kmmcrafts

When my daughter was little.. she had me cut stars and half moons etc and also a large letter H as her name is Hannah... she didn't want me to finish them as she wanted to color them.. she colored them with markers.. that was quite a few years ago as that was when she was maybe 1st grade or around then.. she still has them.. and she is graduating high school end of May.. I didn't think the markers would work too well on them and figured I would be sanding them down and painting them.. but they colored fine and held up quite well over the years.. of coarse they are inside on her wall and the big H hangs on bedroom her door.. whatever you decide to make.. if the kids take care of them the cuttings could last them a lifetime.. Kevin

I always kind of wondered how much milage others get from their blades... I do mostly production cutting so to speak.. I stack cut any time I get the chance.. etc etc.. If I cut for a 8 hour day.. I will go through a minimum of 10 - 12 blades.. sometimes more sometimes less.. really depends on the wood i am cutting.. any plywood I cut will eat through blades much faster than solid wood.. I have reused a broken blade like you've suggested before.. I also (if close to being done cutting a project ) will adjust the blade in the holders down some to get a few sharper teeth.. But more times than not.. I just put in a new blade.. since the blades really are not super pricey.. and ruining a project for me is more expensive than the cheap replacement of a blade.. I go through a lot of blades per year.. I order in large quantities and several times a year... Kevin

You may be onto something with this... as the foot switch seems kind of finicky .. not sure if it's just the way I step on it or if it's going bad now that you mentioned this.. I have another foot switch on my other saw.. I think maybe I will swap them out for a test run and see if there is any difference.. Thank you for taking the time to suggest this to me, Kevin

I like it so far other than the fact that I have to keep relogging in every time I leave...even though I have the box checked to remember me.. I am disappointed the site doesn't remember me.. Maybe it will fix itself before the next time I come back.. maybe I just shouldn't leave as all, LOL

My DeWalt did this once..or maybe it was the old Dremmel I had.. anyway it was several years ago and I remember taking it apart and blowing dust out of it.. which fixed it.. and never had another issue.. Probably was my DeWalt.. as after that I made a seal out of an old latex glove that I taped over the switch.. either way.. I just figured it was dust.. but the RBI didn't seem to have any..plus I blew it out anyway.. so not real sure.. I guess I will give them a call to see what they have to say.. I wonder if they can even get the parts on this old saw.. Kevin

My Hawk 220VS has started to decide at what speed to run all on its own.. LOL... I haven't had the saw all that long and have not used it much.. all seemed fine though up until a few weeks ago I noticed that if I put the speed selector dial all the way to fast that it would run sort of erratic and not a constant speed.. no big deal I just backed it off the high slightly and all was good.. but now it is starting to do this periodically no matter where the selector is set at.. while it doesn't seem to run full speed at other select speeds.. just slightly faster than where the setting is and will sort of jump back and forth from the correct speed to a little faster speed and back and forth.. not consistently either.. I may be able to saw a complete project without doing it.. while other times it has a mind of its own.. typically if I play around with the adjustment some.. it will stop for a while.. Not sure if this might harm anything else by just running it this way? I know they had some issues with the older motors etc and they are not cheap to replace on the older machines.. I took the power switch and the speed selector box apart to see if there was anything visible going on with it and to blow out any dust etc that may have collected in there over the years.. I didn't really see anything out of the ordinary and not really any dust.. blew it out with the air hose and put it back together.. that didn't seem to fix the problem.. I am assuming it needs a new speed selector portion.. but thought I would ask here before purchasing one as maybe someone knows more than me about this issue?? Thanks in advance for any suggestions, Kevin

I think dang near every tool in my shop is refurbished.. Most are getting quite old now too and never a problem yet.. Only new tools are the Dewalt scroll saw and the Grizzly band saw.. All, sanders, my old scroll saw ( dremel ) miter saw cordless drills etc.. all refurbs.. and my Dewalt would have been a refurb too but I bought it from grizzly during a sale and it was priced slightly below what the refub was so I went new.. My ryobi planer is a refurb and I've run the snot out of it..and it's about 8-10 years old.. though last couple times I used it I thought it was sounding funny ( motor ).. but... I got my $100 out of it a long time ago.. yeah thats right $100 from a outlet store.. don't normally go to those but it was on a vacation trip low and behold they had a tool store that I almost bought one of everything, LOL I wouldn't be scared to buy refurbished as long as the price points and warranty are decent.. which most times they are..

