kmmcrafts

I did think about that just about an hour ago.. I'm going to try that before I cut this book up... Thanks

I'm not talking about the bellows.. the bellows on mine is great.. but it doesn't have a flex tube hooked to it so it constantly blows the dust right at me.. this is a kit to use a vacuum and collect the dust from both below and above the table..

Anyone using the dust control thing from Hegner? https://advanced-machinery.myshopify.com/products/saw-dust-management-system?variant=26762215494 Just wondered how this thing performs, I know I could build something from PVC etc and probably what I'll do but was just curious how this performs.. If I hear some good reviews of this I might just order it instead..

I think you’re going to love that saw! Congratulations, look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Some cuttings I did this week. Not sure exactly how I intend to finish up the John 3:16 as it’s just 1/8” bbply. Thinking about making a slightly larger heart shape backer from Walnut. Trivets cut from 1/2” Cherry and will probably be dipped in Danish oil once I get a few more things made. Also worked on doing some gluing pieces together for the Cogsworth project I’ve been working on in the sideworks. Have also done some cutting board glue ups that maybe one day I’ll laser something on them.

I hadn't thought about cutting the binder part off with a table saw.. but I did think about it with the bandsaw or heck.. even the scroll saw.. I see there are people cutting designs from old books with the scroll saw so I should be able to cut the binder part of the book off.. Hate to ruin ( so to speak ) the book but I also hate my projects not turning out well because of poor scans too.. I've thought about re-subscribing to the magazine.. I do miss them and on one hand I'd hate to see them go out of business.. on the other hand... we've been telling them to go digital or at least layout the patterns so they're easier to scan for years.. I complained about this back in 2007 - 8.. I think they've had plenty of time to consider and if they go out because of the lack of subscribers it's on them for not keeping up with the times...

Yes, I stopped subscribing to the magazine sort of because of this.. but to be honest I stopped when the other magazine went under.. that one IMO was the best of the two of them I knew of anyway. I think the name of the one I liked was Creative Woodworks and Crafts? Anyway I realized I really didn't use the patterns too much anyway and the way they cram them in there is stupid for anyone that does want to use them.. I have often thought about buying those digital versions from the magazine... I typically go to the new stands and read the magazine.. If I find a pattern I like they usually list who the design is from and most designers have a website.. I go there to purchase the one I want and get the digital version that way. I can't go in and show you the book because of copyright / trademark.. but in this particular book and this particular pattern for some reason the put the edge of it over toward the center on the book and put descriptive stuff on the other side.. hence it makes it more difficult to scan the page.. I think that's what really makes me mad.. like lets put the patterns way over into the crease of the book.. I know a lot of folks might have issue with sizing patterns, but if they made the pattern smaller so it could be scanned easier then have a note to enlarge it X amount so we could scan them in anyway.. instead of putting the pattern clear over into the crease where the scanner doesn't pick it up..

How do you guys get your patterns printed when they are in a book? Do you cut the page out of the book or do you try to scan it without ripping out pages? I usually don't do patterns from books because of this issue and I hate the idea of taking books apart.. But I guess it is just a book and once I have the patterns on my computer I could throw the book away.. seems kind of wasteful to me... It'd be really nice to see them digitalize magazines and these books.. Magazines isn't such an issue to me because you can take the staples loose and remove the large paper pattern section and place on a scanner.. the one thing about those is.. they're printed on both sides of this large paper and if you want patterns from both sides you end up folding it 50 times both ways until you get to the right pattern, LOL. If you cut out the pattern then you likely cut through something good on the opposite side. I got this book for Christmas and have been enjoying the patterns until the last one I cut the other day kinda messed up my project because I ran out of line to follow.. this happen on both a couple of the inside cuts and the outer profile.. while in the cropped photo section posted below this doesn't look horrible as you can see somewhat where the red / pinkish lines would be.. BUT, I only have a black and white printer... add magnification into the mix of that blur and I couldn't do anything but guess where to cut.. also add the fact that I was cutting on a saw that I wasn't acquainted with too.. I've seen worst cuttings but this came out kinda bad.. and it's too the fault of me not wanting to rip out a page in the book, but this make me mad as heck.. I'm about to rip the whole book to sheds and put it all on computer file then go burn what's left of the papers. But before I do that.. I'm asking you guys if there is a better way to get the patterns printed? Photos below of my project and a cropped portion of my pattern where it made me mess up.

