kmmcrafts

I'm not worried about colors.. functionality is where its at for me, LOL. That said.. Pegas saws look pretty sharp with the two tone paint.. Excalibur made a black and gold anniversary edition a few years ago that looked pretty cool. That new WEN looks pretty sharp with the orange and black so maybe a two tone paint scheme...

I'm not sure what my "dream saw" would be and I like each of my saws for different reasons, so I doubt you could make the perfect saw for me, LOL Such as.. I like the short arms of the EX and that the blade aggression can be fine tuned.. even on the straightest up down movement it still a little more aggressive than the Hawk is.. so in cutting thicker materials I like using the EX.. I like the larger throat of the Hawk.. and it's a great all around saw.. I think a little more robust than the EX type saws. Something to think about in designing a saw in my mind is.. what is already out there.. is there something people look for in particular.. what mods do people do to improve the saws they have.. Saw size and weight come to mind.. Lots of options in the 18 - 22 inch size.. not much out there for small compact lightweight "travel" saws.. Hegner makes the small 14" saw but it's single speed.. Hawk used to make 12, 14, 16, inch saws.. which was mostly single speed too.. a few VS not many though. Hawk and EX seem to be the only ones making anything larger than 22". A lot of folks are disconnecting the air blower and making a dust collection for both top and bottom of saw collection.. seems to be a smarter way to collect it and control it at the source rather than blowing it into the air and having it land all over the other tools, cars, etc.. But that would be a costly saw to have a onboard vacuum system.. not everyone would want that. I like the tilting saw head over the tilting table.. even though I rarely tilt my saws.. having a knob and is geared to make the fine tuned adjustments is a nice feature.. sure beats tapping the table to get it just in the right spot.. I have no experience with the Jet saw but that upper clamp that tensions and clamps the blade in one simple lever is pretty intriguing and the only one of it's kind. I'm sure it could be really nice for a lot of fretwork type cutting. I've tossed the idea of buying one just to see how I'd like it.. I always say my saw of choice if I were to buy a new one is a Pegas.. But that Jet clamp makes me thing hard about going that route too.. Pegas clamps are awesome.. but I'm fascinated by those Jet upper clamps. Years ago old equipment used to have little oil ports on them.. not sure you've ever seen them.. Just a little tube like thing above a bearing and it had a spring loaded flapper top on it.. it allowed you to push the cap up to open it and place a couple drops of oil to a bearing.. Hawk and Hegner saws are not enclosed in covers etc but most other saws are.. and not any easy way to lube them.. though having them enclosed helps keep dust and dirt out of the bearings too. Having an hour meter on a saw is nice for doing scheduled maintenance, and maybe a nice feature for a warranty. But then.. there are not too many folks putting 800 hours on a saw per year either so maybe not a big deal to most.. could be to you though if you're supplying a hefty warranty. Also a dead giveaway on how much value a used saw is if one is shopping used saws.

I'd love to see another USA made saw come to the market. I do think it'd be quite tough to get enough business to make a living on just scroll saws which is why I believe the folks at Bushton do farming and have their hands into a few other things.. Scroll saws are not super popular to begin with.. and 98% of folks look at the "cheap price" and not the "poor quality" when saw shopping.

Pegas would be my choice for a new saw as well.. I've been thinking about taking that plunge now for a couple years.. I want the larger table they offer though and I guess I can't get past the idea of having to buy both tables.. Even though.. I could use the smaller table on my Excalibur..

There is a member here that has one in Florida but it does need some work.. It's listed down in the Deals section of this site.. Why only the G4 that you're after if you don't mind my asking? A BM series saw is basically a G4 with a couple upgrades... It's my understanding that Bushton no longer stocks saws.. They make them as they're ordered.. Used to stock a few.. but no more.. however they are better at keeping parts in stock now, LOL.. and I've heard it takes a little time to get one.. Yeah I'm sure they're working the farm right now..

