kmmcrafts

Thanks for all the comments, I guess it's paint time then Maybe.. LOL What are the thoughts of maybe using different species of wood.. I just purchased some 1/8" walnut ply project panels from HD. I was thinking about doing some of my wildlife themed ones with walnut and birch, Wish they had some 1/8" Cherry panels but I haven't seen those in a very long time.. at least from HD. As I've said before.. not a big fan of painting.. though this one really wasn't too bad to do with the paint markers.. I rather use different wood species to achieve the contrast on layers but not sure how it'd look with these particular designs. Edit to add pictures in case anyone might have suggestions for either painting or various wood species to do these specific ornaments. I’m all ears to this layered stuff and also to painting so suggestions welcome.

Yeah, painting the camper isn't going to happen.. at least not by me, LOL.. I see no practical way to paint the camper and still have the windows / door engraved... That said I do somewhat agree with your point of view on it.. Just that I'm not that person that's going to detail paint a 1.5" long camper and still have the windows engraved etc.. I'm sure it'd look nice if a artist did it.. I'm not that artist though... it'd look like a child's first coloring page, LOL The painting I did is just paint pens / markers from Hobby Lobby.. Yes, I cut these and engraved using the C02 laser.. I have designs for a tent and a tent camper / pop-up. as well.. this one is the "test" one for paint or not.. I kind of like both and torn on if I like the painted or not. So far here and on FB everyone is saying painted, LOL

One of my latest layered ornaments. I’m kinda new to painting my projects so I’m torn if I like it painted or not. Your thoughts?

I got a email saying I should receive it in about 4 weeks. We’ll see about that. I’ll try to remember to update this as it moves forward.

Here is the link to the seller of the set, If you don't want to whole set they have them individual as well.. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1248731346/double-layer-cancer-bundle-svg-wall?click_key=e70f3038ce65e9f7f47bea129b45ffb8b615b296%3A1248731346&click_sum=c00217c6&ref=shop_home_recs_4&pro=1

Yeah, I wondered how well they'll handle this as far as how fast they'll get the parts out.. They say not to use it until the issue is repaired.. but who's gonna wait 2 + weeks let alone 6-8 weeks.. I don't use mine daily for the most part but I do use it a couple times a week.. some weeks a lot of use and others maybe not at all.. But if I need to use it I'm going to use it..

This was actually posted down in the "Deals" section of the village over a month ago.. I just seen it last night and checked this morning and my saw is one in the recall group. I bought my saw based on reviews from asking here so I know many of you own the same models of saw.. I thought it might get seen more if I posted this up here in the general forum section. Here is a link to the recall info: https://www.dewalt.com/miter-saw-recall I just filled out the info in the link and they are sending me a new guard with replacement instructions..

Well, no new post of a new saw so I assume they never answered you? Being that photo was used in many ads on FB by different people I suspected it to be a scam or fishing for emails and or more profiles to hack, LOL

That photo isn't of my ornament, it's the photo from the designer of the ornament, I purchased the plans from Etsy. I have not painted my ornament yet as I'm waiting on the paint markers to be shipped. As far as the size.. I made the size around 3 1/2 inch diameter.. but I can resize and make it up to around 8" diameter. My laser is limited to a 8 x 11 working area so probably just shy of 8" is what I'm capable of making it.. that is until I get a new laser. While this is a laser design.. when purchasing the plans they also send a PDF file too.. and one could make it with the scroll saw as well.. you'd not get the engraved text around the outer circle though.. The original design before i resized it was around 4" diamerter but they wouldn't fit into the small gift boxes I use for my ornaments so i resized it smaller.. Can be made as small or large as needed on the laser up to my 8" workable area.

I ended up ordering some paint markers from Hobby Lobby.. I have several of these layered designs and many of them are going to me some fine detail painting of some different colors.. I've not been one to do the artistic type painting on my projects but there is a first time for everything I suppose. I got the suggestion of the paint markers from a laser group.. Here is the markers.. and a image of one that the person suggested the markers to me did of the same design.. She painted the word too.. but I think I might leave mine.. I also thought about food coloring.. I know some folks do that with the puzzles.. https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Drawing-Illustration/Markers/Basic-Color-Posca-PC-3M-Paint-Markers---8-Piece-Set/p/81095031

