kmmcrafts

I'm sure every store is different but my local store has exceptional customer service.. I have never had any hint of trouble doing returns etc.. In fact, a few years back my son bought me a electric power washer for either my birthday or Christmas.. I never opened up the box until late spring / early summer.. and when I did there was a part missing. Being winter I didn't open it, I took the whole box in.. no receipt and explained that I never opened it up because it was winter and they exchanged it.. I was sure they'd say oh well no receipt.. Their tools have improved greatly in recent years.. I've had not really ever had but one problem and that was 15 years ago on the cheapest sawzall they had.. which was like $9.88, LOL.. It and several more after it broke.. I finally just tossed them and bought a better one, The way I see those extended warranties is.. most items you pay close to half the price of the tool for the warranty.. I usually chance it because in both cases it's costing you.. and why pay up front and not need to use it, LOL..

Well, I used the grinder this morning with a metal cutoff wheel on it to cut 8 3/4" U-bolts at the salvage yard.. It sure has a lot of power and buzzed right through.. The air cutoff wheel I use in my shop here at home slows up some when you get into the thick part of the bolt so I was pleasantly surprised with the power of the grinder. It paid for itself this morning so anything beyond this is a plus.. I can say that it was quite comfortable to hold onto since I'm used to having to work around the air hose etc with the air one.. This one might just replace that air powered one.. I may use it more than I originally thought, LOL Now to the funny / not so funny part.. I was cutting off leaf spring brackets / mounts from a dodge truck as I needed new ones and nobody makes / sells new.. nor will most yards sell just the brackets as they want to sell the whole spring assembly.. anyway to get to my point.. the first one I took off was right there in the open as the tire was already off and that side was already jacked up and setting on some other pile of junk so it was up in the air already.. I bust my butt to get cleared out for the other side and get it up in the air etc.. cut the bolts and grabbed the piece and on my way back to my wheelbarrow to take my parts up to pay.. there lay a real nice one already off and half sunk into the ground in the roadway.. Go figure.. just proof that I always do everything the hard way, LOL

Yeah, I looked on their site and I didn't see it listed on their services page but maybe I should just give them a call..

Yeah this is how I will be with the tools too.. mostly intermittent. most times I don't notice that my DW batteries are going bad.. but when I was doing a lot of drilling a couple weeks ago I had to keep changing / charging my two batteries.. and the lithium aren't so prone to go bad like the NiCad issues I had back in the day with those eBay batteries I mentioned in my last post. These old DW batteries made it at least 10 years.. I was replacing those old NiCads about every 2 years if I was lucky to get that much time with them. Limited use is mainly why I went with the cheap HF tools.. I don't see myself using the grinder a lot.. but it'll definitely be nice to be able to make use of it in the old shop that the power was cut off too once the new shop was built. It's mostly a storage for lawn mowers etc now but does have a nice heavy workbench with a vise.. no vise in the new shop or big heavy bench.. so some certain jobs is nice to take to the old shop.. no power has made it a hassle so buying new tools to replace old broken ones I'm going cordless. Just don't see spending $200 on a DW grinder that is going to see limited use.

Well to be fair the issues I had with the eBay batteries was the NiCad type batteries as this was before the Lithium stuff was out there. They weren't junk.. but they weren't like the original new ones were either. The issue with those are, once the battery is made they start deteriorating so while they was "new in sealed package" they was old. Whenever I buy car / tractor batteries I look for the date code and I buy the newest one they have because the same issue with those. Now, to my bad battery issue today from HF.. They took me and the battery back to the backroom of the store and they plugged it into their charger.. which showed initially it was charging but then suddenly showed it was fully charged but the test light built into the battery showed low battery, so they exchanged it.. Yay.. BUT, then I get home and plug the new one into my charger ( which I had with me at HF too ) and the same thing happen. SO, I make another trip back to the store and they tested the replacement battery and it worked on their charger so we plugged mine in again and it didn't work. MY Charger was bad... But my charger works on the smaller 3ah batteries so I bought a new "open box charger" that we used to test the battery with as it worked.. being open boxed it was cheaper and also proven to work, LOL It is the slower charging one but I don't care if it takes a few hours to charge. Plus I guess it's better for the batteries to do slow charge anyway. so finally a win win, after 3 trips to the store.. which is about 15 miles each way.. Anyway, glad to have it sorted out and I can get to work first thing in the morning with a couple fully charged batteries..