Quite a few of these older saws has oil light brass bushings.. what is oil light? It's lubricant impregnated into the brass material so they are basically self lubricating. I do not know if your saw is that way but most all saws that have a brass bushing / bearing have the oil-light brass. If it has actual ball / needle type bearings then they need oil or grease. .. I'm betting this saw is brass bushing / bearing. These saws generally run fairly smooth unless the bushing / bearing is worn.. and if really worn you usually see a blade that looks blurred when the saw is running especially at higher speeds. These brass bushings do wear out and need replacing from time to time. That is typically the only maintenance the arms require.

Now I figured one of you all would do one up on this video and do the same thing with a large floor model... When you do please make sure you tag me or quote me etc as I really want to see that one..

One of my first few saws had quite a lot of vibration. I took a piece of carpet padding and placed it between the saw and the stand and bolted it back down. You don't tighten the bolts all the way down.. just snug them up enough to hold it in place.. Good to use lock-nuts or loktite on the bolts you have. What I did was run the saw through the speeds as I tightened up each bolt.. too tight you get vibration.. too loose you get vibration.. if you keep adjusting the bolt tightness and run through the speeds you'll eventually find a sweet spot where there is the less amount of vibration. Might not ever get rid of it completely but you can fine tune it to a speed on the dial that you like to cut at.

Thought you guys might get a laugh from this. https://www.tiktok.com/@kozycontainers/video/6987957790635560198?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6934077605922653702&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0

This one looks like about the same model saw? There used to be a 20" Craftsman saw that was a work horse of a saw. I don't remember what model it was or what it looked like, just remember it was highly spoken of back when I first started sawing in about 2005 ish. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/528897635121288/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_general&referral_story_type=general&tracking={"qid"%3A"6987915577404448868"%2C"mf_story_key"%3A"989866645847736057"%2C"commerce_rank_obj"%3A"{\"target_id\"%3A989866645847736057%2C\"target_type\"%3A6%2C\"primary_position\"%3A11%2C\"ranking_signature\"%3A5384998092707725312%2C\"commerce_channel\"%3A501%2C\"value\"%3A0.00056479076514288%2C\"upsell_type\"%3A3516%2C\"grouping_info\"%3Anull}"%2C"lightning_feed_qid"%3A"6987914941577997492"%2C"lightning_feed_ranking_signature"%3A"6502831453968007168"}

For buying stuff you live in a great area, well unless you want mineral spirits or some other thing that isn't allowed in your county, LOL.. as for used saws here in Michigan, especially in northern Michigan where he is.. There isn't ever much out there for quality saws.. at least right now.. about 4-5 years ago there was a lot of Hawks and Hegners out there and at good prices. Like I said, I gave $100 for my first Hawk and $400 for one that was still in the original boxes with a bunch of books with both saws both came with mag lights and foot switches too.. many blades as well but I'm not into those big blades with only a couple big teeth on them, LOL

This is a nice saw I posted a while back in the deals section here.. I'm thinking Kalamazoo is quite a drive from Beaverton.. But you never know... maybe they know someone up your way and you could meet up somewhere. I honestly can't believe it's not sold yet.. Kalamazoo is only about 30 minutes from me and I've thought about this saw on and off.. Heck you might be able to offer 250-275.. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/324979182428428/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A0d54ec59-550f-4eb9-bb44-1d5a0769e3c9 I have a old 16" Delta that you could have.. It'd need cleaning up and some minor fixes.. I doubt you'd really want it though.. it is a late 80's two speed model 40-560 type 2. Has the upper quickset ll blade clamp but it is the first style they came out with so it doesn't have the nice little thumb screw to adjust the chuck for different sized blades.. and the lower blade holder had to use that goofy special wrench to line of the clamp correctly. Ran good years ago.. I put some new bearings and bushings in it but it has sat in the shed and the table top got rusty as I didn't keep up on keeping it waxed / oiled.