I've actually looked at one in person and I think they look very well built.. right up there with Excalibur... maybe better with the way the upper clamp works.. If I was in the market for a new saw.. I'd look very close at this saw... Once you get used to those lower blade clamps.. they are really nice... especially if you have a few extra clamps because you can keep some blades all ready to pop into the saw.. The Hawk saw has the same style clamp.. Nice to have a spiral blade all ready to do some veining in a project that only has a few areas needing veining.. just pop it in and do the veining then back to the regular blade.. This saw is quite new to the market.. and everyone seems to modify their saws to their liking.. look at all the mods out their for the DeWalt for lifting the arm etc.. many people change out clamps on lower end saws etc etc.. Personally if i bought this Jet saw.. i'd probably either build that tool or weld that hole shut on the bottom clamp so my blade would be installed they same way every time.. or just buy clamps from Hawk since they don't have the hole going all the way through, LOL.. The Jet doesn't really NEED mods.. its just tweaking it to a personal liking.. that may make it easier for some... While I do agree with you.. lets just "get it right the first time" but that is hard to do with so many different types of scroll saw projects..and the people using them all have different things they like about a saw.. And no that tool wouldn't void the warranty because it's nothing more that a wrench type tool to hold the lower clamp while you put the blade in.. then you remove the clamp out of the tool to put back into the saw..

This is a Steve Good pattern.. Not sure if this is what you was talking about.. I also have another pattern from a few years back that I made but I am not sure where I got the pattern from.. and the pattern is probably long gone now since my computer crashed last year.. Kevin

The older Hawks like mine have the same style lower clamp.. except.. Hawk was smart enough to not make that hole go all the way through the barrel ( round portion ).. With the Hawk you put the blade in until it bottoms out and tighten the thumb screw.. I thought I would hate this clamp set up on my newly acquired Hawk.. and I have to say at first it did seem a little clunky but now that I've been using it some I really like it.. I have always had a hard time with my DeWalt because I always seem to get the blade in either too high up or too low down.. Too low sometimes the blade is like a standard blade rather than a reverse.. and too high you missing too many cutting teeth and the reverse teeth are doing too much, LOL.. With the Hawk set up.. my blade is in the same position every time...

You click here they will show the back side of the motors they sell.. This is the motors that I buy.. awesome motors.. if you hover over the photo it will show the name on the back.. I have several on hand but they all have a longer stem that wouldn't work for the inserts..When looking at their clocks I found that their press on clock with no threaded shaft motor says made in the USA.. but.. they do not show the back side of the motor.. and that motor looks much like the ones that come in my inserts.. I wonder if this motor style is the only one made and those are the ones they use in the inserts.. not sure the smallest threaded shaft motors would fit into a insert with the lens on it.. Hmmm.. maybe I will place a small order and do some experimenting.. https://www.clockparts.com/american-made-mini-quartz-movements/

The clock motors you mentioned (Takane) are the motors I have that I use for my clocks.. they can still be bought at clockparts.com as I just ordered some and I just looked and that is what they are.. I wish they used that motor on the inserts... It appears I have two options.. one is to redesign my patterns to use just the motors and a dial or scroll out the numbers for the clock.. or... buy the inserts and buy the motors to change out the junk motors that they put into the inserts LOL.. maybe I could recoup my money by selling the junk motors on ebay LOL.. Clockparts will make custom clock parts.. mostly dials etc.. I might contact them and see if they will change out the motors on their inserts to the USA made motor.. They say you have to order 100 at a time i think is what it says.. that isn't any big deal to me.. since that is how I order the motors and small inserts anyway..

