kmmcrafts

Thanks for the info on the small allen screw under the top arm.. I will look into that.. I have notice that the blades don't break as much if I run the saw at slower speeds.. I feel like maybe it is something with the tension being lost at the higher speeds.. makes me wonder if I need to adjust the screw you had mentioned.. Shouldn't be because of anything worn.. as the saw was brand new still boxed when I got it back in May.. I've only cut a small amount of items on it.. maybe at best 5 projects..

I haven't actually had a chance to run it this week.. I did a lot of tuning it etc on Sunday afternoon.. and run it just a little.. but haven't had a real test yet.. Been really busy this week and probably next week too.. I picked up a real nice low mileage Jeep Liberty real cheap because it was vandalized.. for my daughter to drive back and forth to college. Jeep was vandalized ( keyed down the sides egged or some kind of acid to mess up the paint beat on with something maybe a hammer.. broken mirror front and rear brake / turn signals ).. Believe it was the guys ex girl that he bought the Jeep for her to drive.. So I'm on body shop duty this week .. had to replace a door skin.. pull several dents replace fender etc.. got it almost ready for paint.. hoping to shoot the paint at least by Friday so that next week I can start putting the doors, fenders etc back on it and then do a check of breaks, oil change , and trans service etc.. gotta make sure it's going to be safe and ready for my daughter to drive... college is 45 min drive each way.. but the good thing is.. most of it is online.. so she only goes one day a week for lab work.. Anyway.. back on topic.. I hope to get a good test on the Hawk next week..

I use mineral oil on almost all my projects.. BUT.. I do it different that most would do.. it is a little tedious to get into the fretwork but it gives an awesome finish that shines for a very long time.. I don't have to wait for it to dry so when a order comes in I can make the project and mail it out almost immediately after applying the finish.. I cook up mineral oil mixed with real beeswax.. after this cools down it turns into a loose paste wax texture.. I use an acid brush to apply to the piece.. let it set for maybe an hour or two.. overnight if I am not rushed.. then I use a hairdryer to melt down the extra wax etc. that is left behind and wipe off excess with paper towel.. The wax melting into the pours of the wood gives the wood a nice shine and silky smooth feel to the wood.. I sometimes use Danish oil... but it take several days to dry out and not stink.. and I've had it do the bleed thing as Duke describes plus I've had it dry with spots of shiny clear as if some one put drops of clear coat on it when I wasn't looking LOL.. So while it is sort of time consuming to apply the mineral oil / beeswax mixture.. I've never had an issue with it with any customers.. can't say that about the Danish oil.. had customers complain of a strong smell when opening the box.. after a week of drying.. and about the droplets of clear look..

Depends I suppose on what you want or mean by upgrades... You can send your saw to Hawk ( Bushton ) and they will upgrade the motor, speed controller and rebuild whatever is worn.. so you basically get a new (old) saw... however in my opinion.. you'd be far better ahead to just get a new Hawk with the whole new design.. I don't think they can upgrade the arms as the newer saws arms I believe are longer because the newer models the arm comes out past the angle adjustment... I think the cost for a rebuild etc.. is right around $350 - 400.. well I know the motor and controller is 350+ labor not sure about the shipping cost to ship to them and if the price include them shipping it back.. I looked into this because I found an old Hawk that had a older style motor.. with issues... many older ones did have some motor / controller issues.. Best advise is to get theserial numbers and call Bushton.. they can tell you the year of the saw and what motor it has etc.. while on the phone ask about upgrades.. but I don't think they do much for upgrades.. just basically replace motors and worn parts..

You can buy the same saw in the USA at woodcraft.. called the King scroll saw.. Though they do not have the 21" model.. which I personally believe was the most popular one sold.. only the 16 and 30 inch saws are available under the King name..