I had a Dremel 1800 scroll saw that you turn the tension lever to adjust the tension and to "apply" tension you flipped the lever over. I think this saw is the same principal.. On my Dremel the rod at the back was nothing but a piece of maybe 1/8" flat stock and held onto the arms with roll pins.. No bearing or nothing.. not even grease, LOL. Anyway as the holes in the flat stock wore out I continually had to keep turning the adjustment lever until I could no longer turn it any farther.. Then I started cutting blades with some side cutters, LOL. Finally broke down and bought a new connecting rod is what they called it I think.. worked like a charm for another 6-8 months and then the same thing.. Next time it wore out I made my own flat stock.. but again it wears out.. Just a poor design in my opinion.. I repaired it one more time and ordered a new DeWalt from Grizzly and as soon as the DW was set up I put the Dremel on Craigslist and sent it to someone else, LOL

I was going to mention this in my post but forgot to add it. I'm sure shelf liner and other things may have a different mix of silicon depending upon the product needs. I work mostly with cherry.. only time I ever had a problem is when I trace with a pencil the outline of a base or something and use no tape or anything on it. I also find that FD-UR blade that used to be my go to blade burns the cherry much more easily than does the Pegas MG blades. Maybe the blade design makes for a cooler running blade as maybe it's clearing the sawdust better. I can cut Cherry without anything on it with no burning with a Pegas blade.. not so with ANY of the blades offered by FD ( I've tried them all over the years ). Might be the way I feed the wood to the blade or the speed I cut at.. either case Pegas is pretty much my go to blade partly for this reason. I'm not certain if it's 100% the blade changing to Pegas.. But in either case the shelf liner and or the shipping label creates the same lubricant properties as the packing tape.. at least in my experience. But could be a mix of the Pegas blades and the liner / label as I switched all about the same time to all of these.

Such pretty white rags, I bet the stain doesn't come out of them.

I never used them for woodwork but if you have a local auto body shop supply around you'll find some good quality ones.. may not be cheap though.. also if you ever need sanding paper.. autobody shops don't mess around with cheap junk usually.. at least that is my experience in my area.. One weekend years ago I needed a tack cloth for a car I was painting. Autobody supply shops not open on the weekend, so I went to a local big box store and bought some.. Those things are junk.. like you said.. very sticky, they left a sticky residual on the car and ruined my paintjob.. Not fun having to sand down and repaint a car because of a cheap tack cloth.. I will say also you don't need to "press" on them.. just lightly glide the cloth across the surface and it'll pick up dust etc. like a magnet. As they pick up more dust they obviously get less tacky / sticky.. then you can press on them some.

Don't really have to put it on top of the pattern, it can go on the bottom side of the pattern, Also if you are one to use shelf liner.. OR shipping labels, most any self adhesive products have the chemical in it to lube the blade.. at least that is my understanding of it.. I happen to use both shelf liner and shipping labels.

Every now and then I fine a blade that seems to start out dull but not very often. Though I buy enough blades to last me a long time. Usually 3-6 gross at a time. I haven't ordered any blades since April.. and probably won't need any until late fall. You didn't mention what brand of blades in question? I stared out with a cheap 9" ryobi bandsaw and upgraded the guides etc.. but in very short time I learned the resawing wasn't all that practical on it since the max. height was only about 4-5 inch.. did work great for resawing with a good blade though and I made many thick boards into thinner boards for ornaments. I upgraded to the Grizzly 14" Anniversary edition and bought the riser block etc. I love the saw but honestly I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Resawing is a great way to make lumber to your needed thickness but also requires a planer if you don't have one yet? I think this WEN might be a decent starter saw for you. Not sure if it will accept a riser block or not. Maybe you don't plan to resaw with it as you didn't really mention the use of it. I payed pretty close to that price for my saw but with the added goodies ( riser block, rolling base, etc. ) I had close to a grand into mine.. Wish I had gone a few bucks more and got the larger model that included the rolling stand and already had the 12" resaw capacity.. But mine works well for the stuff I've done with it.

