kmmcrafts

I made a lot of those and other tractors that Harvey Byler designed.. Be careful if you shrink wrap that... They like to break at the front wheel puzzle tab... I sold a lot of those but would have to replace 35 - 40% of them due to the broken puzzle tab.. I no longer offer them because of that..

Ray is correct about the motor rotating but not so much about the motor rotating itself.. as it should be bolted down tight.. I would be more apt to say.. make sure the upper arm is the same distance from the table top at both ends.. These saws are known for that back knob on top at the back of the saw to get worn threads and they'll start spinning on their own.. and that will make the saw noisy too from running out of alignment.. I would say double check that.. For some reason I thought you already mentioned that you checked that.. but if not that would be one of the first things to look at.. then the bellows , LOL.. Still blows me away that guy you talked to said the bellows does nothing.. guess it shows me how much knowledge he has on these saws, LOL

Interesting on his thought process of that bellows doing nothing, because when it's not there it bangs on the inside of that tube.. it's there for a reason trust me I know because I left it out on my saw the first time I rebuilt it.. had to take it all back apart just to put that bellows back on.. and shortly after that someone here posted about the same type of issue and it was their problem too.. I assume you maybe talked to Mike? .. Ray knows his stuff because he has rebuilt and worked on these saws for years.. so hopefully he can diagnose it over the phone. I was sure that was your issue when you said it was still running fine other than noisey and that it sounded like it was up front of the saw.. You should be able to make a video without cell service.. but you wouldn't be able to send it until you can get to an area with service or connect to wifi..

Similar to this is done in the CNC would where you want to paint the engraved parts but not the main block of wood.. What I do for that is seal it up with at least 3-4 coats of clear.. then paint the carved section and sand any overspray of the paint off then clear over the whole project.. It's quite a process and I would for sure not want to do that with the 1000+ ornaments I sell each year.. LOL Even if you were to tape both sides and spray paint the ornament and then peel off the tape.. the paint soaks into the fibers unless you seal it "really well" with clear.. so it's not a quick or easy process... Can it be done.. sure it can but not in a production type setting where you need practical processes to manage time vrs. money..

If you go to the hobby stores and see all the laser cut ornaments from China they appear to be made from 1/8" as well.. I'm not sure what type of plywood. Doesn't really feel like BBply.. they feel really light and maybe some sort of real cheap ply.. I kinda like the idea for the 1/16" and have thought many times about buying some to try.. especially since many of the laser engraved ornaments I've been doing as of late are 2 layers.. I'm not even sure if my local suppliers has anything less than 1/8.. Where do you all find the thin stuff? I like the painted backer on my laser cut stuff so much I've been considering doing the same with my scrolled ornaments.. The backer brings out the details so much better than just a plain cut ornament.. Also gives a spot on the back side to engrave or write your name or logo etc.. which I have not done yet but thinking I need to.. I'd take a lot of time to do this on the laser though so I think a small branding iron or even just a rubber stamp and clear over it.

Nah, you don't like how much room they take up, and the tall stand.. Keep the Ex and enjoy making projects.. You're not production cutting so you likely won't wear it out.. if you do you have a back-up and I don't see you wearing both out.. LOL