Yeah I took the clocks apart and they just have the clock motor in them.. there are no markings whatsoever saying where they are made.. but the webs sites I have purchased from all say made in the USA.. but the clocks themselves do not say anything on them.. I have some clock motors that say made in the USA.. as I do buy those in bulk.. but I only have a few of those left.. I wonder if the next batch I order will be the same.. it's a shame that companies put their greed above quality these days.. but then.. many people look for cheap rather than quality too so... it kind of makes sense for the companies to cut cost and go with the flow I suppose.. Thank you for all the help you have offered, Kevin

For what it's worth.. I ordered a 3 1/2" clock from clockworks site.. states on the page that the clock is USA Made and has a 3 year warranty.. While I did only order the standard fit-up because I am sending it as a replacement insert for one that has failed to a customer.. the standard one was the only one that would fit the 3 inch hole that my customers clock has.. so i couldn't try the premium models because they are for a 3 1/8 or 3 1/4 inch hole.. Anyway sad to report this clock just arrived here about 15 min ago and I have inspected inside and out... compared it to the clocks I had here on hand from a different supplier.. and guess what... Same Dam clock.. just higher priced... probably higher priced because they have to replace about a 1/3 of them under warranty.. So far in looking for Seiko clocks.. I only see the 1-7/16" or a 2-1/8 inch option for the inserts? Now.. I don't mind spending good money on a good quality clock... but I am getting quite frustrated spending good money for the same dam junk I already have.. and if you call these suppliers they won't talk about what brand they sell.. so far I am only finding one brand by ordering samples of clocks from several different suppliers.. Probably the only maker of this size clock?? JT I don't see anywhere on this store where they sell inserts? http://www.theisenclock.com/large_clock_fitups.html

I had a harbor freight one and first thing i had go bad was the dust bag.. While I now have a dust collection system I still rely on the sanders dust collection at this time.. I found that the dust bags are easy to get a hole poked into them or just get a hole rubbed into them from the power cord or other things.. while the sander still worked for many years after the dust bag failed.. I bought a new one ( mainly for the dust collection ) and the new sander was different than the old one.. dust bag different the sander itself was taller and more awkward to handle... and it was a faster running aggressive sander, hated the thing.. so I went shopping with the idea of getting the DeWalt for the variable speed and brand name well reviewed tool.. but once at the store the first thing I noticed was the dust bag.. the bags are sort of a turn off to me because of my experience with the harbor freight model I had.. anyway right in front of my nose on the shelf was a Bosh variable speed with a dust canister ( made of plastic ) with a filter in it.. that snaps apart for emptying out that fine dust.. and it was on sale.. Love how smooth it runs at any of the speeds.. I do sand my fret work before and after It's cut and this thing is so smooth quite and pretty much dust free.. If I were looking for another one.. it would certainly have the dust canister system.. I would buy another just like I have.. but I do see other ( black & decker ) that have the canister.. just wonder if it runs as smooth.. If you don't care about the dust I think most any orbital sander will work for pre-sanding work.. however.. if you want to sand work after it's been cut.. I would look at a higher end sander for the balanced out smooth running sander.. Just some food for thought.. BTW.. I have a Hitachi 1/4 sheet sander.. it does a okay job.. but if not careful it will leave vibration scuff marks.. never been a fan of 1/4 sheet sanders for that reason...

They are a little more aggressive than the FD-UR blades.. I sometimes will use a #3 pegas in place of what I would normally use a #5 in the FD blades.... I started using the Pegas last fall... that said I still use FD blades too.. just depends on the situation and how fast / slow I feel like cutting sometimes too,, That said the Pegas seen to last a long time.. run quieter.. and still give a nice clean cut.. I won't lie, I use blades from most all the major brands.. like I said.. just depends on the situation.. and wow... if you all seen my selection of blades in the shop.. you'd probably think you was in a woodcraft store, Hahaha.. definitely several hundred dollars worth of blades..

