kmmcrafts

That wedge is a wear point as it pivots slightly during the up / down stroke of the saw.. It's not about making adjustments with the tension.. I also do as you and never mess with it at all.. However it still wears over time just by running / using the saw. All three of my saws would wear the point on that wedge and I have the old round barrel clamp style, the ultra and the newest BM series saw and they all wear on that wedge. That said, I have no idea how long it takes for it to get worn to the point where you start having blade tension issues.. But it says right in one of the videos on their site that if you have problems with keeping the tension or blade breakage it could be that wedge is worn.. That wedge should be pointed to a pretty sharp edge on it almost to the point where it'd cut something.. I have seen then rounded over to the point that the edge was probably close to 1/16 thick on the edge instead of a nice pointed almost sharp edge. Never had blade issues with the 1/16" thick edge but that was the oldest saw when I first got it and I dressed it out just as I mentioned in my last reply.. there is no need to have to buy a new one unless you let it get worn down too far.. The more you dress that wedge the shorter it becomes and thus eventually you'll need to make some adjustments to the stop nut on the bottom of the tension rod.. You should be able to adjust that stop so the upper arm comes down and bottoms out at the correct height to insert the blade and thus being able to tension each new blade with the same tension every single time... unless you use Pegas blades because they cannot seem to make every blade the same length every time, LOL Or if you change blade sizes as smaller blades need less tension. I only change that if I'm using really small blades.. otherwise I tension all blades with the same setting until I get down into the 2/0 blades. Rarely use those small blades and most times instead of changing my saw settings I just move over to the Excalibur to do the cutting, so basically I never change the setup of my Hawks.

I've done that a few times with my saws.. Might take quite a lot of filing if it's really that rounded though.. I typically will take mine apart once a year or so and just dress it up on a flat surface with a piece of sandpaper and sharpen the point up. They can last a very long time provided they are oiled properly.. Getting them rounded out too badly can also wear the pointed surface on the actual arm and then you have a much bigger problem.. You have to send it off to Hawk and hopefully there is enough metal of the arm left so they can re-machine it.. They finally got smart and started making a "insert" on the arms so one can buy just the insert instead of having to machine the arm or replace it. For a small fee you can send in your arm and they'll machine the arm to accept those replacement inserts.. I might do this with my Ultra since I'll likely have that saw for a long time... The new BM26 came with the machined insert option..

Thanks for the update Frank, I think you'll be happy with the decision.. my experience with the WEN tools has been good so far.. However I have read some bad about their newest model scroll saw.. Many of their tools seem to be a knock-off of the higher end stuff and makes me wonder if it's actually the same tool.. I currently have a WEN belt sander that's been used a lot for over 10 years now, a WEN Dremel tool and now this Drill Press.. so far I've been happy with them.

I'll bet the round sign makers would love these. There are a lot of people that make these round signs and they scroll saw text and then cut shapes of themed things and glue them to the round part. Search Etsy for round sign and get you some ideas.. Here is something I just searched and thought was pretty cool. These used to sell really well.. not sure now how well they sell but 5-7 years ago these was a hot item. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1276706674/fall-door-hanger-svg-laser-cut-files?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=round+sign&ref=sr_gallery-1-27&bes=1&sts=1&dd=1&organic_search_click=1

The lever on the left is the variable speed adjuster.. I'm with you on the laser crosshairs light.. useless to me.. but some might find it handy. For the depth stop.. I never change that... I just raise / lower the table top while pulling the lever all the way down until I get it to stop at the depth I need it to. If drilling a hole for the clocks I place a 1/8" scrap on the table and lower the drill all the way down and then move table to just barely touch the 1/8" scrap.. That gives be the proper depth when I remove the 1/8" piece and then drill.. This was always difficult to do on my small drill press because the table had no gear / crank.. I can understand certain cases where you'd need to have precise hole depth and needing to use the stop.. but for the most part I just adjust the table height to meet the drill bit.

