kmmcrafts

If you have a sawmill near by that might be a good source of wood.. My brother has owned a sawmill business since the the mid 1970's.. all wood that is shorter than 4ft goes to the chipper...or as of recent he has been making sawdust out of it because it has been in more demand and higher priced than chips.. He cuts more scrap in one day than I could cut in a month or more.. only problem is.. it needs to be stickered ( dried ) before I can use it.. and it's rough cut.. great for a hobbyist I suppose.. but for me.. it's more cost effective to buy planed and ready to use lumber.. unless I had a high end planer and a small kiln drier.. LOL That all being said.. he does have his guys pull off to the side unique pieces and dries them for me such as birdseye maple, spalted maple, etc etc.. Oh.. also forgot to mention that I can typically have all the scraps I can use.. but.. I am the one that has to stand there and pull what I want off the line before it heads into the chipper.. which is not my idea of saving money standing there for a half day pulling a truckload pieces of green rough cut lumber that I have to sticker and plane before it's of any use to me.. He has a kiln but it's typically full and used 24-7 so I am out of luck on getting it dried.. Kevin

I don't really need another back-up saw.. as I have my Hawk 220VS as a back-up.. so I will pass on this saw I think.. I will wait until I find a deal on a saw that has some good features for scrolling fretwork.. I like the robust built saws.. and really just want to try a Hegner.. I have owned a lot of saws over the years.. rebuilding them tuning them etc etc.. just to do a comparison from one saw to the next.. I wait around for the deal that cannot be passed up.. snag it up and try it out tune it up etc etc.. then sometimes pass it onto another person to use.. I don't usually make any money doing this.. in fact I typically put more money into a saw than i get out of it.. but it's the experience of just trying a different model or brand to see how I like them..and just the hobby of tinkering with older equipment.. love to tinker around with things as much as I do scroll sawing... owned a not of saws... sold a lot of saws.. owned a few that I'd never own again.. owned a few that if the price was right I would buy again etc etc.. Just never had the opportunity to try a Hegner or a Excalibur yet.. I typically don't pay more than $100 for a saw.. but have went up to $150 a time or two for used saws.. Kevin

Except keep time,

Okay thank you.. So basically the one with the lever is the same as using my Hawk.. unfortunately the one I was interested in doesn't seem to have that release lever and also seems to be a single speed.. I thought I would grab it up for $135 but maybe I will have to think on it or pass.. Kevin

I'v been looking at a couple heger saws on craiglist. I see some of the saws have what looks like a tension lever near the top arm where the blade clamp is.. then I seen a saw with no lever at all.. How does one adjust the blade tension on these? From the knob at the back of the saw? If so that seems like a real pain for doing fretwork.. Kevin

Actually, the best clocks to get are the USA made motors.. and the only place I know to get them is from clockparts.com.. this is for just the motors... clock inserts and fit-ups are a whole nother story as I have yet found a good one in anything larger than a 1-7/16"

You don't have to carve out the back of the wood if you do not have the tools and equipment.. but they do hang on the wall closer to the wall if you do carve out the back. A tip to carve out the back if you do not have a router... I have a large set of forstner drill bits.. I sometimes use ( I believe ) a 3" forstner bit to drill out the area where the clock will set to set the clock into the wood some so it's not sticking way out the back making the clock hang out away from the wall some.. but like I said.. you don't have to do this as you can buy whatever length shaft you need.. Here is a guide for wood thickness to help you decide on shaft length: 1/2" For 1/8" thick material 5/8" for 1/4" thick material 3/4" for 3/8" material 7/8" for 1/2" thick material 1" for 5/8" thick material 1-1/4" for 3/4" thick material This was taken from the web site where I buy my clock motors.. Hope that helps you, Kevin

I wouldn't count on that statement of "No one cares about a few $100.. My cousin works for the state of Michigan doing audits on people who sell online etc that 1) doesn't claim their use tax 2) are not collecting and reporting their sales tax.. she said that many states are really cracking down on this... Use tax is a tax that you should be paying on products that you purchase online that you didn't pay any tax for.. When she found out I was selling my works online she warned me about how the state and the IRS is really cracking down on those that are saying they are just a hobby and not really reporting their earnings..

That is why I said the Hawk is very well made saw... it is built for commercial use.. unlike the DeWalt... I got tired of replacing the DeWalts under warranty and took one apart myself and replaced the bearings / sleeves and added my own high quality grease.. I can get about 2 years out of it now before needing the front exposed section rebuilt again.. I've thought about looking into modifying it on this next rebuilt that it desperately needs again.. and looking into replacing those lousy open bearings with some sort of sealed bearings.. that would help a lot especially on the front portion of the saw where the sawdust falls right down onto the top of the needle bearings in the lower rocker assembly... guess you do get what you pay for.. certainly not designed to run 8 hours a day.. I'd like to take a excalibur saw apart or even the new Seyco saw ( basically a modified excalibur ) and see what they use for bearings...as they are the same basic design as a DeWalt as far as the arms and internal parts are very similar.. Probably why excalibur built that little dust collection deal on the bottom of the table.. to help keep dust out of those bearings.. suppose I could build something similar on my DeWalt. I intend to purchase another high end saw.. and intend to take a serious look into the newer Hawks.. with the adjustable lower arm..

I believe only the 14 - 16 inch saws had the tension lever at the back of the saw... the 20 - 26 inch saws had the lever up front... I would certainly test drive one if you are used to using a DeWalt... I bought a Hawk 220VS last fall for $100 that was said to be barely used.. well it was used more than barely but I don't think it was used a lot.. Got the Hawk foot pedal switch and light with it.. I upgraded the blower hose with the adjustable kind like the DeWalt has.. ( Hawk sells a kit for doing this ).. I love sawing on the Hawk.. but.. I find that after sawing ( production style ) for the last 6-8 years on my DeWalt..I have grown used to the aggressiveness of the DeWalt and I feel the Hawk is way too slow.. also the SPM is only ( I believe ) 1500 on the Hawk while it's 1750 on the DeWalt.. I will say the Hawk is a very well made saw and cuts nice.. I just got too used to stack cutting and production type cutting.. I typically cut 1/2" + on a regular basis.. If I am just going to cut 3/8" or less material I absolutely love the Hawk.. it does awesome with the thin wood.. and my DeWalt is too aggressive for the thin cutting.. The newest Hawk saws have an adjustable lower arm that will change how aggressive the saw cuts... Now I would love to try one of these out.. and they also have a faster SPM of 1750 I believe.. The older Hawks ( like mine) and probably all of the VS models have the lower barrel clamps. I was curious about the blade movement between the DeWalt and Hawk saws the other day so i went out to the shop and put a credit card behind the blade on both saws.. I was amazed to find that the movement is almost the same.... SO... what makes the DeWalt so much more aggressive? I think I figured that out but plan to do another test to see if I am right.. I think it's the lower blade clamps.. On the DeWalt the clamp is fixed to the back of the slot in the clamp and is fairly rigid .. on the Hawk the barrel is allowed to flex.. so I think if you was to push on the blade while cutting the barrel will just spin toward the back.. I believe the DeWalts clamping design makes the blade more ridged than the Hawks clamping.. I can cut probably 2 times faster on with my DeWalt than I can with my Hawk.. i have done this comparison several times with the exact same blade and while cutting out the same project.. In the middle of a cut I have stopped on one saw and took my blade etc over to the other saw... even if I run the SPM approximately the same speed.. the DeWalt cuts faster.. Really like to try the new BM series Hawks with that adjustable lower arm! Kevin

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...