I started out with a saw (Delta 16" 40-560 2 speed type 2 ) that my father had bought new after he retired in about 1988 and plum wore it out.. he had replaced it with another Delta 16" 40-540 Variable speed in 1997.. One day in about 1999 while paying him a visit and him showing me all the things he had made that week.. I asked about his old saw.. if I could take it and play around with it.. he was delighted that I had finally picked up some interest in maybe sawing.. and said sure.. long story but I brought it home with no blades or wood.. sat on a bench for probably a year.. and finally I picked up some blades.. after asking dad what blades he used most.. He cut a lot of thin stuff so he told me 0/2 Olsen blades.. Put the blades I picked up in the saw and tried cutting a 2x4 in half LOL.. needless to say the saw went so slow and I was like.. no way do I have the penitence to do this stuff.. LOL.. Under the bench the saw went for most of about 6 years... One cold snowy November night back in 2006 I went out and got the saw.. brought it into the house.. found a pattern online.. ( didn't know about spray glues etc.. ) taped the pattern to some 3/8 plywood I had scraps from a project.. Wish I would had known more and got interested in it sooner while dad was still alive ( he passed in March of 2003 ) been sawing ever since.. I hunted all around the internet and while most places didn't have parts for the saw.. I found a place that had a bunch of NOS delta parts for a warehouse they bought out.. Was able to get all I needed to rebuild dads old saw In late fall of 07 I bought a new Craftsman 16 in saw.. that saw was junk right out of the box.. took it back before ever even trying to cut on it.. Early winter picked up a refurbished Dremel 1800 rebuilt it two times so in 09 bought a Dewalt.. also about 2011 I bought a used Delta SS350 as a back-up saw.. ended up selling the Dremel and the ss350 as I liked my Dewalt best.. Then last year in Oct. I bought my first used Hawk 220VS ..This spring I bought my Hawk 226 Ultra.. Most expensive saw I bought was my Dewalt.. at $429 with stand and light.. rebuilt that dewalt once and it needs it again.. Out of all the saws.. The Dewalt and Hawks was my favorite.. If I could only have one saw.. I'd sell them all and get a new Hawk.. but of the ones I have now.. I'd keep the Hawk 226 Ultra.. while I am still trying to learn the saw and get used to the blade clamp / tension without breaking blades.. I find that it's the most enjoyable saw to cut on.. BTW.. I still have Dads old saw.. The other saw he had went to my step brothers and all his pattern books etc.. and they don't use it but never would let me have the stuff either.. He had stacks and stacks of magazines and pattern books..

I wouldn't count them all as being the $25 ones.. I believe the kids puzzles he sells for $10.. But still a decent day in my opinion..

Okay, I was inserting the blade correct.. after reading JT's second post.. However I do need to adjust that rear rod and tension lever.. I had been doing it right I believe.. but at some point something changed back there at that rod and changed the length of that rod as well as my tension.. I am guessing now after reading that really nothing changed other that either the wedge or that bottom barrel thing got mis-aligned and then I started fooling with the tension and rod length.. Now I need to go out and adjust it as it should be.. and see if my blades keep breaking still.

Maybe all this time.. I've been installing the blade wrong.. I was under the impression that the top arm comes down and you insert the blade to that back of the blade chuck and lower the arm until the top of the blade hits a little pin or blade stop thing.. but my upper arm on either saw will lower down farther than where that pin is.. But the way you explained it... it sounds like I am to put the back of the blade up against that pin.. that I had been using as a blade stop?? I will check that out tomorrow morning.. Because I had been installing the blade in my 220 this way too.. and at one point had a lot of blade breakage etc.. as well.. but on that saw.. most times I can run it until the blade is about dull anyway.. Though I don't recall ever breaking any blades on my dewalt.. dull or otherwise.. pretty sure it's user error...

I know what you are talking about.. but sadly I don't think this is the issue i am having.. I've done some more checking one thing at a time.. sooner or later I suppose I will figure it all out.. I have noticed that I don't seem to be breaking the blades nearly as bad when running the saw at slower speeds..

Awesome, Maybe tomorrow will pan out better than you think..