The 4214T is the same one I bought last fall, So far I love it. My old Delta 8" DP I have to change belt to various pulleys for speed changes.. and the table didn't have a crank on it.. However that all said it is my first DP so I never knew the luxuries I was missing until I bought the WEN. Also love the work light, I don't use the laser crosshairs thing though but could be handy in certain situations I suppose. One has to wonder what is different about the WEN 4214T and this Jet 716000 Looks like the same drill press for around $300 more for the white colored paint and a jet sticker..

Wow, those are cool! Yes that is her.. I think her name on the sites was Jr Ranger but in her signature she was The Saw Dust Mistress.. Then she signs patterns Sylvia.. or any of the other names above. I sure miss those days.. and many of the nice folks on those groups.. when MSN was doing away with the groups the members all kind of split up.. even though the magazine site was accepting all that wanted to join up.. During the MSN groups a person could ask for a pattern and an hour later there was be 4-5 made and ready to chose from. Unfortunately I think there were people taking advantage of the designers and many stopped helping out.. and now days it seems there is only a handful willing to help make patterns. Do you remember the wedding cross I was talking about. It was very similar to this drawing here but inside the rings was the names and at the top right side was the wedding date.

Wow! beautiful work there JT!! I can see why those were good sellers.. This is a tough question to answer for me.. I've had several real good sellers.. some of which I got tired of making and just stopped offering them, LOL That being said, I'm going to take us back to a time of before I was trying to sell things.. Unfortunately I do not have pictures because of a computer hard drive crashing but I know you'll know this item as it was very popular. Here we go back to memory lane to the day of the MSN Groups 2006 - 7 ish.. Do you remember Sylvia TheSawDustMistress ? She made patterns for a wedding theme.. it was a cross with wedding bands at the bottom of the cross and cut out of the inside portion of the wedding bands part was the names of the bride / groom and the wedding date was cut into the top of the band. I'll get a picture once I go to my inlaws as I made one that sits on their shelf. I'm sure you'll remember this one though. Sylvia's husband retired ( I believe he was a firefighter ) and they bought a RV so she stopped doing patterns and lived their lives on the road. She was a talented pattern maker and very nice person, never would take any money from someone and always offering up her patterns to many folks. Before she hit the road she gave me the template and font etc to make my own patterns from her template. Told me I could make them for whomever I wanted to but not for profit. Her one stipulation was I was to tell whomever was receiving the product that "may God bless their marriage" . I still have the pattern template etc.. Anyway, I bet I was asked to make around 50 of those before I ever started as a business. I have never offered these up for sale.. only as gifts..

I bought a WEN drill press last year but haven't really used it a lot since it's only been a year. It's not the small one though, I think it's a 12" with variable speed and had a LED worklight as well as a laser guide light.. So far it's been good.. for what I've needed it for. I still have and use my old 8" 5 speed Delta.. I just leave the Forestner bit in that one for drilling the holes for the clocks I make. Sure is nice not having to set up for the forstner bit all the time.. always had to change drill speed via changing belt to other pulleys and then change back for drilling small holes for scrolling..

I see some folks as extremist on both ends of the spectrum here.. some not worried about time the slightest and some obsessed with it either how slow or how fast.. I don't see anything wrong with keeping track of the time it takes on a project.. then you have some sort of reference or value in each project.. I get people saying all the time when showing some of my projects "wow how long did that take" or "wow I bet that took a long time" so in some respects having an idea of the time involved is important "in my opinion" because it gives people perspective that " no it wasn't put into a machine and push a button and 10 minutes later here it is.. no it's not how it went.. The more important thing is.. you not worrying about what everyone else is able to do or not do... You will progress as you go.. many of us on here have been scroll sawing for 20+ years and make things "look easy"

So that is a factory set-up, thanks Denny for clarifying that.. Did your replacement assembly come with that same set-up or was it one piece like the newer saws.. I wonder if these older saws had this setup and if it was a problem so they made it all one piece.

