kmmcrafts

Yeah, you'll also probably want to replace the bushings.. I just order my parts last month.. I ordered everything bearing bushing wise and also a blade clamp.. I think my lower one is spreading out wider.. as I had been starting to get some blade slippage.. I believe the cost for all was around $160-170.. not cheap really.. which is why I stress.. preventative maintenance.. I probably didn't need the new bearings and bushings for the front half of the saw.. because I've taken it apart a few times just to clean out old grease and re- grease it up.. no noise or noticeable wear there.. But figure since I was ordering parts I'd pay shipping just once.. Back part of the saw was quite worn when i took it apart years ago.. and since I didn't have the parts I just greased it and put it together.. held up a lot longer than I though it would.. but then the synthetic grease is awesome stuff too..

Yes I did buy my saw new back in 2009.. I didn't do a whole lot of cutting with it at first.. ( more of a hobbyist ) so the first rebuild was 5 years after I got it.... well actually it wasn't a full rebuild... I just took it apart and greased it up.. Then a year later I only rebuilt the front portion of the saw.. and have taken it apart a couple more times just to re-grease since then.. The bearings at the back of the saw is original other than the one time I added grease to it.. Now.. that back portion is getting really noisy.. I have ordered all new sleeves and bearings for the whole saw.. and plan to do a full rebuild very soon... was going to do it this week or early next week.. but today I got slammed with a couple good sized orders off my website.. so now I will be working making saw dust instead..

I played around with my blade inserting in the clamp at different angles a little today.. If I put the blade as far toward the front of the clamp as I can go.. it makes my saw cut much like my DeWalt does with the clamp inserted in the first position ( less aggressive )... I haven't tried it in the 2nd position yet.. and don't really think I will need to.. I find that cutting in the 2nd position is too aggressive for most of my work other than cutting out large un-detailed areas... so your assumption of how it's entered into the clamp in fact does change the angle.. I didn't think it would work based off of doing this same exact test on my older Hawk.. but it has the round ( barrel ) style clamps and they do move.. so it never made much difference on that saw last year when I did this test.. though that saw does cut a little more aggressive than my newer one in the 1st position.. Thank you for bringing this up as it gave me the opportunity to try this on my newer saw.. I cut out several stack cuts of ornaments today with no issues with the Hawk.. actually think it my cut faster than the DeWalt now simply because I can whip right around the sharp corners with the Hawk without stopping and backing out some before a sharp corner..

I've wondered about this blade positioning in these clamps myself.. if it really changes the angle or not.. since ( mine anyway ) they rest in a rounded out spot in the lower arm and the holder has a round pin.. I wondered if that would even make a difference as the holder is free to rotate some.. which once you put tension on it somewhat automatically lines up some.. but maybe not enough to matter.. Not sure if your newer saws are set up similar or not.. I may do some experimenting today with this.. as I'd like to get a more firm mount on the blade and maybe some more forward movement.. something needs change or I will be selling a Hawk.. I can stack cut and cut out around 10 + or - ( depending of coarse how detailed they may be ) a couple ornaments per hour on my DeWalt.. but I'm lucky to get half that many with the Hawk.. and for me.. time is money.. especially during the holidays.. I either need to get this cutting faster or do another rebuild of the DeWalt before I get too busy.. LOL

I might try this one.. I assume you just dip it in the mix? similar to Danish oil? I really like the ease of use of Danish oil.. just it has a strong smell for several days after.. even though it's dry it still smells for a good week or more after applying. so it's not real practical for items that I need to mail out within a few days..

I've used shellac before and just don't remember really being impressed.. but.. maybe I need to give it another go.. On portrait type work i use the water based Polyurethane spray in the blue can.. just doing desk clocks and Christmas ornaments in all the fretwork cutouts.. it's hard to get a nice even coat of spray.. Ornaments aren't quite so bad as they aren't 1/2 to 3/4 thick.. I have spray equipment so maybe a cheaper option would be to buy quarts and spray with my spray gun..

