bossdriver

I agree, I have ordered several times from Denny and am always pleasantly surprised at how fast it comes. Great service and excellent products!

I have done very well by watching Craig's list under materials. I found a local individual who owns a sawmill up north and sell from his home. Also, a fellow that had a big pile of hardwood in a barn on a property he was flipping and sold it very reasonably to me.

Just a quick update on my Hawk scroll saw. I received the upgrade kit and installed it yesterday. This kit gives you a new tension arm, cam, & blade holder. It totally fixed my saw and upgraded it at the same time. The instructions that came with the kit were good and RBI came through faster than I thought they would. They asked for pictures of my saws upper arm because they said the model may not work with the kit. Once they received the pics they said it would work and they were right.

I just went out to the garage to take a better look at the tension lever and to take picture of it. It does appear to have some kind of hex nut or screw holding the cam to the lever. I have some very small hex keys but they don't fit this. I am using a magnifying glass and flashlight to try to see it but it's so small I can't make it out. Hopefully, RBI will send something to loosen this cam (hex key, or?) You have a good memory Kevin. See pic below. Mike

I just received an email from RBI regarding my upgrade kit that I ordered. They are out of stock on an important part and it will be 3-4 weeks until they get it in. I was asked if I wanted to wait or refund and re-order, I said I would wait. I did ask them to find a knowledgeable person to let me know if this upgrade kit will work on my model#/serial#. Hopefully, they will get back to me with this info. before they ship the kit. Mike Mark, Thanks for thinking of me, I have looked at those manuals and there isn't one that is totally correct for my saw. Too old??? I printed the one closest to my saw when I first got it.

Kevin, I did order this kit last night and it looks to me like it should work. I haven't been able to get any answers from RBI so $50 is not too big of an investment. They did send an order confirmation, but I think this is digitally answered by machine, not by a person. Today, I removed the roll pin plus the blade holder and attempted to drive the tension lever arm out but no luck so far. I removed the arm from the machine and put it in a vise and am trying to drive it out (tension lever arm) but it isn't working so far. I don't want to ruin it so I will wait until I get the kit and see if there are any instructions about this. Do you remember taking this part off? Was it hard to drive out? Maybe it will have to be drilled out? Mike

Kevin, It looks to me that to install the updated cam kit you just need to drive out the roll pin that is holding the old one in. Then, install the new style cam and holder using the roll pin. Is this somewhat the idea? Thanks again for all your time spent trying to help me. I agree that I would gladly spend $50 to get my saw working again. I haven't gotten an answer from BMI yet. I want to ask them if they have this kit, the price , and if they have instructions on how it is installed. I left them an email yesterday and left a voicemail message today. Mike BTW I live in Grand Rapids SW area, actually Wyoming, MI.

Kevin, Thanks again for all your help with this problem. After reading your latest response and pondering how far and how much $$ I want to spend fixing this old Hawk saw, I'm coming to the conclusion that it will be better for me to just replace the saw. I have a working DeWalt saw, so I'm not out of business entirely. I think I will probably buy a Pegas saw, since it has many features that I would like. I know they are out of stock right now but I can wait. I think the Hawk stand would make a very stable table for the Pegas saw, and I would not want to scrap it out. Thanks again for all the help. Mike

Kevin, I took a quick look at my saw and it doesn't have the adjustment hole (screw) under the tension lever. Also, it doesn't have the round insert in the arm where the wedge fits. So, maybe I should consider sending RBI the arm to have them insert the round part and update the front tension cam, etc. What do you think? Mike

A big thank you to Kevin for his very informed and educated answer to my problem. I am looking forward to your picture of the adjustment screw. I will do some tinkering tomorrow as today is not a "workshop" day. I hope that RBI will answer my email with some input as well. I'll post my success/failure after "tinkering" Mike

Today, the cam lock on the front of my Hawk saw stopped working. It won't say locked down, so I can't adjust the tension at the rear of the saw. My model is # 226 M, serial# 0789. I bought the saw used but have had it for several years now and it has been a great saw. I have a manual for this model, but it has different looking parts in the parts page. Maybe the saw has been upgraded, altered at some time? I just emailed RBI and hope they have some ideas of how this can be fixed. I know some of you are also Hawk owners and maybe have run into this problem in the past, if so..........help! Mike

Thanks for the reply. I will be getting at this clock in a few weeks. I will post with any problems, updates.

I am planning to build this clock also. I ordered the back issue of Scrollsaw to get the plans. I am eagerly following your build. Please let me know what parts are "mis-labled" in the plans. Something I have been using when attaching plans to the wood: I bought clear contact paper, some call it shelf liner. I attach this to the wood, then spray the pattern and attach it to the contact paper. When you are done sawing it comes right off and leaves no residue. It was very inexpensive as well. I got a huge roll for about $4 and have been using it for a couple of years now.

Very interesting project. You are a good scroller. Cowboy looks great, can't wait to see it after sanding and woodburning.

Thanks for the great tutorial, especially the hint about how to space the hinges. I have had a lot of trouble with my hinges hanging up and not closing......I will use your method from now on.