kmmcrafts

I agree with Ray, but that said I can't imagine the amount of work to move would be.. for me anyway as I've been in my house for 31 years.. all that junk that gets into the junk drawers and stuff that end up in the storage shed etc etc etc.. that really should have just went to a goodwill or other type charity or trash but didn't.. going through all of it packing and un-packing and where to put what.. Lot of work so I can sort of see a reason why not to be on for a while.. Anyway, welcome back.. and look forward to seeing you on here again.

Yeah, not having the proper tension on a Hawk / Hegner that blade would just break..

I'm not even sure how you could run it without the wedge? How was you able to even put a blade in it.. That wedge is only $9 https://stores.bushtonhawkstore.com/wedge-pivot/ The washer is $1.25 from Bushton https://stores.bushtonhawkstore.com/nylon-tension-washer/ about half that at the local hardware as it's nothing special to Hawk just a plain old nylon washer..

So, just to point out something.. I think the reason Hawk and Hegners have such a learning curve to mount the blades is because of the saw design.. The upper arms on these are not fixed to the motor and the lower arm like they are on most other saws.. If you break a blade on a Hawk or Hegner and it takes you a few second to get the power shut down.. the upper arm moves independent.. so breaking a blade means only the lower arm is powered still.. breaking a blade makes the upper arm ( being they are spring loaded ) pop up and out of the way.. The only thing that "powers" the upper arm is the blade being connected to the lower " powered arm ".. THIS is why blade tension is so critical on these type of saws.. Both the Hawk and Hegner are picky about having the blade exactly inserted and tensioned.. and why I say there is a learning curve that takes time to get the hang of, especially after being used to deWalt, excalibur pegas type saws.. Those saws if you break a blade the upper and lower arms are still connected to the motor and those short little arms at the front of the saw are pretty forgiving if tension isn't "perfect"

That variable speed lag is normal and I wish my new BM series had that.. When you have a instant on / speed at start up on those very long arms of those big saws ( especially the 26" ) that is a lot of strain on saw blades.. A lot of folks either love or hate to have to reach around the angle mechanism to install the blade.. I like it either way but I really do like having the sawdust mess land on top of the saw stand back there rather than on my lap.. I prefer that set up over the BM series.. and after a few weeks it becomes second nature to install the blade.. Thankfully it's only like that to change a blade rather than every time you move to a different hole.. that would be different then, LOL The wedge isn't pricey really and usually readily available.. the nylon washer can be had at a hardware store for around $0.40..

Yeah they have a 20" BM series.. the one I've never heard of is a G4 in a 20".. probably have them but I've never seen or heard of one. When they came out with the BM series they made a 16" , 20" , and the 26.. the 16" was really only a prototype that only a few were made and they dropped it..

I've got the easter bunny and Shamrock patterns printed for the next ones but it also might be a while since I just got some new toys for the CNC to put together and set up. That seahorse one looks like it would take a while to cut, LOL

I might be wrong but I think some of the G4 saws didn't have the "painted uprights" with the aluminum accents. I believe some was just all aluminum and actually look like all the other saws other than the table was more teardrop shaped. The BM series have all the same features I think.. There was some minor cosmetic differences with the tension lever which I think the G4 has a nicer lever for doing top feeding. I can take some specific photos of my BM -26 if someone wants a specific view of something. All the BM series I have seen was all just polished aluminum rather than the painted red uprights etc. like I think "some" of the G4 were too. I contemplated getting the 20" when I bought the new saw and in some ways wish I would have since I have the 226 Ultra as well.. I really liked the size of my 220VS and think I'd like a 220 Ultra or BM series. I'm not sure how but the BM-26 ( I think ) is slightly shorter footprint than my Ultra. Maybe something to do with the blade coming out in front of the angle mechanism.

Basically size.. a 220 is a 20" throat and the 226 is a 26" throat. Also usually they incorporate VS for variable speed as well as having a 220-3 which is a 3 speed changed via step pulleys. Some are just single speed as in plain old 220 or 226 etc. They never really distinguished the difference in a regular old round clamp saw and a Ultra.. so that is hard to know without seeing the lower clamp style or lower arm. The G4 came out which is basically the same thing as the new BM series with some minor upgrades to the BM series. Up until G4 and later saws they was only bottom feed saws and the lower arm set back behind the angle mechanism.. G4 and later saws had the arm come through the angle part and also had variable blade aggression adjustment. Ultras only had two position adjustment, rear position for cutting thick wood and the front position more straight up down less aggressive blade for thin material and fine detail work.