I kind of thought so by the red colored uprights at the back that I think are cast?

If that wedge gets too rounded you'll start snapping blades.. as it'll allow the tension to not be consistent as those rock back and forth.. Also if you're saw has the front tension lever there is an adjustment on the bottom of where the lever goes into the arm.. underneath there is a very small set screw. When you flip the lever over without a blade in the saw that lever should have some resistance to it about 1/8" - 1/4" before it goes to the "locking position ".. The very old saws didn't have that set screw and in those cases you have to replace the cam lever.. Or. you can just wrap a rubber band around the lever when it gets so bad it starts popping the blade tension lever up when turning the saw on. Edit to say: It doesn't look like that wedge has been oiled.. I believe that is supposed to take a drop of oil every 20 -25 hours of use.. depending on age the arm bearings are also supposed to be oiled and there is a spot up by the front tension cam with a hole in it.. drop of oil in that hole as well..

Zooming in on the photo I'd say the wedge is worn.. Yes you need the washer for sure.. As for the wedge.. As Ray said you can probably just dress it.. I dressed mine from time to time by just using a sheet of sandpaper on a flat surface and sand each side of the wedge.. It's supposed to be quite pointed almost to the point of being sharp. Each time you dress it you're making it shorter though.. so eventually it'll mess with your upper arm adjustment.. so you'll think your blades are getting longer because the arm comes down too far.. may have to crank the lock nut on the bottom of the rod under the lower arm to adjust that.. Properly tuned the upper arm should come all the way down and meet the top of the blade in just the right position to clamp it.. Edit to add: Yours don't look too bad but proper dressing it is actually sending the upper arm in for Bushton to machine the V.. I think now days they machine it out for the updated " replacement " round insert V like the new saws have.

Congrats on the new saw.. I always wanted to try a Pegas.. but it's probably not a lot different to use than my Excalibur..

last week we was -4 at night and about 10 - 15 during the day.. this week way warmer.. global warming is happening fast. supposed to be about 60 today and right now almost 40 at 7am. lol.. I have heat in the shop but the walk to work can be terrible if it hasn't been shoveled yet. .. Today with all the snow melting and it's also raining. hopefully I don't get distracted and try fishing in the puddles..

If you replace this piece the clamps don't go to the floor.. they stay in the saw.. I had the same issue with my older Hawk.. These are made of plastic ( I've heard they have spring steel ones now but not certain they have it for the round clamp style.. My Untra has plastic ones and it gets weak and needs replaced every couple years.. The new BM saw has a spring steel one.. https://stores.bushtonhawkstore.com/barrel-style-blade-holder-clip/ This is really a pretty simple device and one could likely make one from some spring steel..

That is how I've been doing it as that is what is suggested in the videos on Hegners site..

Well that doesn't work the way I think it should.. If I turn that knob at the back so the arm is adjusted at approximately the right height to where the blade should slide right into the clamp then put tension on the blade it's too tight of a blade according to the video I watched, The video says to achieve proper tension turn ( loosen ) the knob until there is play in the rod and then tighten it just until there is some tension on the rod, then turn it 1/3 of a turn.. and up to 2 full turns more on larger blades if needed.. If I turn that so the arm is at the right height for the blade then tension it.. takes about 5 turns in order to get that slack in the rod at the back.. so doing that makes the blade about 3 turns over tighten.. On the Hawk they have if figured out to where you can change the distance between the upper and lower arms so you can adjust the top arm to bottom out at the right length of blade.. then set your tenson and it'll be the same every time you put in a new blade.. Unless of coarse you get one of those darn Pegas blades that has that extra little tip on the end sometimes.. At any rate it's not a big deal I guess to just bottom out the clamp onto the blade as Paul mentioned.. that's what I had been doing.. The Hawk just spoiled me I guess with all its adjustments.. I don't have to think about lowering the arm to a certain position and clamping the blade.. I just lower it all the way then insert the blade & clamp.