Only time I've ever noticed any difference is when cutting wood that burns easily such as Cherry.. One thing also is blade speed, if you run a saw on slower speeds there is less friction / heat so you may not notice a difference... That being said.. If it helps from burning Cherry it must have some sort of lubrication effect thus making blades run cooler and last longer. It's been said that it is one of the compounds in the glue in the adhesive that is a lubricating properties. There are some folks that will have a block of wax by the saw and when installing a new blade they run the saw and rub that wax on the sides and back of the blade too.

Congrats on the new saw.. Those 4 legged stands are kind of a nuisance in my opinion.. LOL It seems Delta, DeWalt, and Hegner have the three legged stand figured out.. But then.. everyone has their own preference and comfort level.. I use the foot switch on the floor for my at first. I've always been used to setting tall at all my saws as the DW stand is kinda tall.. On the DW I mounted the foot switch to the bottom brace of the stand which worked well.. Then the Hawk saw had know place to put a switch so I had some 6 x 6 post cutoffs from my pole barn which worked about to be the perfect height so each Hawk has it's own 6 x 6 block with a cable staple holding the cord out of the way. The EX I set the stand as high as it would go and also use the 6x6 blocks, LOL

I honestly don't think there is a difference in bearings between the Pegas and the King, EX etc.. Why do I say so? You can download the manuals for each saw.. each manual gives the bearing "size" in the specs sheet and all numbers match.. Pretty sure Bob Duncan was blowing salesman smoke when he mentioned the bearing thing on a different forum where I read it.. BUT.. I very well could be wrong because I'm only going off the manuals.. and the Pegas manual is a bit mixed with the EX, King etc.. as some of the picture diagrams show the drawing with a EX style blade chucks.. rather than updating those photos with an actual Pegas chucks on it.. Maybe they've updated it by now.. Who knows.. Maybe someone should take one apart and verify the bearing sizes to the manual specs, LOL.. Either case, both are great saws.. Honestly don't think the China made EX is horrible so long as one expects to "need " to tinker with it and that the original bearings is only good for maybe a year or two at best.. I did use mine a lot.. I don't think the bearing issues was really any different than the DW saw I had.. I suspect the saw will last a bit longer now that I put in some better parts / grease.. but who knows maybe not. The biggest issue with the China made saw that I see is the blade chucks are pure junk.. and the sloppy threads for the arm adjustment knob at the back of the saw could use some tighter tolerances.. Not sure that's an entirely China made saw issue since I've seen this mentioned with the other versions too, loctite did wonders for that issue, others just use rubber bands or tape etc..

I use a lot of 1/8" BBply and what I find is.. if you pre-sand the ply to get a real smooth surface it works very well IF, you don't leave the liner on the plywood for several weeks, LOL.. I typically have my projects done and peel it off within a week and never have any issues. I had never thought of spraying a coat of sealer on as Don mentioned.. I think if sanded and sprayed you'd certainly not have any issues. I also find that the BBply if it gets older will absorb the moisture out of the air and if you live in a higher humidity area.. it can loosen the fibers and some start lifting on their own adding a sticky liner to it ( especially without sanding those loosened fibers off and creating a better surface then yes.. it'll lift off the fibers.. the key is to start with a good piece of ply in the first place.. I don't find the liner to come off any harder than the painters tape.. actually a lot easier because you have one full sheet on liner rather than several strips of tape.. Also I should note.. do not let the project set in the sun or higher heat spot.. It does get more sticky then and can lift fibers.. In the case you do have a issue it can help to heat it lightly with a hairdryer or heat gun to help loosen it. I did this once by mistake as a neighbor came by and distracted me and I set my project on the picnic table in the sun.. when the project was complete the liner was stuck really well, LOL. I set it in the sun for an hour or so to warm it back up and it did eventually come off much better so a hairdryer or ? to add a little warmth to it can help in those situations.

Congrats on the new saw.. and good luck with the rebuild when you get around to messing with the DW. I think you're going to like that Seyco a lot..

You do amazing work keeping up with all those social sites along with this place too. Thank you!

Thanks Ray, I thought a PM would be better than just posting someones number out on public forum was why I asked for PM