I may be wrong but.. The Berry Basket web site used to be called this.. I just did a search for the name you mentioned and I came up with a two part catalog preview.. I have the complete collection from the berry basket on CD that I bought several years ago.. and the patterns are very much the same as what I have.. I use mine all the time.. great bunch of patterns.. Kevin

JT, Thank you very much for sharing these places to buy clock inserts from.. I had been looking for a while now and keep coming up with places that sell the exact same junk I had been buying.. There are prices all over the place for the same dam clock.. I was just about to give up making the larger wall clocks.. but I like to make my scroll sawing / woodworking items a functional piece.. and really enjoy making clocks.. I will be checking out the clocks from these places you mention.. I tell you it can't be any worst that the ones I am using, LOL.. Thank you again, Kevin

The company I bought from is just a distributor you are correct on that part... Clocks I buy are listed on the web pages from the distributor as made in the USA... while the clocks themselves do not have any where on them that says where they are made..I even looked where the battery goes.. no markings whatsoever.. There other companies are actually just other distributors ( I should have worded that different.. ) Innovation Technologies is the company that makes the clocks I was getting out of California.. I talked with a fellow named Todd Hanson ( I believe ) via email.. Depending on the size of the clock insert but some of them use a N battery.. I really have only had issues with the 3-1/2" inserts.. not any issues whatsoever with the small inserts.. I called around to different distributors to see what brand clocks they are selling.. Klockit wouldn't tell me.. said they wasn't allowed to disclose that info, LOL.. I told them they must not what my business then.. I am looking to buy any USA made clock that is not a innovation technologies brand. LOL The place you mention JT.. those clocks look to have a much better warranty.. I plan to see what they are offering when I get a few minutes..I just know that most all the distributors I have seen online that sells other items are dealing with the innovation technologies inserts.. Tried calling Sloans but couldn't get through to a person..

I have been on the phone a good portion of this morning with different suppliers etc.. so far my findings are that the clocks are all from the same manufacture.. I also contacted the manufacture and asked about the clock motors for different models of clocks.. Turns out that JT's theory of the premium clocks having a better motor is false.. the motors are all the same motor just the bezel is metal and a glass lens are the only differences between the premium and the economy fit ups.. so in my mind.. spend your money wisely since ( so far ) all these distributors are selling the same clocks with different prices.. Now.. maybe a few years back they did offer a better motor.. While I may have run into a bad batch of these larger clock fit ups.. my findings of quality so far are.. about 40% of my customers that I sold clocks to with these larger fit-ups in the last 6 months have contacted me about their clocks stopped working and or they are not keeping time.. I am mailing out new clocks to these customers way more than I should and the supplier I used doesn't want to warranty them after 90 days of purchase date. which i might be okay with IF it was 90 days from when I sell the clock.. otherwise many of them I have on hand here before selling for up to 6 months... the manufacture acts like they want to help me out but I didn't keep my invoice so.. BTW. if I remember correct the manufacture warranties them for 1 year I so far will play this off as a possible bad batch of clocks.. I intend to continue to sell these and see what happens over the next year... meanwhile I am keeping all these invoices and if I continue to have issues.. then the company will be hearing from me.. and I most likely will stop using these clocks altogether.. Really a shame these days that companies will put money ahead of quality.. and quality products are getting harder to find.. Kevin

