good electric motor shop could wire up a new $5 - 10 controller.. Issues with the motor itself.. might be an issue for parts etc.. but then.. not a whole lot to a small electric motor either...so again.. a good motor shop should be able to fix you up... Bushton would fix you up but that would be a $350 bill for the motor plus you have to send them the saw... I think the older motor brand is Fasco or something like that?? maybe someone else knows..

Very nice!!

Beautiful work as always.. A lot of time at the saw that's for sure.. LOL

Cool and very interesting test.. I bought some polar blades years ago when trying to do some puzzles and someone recommended them to me.. I wasn't all that impressed with the performance over the Ultra Rev.. ones.. Now that I've used the Pegas they been my go to blade..like to try those super sharps.. but wow.. I'm afraid I'd like them too much and be stuck paying that premium price.. LOL I am going to give them a try.. just to see.. I've heard good things about them.. and could be a money maker for those of us that sell and where time does matter..

I didn't know the blade could be turned 90 degrees on the Dremel 1800? I had one of these that I used for about 2-3 years back in my learning days.. really wasn't a bad saw other than the rod at the back of the saw was held on to the upper and lower arms with roll pins.. and no bearings.. I had to replace the darn thing about every 6-8 months.. nothing more than a piece of flat steel about 1/8" x 1 x 8.. Dremel wanted $40 for the darn thing.. needless to say.. I only bought the first one.. when I took it apart I was mad because it wasn't anything special.. To make matters worst the thing was back ordered for a couple weeks and I had to borrow my brothers ryobi saw to finish a project... and all along it was something so simple I could have made in just a few minutes from my scrap steel pile, LOL

I also know nothing of the saw.. it looks very similar to some other saws I've seen but cannot think of the brand of those saws or where I had seen them.. I believe I've read about another saw that could turn the blade 90 degrees too.. but again.. I don't remember where I seen or heard of that either...

Exactly.. I learned to do portraits about 6-8 years ago and did about 5-8 patterns.. then got busy doing other things etc.. had a friend request a pattern of his dad whom had passed.. I couldn't get it without doing a ton of refreshing with the videos here.. I haven't done one in a long time.. I'm sure I couldn't do one again without the videos.. and now I'm just so busy that it's hard to find the time to do them..

I learned to make "some" patterns myself by watching the videos here and ready the topics in the village university.. Not super great at it yet.. but been a work in progress for a year or two now.. Since I sell online and do custom work.. I try to do them all on my own but during the real busy times.. I reach out to a couple of pattern makers to have them do the work for me.. Yes I pay them.. never expect to have a pattern done for me for free after trying to do my own...it's not easy..at least for me.. I'd like to gain some other makers as they all have different styles of designing.. Sometimes in paying for a designer to make it.. they do a great job.. but sometimes the idea doesn't really match what I had in mind.. I really want to learn more.. but the only way to do that is take time to learn it.. and I'd much rather saw ..

That is Beautiful Rolf!! How big is that? I've always wanted to try my hand at intarsia... bought a book on it with some good patterns in it a couple years ago.. but never did give it a try.. Must be the A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. ( not sure I have either of those) .. as I get way off side tracked.. I say I'll do it then I see a fretwork pattern I just have to cut and so on so forth LOL.. Going to make it a point to do this new year... I think I just made my new years resolution.. LOL

This came across my facebook page so I thought it was funny and fitting for this topic, LOL

I have a wolf portrait that I stack cut 4 of back when my daughter was in 4th grade ( graduated high school this last summer ) for a silent auction fund raiser.. the one we auctioned for the fund raiser brought $50.. I listed the other 3 on the online venues I sell at and also did a couple local craft shows.. only ever sold one other than the fund raiser one.. Now I did well with a wolf dream catcher for a few rounds but that also died out.. That all said... I've never really done very well with selling portrait work other than cars.. then it's not even all that great..

I cannot agree more with this.. My inlaws live in Texas south of San Antonio an hour or so.. anyway visited them back in 2010 ( I think ) while there every single day was 105+ one day was 127F and we went to a little creek place where a lot of folk go to cool off.. the water was what we would consider the temp of a hot tub /sauna thing.. no cooling me off in that.. LOL I deal pretty well in cold..until it gets into the low teens or lower.. then I get cold.. but.. on a positive note... Most of our winters are at least mid teens with only a hand full of what I would consider stay in the house kind of cold.. and even then.. it's not very often it gets that way.. Also rarely get to a heat where I feel I have to stay in the air conditioning.. . That said though.. My wife has some health issues that the cold really bothers her.. but also so does the heat.. so... I may move south one day.. but not to a place where it's extreme hot or cold.. maybe somewhat in the middle.. We both love Tennessee.. not sure how cold or hot they get there.. but we have talked about going there on and off.. once the kids get through school and probably after retiring.. Or we'll buy a second home or another travel trailer and just go south for the worst of the cold days.. which the worst is typically mid Jan. to mid Feb..

Yes, I remember working in my brothers sawmill out in the cold.. I'd work up a sweat in this cold temps.. It's really not too bad with that little heater I have.. biggest thing to get cold is my fingers.. I wear mechanics gloves from Harbor Freight as they are thin so you can still feel what you're doing and they also have some little grips on them.. I just turn and put my hands by that little heater and heat up my gloves.. they stay warm through a couple of cuts usually then I just repeat, LOL.. I have the heater aimed at me and it actually gets a little hot on my legs and feet so sometimes I'll have to adjust how I'm sitting.. Ran it on low this morning and was plenty warm.. just my fingers that was getting cold.. My shop is well insulated too.. it was actually 17F in there surprisingly.. Plan to block off a section for heating up just the small portion where I work the most at.. I don't really mind the cold.. and would be plenty happy just to keep the shop around 30 - 35.. biggest thing is.. my 788 don't like to turn on if it gets much colder than 25 - 30.. I normally start it up and let her warm up.. she spits and sputters in the cold.. acts like a car needing a tune up LOL.. but it smooths out after a min. or so.. I sometimes will aim the heater toward the motor so it won't do that.. not sure how good for it it is to run it that way.. I've always worried I'd fry the motor or something.. done it since it was new 8+ years.. but that is why I have so many back up saws I guess, LOL

I cannot agree more with what JT and the others have already said.. I do know I am guilty of this one.. probably the worst offender...