While I have had my Hawk Ultra 226 since May.. I really haven't had that many opportunities to "really" use it much.. I've been using the 220VS or the DeWalt due to being somewhat rushed to get a order done etc.. I've had blade breakage issues with it.. and pretty sure it was just user error.. Blades are breaking in the middle of the wood..typically down near the project I'm cutting.. and a few times it's been an inch or so from the top.. but most times it's a inch or so near the bottom.. I been looking at the ends of the blades for marks of the clamps slipping.. Don't notice anything there.. I really think my tension is too tight... BUT... If I loosen it much at all the saw clatters as if the blade is too loose.. I don't get it.. So in playing around with this I've also noticed that the distance has changed between the lower arm and the upper arm... as the way it was set up ( saw was new in the box when I got it ) out of the box.. I had to lift up the upper arm to get the blade in and underneath that stop pin in the clamp.. now the blade is right at the correct height to just lower the arm and tighten the thumb screw.. I am assuming the lock-nut on that rod at the back of the saw has been spinning.. I also assume that is what the nut is for? Maybe its not? Maybe I need to give it some slack.. My old 220VS has a lot of slack in that and I have to lift up the arm to get the blade in as well much like the 226 was set up when I first got it.. Anyway, I am wondering if that lock nut on that rod is for adjusting this.. or is that the cause of my blades breaking.. I looked in my manual and I didn't see anything pertaining to that lock nut.. Only thing I see in it as far as tension was to look at the cam lever and set it at 11- 1 pm clock position.. nothing is mentioned about that rod or the lock nut.. I'm kind of wondering if I need to loosen this lock nut down out of the way and then loosen the tension from the blade.. I think it's too tight but like I said.. getting noise when i loosen it...maybe the noise is something to do with that lock nut.. Going to go out in a bit and give it a try.. but still wondering if the lock nut is for adjusting the distance between the arms.. I know it's much nicer cutting when the arms are right at the right distance apart so the blade just slips into position.. Thanks for any comments or suggestions..

Never used those.. but when I first started scroll sawing back in 06' I bought some scroll sanders.. they was basically a emery cloth with flat plastic ends that would fit into the blade clamps of my old dremel 1800 scroll saw clamps.. that said... I never did use them all up.. and one time I needed to sand something and was going to use them in my DeWalt.. but the clamps on my DW 788 wasn't spread apart enough for those plastic ends to fit.. Seems like I did try to use like a fingernail file ( emery board ) in my saw once too and it wouldn't fit

Congrats on the new saw!! I think you'll be very happy with it.. Kevin

Not too sure what you mean by noise.. or I should say type of noise... Sawing noise or Scroll saw noise? DeWalts are known to start getting noisy when they start getting worn out... typically a rattle or clattering sound... They way you describe it.. it's as if it is the ( sawing ) "cutting sound " I have cut many different types of wood and thickness of wood.. Some types of wood are just louder when cutting that other types of wood.. I once cut a certain type of pine.. not sure what it was now or the types of blades i used.. but the cutting was VERY loud...almost that screeching sound of fingernails on a chalk board drive me crazy kind of sound.. I switch out to a different type blade that made it much quieter.. just the other day I had this with a Pegas #5 cutting cherry.. sound got quieter when I turned the saw speed up considerably.. So.. with all that said.. you might try messing with different blades or even toy with the saws speed dial to see if you can get it to change sounds..

If you just jinxed yourself.. on the bright side.. you'd get a new saw right? LOL... If I have to wait for mine to wear out... well I don't like that idea.. because while mine is a 1998 saw.. it was still brand new in the box when I got it in May of this year... and i really want one of those new ones.. hoping I don't have to wait 21 plus years for my new Hawk, LOL

I sure hope you do real well at the show this weekend.. looking forward to hearing the results..

That was really my thinking on it.. If I spend the money on a pattern I'd just a soon buy the puzzle.. then modify it for clocks or whatever I need... That all said though.. I never thought about patterns having restrictions.. I modify a good amount of the patterns I get to make something different.. Though I've never really seen any restrictions on the patterns themselves.. I really like to buy patterns in sets rather than individually too..