Okay so.. I recently started selling some wall clocks that require the 2-1/2 and 3 inch inserts.. while I have sold only about a half dozen so far half of those the customer has contacted me saying the clock stopped working.. and another customer mentioned today to me that the clock gains time.. so I should be happy that it still works at least right, LOL... just not working correctly, LOL Anyway.. for those that make and sell clocks.. where do you buy quality clock inserts? I buy my clocks from woodworkingparts.com.. they give a 90 day warranty on the clocks from date of purchase.. well most every time the clocks sell after that 90 days so I am SOL.. I then tried a company that claims to sell all USA made quality clock inserts.. which is.. clockparts.com .. while communicating with a sales rep there via email I find out that their higher priced clock fit-ups are the exact same clock as the lower priced ones from woodworkingparts.. as they are just a distributor.. So.. with all that said.. where does one buy quality made clocks in the larger size... I say larger size because I have sold 100's of desk clocks with the small 1-7/16 fits ups without a single complaint.. but those larger ones are nothing but junk.. and I refuse to sell this crap to my customers anymore until I find a quality clock.. I may just have to redesign my wall clocks to use the clock motors rather than the inserts.. as I have never had any issues with those either.. but I really like the look of the inserts better for some of the designs i have.. Thanks you for tips / advice for these clock fit-ups Kevin

Personally I have not owned or used a Delta version of the DeWalt.. but from what I have seen / read they are basically the same saw.. If I was in the market for another saw I'd probably go with the Delta simply for the lower price.. my DeWalt has served me very well over the years..

I do agree with you BUT, one has to wonder exactly how many DeWalts are out there too.. sort of reminds me about a disagreement I had with my son a few months ago.. He was telling me that riding a motorcycle is safer or as safe as driving a car.. he said the facts are right online.. where he showed me the numbers of people killed in car wrecks vrs. motorcycle crashes.. I told him that the the motorcycle crashes are less because not everyone on the road is driving a motorcycle.. look at how many cars vrs motorcycles on the road... There are ALLOT of DeWalt scroll saws out there.. and.. there are also a lot of happy Dewalt owners that love their saws and use them for production type scroll sawing as a business.. I own or have owned quite a lot of different saws over the last 10-12 years since I started the hobby and now business.. many of the saws I rebuilt my self.. I think the DeWalt is probably the best overall entry level saw there is.. while I have rebuilt mine ( only the front section ) and cleaned and regreased the rear portion.. the rear portion needs rebuilt now.. but this saw is used close to 30 - 40 hours a week since I bought it back in 2008.. while I do agree they could use a better sealed type bearing... but if they did the price would be as much or more than a Hawk or other high end saw.. I now have a used Hawk saw.. they are AWESOME built saws.. love my new to me Hawk... if i ever spend some money for a NEW saw again.. it will be a higher end saw than the Dewalt.. ( most likely the new BM-220 Hawk ) but also a much higher price too.. Like someone else posted... people are buying entry level saws and expecting to run them for ever, LOL.. Just some food for thought... I would bet there are more DeWalt saws out there than most all other saws combined... for sure more DeWalts then all high end saws combined..

I've been getting mine from Lesleys Patterns.. but supposedly they are back ordered from them.. and they are not to fast at getting them to you.. I have heard good things about D and D.. Do a online search for Pegas.. I think you should find a good source of suppliers.. I would recommend a small sample pack.. rather than a full gross to make sure you will like them.. I love them but for certain types of work.. I go back to my FD blades..

I got a message from them the other day in regards to the Pegas blades.. below is the message.. I've had good luck with this company in the past.. other than with the Pegas blades.. as of recent.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We've received some good news this morning! After having spoken with a REAL person, we have been advised that the Modified Geometry Blades will be shipping to the main distributor hub this week to arrive by February 20th. It takes approx. 2 days to arrive to us from that point so we are expecting to receive them for shipment on February 22nd. I will be working late that night and early on February 23rd to insure all back orders are fulfilled and shipped out. We will also upgrade all orders to priority mail if they are not already listed as such. We were advised that there was a mistake made during production thus causing this entirely too long delay. We understand if you still would like the refund, but having a date gives us a light at the end of the tunnel. We have been promised a more open line of communication in the future in regards to this matter so we can provide YOU, our very patient customers, with much needed information. We appreciate your patience with our small business. Kindest regards, Lesley