The new Hawk is hands down my favorite saw and a close second is the Hawk 226VS Ultra from 1998 ( same as your saws with the kind of square blade holders ) The new Hawk has very similar style blade holders too but they are slightly bigger and have a rounded bottom corners.. As for getting the same blade tension every single time.. There is no saw on the market other than Hawk that will do that.. The fine folks at Bushton told me they call it a Hawk "Precision" scroll saw for a reason, LOL.. There is no other saw so precise made currently.. How important is that? I don't know.. I mean the Excalibur and DeWalt saws with those short arms are not nearly as picky about tension and are easier on saw blades too because those short arms give the blade a rocking back and forth motion which helps clear sawdust and give the blade a millisecond or so to cool off.. Blade last a bit longer in those shorter arms on these type of saws.. That rocking motion makes for a bit more aggressive cutting... great for doing larger profile cuts like the big batch of clocks I just did.. the EX cuts though that profile a bit faster.. Even with the blade aggression set as perfect as you can get it, it is still more aggressive than a Hawk.. I can use either saw for fine detail work but I find that the Hawk is just way more enjoyable to do those tough detail cuts.. while the Hawk maybe a tad slower at cutting.. the quick no hassle blade changes with no guesswork on tension etc.. makes up more than enough time and actually get projects completed faster and more relaxed in those tight corners etc.. than with the EX type saws.. as you seen in my video the other day cutting out those clocks.. I was using the EX and I was stopping the saw and restarting on some tighter spots.. partly because the camera with in the way of my view but the other part was it's a bit aggressive in those tight spots.. I don't have to think twice about those tight spots with the Hawk.. If you go back and watch that video you'll notice that on changing to the next hole when tensioning the blade I use one finger to push downward on the upper blade chuck and I hold the blade with the other hand pulling up on it to take out the slack in all those bearings, LOL.. I also tighten the tension lever slightly to also pull down on the upper arm and then loosen the thumb screw and re-tighten it.. None of that garbage has to happen with the Hawk, LOL.. and doing fretwork the Hawk is hands down faster to get the job done for these reason.. and again, more relaxing to use. Cutting those thick 3/4" puzzles the EX is faster because it is more aggressive and there isn't too many inside cuts to puzzles.. so I'd rather use the EX if I need to get a order out.. again otherwise the Hawk is more relaxing and enjoyable to use.. IF I was to ever do much angle cutting the EX would be my choice of saw because the table stays flat.. IF I could only have one saw the new Hawk would be what I'd have.. but the best is owning both the new Hawk and the EX.. as there are times I want that faster more aggressive cut.. but most times I'd rather use the Hawk..

I probably should clarify that the new Hawk manual states to use a dry spray lube on the wedge.. a drop of oil for the hole above the tension cam lever at the front of the saw.. no need to oil the bearings in the arm pivot points.. They are not sealed bearing but they are "shielded" bearings and the way they set in the arm I'm doubtful oil would work its way down into them anyway. I tried to look on their site for the new BM series manual but I guess they haven't uploaded that one.. The older saws manual mentions to use oil on the wedge and the arm pivot points and front tension cam oil hole. Some of those early saws had a ball bearing in a plastic type cage and I would definitely recommend oil for those.. however, You should read your manual and make your own decisions as to how you want to best maintain the saw.. I do not use oil on the wedge of any of my saws, I have in the past on my older saws as that was what was recommended.. New technology on lubricant's and experiences of worn parts have made Bushton change the new saws to the dry lube.. Probably for the very reason JT mentions it as a dust and dirt magnet.. for that very reason I have switch to dry lube on all my saws.. including the front tension cam which they state to use a drop of oil.. My new saw has just shy of 500 run time hours on it.. My old 226 Ultra has 300 run time hours and the old Hawk with the round clamps I sold but it also had around 300 hours at time of sale.. The Hegner has 3 hours on it, LOL.. That old saw had a slightly worn wedge.. no idea on if it was oiled or not or how many hours the saw had on it when I got it.. the tension cam was worn so bad they had used a spring to wrap around the tension lever to keep it tensioned.. so I upgraded that to the newer system that Hawk offers.. so the saw was used quite a lot I believe and I don't think it was maintained to well but I don't really know.. Anyway I just put the wedge on a flat surface and sanded it to a nice sharp point again.. no need to replace it... None of my saws really have any signs of wear.. Other than the Excalibur in which that saw has 505 hours on it right now.. it has had a complete rebuild at the 200 hour mark.. its showing signs of looseness again but not knocking or anything like that yet... again so The funny thing with the hour meter on the saw and hooked to the foot switch is.. You can spend 50 hours a week in the shop but be lucky to put 15 - 20 hours on the saw.. I would say if a person oiled the saw once a month it's probably good enough.. but that is just a uneducated guess based on how much I use the saw and how much I speculate a weekend hobbyist would run their saw.. Just to give some unscientific data to those that think they need to oil it every day / week etc.. This topic has changed the subject several times now, This is the dry lube I've been using.. I forgot to add the link to what I use.. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/blaster-premium-silicone-garage-door-lubricant-1300631?store=743&cid=Shopping-Google-Local_Feed&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Shopping&utm_campaign=&utm_content=Local_Feed&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgqGrBhDtARIsAM5s0_lalN2Dl1EtdTpuOj0iIbAaK7VTYzKMps-WhGM9bejtBMmKRmbOuh8aAuVnEALw_wcB

