hotshot

That is a pretty big jump in saw capability. Congrats!

If you are in a hurry . . . I bought my Dremel chuck from HomeDepot. Probably cost a few more bucks and tax, but no shipping. I just checked, and the Lowes in Fort Smith, AR has them in stock on Aisle 63 , Bay 3. (I love the internet) You are looking for Dremel part 4486

Yep, this is my solution and it works great. Prior to this, I used the chuck from Flying Dutchman, and that solution frustrated me to no end.

Bushton is very very very small, so no elaborate assembly lines. Your saw will pretty much be hand built/assembly by just a few people. I would love to visit and see their setup. That said, I ordered my EX between production runs, and had to wait several months for delivery.

If anyone is still following this thread, it's "Trivia time" . . . . . I did want to give you something interesting about blade adjustments on the Hegner. There is an adjustment on the Hegner that is not available on any of the other saw (that I know of). The Hegner actually allows you to reduce "Blade Stroke Length" which is purported to help on thin material . . ." I do not do that kind of cutting, so that setting wouldn't be something I would do, however, it is interesting that it is possible. As another thought, on the classic Hegner clamps, there is no positive blade stop, so the blade could potentially be oriented further forward on the top clamp, and further back on the bottom clamp. If it was angled very slightly, it wouldn't have much affect on the turning, but might be a little more aggressive. I think changing the blade angle is how the new Hawks work in relation to changing agressiveness. I might experiment with that approach on the Hegner when I get some time.

Wow, I'm excited for you. It's always fun to get a new saw and figure out the "tricks" to using it. ----Randy

Hegners are a lot of money. Worth every penny to some, and a huge disappointment to others. Try before you buy. If you lived close enough I would let you use my Multimax 22v for a month.

Yep, time for this thread to die!

I would really really love to get my hands on one of these to see how it works . If anyone in the middle TN area has one and would let me drop by and try their BM series, ping me. ------Randy

Doug, can you post a picture? I thought the clamps were similar in design to the 788/ex type saws, except the clamp knob didn't have a rotating end.

Like you, I also drive with the tips of my fingers. When cutting small stuff, there really is no choice :-) This is one of the reasons I'm so opposed to the big "Coin Jigs": they defeat the fingertip style of "driving." I think the most serious learning obstacle for the beginner is pushing the wood sideways to "get back to the line." It is very very natural to exert sideways pressure, which is very bad if you are cutting puzzle boxes and 3d stuff. When working with new users (and when checking my own form), I periodically release all feed pressure, and if it jumps left or right, then that indicates I'm applying side pressure. Of course "Jumping" wood is also a good indicator.

Thanks Mahendra, I'll send him your way. -----Randy

Hard to say, evil people are very creative. He sent me a link to a scroll saw on amazon.com in India and asked it was what I was using. It was pathetic. I would like to have offered him a legit choice, but I couldn't believe the lack of options. I'm glad to live where there we have many very very good choices. Asking Mahendra is a great idea, and he used to post a lot of patterns on one of the Facebook groups, but I couldn't seem to find him. I may be looking in the wrong groups. ------Randy

I had someone contact me from India looking for a scroll saw that would be decent for coin cutting. You would think that would be easy for a big country like India, but only one saw comes up on the Indian Amazon.com, and it looks to be very poor, and seems to be pinned blade oriented. I looked around at other sites, and it seems there is a dearth of decent scroll saws available there. It might be that I just haven't found the "Go To" source for quality tools in India. If we have anyone from India that can help me point this person in the right direction, that would be greatly appreciated. Or, if someone has better luck in create Googling, that might work to. I was hope that Axminster or Carbatec might service India, but I didn't find anything to support that wish. -------_Randy

It's about 1.5 inches wide and about 2 3/8 tall. I could have cut it some smaller, but for "fun aspect" of the cutting, this was about right. The thinner metal made cutting much quicker/easier.

This pattern is by Paul Boer and was posted by him to the Facebook Group "Scroll Saw Pattern Cafe." I suspect most folks cut it at about 10 inches tall. I made use the of the Rolling mill again and elongated an Eisenhower significantly to accommodate this pattern.

I usually try to double post to my two favorite forums at about the same time, but because of the outage, I posted this to the Fox Chapel forum earlier. So for those of you that don't frequent the other forum, here is my latest: I found a rolling mill on Craigslist at a price I could afford, so that gave me the ability to flatten coins (without a hammer). Because this design is so wide, I would have to shrink the pattern down to where it was uncuttable on a regular coin. For this cutting, I flattened/elongated a greek drachma to about 2 times it's normal width, then cut this pattern. For perspective, It is about the same height as a dime. On my screen, the image below is about double actual size. It is too fragile to wear, but it makes interesting conversation piece. This is my very old but new to me rolling mill:

If it has one clamp, use that for the bottom, get the Quickclamp for the top. That would be pretty cheap and the best dollar for dollar upgrade for that saw. For a VS Hegner, you did very very good. Hope it works for you.

Very neat experience, I'm glad it worked out so well for you.

I bought my 14" for about that also, but it was single speed, didn't have a quick tensioner and such. You should be able to get any part you need for that saw from "Advanced", so parts should not be a problem. You can not upgrade the arms for the upfront quick tensioner, but there is a upgrade to put a quick tension mechanism on the back. I will say, there is a big usability difference between the low end 14" Hegner, and my 22", variable speed multi max with quick tensioner up front. If you could afford it, I would at least look at the 22in, see if it has the features I just mentioned. If you are within driving distance of Manchester TN, I will give you my 14" Hegner for free. ---Randy

Jim, why is that? I know you have the Hegner Polymax, the most expensive saw currently available. Is that saw not user friendly/usable? ----Randy

You know, when I was living in Murfreesboro, the General warehouse was just a couple of miles from me. I tried to get Seyco to save me the shipping and drop ship it to me, or let me pick it up, well, they didn't go for it, and I had to pay shipping anyway. So it left Murfreesboro, traveled all the way to Seyco, then back to Murfreesboro. So, having to pay shipping for the Hawk doesn't surprise me. I suppose if you did go and pick it up, you would have to pay tax, so maybe part of shipping cancels itself out. I have to say, when I saw the original pricing for the EX, I was a little disappointed. Without General as the middleman, I was expecting the new Seyco saw to be less expensive, not more. However, if you take into account the free shipping, that brings that saw back to the price point closer to what I was expecting. So kudos to Seyco for that. In any case, both saws you are looking at are great, so whatever you decide, you win. By the way, the Hawk is made in KS, probably by the same folks that answer the phone. Like the EX before it, my understanding is that the new Seyco saw if built in the same factory in Taiwan. ----Randy

Advance actually sells the Knob without the clamp for $24, but even so, they are still a bit more expensive. I'm impressed this other solution is $15. But like I said, it's good to have options, and for me personally, I would rather not have something that fits over the original knob. -----Randy

I love that style of knob, but would rather not have something that connects over the top of something else. That said, I'm glad this is an option for those that prefer this option. My solution, the QuickClamp for the Hegner has the same thread size, however, the removable tips are just barely too big, so I carefully put the tip in a Dremel and grid a bit off of the diameter for a perfect fit. If someone want to try this, you probably want to remove the rubber gasket before putting it in the drill because if it get's hot, it is toast. I've included a picture of the Hegner clamp in my EX -----Randy

Yes, I will make the support wider if I try this again.