That's a pretty good deal on those, I might have to make a purchase of them. I know electronics can be hit or miss sometimes but I ordered some "New" batteries back in the day when I had my Hitachi drill from eBay and they was almost as bad as the ones I had that were several years old. I've kind of been skeptical to buy online for those unless they're from a box store that would return / exchange them locally.. I'm not sure how the policies are for some of these places but I know the local Best Buy will not give me customer service if I purchased online even though it's still through Best Buy they won't help... been there done that just recently on a watch I got for my wife last summer. There used to be places that you could send in your tool battery and they take out the old cells and rebuild your pack with new cells which is / was cheaper than new ones.. I might look into that too.

Well, I pulled the trigger and got the grinder from HF this morning.. I also bought the big 8ah battery because I wanted a bigger one for the leaf blower I already had since I only had a 3ah for it, which btw really wasn't too bad unless you run the blower on high speed then it would only last about 15 minutes. Anyway, while I have not actually used the grinder just yet it seems well made and I have turned it on. I do like how the special wrench is stored in the end of the handle. I have so many air and electric tools and each takes a different wrench to change out the grinding wheel or sanding / buffing wheels etc that it takes a bit to find the right tool for the right tool, LOL.. Unfortunately, I'm not happy with the big battery just yet, Got it out of the package and plugged it into the charger and the lights flash indicating a issue with either battery or charger.. plug my old battery for the blower in and it charges so that new battery must have a issue.. going to head back after lunch to exchange it I guess. They are running a special on the 5ah battery 2 for the price of 1 almost.. however the other day they had zero of them and today they only had 1.. I tried to talk them into giving a deal on the one since that was all they had.. I'd rather of had 2 5ah batteries than the one 8ah but didn't want the smaller 3ah or the 1.5ah.. The deal would of been perfect fit for me but they just don't have any of them on hand. Unfortunately the deal is in store only too, checking other local stores is showing none available too.

Many of my tools were refurbished.. or a black Friday special... My DW stuff was purchased around 2013 on black friday and it's just a drill and a flashlight I got for Christmas because I was tired of buying NiCad batteries for my old Hitachi drill and flashlight set. $99 for the 20V max drill and two batteries and charger back then. Just the smaller batteries but they've worked well enough for me most of these years. I now getting to a point where the battery dies before I can get very many holes drilled and I'm having to go steal the battery from the flashlight. I'm now in a spot where is it worth $70 - 80 for 1 battery when I could really use two and then $200 for a angle grinder or do I sell off / give away / throw away this DW stuff and start fresh with ryobi or the Harbor freight stuff, LOL.. DW has pretty good tools but you do pay for them.. I like having all the tools with same battery and since my other shop has no power I've been considering more tools than just the drill and flashlight.. I could see the angle grinder and a Sawzall.. and many other tools would be handy to have out in the old shop that no longer has power run to it. My son got me the Earthquake 1/2" impact from HF a few years ago.. that has been a really good tool used a lot too. I've always been going to check to see if that battery is the same as the Bauer leaf blower.. they look like they might work. Even the Hercules batteries look very similar.. Probably different, LOL. I know the DW battery is different even though they slide in the same way as I've tried that, Hahaha. What's the thoughts on the Bauer brand? My wife bought a leaf blower last year and it's been wonderful.. use it way more than we thought. That's what we have a battery for. I was thinking about getting a couple more batteries and a drill, grinder and some of the other offered tools.