Made these two piece ornaments yesterday.. Back piece is the cancer ribbon and then the word for the front piece.. Made from 1/8 BB ply. Haven't glued the two pieces together yet because I'm still experimenting.. The first batch turned out kinda big and wouldn't fit into the gift boxes that I use when selling ornaments... so back to the drawing board ( inkscape LOL ) to change them up a little. Anyway, in the one photo below I show two of the same ornament.. the one back part ( ribbon ) was dipped in a Cherry colored Danish oil as I already had that on hand.. I'm not much of a finisher as in doing stains and paints.. I have always used natural colors and change up wood species to achieve contrast.. I also cringe at painting and covering up the woods natural beauty of the wood grain etc.. Plus I've never wanted to start painting and end up with a million different bottles / colors of paint etc.. That all being said I feel like this project needs a pink ribbon, LOL or maybe I need to just buy some 1/8" cherry plywood.. I feel like cherry ply would be a decent match for this as a natural color contrast.. Not to fond of how the cherry Danish Oil took to the ply.. Maybe I'll try dipping it into the oil a second time to help darken it.. I think IF I end up painting, I'll likely go with a paint marker / pen rather than a can of paint and a brush.. Anyone here use paint pens? just wonder how well they really work. Not a fan of brush marks.. too much hassle with spray paints in my dusty shop.. even though I will end up top coating them anyway so maybe that's the way to go about it anyway. Anyway, suggestions / feedback?

My Hawk runs at 1750 spm.. I don't usually run it full speed.. probably closer to 1500 spm.. My Excalibur runs 1550 or maybe it's 1500 anyway I run that one full speed. My old DW788 run 1700.. I run it most times full speed. The Hawk does pick up a slight vibration at full speed and I've never really "tuned" it for running full speed.. other saws that had picked up vibration at full speed I typically play around with the stand to make it have the vibration free at the speed I like.. You can adjust that "sweet spot" by fooling with the saws stand usually.. I say i run my saws full speed but in reality it's around 1500 spm for those saws that run faster than the 1500 I run it close to that unless it's really smooth at full speed. The point I'm trying to get across is just because the saw is running full speed doesn't mean you "have to cut faster" YOU control the feed rate of the material.. On straight cuts you can go as fast as you like within reason for the blade to keep up.. when you get to those tight corners and turns the saw speed needs to be faster ( for me anyway ) as those tight turns are hard to do slow enough for the blade to not heat up.. so running the saw faster the blade is able to "cut" the corner without burning the corner or heating the blade. Too many people ( I think dang near everyone ) that scroll saw run the saw slow because they cannot keep up with the cut and loose control.. when in reality your just feeding the blade because you're "used to pushing" it through.. relax and let the blade do it's work.. Running the saw faster makes blades actually last longer for me.. This may not work for you.. maybe you need practice in relaxing rather than shoving the material into the blade too hard. This is a point I've mention many of times on here and only one other person ( Jim ) says the same thing.. he like to run the saw fast too and says this same thing.. It has always kind of irritated me because I'm a "production scroller" ( business ) folks think I'm running a race of some sort.. not that at all.. It's just what FD Mike taught me to do and it works if you try it.. It does take some practice.. Kinda like when front wheel drive cars came out.. on slick roads you go into a bit of a slide you hit the gas peddle and the front wheels will pull you in the direction you have them in.. rear wheel drive is the opposite let off the gas peddle.. Seems weird to hit the gas instead.. same with the saw.. sharp corner = more speed.. you feel like you should slow down but nope.. speed the saw up and let the blade do the work.. guide the piece through not shove it through.. EDIT: Pay attention to the blade.. on a long straight cut stop feeding the material from time to time.. If you're flexing the blade you're pushing too hard and either need more blade speed or relax.. eventually playing with blade speed and feed rates over time you'll learn what works better for you.. I think most every scroll sawer feeds the blade too fast based on the comments on these post like this.. Like I say.. YOU are in control of how fast you cut.. not the saw.. though the saw does limit you based on speed.