Well, I know of a couple different people ( one is here on the village I won't mention the names ) that never once oiled their Hegner and it got so badly worn that it wouldn't saw correctly.. They tried replacing the bushing and it was out of stock and wouldn't be available for some time as everything was backed up due to Covid.. Hegner did have a complete new upper arm but seems like they also needed a special bolt? Said person just bought a brand new saw and would later repair the old saw as a backup.. That all being said.. I would oil the Hegners at least once in a while, LOL... I've gotta say that it's pretty impressive that JT's saws are still running strong after nearly 30 years and many of these years was used in a production type setting.. and he never once oiled it.. I know of two different people on the FB groups that had hawks and I have no idea if they maintained them or not.. they was 35-40 year old saws used in production type setting their whole life and the upper arm had worn clean through where that wedge rides on it.. There is probably many more cases of that because Hawk redesigned the arms to accept a insert.. this way you will never wear out a saw.. you might wear out the wedge and the insert but for about $30 you can just replace those parts and go back at it for another 30 years or? Not to discriminate on any brand of saw but, for the money you pay for these new Pegas saws..or any saw in that near $1000 price range.. How many of them will not really need any major repairs in 30 years of production type use.. let alone never oiled like the manufacture suggest.. Maybe the Hawk prices have gone up but the last I knew a 20" new Hawk was $1200.. not too far from these other line of saws.. JT, Bushton should send you a new saw.. that's one heck of an advertisement right there..

There is only two sealed bearings in a Hawk saw.. Those would be in the bar that connects the motor to the lower arm.. The bearings in the upper and lower arms are not sealed bearings... Cars don't use grease fittings anymore because of a couple reasons.. 1 being the majority of cars was lacking in getting greased in the first place and 2. it was a advertising ploy to say it never needs greased again.. and they can actually sell you more parts. Failure to grease the grease fittings on cars would leave a part ungreased and also allowed water to get trapped into the boots and prematurely wear the parts out.. a sealed part is just that.. they pack it full of grease and seal it.. it's just a throw away part that typically last long enough to get the car out of warranty.. Most quality repair shops that are not a dealer service center will replace the parts with quality greasable parts.. provided they always come in to be serviced at that shop so they get greased.. otherwise they may just put on another sealed part.. Moog brand suspension parts are lifetime warranted and come with grease fittings.. most others are just sealed parts.. Moog stands behind the warranty too.. If it wears out / break's.. they'll replace it free of charge... The sealed ones are also " lifetime " however the fine print shows a " expected lifetime " LOL .. I've seen Moog warranty stuff free when it clearly was never even greased, LOL but that could be whoever you get for that warranty claim too.. each person may or maynot warranty it IF it was never greased.. You get what you pay for.. Moog isn't the cheapest replacement parts.. but again.. lifetime warrantied vrs. limited lifetime.