Not sure how mechanical incline you are but in my opinion the Excalibur saw is one of the top saws ( pre 2017 before China bought the General International name ). IF it were me, I'd just spend the money on the C-arms etc.. and rebuild what you have. You can refurb the whole saw minus the motor and electronics of the saw for around $200.. and you have a like new saw.. You're likely not going to find a "quality new" saw comparable to this one for less than $800 ish.. Sure you can scope out a good used one though.. but the average price of that would be probably in the $400 range.. Well, I just looked and the prices went up on the parts.. I see the main part you need is now $150 https://seyco.com/product/excalibur-drive-link-complete-assembly/ You may not need this part but replacing these as well is what would make the saws mechanical parts completely new saw with all new bearings and sleeves. https://seyco.com/product/ex21-c27c-top-and-bottom-front-rocker-arm-assemblies/

You might consider sending a email with those photos.. as well so they can see exactly what you have and what you're talking about. Here is the website, I believe there is some contact info on emailing them or also their number is listed near the bottom of the page. I'm super curious how this turns out.. I'm really doubtful it's factory like this but your story sounds as if it might be.. certainly something many of us have had these saws apart and none of us have seen anything like this yet anyway, LOL https://seyco.com/

I agree with Larry, enjoy the time.. I do this as a business but still take my time to enjoy the process.. IF I don't enjoy making it then I don't sell them.. I make a lot of different things as trial runs to see IF I Enjoy it and IF I can sell it reasonably priced.. IF the answer is can't sell it or don't enjoy it.. then I give it away to someone that likes it and it never sees the websites or the craft markets.. Because if it's a really hot item and I don't like making it.. then when it's seen by the masses.. they try persuading me to make more of something that I don't enjoy making.. then this fun business becomes a job!

I agree, I'd call Ray or Mike at Seyco and ask them about this.. I don't think this is a factory set up.. and this worries me that there could be some damaged bearings and who knows what at the back of the saw.. General International was well known for quality saws back when this was made ( now made in China and not the greatest quality ) and this setup looks nothing like their work.. having that set up like that looks like a weak point and will just keep coming apart or destroy the whole saw. I would buy a whole arm assembly and install it.. I did this to my saw due to worn bearings.. you can see my rebuild posting topic here.. If I recall the assembly cost around $115

That's a set up I haven't ever seen before. I almost want to say that this was repaired / modified.. but it could be factory.. Seems like the C-arms are too short like they was from a 16" saw and they added this section to it to make it work.. however was this done at the manufacture or something someone did.. I remember when this special color scheme was introduced.. I almost bought a new one.. Believe that was around 2009 ish.. I guess I'm stumped on what will fix the saws issue.... Maybe this setup had a special setting and lock nut setup to make the upper arm the correct length..

I've taken these saws apart and rebuilt many of similar style saws.. for the life of me I have no idea what you're showing or talking about.. what number is it in this parts list?

SO, the bolt just fell out? It'd be nice to see a photo and to know exactly which bolt you're talking about. If it's what I'm thinking it is.. you likely will need a bearing and sleeve too.. and if the bolt fell out likely the sleeve did too. Not sure what bolt you're referring too though.

That's strange to me that your Hegner has some vibration, I get that it's mostly smooth but those couple of sweet spots that get the shakes.. That said, all three of my Hawks had the shakes in certain spots on the speed dial.. the smoothest running one being the oldest one that I sold.. But for those three saws the oldest also had a shelf within the legs of the stand framed with aluminum angle. I went and finally built a shelf for the newest saw and that sure made a difference so going to do that with the other Hawk as well.. The Hawk stands don't have any braces in the legs like most stands have.. so I think that is more of the issue with those saws.. Now for my Hegner, don't know what model you have but mine is a Multimax 18 made in 2002 or was it 2012, I can't remember now anyway, I have the saw bolted to the hegner stand and that saw is probably the smoothest saw I've ever had through all the gears.. Do you have the factory Hegner stand? That stand is full of braces and solid..and having the 3 legs rather than 4 is good even on slightly uneven floors. I used to have a old Dremel model 1800 scroll saw years ago and that thing was pretty bad.. enough that I looked for options to help, even though it was bolted to the factory stand which was a pretty solid stand. I ended up running across a post that mentioned putting a piece of carpet padding between the saw and the stand then bolting it down bit not tight.. just snug it up, then run the saw through the variable speed settings while tightening up the bolts just a small amount on each bolt at a time and finally I was able to get that saw pretty close to as smooth as any of the other saws I've had.. Might be something to try. I've never bolted my saws or any of the tools to the floor for easy of moving and being able to clean up better around them.. But been some break-ins around the "somewhat" area getting too close to my area.. Take someone a lot longer to steal my tools if they're bolted down.. My concrete slab cost almost as much as the whole shop did so I've been hesitant to drill holes in it, LOL..