You are one of the folks of many on here that I really respect your advice and comments but I would disagree with this one. If your blades turn blue it's because of a. you're pushing to hard through the piece b. blade tension too loose allowing blade to flex enough to touch the sides of the wood c. you're pushing the wood off to one side or the other You should be able to saw at a slow speed and make a kerf.. back up slightly and turn your saw up to full speed and hold the board in the same spot so it doesn't tough the wood sides.. that blade could set there and run all day without burning the wood.. run that test and see if that's true.. you don't need to run it all day as that'd be boring but you get the idea.. only takes a few seconds to burn the blade or wood when it's at full speed.. Can't think of his last name but Mike ( that used to own the Mikesworkshop Flying Dutchman scroll saw blades sales site that supplied blades to many of us up until he passed ) is the one that told / taught me this.. Of coarse.. the saw being very well tuned will also make a difference.. If you have the blade in the top clamp off to the left side and the one in the bottom clamp off the the right side that blade gonna touch the wood as it moves.. Why tuning a saw is very important, that blade needs to be going straight up / down.. I also would disagree with the theory of the saw wearing out faster.. It's nothing like a car where a car has a combustion engine.. therefore the engine isn't always running 100% clean.. a combustion doesn't fully fire and burn off every bit of the fuel and the oil gets contaminated either through that or contaminates through the air intake system.. all this happens whether you run 600rpm or 6000rpm.. at the higher rpm it of coarse sucks in more air and fires more fuel in the given time hour / miles etc. A better analogy might be a wheel bearing.. that wheel bearing gonna go however many miles it's going to go whether it's going 10mph or 100mph.. doesn't matter to the bearing. Now there are other factors with a wheel bearing if you want to get tech about it like thrust from cornering etc.. but assuming its just going straight like the scroll saw blade should be fed straight.. At the end of the day.. if one is more efficiently cutting with the saw at full speed rather than half speed the important thing is what works easier and more efficient for the person sitting / standing at the saw.. whether it's slow speed or fast speed you have to do you.. That being said Mike worked with me through emails and helped me find that I was running the saw too slow.. You can burn by running too fast or too slow.. you just have to relax and let the blade do the work.. Full speed may not work for everyone.. as does the slowest speed. When you get experience with relaxing and letting the blade do the work and controlling the speed by how fast you feed the wood to the blade that saw can run at full speed without burning the wood.. With the tight corners that everyone seems to struggle with in the beginning.. the issue is if the saw is running slow and you turn the corner too fast you're heating the blade.. a very common issue with the struggle as to me it's pretty hard to turn those corners at the very slow speed.. with the faster speed the blade actually cuts the corner better as it's running faster.. either case if you're good at doing the corners slow then don't speed up the saw.. but if you're struggling then try playing with saw speed.. Mike told me most folks don't run the saw fast enough so he was the one to have me speed up the saw for those dreaded corners.. It worked for me.. may not for others as everyone is different..

Yes this looks like it could be a decent deal. The tables on these are painted and can be helpful in deciding how much use it has had. Hard to tell in these pictures as they're small and don't give a clean shot of the table top. But you get the idea.. paint worn completely off = well used.. hardly any scratches.. probably lightly used.. Now, not to say they didn't repaint or use a magnet sheet on the table top to prevent scratches.. I'd say the price is right if it appears to have very little wear, heck.. a lot of them bring this or close to it with a lot of wear.. Edit to add: This could be a scammer unless you seen this in Michigan.. The same exact photos of this listing on FB Marketplace have showed up in other cities around the US.. I watch classifieds like a hawk.. so just beware this is all over the USA.. maybe your seller is the right one and someone stole pictures.. I've been watching the same saw for a few weeks now.. they've lower the price recently.. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1082166325729869/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A8eea2547-622f-42c5-b437-0f0275691246

I think that inside and outside sharp corners are probably one of the most common struggles most every scroller has. I have found a couple things that helped me was blade choice and speed of the saw. For years I used to saw up to the line for a inside corner and then back up slightly and shave another bit of wood off then turn.. I was using FD-UR blades at that time.. but with the blade design you have reverse teeth throughout the length of the blade so sharp corners are tough to do with them ( for me anyway ) A SR blade worked better.. but someone ( Mike who sold the blades ) told me to play around with saw speed, he thought I might need more saw speed.. I used to run the saw back in those days around half the speed on the dial.. I cranked it up to 3/4 and the corners was easier so I tried full speed and that worked for me.. I rarely turn a saw speed down these days.. what I had learned from that is that I was pushing the wood though too hard.. I like cutting a bit faster than many "maybe" because honestly I don't cut any faster but rather I just let the blade do the cutting.. Lot of people think saw speed is related to how fast you "have to cut" and it's not.. I get a cleaner cut on the edges, back side of the project etc.. by having saw speed fast and then just feeding the wood through it as fast as I'm comfortable to cut.. If you turn your saw speed up and it's cutting too fast it's not the saw.. it's "YOU" feeding it too fast.. you don't have to "shove" the piece through to keep up with the saw blade.. In turn you're letting the blade cut and clean itself out thus it's not running hot and burning the wood.. blades also last much longer when you're not "pushing" them through.. You can run the saw full speed in the middle of a kerf and not burn the wood.. If you have the wood getting burned it's not the saw speed or blade.. it's you pushing too fast for the blade to clean out the cut sawdust OR you're pushing off to one side or the other etc.. that blade can run all day in the kerf full speed so long as there is a slight gap around it.. once you push too hard or have it rubbing the side you get burns..