Ever notice how manufactures suggestions have changed a lot over the years? Now days they "claim" you only need to change the oil in your car every 7000 - 10000 miles.. I will agree with the fact that cars no longer need a oil change every 3000 like the old cars did.. With the computer controlled fuel systems burn fuel more efficient and it doesn't contaminate the oil as bad as it did years ago.. However any real mechanic out there that takes these motors apart for issues will tell you to never run them more than 5000 miles.. Timing chains are a common issue with most GM cars and much of it is due to a very small hole that oils the timing tensioner dirty oil and a lot of idle time reduces the oil flow.. the tensioners work off of oil pressure to push out onto the guides.. The GM Ecotec engines are terribly notorious for this.. very common with Chevy Equinox and like cars that run that Ecotec motor.. If you have one.. run good gas if it's the turbo one and keep the oil changed.. Also, turbo and supercharged cars are more common these days.. especially turbos.. The manufacture says you can run regular 87 octane fuel.. however taking these apart that had run 87 all its life.. you find pitted pistons and all sorts of valve issues because of spark knock due to too low of octane.. at a minimum I would run the mid-grade.. They seem to tell people you can get by with this fuel because many won't buy a car that has to have the more expensive fuels.. they seem to get them through the warranty and then have lots of valvetrain and timing chain issues.. Anyway, my point is, I'm not sure there is such a thing as having maintained something too much.. It's fine to do the minimum if your the type that trades in a car every couple years.. but the poor folks buying used cars suffer the pain of poorly maintained cars.. As for these saws.. Hawk recommend a drop or two of oil on the wedge and the tension cam every 25 hours ( older saws also require a couple drops at the pivot points ( bearings ) in the upper and lower arms).. I don't see why anyone wouldn't do the minimum that the manufacture suggest.. It's not all that expensive to have a small can of oil and apply a couple drops every couple weeks.. I do more often than 25 hours and I also have multiple saws.. My can of oil I purchased 8 years ago is still dang near full and I've oiled more than just saws with it.. I can understand if the oil was half the cost of a new saw or whatever but it's not the case and there is no reason not to maintain something at least to the level of the minimum that's suggested..

This was my first thought too.. My Hawk sat for nearly 20 years in its original packaging with a tensioned blade.. never did any damage and have 300 or so hours run time on it and still going like a champ.. That being said.. all the main parts of a Hawk is solid steel or aluminum.. only thing casted that I've seen is the table top.. and I'm actually not certain but it maybe solid too I can't remember.. I mentioned once that I didn't care for the casted arms etc of the Hegner.. dang near the whole saw is casted.. Someone told me that casting is stronger than solid metal or aluminum.. I wasn't going to argue over that because I honestly don't know facts about casting.. But I often wonder why race car motor builders etc.. always use solid billet engine blocks and rods heads etc.. sort of tells me solid metals are stronger than casted ones.. Not saying Hegner or any other saw is inferior.. but I've seen quite a few Hegner upper arms where the casting broke at the back of the saw by the wedge or spring area.. Never seen a hawk have anything other than a bad bearing or a worn tension cam, or wedge. It'd take a lot of proof to convince me that cast is stronger than billet.. Not saying it's not true.. I'm sure it's possible with the right casting materials.. but are those material used, LOL

Yeah that probably makes sense.. Just that they say to not do something that they just did to a brand new saw is weird.. Do as I say not what I do, LOL.. Also you have to wonder about old saws that have been sitting in the new packaging for several years.. These saws come up on marketplace from time to time.. Heck my Hawk Ultra was new in the box still when I bought it in 2017.. the saw was purchased new according to the receipt in the box from the original buyer in December of 1998.. so what, 19 years that saw sat in the box with the blade tensioned.. But I guess who cares as the warranty on most these saws is only a year.. if it can set for 19 years it's not on them no more, LOL

I think every saw I've owned states to not leave the blade tensioned.. what got me is the fact that the Hawk manual says this as does my Excalibur.. I think the DeWalt manual also stated that.. however they ship them to me in a sealed box from the factory with a blade mounted and under tension.. Maybe the manufacture should read the manual too.. LOL I've always released the tension when leaving the saw, there has been a couple exceptions where I got interrupted and come back later to find I left the blade tensioned.. That's only been a handful of times in the last 20 years though..

Years ago I used to use 1/4".. But as has been mentioned, they seem to be a little too thick in my opinion.. when doing solid wood I mill my own down to 3/16.. But that said, I make very few from solid timber.. most everything is plywood. Another tip about ornaments.. Lighter colored wood such as BBply or maple.. cherry is about the darkest I'll go with and even then I must say even though my favorite wood is Cherry.. the darker colored ornaments do not show up on a Christmas tree all that great.. As much as I used to hate to see people paint nice wood.. I also feel like with ornaments.. painting some bright colored details on lighter wood like BBply really makes the ornaments stand out.. I still don't care for painting the whole ornament.. but highlighting details on a ornament really does make it pop.. Also, many scrollers sort of balk at the dark edges of laser engraved ornaments but truth be told, I get asked quite often if I can paint the edges of my ornaments like I do on some of them.. I then have to explain that some of my stuff is laser cut and others is scrolled.. It'd be tough to paint the edges on some of the really detailed ornaments.. but the darker edges does give some depth look to the otherwise flat ornament.. they sometimes then ask if I can just laser cut the design so they can have the dark edge look..