I'm not too sure about the flex hose making it a 02-03 or newer.. While I didn't buy it new.. It was still in a sealed box from Hawk.. My 1998 sealed in the box when I bought it in 2017 came with the black flex hose..

Like others have said it looks great to me.. I'm personally not a fan of layered projects where the pieces stick out from the backer.. ( I don't know the correct term ). mainly because it's just a source for dust to collect onto and makes it more difficult to clean.. same way with "unframed" portraits or framed without glass to help keep dust out of the actual piece.. IF I were to do something similar to this I would rather see it as a "inlay" much like Dave Monk does with his beautiful works of art.. easy to wipe dust off and polish a flat surface.. in fact this could be a sales pitch to those selling their inlay stuff.. or make both styles and explain to a customer the differences and advantages of the higher priced inlay work, LOL This is not to criticize the beautiful work you've done here.. it's just a opinion of mine because I hate cleaning / dusting and it gets horribly tedious with pieces similar to this or fretwork.. so I'm looking at it as a overall beautiful work I just wouldn't want to be the person that would be cleaning this..

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=797511289050972&set=a.745632304238871

They haven't made anything but 220's and 226's since around 1995 I believe.. They did make a "very few" BM16's but they had vibration issue or some kind of issue and they've never really pushed to find a cure for the issue.. Not too many folks these days really seek out to buy those small saws anyway. They likely couldn't compete in the market since Henger has the 18" and EX has the 16" and I don't really think too many are sold either.. Seems like the 20" is what most folks go after anyway. They also discontinued the 12 and 14" saws well before the 16" too so those smaller ones are likely from the 1980's

The real old Hawk 212, 214, 216 and even some of the 220's had to have tools like this.. these saws are from the early 1980's.. Over the years they improved them and I would say they are more like how you would do on the Hegner where you remove the lower clamp and insert it into the holder to loosen and tighten the thumb screw ( well Hegner has that clock type wrench instead of the thumb screw that Hawk "upgraded to " LOL ) They ran with this set up for most of the Hawk years until around 2004-5 when they came out with the G426 and the newest BM series... They require no tools.. while the blade holders ( both top and bottom ) are removable and just held in with spring metal clips much like the lower on the Hegner.. They still have a spot on the saw where "if you want / need too " remove the holders to change a blade you can still use the slot to hold the blade holder while you loosen the thumb screw.. however it isn't really necessary on the new BM series saws.. In fact you can top or bottom feed on the new saw models... The new models also have adjustable lower blade head where you can adjust how aggressive of a cut you like.. The Hawk Ultras also have adjustable lower blade but it's only 2 positions where as the new saws are variable adjustable by just turning the screw moves the head forward or back.. so you can really hone in to the perfect positions for said projects.. Too bad Hegner hasn't come up with something like that.. as it's wonderful to get a perfect up / down stroke for that real thin stuff.. that would be a bit aggressive on the Hegner..

Right about the 11 minute mark is where it shows how to change blades on a 216 Hawk... the 214 would be the same way.. the larger saws have a little different system.. Or watch the whole video.. might educate you on the saws and inspire you to buy a easier model to use...