To be 100% fair.. the K-40 laser I have cut's a ornament in 4-5 minutes.. It's probably actually slightly faster overall than me scroll sawing.. but I wouldn't say they're mass production machines like many make them out to be. This laser cost me $340 back in 2017.. now they're around $400 - 500 depending onsale or ? This is just a small 40 watt laser and the work area is only about 8 x 10 inch so I can't put a sheet of ply down and do mass production with it. Now, I say slightly faster But that's in a perfect scenario. The machine is water cooled and too cold of water or too warm ( basically has a sweet spot ) affects the cut as does material density. If there is a hard spot in the wood it may barely cut through. This video is my machine cutting and I'm running 10 milliamp power 15 milliamp is max power for tube life you really shouldn't run more than 12 milliamp. I'm running the laser head speed at 8mm per second. Note at the end it really didn't quite cut all the way through. Ideal for cutting you should have a minimum of a 60 watt machine to cut this 1/8" BBply.. and I'd say for production work you'd really be better of with a 80 - 100watt..now that's talking near $10,000 for the machine with a water chiller for the cooling system.. I just run a bucket of water and sometimes some soda pop bottles filled with water and frozen to help cool the water. This video is real time cutting.. took around 4 minutes.. I can stack cut 5 of these on my scroll saw in 15 minutes.. so as I said.. these don't mass produce without a pretty pricey large set up. As far as how well they do, In my mind they're way under pricing their work.. while the machine is doing the work it's still time and wear on the machine and router bits aren't cheap and they'll wear out like any other blade or bit does. Lasers also have wear. the mirror and lenses get worn out from the heat and the laser tubes are only good for so many hours. Plus as you use them they'll loose their power over time, so brand new you might be cutting at 8 milliamp and 10 mm a second.. after a hundred or so hours it might need to slow down to 9 mm a second etc.. as it get's older and more use you have to start slowing down or replace the $250+ ( depending on wattage ) tube to stay efficient. I don't see these people making any more than a efficient scroll sawer.. the real advantage I see is the machine can be running while you do some sanding or other task and if a guy had 2-4 machines running at the same time.. now that's production.. but you also going to have some $$$ investment into a setup like that too.. and the machines are not small or lightweight.. so most hobby folks aren't going to have a production machine setting in their small garage or ? like many of us can do..

There is a fair amount of hands on with CNC work but it's mostly sanding and finishing... so yeah I get what you're saying though it's not actually " hand made " I too get a little annoyed with the handmade claim.. Maybe they should be saying homemade or something.. I struggle with that myself with the pieces I have made.. what do I call it because i agree it's not really handmade.. but at the same time it's not a mass produced piece either.. many don't even know what a CNC is so saying CNC made just sounds off to me.. I also don't care for the term scroll saw made.. I think that is why they are claiming "handmade" because what label does one call it to indicate it's not a mass produced item?

Based on my very limited CNC experience there is probably at least 3 hours of machine run time, as he surfaced each type of wood with the surfacing bit and changed bits several times on the first ( walnut carve ).. each bit has to be recalibrated so the machines knows where the top surface of the board is all that takes a lot of time to set back up. That one bit is quite small so he's not running the machine speed super fast. You don't want to push them too hard and break a $50 - 100 bit, there are cheaper bits but like anything you get what you pay for.. buy a table saw blade from Harbor Freight a then a high end blade.. same deal with those bits and none of them are cheap. Plus breaking a bit you can't very easily stop the machine and back up, replace the bit and go.. it's quite a process.. most times easier to just start from the beginning. This particular cutting board isn't very detailed one.. there are some videos out there that have tons of fine details. Anyway I'd say there is probably at least 3 hours just in machining.. with all those set-up and changes. The graphics program I use and the machining program to set this carve up probably didn't take too long for the artwork.. Those programs are pretty powerful and do a lot of calculating for you. Mine has a inventory of bits programed into it and somewhat tells me what bit I need to run to achieve the desired result. I have a "Inlay" tab on my software so it calculates what all it needs and bit etc.. so he likely didn't have to program each piece he put on the machine.. the program likely did that and he just chose the wood types etc. I've never made a end grain cutting board but I'm sure cutting all the pieces and gluing that all up is some time.. I'm not sure about how the routing of the end grain goes if it's any different than face grain.. I've only messed with face grain. I could be way off on the times because even though I've had the CNC for 4 years I've limited experience and probably made less than 50 pieces on it.