I need to look at the Hegner and see... I bet there is an adjustment like the Hawk has so the distance between the lower arm and the upper arm is the length of the blade.. If you adjust the Hawk correctly you just lower the upper arm down as low as it goes and then put the blade in the slot and clamp it... My Hegners upper arm will go about 1/2 - 3/4 inch past the top of the blade when I bring down the upper arm to insert the blade.. Having it adjusted like the Hawk so there is no guess work to how far down to lower the arm is what I am used to.. Even though I could easily adjust to the way it is.. it just seems like it should be lower it all the way and insert the blade and clamp it. As it's set up now I end up lowering it down onto the blade and bending the blade then I go to raise it up and go too high to clamp it so I feel like I'm constantly fiddling with it to get it clamped.. I bet there is adjustment on the rod at the back so the arm can't come down so far like on my Hawk.

Back in the day people walked up hill both to and home from school.. They had strong legs and didn't need to sit at the scroll saw so the stands are tall for standing at the saw.. People these days design saws to use while you lay in bed and watch tv aka CNC / Laser machines.. somewhere in between all that was the shorter stands like the EX, Pegas etc.. I have a tall stool and like to sit up higher.. I made a block as Paul said to mount my foot switch and rest my feet on..

Yes smaller blades is worst than the larger ones.. especially when you get into spiral blade territory.. The long arm on the Hawks is almost impossible to go any smaller than a 2/0 blade.. If one is going to be doing a lot of 3/0 spiral blade using a DeWalt ( in my opinion ) would be the best saw.. why DW? because it has adjustable tension.. Excalibur saws don't have that... well they do sort of but it's not a very good design and not the most user friendly when working with those super small blades. I switched back to the Hawk BM-26 this morning to finish up another trivet and a couple things I noted was.. it's a lot easier to insert the blade into a hole because the upper arm goes up much higher than on the Hegner.. Also, the Hawk is designed to pull the upper arm down to the blade and when the arm bottoms out it is at the right position so the tension is set the same every time.. The Hegner ( unless I'm doing something wrong? ) the blade is longer and the arm will come down past the top of the blade. Now I could cut off the excess of the blade so I could just bring down the arm to position but.. It is just a minor thing and something I can get used to.. but I think those are two things that Hegner could improve upon. Another thing I like about the Hawk better is the blade aggression adjustment.. I find that the Hegner is a little more aggressive cutting which is not excessive but it's the only way the saw can be set up so if you was going to cut one very thin project you cannot adjust it to a lesser aggressive cut.. I think on the Hawk I could almost cut a sheet of paper without issue if I adjust it correctly.. the Hawk is very easy to do real fine detail work.. cutting blades of grass is one of the things that I do on the Hawk and would somewhat struggle with on the Excalibur and probably on the Hegner too.. My overall assessment between the two saws is, I think Hegner is probably built more solid.. not by much.. But I think the Hawk is a better saw for fine detail stuff.. and can be adjusted to do thick wood too. Don't get me wrong you can do the same with either saw or even a DeWalt can accomplish the same product.. but the one that would / could be most relaxing to sit at in my opinion doing fine detail work would be the Hawk provided you have it tuned well. My opinion might change as i get more seat time behind the Hegner.. Maybe I need more time with it and learn more about adjusting it.. So far if I was to have to sell all my saws and only keep one I would stay with the Hawk BM series.. for the type of work I do most.