Mine is a 2002 and has the regular spring, front tension release and quick clamp.. I also would be curious as to when some of the features were introduced.. He has a decent write up but I did notice there was a lot left out.. Kind of why I have never done one for the Hawk.. There is a lot of changes that I probably don't even know about.. Over the years of reading the forums / looking at used saws and calling Hawk about saws I find and was interested in buying.. I've learned quite a lot.. Just never followed the Hegners as closely because used ones around my area are more than any used Hawk.. and in some cases just as much as a new Hawk, so.. I've just never really looked a lot at the Hegners like I did with Hawks

After watching some youtube on the multi tool as a sander.. I'm not interested in it as a sander.. pretty neat tool and might still get one but as a sander it's not a great tool from the reviews I read. They say it leaves lots of swirl marks.. That is the issue I had with the little mouse sander thing I have.. I now remember why I quit using it..

That's a nice write up.. I should do similar write-up for the hawk saws.. they made small and some larger changes to improve the scrolling experience.. Much like Heger.. the people see a big orange saw and the Hawk nameplate that makes them think it's a great saw.. which most were but there are some better than others.. unless you have a trained eye to know what to look for in a hawk one would think they're all the same..

When you run out of paint in the markers I learned that I can refill them.. I now just buy cheap acrylic paint from walmart and dilute it with water and the ends un-screw.. some are left handed threads.. like the Posca ones are left hand threads.. not sure on other brands.. also best to use distilled water

Thanks, That does look like a good deal... Your second link is the same as the first?

Not sure why I never thought of that for woodwork stuff.. I do this in the auto repair for cleaning out the drive shaft for new U-joints etc. Or steering knuckles for wheel bearings...

I didn't always sand them like this until one day I had a small defect in a project.. and I ended up sanding out the defect.. turned out a lot nicer by sanding it smoother than the saw blade made it and really made a big difference in the overall project.. ever since then I just sand the profile and face and back surface down to 320.. Your work is top notch JT, I was never saying it wasn't.. It's just one of the processes I do because I did it once and that's how I liked it.. and that's how I'm going to continue to do it.. even if it has to be hand sanded without a detail sander.. Obviously some clocks do not have a easy sanding surface as you mentioned.. The saw blade is as good as it get with those type clocks.. but the ones like the prayer clock or similar I sand them.. There is no right or wrong way it's just the way I like to do it.. Does it really "need it" I guess not.. just that little extra I like to do because there is a visible and a feel to the touch difference.

Yeah I start off sanding with like 180, 240 and then usually stop at 320.. Not all about time.. however I don't want to lollygag either but quality does matter too, LOL..

Have not used the Pegas brand of these but years ago I tried some other brand.. maybe Olsen? and they worked pretty good.. But I'm too cheap to buy these.. since I can make my own from a old saw blade and some 3M spray adhesive and just glue the cut strips of sandpaper to each side of the old blade.. works just the same and possibly better as it has the strip of metal ( the blade ) to make it a bit more rigid.. Whatever the old brand was I used back in the day.. the plastic ends was pretty thick and wouldn't mount in some of my saws.. like the Hawk with the barrel clamp and the EX slot in the blade chuck was too narrow.. I think I used them in my DeWalt but it barely fit.

Maybe overkill but I have always sanded the surface and the outer profile down to 320 and sometimes 400 grit paper.. I have yet had a scroll saw blade that leaves that smooth of an surface.. It's not super rough either but not smooth like I make the surface.. FD blades do leave a smoother surface than the Pegas do but not by enough to the point that I wouldn't need to sand the surface down some.. at least that is how I have always done it.. maybe I'm overkill on the sanding.. had many people mention how smooth it feels to the touch.. so I've just always done that.