.. Remember I said it smells like nuts roasting.. but not sure what kind LOL.. Also if you do this.. you'll want to cut the board to size after you bake it... I made the mistake of cutting to size.. not thinking I would be taking the moisture out and shrinking the board.. I was able to resize the other piece to make it work still.. but it shrunk about a good 3/16 - 1/4 inch

What is a good finish for hardwoods and plywoods that is fairly quick drying and easy to apply? Many times online customers buy today and want the item yesterday, LOL ... and many times what slows the whole process down in the finish.. Danish oil has a smell and takes a few days to dry out good.. and can sell for several days.. especially if it is packaged up.. customers might get high off the fumes when they open up the box, LOL.. some people ( including me ) are somewhat sensitive to smells.. This is a big reason I started using my homemade mix of mineral oil and beeswax.. no smells apply with a brush is the biggest issue with it because sometimes it's kind of difficult getting it into the smaller fret areas.. I use a hair dryer / heat gun to sort of melt my mix down into the pores of the wood.. it looks good for a real long time and the wax gives a sheen and smooth feel.. BUT.. it can be time consuming to apply.. I mainly use Danish oil on items that are not in a rush.. that said.. the Danish oil doesn't look as good either.. something about that wax melted into the wood pores.. Anyway, I've never really got into experimenting with different finishes and thought maybe others have something easy to apply that would look nice and dry fast.. no smells or at least strong smells.. also would need to be able to dry decent in colder winter weather.. Any advice? or keep doing my mineral oil and beeswax mix? Thanks for any replies, Kevin

How about buying or making your own thermal modified wood? I haven't done it in a while but at one time I needed a piece of dark colored wood.. walnut was my top choice but I couldn't find a piece that would suit for the project at hand... so what I did was use a piece of Poplar.. put it in the oven and baked on the lowest setting ( 250 I think ) about 3-4 hours later a my Poplar looked close to the color of a lighter colored walnut.. and darkened up quite a lot once I put my oil finish on it.. Be warned though.. baking wood can smell like roasting some sort of nuts.. not quite sure what kind..but it had a funny smell anyway.. and stuck around the house for a day or two.. I did this in the winter time so the house was shut up.. One of the local lumber mills does this to sell in their store.. they might ship out some to whoever might want to buy some.. you can check them out at. LL Johnson Lumber

I wonder if this could have something to do with the optional oil / water cooling system Hawk offered.. anyone have any experience with those or seen one? I've only seen it in the paperwork / advertisements that was in my saws packaging..

While I don't have what i would call variable adjusting on my ultra.. I do have 2 slots for the blade holder to fit in.. Today I was cutting out a clock order and there was some small areas of grass in a fret that was quite large.. I put the entry hole near the grass and was cutting it first... once I got past that delicate area it was too slow going for my taste.. so I stopped the saw loosened the blade tension which gives enough slack to change the lower blade holder position... without removing the blade.. moved to the more aggressive position and tension the blade.. no tools required.. I bet not many saws can do that.. That said though.. with my saw cutting out 1/2" + hardwood.. I find that the two positions are either not aggressive enough.. or too aggressive when I get to detailed areas.. If there was a position in between.. I probably could live with it better and not need to make any adjustments.. however I do like the less aggressive position for cutting a stack of 3 or less detailed cutting on 1/8" bbply. which I hate doing on my deWalt, Being able to stop in the cut and release tension change position of clamp and go again is a pretty nice feature though..I imagine the BM series could do this as well but probably not as quickly and easy.. But they can get that sweet spot in the middle that I cannot..

That is per listing.. and listing last 4 months or until sold.. also will be charged 3.5% ( I think ) of the sale price.. If you list a quantity of more than 1 on a item.. when that item sells they will automatically relist it and charge you another ,20 listing fee..

First picture ( if you can make it out ) the plug inserted and the second picture is after I removed the plug.. Third picture is a view from under the saw... and the other is the plug and a tape measure to reference the size.. Now I thought this was a bigger plug than it actually is..I just remember it being there when I put the saw together and thinking it might be a dust port to stick a vac hose in.. Was thinking about hooking up either my dust collector or shop vac to it to see how well it would perform.. will need to buy some adapters as my shop vac has a 2.5 inch hose I think.. and my dust collector is 4 inch. Might try it though.. just thought I'd ask before buying the stuff.. but I guess my saw is the only one with a hole? Kevin