From what I see in the pictures.. seems like a good deal.. I want to try one someday and when the right deal pops up in my area on one I think I will buy it...

Well, not too sure how long I've been out there.. I was able to make one clock.. came in for a warm up and to glue the clock portion to the base so I can put the beeswax mineral oil mix on it tonight.. then it'll get packaged up and mailed out in the morning and repeat for the next clock.. The clocks aren't scheduled to be mailed out until the 9th.. so I'm actually ahead of schedule.. not one to like to wait to the last minute though and I hadn't sawed now for a few days.. didn't want to forget how.. Might actually go out after getting some lunch to make the next one.. maybe get it in the mail tomorrow too.. One thing I like how I have my orders set up.. I have 14 days before I have to have them in the mail.. even in my busiest times.. I've been able to stay several days ahead.. but.. I have that this way in case I was to get sick or another unexpected something came up.. I have another topic about selling on Amazon.. but I suppose it's a better fit for the business section.. and maybe not take this topic off coarse too far..

Yes, I just use beeswax and mineral oil mixture to finish my stuff so not really any smells or drying time needed.. Guess I'd better get out there and get some work done.. warmed up to +5 now and I've already made my chilli to simmer in the crock pot for our dinner tonight.. should warm me up if I'm still cold, LOL..

Just to update this thread a little.. since I had a very short break with not a lot of orders.. I ended up taking the motor off the saw to get the bolt out of the motor end of the connecting rod the other night.. turns out.. there is a set screw that holds the big aluminum block to the motor and I was able to put a allen wrench in the set screw to hold the motor from spinning to loosen that bolt.. once apart I went ahead and checked the bearing in the block as well.. all seams good with it.. looks like a big heavy bearing in that block.. much like a car wheel bearing design but slightly smaller.. The bearing on the motor end of the connecting rod was a little gritty as well.. I was tempted to just clean it up and add new grease.. But.. since I've got to replace the upper one.. I figured as much hassle as it was to take the thing apart.. I'll just buy two bearings and replace them both.. Probably won't be putting it back together for another week or more as I have some orders to make.. plus I'm not too enthusiastic about doing anymore work out there than needed with these single digit and negative temps.. we are going to have for the next week or so..

Going to be a cold day working out in the shop today.. I don't know the temp inside the shop yet as I haven't been out there yet.. but outside temps is -4F.. no heat in the shop but it's usually a couple degrees warmer in there.. 9 clock orders and 2 ornament orders to make.. I've got until end of next week to get them in the mail.. however the temps are't supposed to improve all that much either.. I've got a small radiant heater that mounts to a propane tank that usually keeps me fairly warm when on low setting.. betting I run it on high today though.. LOL Wife told me not to work out there... said to bring the saw in the house Hahaha.. NOPE.. been there done that once.. took three 12 hour days of cleaning to clean up the aftermath... I know what shes up too on that one.. she just wanting me to do a good deep house cleaning that she doesn't have to be a part of...

1600 clocks is not really unreasonable number of the fretwork style clocks that I make.. I have around 150 different styles of clocks to choose from.. 1600 clocks is only about 5 a day with a few days off to work on cutting ornaments and other projects.. I need to see how many clocks I've actually made this year.. don't seem like many.. but after looking at the purchase receipts of the clocks parts I use.. I think I've sold a lot more than I first thought.. I order 100 at a time.. doing some bookkeeping today I've order 3 times since Nov. 1st and I have 2 clocks left.. and I know I've order several other times throughout the year.. Been working with a new supplier and placed another order of 100 a few nights ago.. now these was a good deal.. I wish now I had ordered the 500 for a better price.. I just didn't realize I had done that much business.. I plan on adding some puzzles to the site this year.. Maybe I should set a goal for 5 clocks and 5 puzzles per day then with my leftover time cutout a few ornaments.. that way I wont be cutting the same type of work all the time..

While I wouldn't like cutting the exact same thing day in and day out... but.. I really do enjoy cutting the same things for a few repetitions.. I enjoy challenging myself in cutting it faster.. I have some designs that I'm so used to cutting.. I probably could almost do it blindfolded, LOL .. but in reality I find that I do get quite a lot of variety with the various items I sell.. It's not always cutting desk clocks or wall clocks.. or ornaments etc etc.. then I've always got a customer asking for a custom or personalized spin off of a current design.. I find it very interesting what some of the "customers" ideas are and many of them are very cool ideas that I will sometimes offer on my site.. It seems like doing just puzzles would be boring.. but what's the difference of doing just clocks.. I'm sure iggy get some odd request with either custom names or just different types of animals etc etc.. Is it more fun designing and cutting something completely new? Yeah sure it is.. I do quite a lot of "New" items throughout the year and add them to the inventory.. something nice about online selling.. I don't have to cut all this stock.. and I rarely get customer after customer ordering the exact same item several times in a row... yes.. I do have the "popular" items that I make 4-5 of every month.. again.. not usually ordered one right after the other.. I can also control this.. simply by not relisting the item when it sells out.. so I can have a break from it for a week or so if needed.. I do this type of stuff during very busy holiday seasons at times..