Yeah I wondered what that smoker was too.. Thanks Bob for enlightening us boring people, LOL

Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've saved this chart to my computer and then can't find it.. I've printed it and hung it in my shop and totally forget it's there.. When I need it can't find it.. You would think after 20 years of scrolling I'd know all of them by now. Years ago the blade sellers listed the recommended bit for said blade ( Mikesworkshop.com still does ) and that is when I started just going to the website in which I bought the blades and look at the blade style & size and use the recommended bit.. However, now days the sellers of the blades figure we all should know this or have a chart handy.. which I do have a chart handy.. it's hanging in my shop as well as somewhere on my computer.. I just can't find them as easy as I can go to the site I buy the blades from and look.. Many times I'm in the shop instead of the house where the computer hard drive has the info.. Easier for me to set on at my saw and grab my phone to go to the website where the blades were purchased.. Except I switched to Pegas blades and since D & D sawblades took down the site no one else has that info easily to find.. just like the ones I have downloaded on my computer, Thinking I just need to go back to FD blades.. The one issue I also find is this drill size is not consistent with each blade manufacture. (ie a FD #5 UR will fit in a #60 but a Pegas MFG #5 will not so it's blade specific. ) IF they was standard sized across the brands then I'd probably have it memorized.. The issue is I use some FD, Olsen, Pegas, and Sharktooth brand blades depending on my project.

Thinking I need to make something similar for ornaments. I try to finish ornaments in batches and sometimes the batch ends up being a couple hundred at a time..

Wouldn't cork be flimsy and not really add any strength? The only reason I would add a backer board is to get more strength for the project.. those outer flower petals don't have much wood support because there is only like 1/8" of material on either side of them to hold them in place and I can see them getting broken off pretty easy.. Maybe cork is stronger than I thought but I always seen cork as a flexible material rather than more rigid.. I contemplate making another batch of these from 1/8 - 1/4" and stack cutting them and then gluing to a square or round shape contrasting wood.. such as maybe making them out of Maple with a Walnut square or round backer that is maybe 1/4" larger.. Not sure a trivet is a piece that would be glued / laminated as such though? Maybe I'll be the one to invent that?

At a 120lbs you won't pick it up for too long,

Also check out eBay.. was just on there and there is a couple Hegners that seller says they'll ship.. one was a 2004 18" saw for $350.. shipping to me in Michigan was $115.. The down side is you can't really "try it out" before buying.. but in our area that's not a bad price.. not a great price if you live out in California though, LOL.. they seem to have the best deals out there.. Here is one.. there are a couple more on there too.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/165918005360

I almost mentioned Hawk.. but you seemed pretty adamant on Hegner and for the first time I didn't want to show my bias for Hawk . This saw in the link you provided is a Hawk Ultra.. good saws made from around 1996 - around 2004 -5.. I think the price is decent. Look for extra lower blade holders.. the more the better value, LOL even though you can only use one at a time.. it is kinda nice to have blades already loaded so for instance if you are veining you can cut with a straight blade then swap to the already loaded spiral blade then switch back to straight if need.. I find Hawks are cheaper priced and I think it has some to do with the fact that I think they sold thousands of them back in the day and there seems to always be some for sale.. I'm not sure how they compare to Hegner as I've never had a Hegner.. I would stay away from the Hawk with the round barrel clamps as they are getting quite old now, and most owners had a hate / love relation with those clamps. Now do note that the lower arm sits behind the angle adjustment mechanism so you have to reach around that to change blades etc.. not a big deal to me and in fact that keeps the sawdust out of your lap.. I actually like my Utra better than my brand new Hawk because of that and a few other small things.. Anyway seems like a good deal on this if you like it I'd go for it. Doubtful you'll find a Hegner any cheaper than that and pretty close to the same quality.. parts still available for them. I think the most common wear part on these is the tension cam and the wedge and nylon washer on top of the wedge.. Edit to Add: Bushton has some videos on their site as well.. here is one pertaining to the Ultra.

I agree with Stoney, while I do not have a Hegner, I do have a Hawk and the quality of these machines are over the top compared to the others and the price reflects that.. BUT, either people love them or hate them, they do have a totally different style of cutting experience and the blade clamping / tensioning is not as forgiving as those short parallel link arm saws like the DeWalt & Ex type saws.. I've seen people bash both the Hawk and Hegners on the FB forums because their experience is they can't get used to them.. well they just don't give themselves the time to "learn" them... My first Hawk I bought for $100 and I was so excited because the reputation is they are one of the best saws out there.. which they are so long as you have the patients to learn them.. I hated the thing at first.. but I knew it was more of a user error ( had to be with all the positive reviews of these ).. I kept my old DeWalt for "in a rush orders" but used the Hawk as much as I could to get used to and learn the machine.. the learning curve can be slow figuring out why I couldn't get blades from not breaking or get the right tension etc.. and they do cut a little less aggressive so it seems like it cut slower.. not sure it really does.. I find I'm way more relaxed using the Hawks than the Excalibur.. but I still go to the Excalibur if I'm just wanting to get something finished because I spend years running this style saw.. and muscle memory just makes it seem to get the job done faster.. In all honesty I don't think it's any slower considering you don't have to lift the arm up out of the way to change to the next hole as the arms on these are spring loaded.. if you break a blade or once you loosen the blade the arm just pops up out of the way.. My suggestion is.. first off.. I don't think you're going to really be able to dig in and get to know the saw with just trying one for a day... It took me weeks / months to really get the hang of the long arm saw and as I said.. I still today will go cut on the Excalibur when I feel rushed to get something done.. I suggest rather than buying a new one at nearly double the cost of the other saws.. I suggest getting a used saw.. the resale value on new saws is not there to justify buying it and if you don't like it you're going to loose about $1000 in value.. I've seen people struggle to sell new never used ones even at that $1000 price.. If you can find a used one for $800 or less you're more likely going to loose less money IF you can't seem to get the hang of it and have to sell it.. You may still loose.. but you're not going from $1700 down to $700 -800 ish.. These saws are built like tanks.. and rarely anything drastic happens and in most cases the parts are readily available so I wouldn't be scared to buy a used saw to try and learn on.. If you're adamant about getting new then try the used one for a year and then get a new one.. JMO.. If you have money to toss around then get the new one first and hope you like it..