I'm not a electric motor guru and looking to get a cordless angle grinder. I'm just going with cheap set-up likely from Harbor Freight to use at a salvage yard where you pick your own parts.. This all being said, I have a nice DeWalt drill and flashlight that the batteries have had better days.. originally was going to look into a DW angle grinder but the tool only cost more than a tool with battery for the Harbor Freight stuff. One of my out buildings here I have no electric in.. and it's a good sized shop to work in.. other than no power so having a lot of cordless tools is handy to have since this shop is at the other / far end of my property. I might just get a bunch of cordless tool as a kit or something.. Ryobi has some decent prices too.. Though I have a cordless leaf blower from HF so I have a battery for so that battery would work with the other tools.. The issue is having all these different brands of tools and having to replace batteries cost dang near what a new tool cost. LOL Anyway, looking at cordless tools some say brushless.. and are a bit more pricey.. I assume that should mean maybe a better tool? How about battery life between brushed and brushless or is that what is different.. Edumicate me on this topic if you know please,

Advertise them as antiques.. not false advertising if it was that long ago, LOL.. Trying to sell things sometimes is odd with pricing... list it cheap and nobody sees any value in their purchase.. make it pricey and sometimes people buy it up.. of coarse that works both ways too.. It's really about getting it seen by the right person.. Like Ray said.. maybe your timing was off.. give it another go.. If that fails you could always donate them to a charity or goodwill or something..

Drip tank is what Hawk calls it.. Their photo is terrible but anyway.. LOL https://stores.bushtonhawkstore.com/drip-tank/ Pretty sure I've seen the same thing at one time on Hegners site too.. I've not seen it offered with any of the other saw brands though.

I'm not sure about Hegner but Hawk sells or used to sell a cooling tank / pump system for cutting tiles and other items that would require a coolant system... I personally wouldn't do it for the fact that the rock would likely get into bearings etc of the saw..

Lot of wonderful projects here that are very well done. Myself, Hmmm... I cannot really remember what my last project for the scroll saw is / was.. I'm probably going to have to remember how to use it the next time I get a scroll saw project to make. I've been very busy with the laser and have had some CNC projects I've done.. I do have a Sheila Landry design I want to cut for my Daughter if / when I get the chance too. It's a sign that says "wine me up and watch me go" with wine bottles on it.. But with fall coming and needing to get prepped for winter and building inventory for the holiday sales etc.. I may not get to that one this year.

I had done the same thing, I had the potentiometer go bad on my Hawk Ultra, actually it didn't go bad.. I broke it trying to take it apart and didn't see the very tiny set screw that held the dial knob on.. I figured I'd have broke the knob before the metal stem but the stem broke first.. Boy was that thing stuck I thought.. until I finally spotted the tiny set screw that was even hard to see with my glasses on, LOL Anyway, Bushton wanted like $350 for a whole new control box and wanted me to send my motor in so they could match it up etc. so it'd be plug and play when I get it back. Found a new potentiometer on eBay for $4 with free shipping and soldered the wires.. wrong the first time.. good thing though.. if you place the wires in the wrong spot it just works backwards, LOL so instead of max speed it was the slowest speed and slow was fast... I eventually placed the wires in the correct position in case I ever sell the saw it'd be correct.. $4 sure beats $350+ whatever shipping would cost me to ship it to Bushton for repair and all the wait ( down time )..

Welcome to the scroll saw village! I don't have much for recommendations from what's already been said.. other than to say in some cases what saw is best can vary based on what type of scroll sawing you're going to be doing most.. IF doing very large fretwork projects from thin material I'd go with a Hawk.. for a top of the line type saw.. IF doing smaller to medium sized fretwork I'd go with a Hegner or Pegas.. The Jet brand is very similar to the Excalibur type saws too and made very well.. I find them to be better priced than the Pegas or other models.. however I do not like the table design on the 22" saw but I do really like the 18" Jet.. they sometimes run a sale on these and it's hard to beat the price even if you wanted to add the Pegas blade chuck.. still way cheaper than the Pegas if you can catch the sale.. many times throughout the year that saw is offered at just a little over $700 and some places offer free shipping where most others do not. Also Bearwood offers a refurb Pegas that's not priced too bad but has more of a as-is type warranty too.. I guess they supply some sort of warranty but not much of one. Good luck with whatever you choose and give us a update when you do get something.