That stuff was popular around here for a couple years, lately I've been seeing this inlay stuff, mainly cutting boards but also coasters.. I've got to admit though, this is really neat.. Not really something I'd have in my kitchen decor even coming from a car enthusiast.. but it is a cool piece of art even if it was done on a cnc.. The process of setting up all those router bits and doing two different setups, I'm almost positive a good scroll sawer could cut this out and finish it faster than this whole cnc process took..

I think signs would do well IF they're custom signs.. not the generic funny phrases type of signs.. but that said I also imagine that those signs are needed to be displayed at a show in order to get those custom ordered ones.. Scroll sawn work is unique and much of it is quite difficult to do on a CNC but a laser on the other hand for thin stock, ie ornaments and portrait stuff could easily be done on a laser cutter.. BUT stack cutting ornaments with a scroll saw is faster than cutting on the lower priced lasers.. many folks aren't spending $6000 +for a machine that's capable of production type cutting that would be needed to be able to keep up with me stack cutting. Seems like there is a lot of folks at these shows with laser and cnc work.. and that maybe the market is getting a bit saturated with sign makers etc. That maybe just the area I'm in. I feel like scroll work is more unique which makes me wonder if being a vendor at a event would rally up maybe more business than those laser and cnc vendors in part because there seems to be a lot of competition with the more saturated market. It takes skill in both cases but I feel like there are a lot of computer graphics people out there that can easily make the things I see that are laser and cnc'd and not nearly as many skilled hands on makers.. All that being said.. there are a lot of consumers out there that really don't care "how it was made " they're buying the piece because they like it not for the fact that one is hands on and the other is computer run.. and many wouldn't know the difference anyway.

Yep, we all gotta take some time for ourselves and to do other things, I've done it this year for the first time in my 15 years of scrolling.. I've taken most of this year off and only doing minimal to fill orders while I take "me time" to build a car.. I've done very little scrolling this whole summer.. my inventory and money will hurt my wallet for the next year.. but it's better than staying at it and needing a therapist because of being overworked, LOL Kinda funny how that works, I spent most of 5-8 years working my behind off to make sales and money.. now I'm trying to get out of doing a lot of work, even got annoyed that I had a order to do on the same day that I got parts for the car build.. I was wanting to put the parts on the car but had to "work / play" my other hobby, LOL