Over the years of scroll sawing and being on message boards / forums ... I've seen this and it was a bad batch of blades.. while I haven't heard of this with Olsen blades... but I have with FD blades.. I'm sure it happens to them all at one point or another.. maybe more than we know.. but maybe they get stopped at quality control.. and theses just slipped past..

That's pretty awesome, and great exposure for your web site.... You are famous in the scroll saw community, LOL

That is exactly where mine sounded bad... was uneven legs on the stand that took care of most of it.. not sure about your saw though.. as you have a few years older than mine.. ( mines a 1993 220VS ).. I don't have any gearbox.. as it is direct drive to the motor.... But anyway.. I'd start with making sure the stand is settled onto the ground firmly.. as that is probably the most over looked.. and many times the culprit.. rule out the simple stuff first.. noise travels through that steel in weird ways.. On mine.. I thought that connecting rod that comes through and hooks to the lower arm was hitting on the frame where it goes through.. like I said.. adjusting the stand took care of about 90% of the noise and vibration.. then I moved onto other things to get it smoothed out..

You are right about it not speeding up too much.. so with that said maybe you will be best off to leave it as is.. I find with mine that the cutting is much more enjoyable ( smoother going ) with it in the less aggressive position.. Actually wish I had a third position on mine to be in between the two that I have because I find the one is not aggressive enough and the other is too aggressive.. which is why I've been really thinking about selling the saws I have for a new one like you have.. Glad you are finally enjoying your new saw..

The first thing one should do in getting a new or used saw is loosen the stand and make it settle into the spot you plan to use it at.. I bought my first Hawk last Oct.. and it was real noisy and vibrated across the floor.. at one time the saw had been bolted to plywood and the bottom of the stand legs was bent some... by loosening the saw stand and letting it settle in and re-tightening the legs back up helped a lot.. but I still had a issue because of the bottom of the legs was bent some.. I ended up with having to buy some adjustable legs to bolt onto the bottom of the legs... This could be somewhat the same issue you have with your saw.. You never know how someone has set up a saw before you.. so whenever I get a used saw.. first thing I do is go through the saw and tune everything up as if it was a new saw... Kevin

Maybe I am missing something here.. but I would think you should be able to adjust that cut on the Hawk to be more aggressive or faster cutting even with cutting puzzles.. Seems like if the Dewalts have that motion and the puzzles are fine with that.. then that Hawk should too... Now.. not saying you can adjust it all the way because I think the Hawk has quite a large amount of adjustment to it.. but I see no reason why you couldn't do a little adjustment.. maybe measure your forward back motion of the Dewalt.. then shoot for that same amount on the Hawk? For what it's worth... on my Ultra when I cut a couple puzzles on it.. I used the aggressive setting.. which is a little more aggressive than my DeWallt is.. and my puzzles slide out the bottom and in at the top as well.. I really question that the issue you had before with this was something to do with the issue with the arm too? Kevin

I've never done one of the deltas ( that new of model ) before.. but this model is somewhat very similar to the DeWalt.. so I will tell you.. I just ordered ALL NEW bushing sleeves from ereplacement parts web site and.. bearings from VBX bearing web site.. the total cost was right in the ballpark of $160 - 180.. ( off my memory ).. I didn't order the one sealed bearing on the connecting rod to motor.. as i didn't know the size until I get it apart.. If, you do decide to take on the job yourself.. I'd suggest using break parts cleaner to remove the grease in the new bearings and replacing it with high grade synthetic grease.. I did this on my last re-build of the front portion of the saw.. and it is still good and quiet up front.. and this withstands quite a lot of hours since I've done that.. Kick myself for not doing the rear portion the same way.. as that is where my new issue is.. but I will probably be rebuilding the whole saw this time since I now have two Hawk backup saws where as before.. the DeWalt was the only saw.. and I had it down for a few days because the local bearing supplier had to order the bearings...