My 226VS serial 10290 was bought new in Dec. 1998..

He's been on here in the last couple weeks with screen name Kevin Krippel. He did say he couldn't get back on with his old account. Posted a bunch and then haven't seen him on anymore.

Home Depot also has what is called project panels. I cannot remember the exact sizes but I think they are 12 x 19 and can come in various thickness. Sometimes a project looks better cut from something other than bland grain of BBply. These project panels come in Birch, cherry, maple, and walnut ( maybe others too). I’ve never had an issue with this stuff and might be worth looking into if you’re stuck with mail ordering. I get my BBply locally in 5x5 sheets but have got them from Cherokee wood supply online during the pandemic and all was great quality. Prices are decent considering they have to be mailed.

Hahaha, I just posed about this saw before I seen this topic. I'll share this YouTube Demo of the saw here. It reminds me of the Jet saw kind of but it appears to have EX style clamps rather than the barrel clamps of the Jet. Also.. it looks like there is a lot more table surface in front of the blade... I don't think I could get along with the "locking button" for the upper arm.. It looks like it's way near the rear of the saw.. who would want to reach way back there to unlock the arm... Not me.. especially on a detailed fretwork piece

Well, I must have missed Dave's post a few days ago.. Now that I posted this I seen his message, LOL.. Oh well I'm a few days late.

Maybe not new to you but I've never seen this saw until a few minutes ago.. Looks pretty impressive but the price point is making me wonder if this is made in China where the newer Excaliburs are made. https://www.woodcraft.com/products/rikon-22-vs-scroll-saw-rikon?gclid=CjwKCAjw6eWnBhAKEiwADpnw9g29v7R6U0RekKkO3wl14eVN_ik9KBx8dX6Idqwgf9EC7UJBv5wTERoCLu8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

DeWalts are a very nice saw for the money.. however I do agree that they should have come up with something to hold that arm up.. Especially when there is similar designed Delta and WEN saws that have something integrated into the saw to hold the arm up..

You can make your own and select the size you want and how big of pieces, piece styles and many other custom options at this link.. Us laser guys cheat as the scrolling community would say. I'm not sure if this is the one I used in the past or if it was a different one.. There's many different programs to do this exact thing and you can search them by google searching laser jigsaw puzzle filemaker if you want to look for something different.. https://proceduraljigsaw.github.io/Fractalpuzzlejs/

Back when I had my DeWalt they didn't have the lifter invented yet.. But shortly after first getting the new DeWalt Jim Dandy came up with the "easy lift" .. That made so much difference in the scrolling experience that I could never go back to a saw that the arm didn't at least stay up.. Then I got spoiled when I got my Hawk scroll saw.. spring loaded upper arm sure is much nicer than even the easy lift, LOL.. no lifting at all as the arm just pops up out of the way once you release the blade or break a blade.. Sometimes when I've not used my Excalibur in a really like time I forget that I have to "lift" the arm manually.. LOL.. I'll be setting there for like 5 seconds waiting or in a daze as to why the arm didn't go up, LOL

Wow those are very nice racks and of coarse pens as well. Thanks for showing the additional photos. I had a lathe given to me some 7-8 years ago and I messed with it some but I guess it just wasn't my thing so I ended up getting rid of it. It was a old Craftsman that you changed speeds with swapping the belt to different pulleys. I can't remember how many speeds it was.. I just know that it made a big mess in short time and that was my biggest complaint about it. Now if I'd of had the dust collector system I now have I might have hung onto it... Maybe again some day I'll give it another try.