Paul, That is exactly how I felt about the first Hawk I got.. except the part about spending all the money since i only paid $100 for it, LOL.. I just knew from reading that both the Hawk and Hegner are very fussy with tension.. That said, it still took me several months to get the hang of it, partly because I still had my DeWalt and once i got frustrated with sawing on the Hawk I just moved to the DeWalt.. I eventually got the hang of it and like you.. I'm so glad that I didn't give up. From experience between the two saws, I can say without a doubt that Hawk is more picky and less forgiving if the tension isn't exactly right. I still break blades on the Hawk now and then.. but like you say.. it's usually because I'm using a blade too long and just trying to make it through the last bit of a project. The Hegner definitely is smoother running throughout the speed ranges.. The Hawk ( all three styles I have ) get the shakes really bad at certain speed ranges but if you go below or above that speed just slightly they smooth right out. I think part of the reason Hawks are more picky and have that one area on the speed where it shakes is.. these are 26" saws.. those arms are huge.. they must be like 30" from one end to the other and you get a blade way out on the end that slightest little bit of not enough tension swinging the upper arm since both arms are not powered by the motor like they are on the DW type saws.. That is a lot of stress on these tiny little blades.. That is why I think the Hegner might be a little more forgiving on the blade tension.. Then you look at the front of the rocker assemblies on a DW / EX type saw and there is a whopping what maybe 4 inches of arms there... I have accidently did a cut on my DW without even applying tension, LOL.. I knew something was weird but it worked.. You wouldn't get a Hawk / Hegner to even turn on without snapping the blade without tension. I have seen way too many people buy new or used Hawk / Hegners and in a short amount of time say they don't like the saws and sell them.. I may be wrong but I think they just give up on a very good saw.. It's understandable because going from a DW type saw to one of these is way different.. almost have to learn to scroll again. When people are posting about upgrading to a Hawk / Hegner I like to let them know it's different and might be difficult to learn.. Some catch on right off the bat, others don't, some give up and then go posting on these forums about how junk these saws are, LOL

I don't like the larger sized spirals.. Charles uses #3 blades.. I have some #3's I bought 20 years ago, LOL.. The largest one I use is a #1 and that's pretty rare.. My go to is a 2/0 FD-NS.. But if you go with Pegas they tend to run smaller so a #1 is closer to the FD 2/0. I should also note that the Pegas are quite fragile so they are not my go to for that reason.. They break very easy.

Anyone use spiral blades on the Hegner.. That's be interesting trying to get a 2/0 twisted blade into the 0.5mm clamp.. Probably a must to untwist the ends so you could get proper clamping.. I know Charles Dearing exclusively uses spirals and he uses a Hegner..

It was user error as in not really knowing how to use the Hegner.. Did you know that a #5 blade will clamp into the large clamps and hold tension until you turn the saw on.. well that's where those blade holders went.. now that I'm using the correct sized holders I'm not having any issues, Also why I'm not too worried about trying to find them.. What gets me is, if I break a blade on the Hawk they don't go flying into space. Hawk has a spring steel ( some are plastic ) blade holder thing to prevent that. Yes there is one on the Hegner too, but this is what gets me is. The one on the Hawk the blade holder slips right in there real easy and you'd think it'd slip out and go flying into space but they don't. On the Hegner the thing has a pretty strong spring to it and it's kinda hard to push down to even get the blade holder in there.. yet when a blade slips / breaks that holder goes into space somewhere and somehow. Boggles my mind how that gets out of there and the one on the Hawk is so loose fitted in there and I never really had one come out of there in the Hawks..

So this saw is pretty nice but I think it’s going to be too expensive for me to use. Only took 3 missing blade clamps to finish this thing. The first time I broke a blade and the thing went flying. I looked everywhere for it even on my hands and knees. Then I went to go get a drink and the clamp was laying 15 ft away in the middle of the shop. Anyway, I started with 4 clamps this morning and now have just one left. I suspect they went under my workbench and I’m not moving it to find out as it’s heavy without all the tools inside the lower cabinet.

Yeah, from what I've seen / read online is people either love them or hate them.. mostly due to either table size or the clamp system.. Hawks are the same way.. either love them or hate them.. I've known of Hawk owners that bought a new Hegner and didn't like it.. also known of a couple Hegner owners that got Hawks and didn't like them so..