Nope don't have a Hegner.. My Hawk 226 Ultra has a spot to put a dust port right under where the bottom blade clamp is.. large hole which just has a plastic plug in it right now.. I assume it's a dust spot to put a vac hose in.. but the manual doesn't mention it.. My old Hawk 220VS doesn't have a hole there.. The 220VS is from 1993 and the 226 Ultra is a 1998.. which was new in the box still so I imagine it was made that way.. Just figured the newer models all had them.. though never seen another like mine.. so not sure.. maybe special ordered that way? I will see about getting a picture up to show what I am talking about.. Kevin

Since there has been a lot of Hawk topics lately.. is anyone using the dust port on theirs? I'm thinking about hooking it up and seeing how well it will work. Just thought I'd see if anyone else is using it.. I like how the dust collects on the top of the saw below the blade rather than all over me like the DeWalt does.. but using that dust port below might actually help keep a lot of dust floating around in the shop.. I do use the box fan filter next to the saw.. which helps..

I've also bought my first Hawk for $100 not really knowing much about them at the time... and ended up with a $350 before I fixed all that was wrong with it.. live and learn I guess..

Just thought I'd share.. Just ran across this on craiglist.. Not in my area but if anyone lives around here this could be an okay deal as long as it works good Hawk

Coming from an autobody repair guy.. I've always done this.. I get out my buffing compounds and my buffer and have at it on about all my new tools.. Back when my dad first got into scroll sawing after he retired back in 1987.. I came home to find him trying to wax his scroll saw table... I told him to hold on I will make it real smooth for him.. Got my buffing stuff out and made it real smooth in just a few minutes.. he talked about that for a long time.. because I made it sooo slick, LOL Kevin

That is pretty much all I use for a finish.. well.. I use my own concoction of mineral oil and beeswax.. almost all my products are finished with this..

I use an elipse dust mask.. Best one I have tried so far.. I used to use a Totobobo mask and they are awesome too.. just those little filters fill with dust way to fast and need changed almost everyday.. The elipse mask I believe is a industrial type mask and the filters are supposed to last for quite a long time under industrial type use.. Elipse Mask

Scott, I've use the Mach blades way back when ( 2009 ish ) I liked the FD Ultra reverse better back then.. now I don't care for the FD blades all that much.. those Pegas MG blades are awesome cutting compared to any blade I have used ( I've tried a lot of blades over the years) I however flip back and forth with FD blades when using my DeWalt as the Pegas are a little aggressive on that saw.. just depends on what I am cutting what blade I use when sawing with the 788... I found I like best is the pegas blades while running my Hawk as they are faster cutting.. yet I can leave the blade adjustment on the Hawk at a not very aggressive so i can do the nice smooth cutting corners etc with ease yet cut fairly fast.. I think you'll probably love those blades.. I'd wait to make any adjustment to your blade aggressiveness until after you run those pegas.. JMO BTW, glad you are starting to like your new saw.. I have to admit I felt bad at first about the first Hawk.. as I was one steering you toward the Hawk..

Both my Hawks are fairly smooth running and are manageable.. but neither saw is as smooth as my DeWalt.. also neither saw cuts as aggressive or as fast as the Dewalt.. That said.. hard to compare the older saws that I have to the new BM series.. but I do wonder what that comparison is between the older Hawks and the New one. My 220VS is from 1993 and my 226 Ultra is from 1999 according to who I had on the phone from Bushton,, so they are quite older.. The 226 was still new in the box so no wear and tear before I got it..

Not only is it interesting that woodcraft is selling it.. but something that is also interesting is the price.. that's a steel for the 30" saw.. I believe the 21" was priced in that price range.. I didn't see a 21" offered.. unless I missed it.. looks like only a 30" and the 16"

Back before I purchased my Hawk this spring I was looking into buying one of these.. at that time.. I couldn't find anyone that would ship a saw to the USA.. Maybe someone will now.. or maybe more distributors now and someone will ship.. but back around the first part of the year.. I called a few different stores..which I am glad now anyway.. as I got my Hawk..

I am not sure what the whole upgrade consist of.. nor do I have any experience with the EX's ... That said though.. one sentence in the description mentions polishing the top of the clamp for a smoother surface which will equal less wear.. Seems to me.. one could polish their own for less wear on the original clamp..I did read of another part of the upgrade as well.. which since I don't own or have any experience with these saws so I don't know what that consist of.. only comment on the polishing part since I have experience with polishing.. ( several years of building / restoring old cars / street rods etc.. LOL Kevin