Went to a crafts fair yesterday just as a spectator / shopper. There was a couple of booths that had scroll work. I didn't strike up any conversations with anyone and just walked around letting the wife shop and I observed, LOL. There was one vendor there that had all intarsia ( hope I spelled that right lol ). I never even looked at any of the prices of anything there.. Not to be degrading to the particular vendor but most of this type of work I've seen showed what I'd consider pieces of art high end quality.. This not so much.. I didn't walk into the booth either just the pieces out by the walkway wasn't super impressive to me.. but maybe better works was inside the booth.. Anyway to get to my on topic, there was lots of laser engraved / cut things.. nice presentable items / mostly was signs / plaques that had saying on them with good quality finishes etc.. lasered leather shops.. I felt there was quite a lot of that stuff that if it wasn't lasered it was circuit ( stickers ) onto wood and or metal.. I kinda feel these folks was not there because they loved doing the work but rather there to copy sayings and make signs for a profit. Nothing wrong with that but I just don't see a lot of original art type things.. several vendors selling the same sayings on different types of materials or different shaped signs but the same old sayings. Having lasers and CNC's myself and rarely use them for business or for making things by themselves but rather combining these machines with the scroll sawn works I do.. I have said it many times that these machines are not pumping out production work like most think they are and I stand by that statement. I also say that it's not just throwing a blank on the machines and pushing a button as most that don't know them seem to label them as. Myself.. I was actually most impressed with the lesser quality scroll sawn intarsia pieces than these very nice CNC / Laser works.. While it does take skills to run these machines actually a lot of skill and most of it I'm still learning to try to do even after owning them for 4-5 years now. I think the intarsia had good quality cuts but lacked in the shaping / finishing of the pieces that I seen.. I've seen CNC work that is the same way.. good quality engravings but poor finishing. I can see why many of those doing craft events with their puzzles can do well, I don't see portrait works doing great but not bad either.. so long as you have a theme that catches the right buyer.. problem with portraits is booth space and hanging the right one with limited space.. you can't display a hundred portraits as easy as you can display 100 puzzles.. One person there had laser cut Christmas ornaments and has them on a octagon shaped turning display.. nice ornaments but they was all dark colored, may have been plywood stained with walnut. the display was in a shaded area and IMO was hard to see. The turntable thing probably allows them to put a lot of different ones in a smaller space but also only displays half of them without spinning it around. Many of the booths had a mix of things.. ie one booth I walked by had a few portraits, word art wall hangings, and a few bowls / baskets.. very nice work but the stuff was mixed in with probably his wife's towels and things.. The whole mixed bag of things was not a very impressive look to me, again I go back to the intarsia person, everything in the booth was intarsia.. I liked that... I think the whole mixed bag of stuff just doesn't have a good professional flow to it, Not that that's a bad thing as a seller.. having a mix of stuff maybe guarantees that "something will sell" .. All that said, I think if I was to do a show I'd want to stick to one thing, either ornaments, clocks, or puzzles.. Ornaments being cheap and quick to make and stock up on might be the thing to make and sell during a holiday selling event.. but then what does one sell throughout the year at these events. I sell ornaments online all year long but not sure they'd do well in August at a live event. At the end of the day, that intarsia seller was the best booth and most impressive one there that wasn't the run of the mill same old stuff you always see.. I hope they did well and I realize they may have just started this venture and maybe they don't have fancy sanders and shapers etc.. and if that is the case I hope they made a lot of money so they can go buy the needed tools to improve their work to make better quality pieces.. we all start somewhere with nothing.. I did anyway.. I started with a free broken Delta scroll saw.. now I have several saws, CNC's, Lasers etc.. Makes me wonder though, with all the CNC, Lasers, Circuit machine works.. will scroll saw things make a better sales.. after all it is more unique and not really a mass produced thing that the markets aren't going to be flooded with. What I see more and more wanted in the selling online is that there is a wide open market for custom / personalized items.. People want that special ornament engraved with a name or year on it.. Most sellers don't want to fool with that as it takes a lot of extra time to do that.. That is where my laser and cnc help me get more business.. not actually making the product.. but improving what I've already made by being able to add personalization

Hmm, not sure where to start.. I guess the most unique ( maybe ) is this pool table clock I made some years ago.. The table itself was cut from 3/4 Walnut and bevel cut the inner part to recess into the center of the table and was basically just press fitted. Then glued the ball rack clock part onto that and added the green felt. My most talked about piece probably. Sold it for $225 about ten years ago Then I made this monster truck, Steve Good pattern.. that actually can be played with.. Sold it also for $125 maybe 8 years ago.. Those two items are probably the more unique things I made.. the rest are just clocks and puzzles that I typically sell.

I have them on my China made Excalibur and apparently the China made chucks have some tolerance differences and I had issues clamping small blades. The hole for the set screw was too far forward from the back of the slot where the blade goes into.. SO, in my case yes they was very worth the cost as I wouldn't even use the saw ( since I had others to use ).. Now it seems to be my favorite saw to use.. But I've basically rebuilt it and turned it into a USA made saw because I pretty much remade everything in the saw, That all being said, when I rebuilt the saw the new bearing / arm assembly came with new chucks.. and I used those for a while.. They worked fine.. so I would say if they are working for you then use them.. if you have issues I'd upgrade.. I don't notice the smoother running saw claim that Pegas says in their advertising.. but they are easier to use for sure.

I got to admit though.. I did the same thing when setting up my new Hawk.. I tried the saw first just using the main switch.. then I moved it to where it was going to be parked and hooked up the foot switch.. I almost called Bushton and said I want to return it for a full refund.. after waiting several months to even get the thing and other issues I had with them.. Glad I found the switch off before I did that.. So you're not the first one to do that..