I think it's daisies but not really sure, I just used one of the patterns from the book I have and the pattern was called Spring Flowers or something like that.

I’ve been scrolling for nearly 20 years now and always thought about making a trivet when I see others post about them. I seen a book while shopping with my wife last fall that had trivets and put it on my Christmas list. This is fresh off the saw. Cut from 1/2” cherry using a Pegas #3 MGT blade. I had to modify the pattern slightly due to the drill bit got off centered in the center hole, there was supposed to be some other cutouts around the drilled hole but it went off center so I just cut the hole out larger and recentered it. Think it’ll look good once dipped in Danish oil to make the color pop. I intend to finish with DO, but was curious how others finish their trivets? Does anyone make trivets with a backer? I’m just wondering because I feel like this is going to be quite fragile. Originally designed to be about 10” diameter but I didn’t want to piece the pattern together since I no longer have my large format printer and I would have needed to do a glue up going that large so I opted to size it at large as I could on a single sheet of which makes it around 8 inch ish. One more question, how thick of material is best for trivets? I was going to go down to 3/8 but with the details of this and how fragile it could get I went with 1/2.

I've used a fair amount of it too and have never seen the inside look like that. Typically the inside is bright purple and will fade into a brownish purple over time on the outside. post a photo of the pen when finished. I'd like to see how it ends up.

Kind of agree with Barb. I cut both BBply and solid hardwoods.. probably about equal amounts of both. Possibly more BB because I do make a lot of ornaments and some of my wall hangings are also BB with solid walnut backers.. only clocks and puzzles are solid hardwoods.. some stuff is even standard plywood from the box stores.. Keep thinking about trying some soft metals too at some point.

Just my opinion but I think any vacuum you use is going to spew out some fine dust.. Unless you get one that is Hepa filtered.. Yeah you can get a hepa type filter for a regular shop vac.. but it still just isn't designed to be a dust extractor like a Festool.. The Fien vac is a bit cheaper but it also doesn't come standard as a Hepa certified vac.. unless they've changed that since I researched it a few years ago.. You can get the filtration on one though.. for additional cost which prices it at or in some cases more than the Festool and then I'm not even sure it's actually certified as a hepa filter system.. Hooking up a exhaust hose might be the answer if you're not in the northern states where you would just be blowing the heat outside, LOL If you have a really sealed up new shop blowing all that air out you may need to create a air inlet.. I honestly think there is no "low cost" answer.. it's more about how much of this fine dust can you put up with.. I personally wear a filtered dust mask.. then do a full shop cleaning / dusting of that settled dust every couple months..

I'm confused... so are you trying to hold the upper arm of the saw up? That's what it looks like and if so.. all you need to do is adjust the arm tension set screw at the back of the saw on the opposite side of the motor you'll see a bolt / screw with a slot in it and a jam nut on it.. loosen the jam nut and use a flat head screwdriver and turn it in slightly until you get enough resistance to hold the arm up.. don't make it too stiff because then your arm will get sore trying to raise it up, LOL.. should move freely and fairly easy yet have enough tension to stay in the up position on it's own.. might have to play around with in a few times to get it where you want it but man that sure beats having to hold it up in some way.. There are instructions in your manual for the adjustment as well..

Might be wrong but I think he was talking about the Festool random orbital sander shutting off instantly when he turns it off. I've watched a live demo at the local wood expo show and the dust vacuum does run for 3-5 seconds after shutting the tool off.. so I think it's the same timer set up like the Fien

There might be a better search term but, I went to Amazon and searched for "plastic stencils" and there are a ton of designs.. I think they are made for painting.. come think of it the wife has some she got from one of the local box stores that are some sort of flower and leaf stems etc.. she got them to paint a decoration around our cabinet door in our utility room.. Hmm, I'd have never thought about searching for those.. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=plastic+stencils&crid=1GFV05Q4N36NW&sprefix=plastic+sten%2Caps%2C194&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_12