SCROLLSAW703

Runa, you mentioned in one of your first posts this saw & all its rust, & how bad a shape it was in. Just a thought, but, if the rest of the machine is that bad off, the blade holders are goin' to be just as bad, if not worse. Have you, by chance, taken the blade holders apart, if its possible, & by the looks of the one in your picture, it is, & thoroughly cleaned the inside of the blade holder? If there's rust or other junk in between there, not only will your blades not fit properly, nor will they tighten down enough to keep the blade in place. They need to be kept clean. Which brings me to my next point. While you have your blade holders apart, rub them on a piece of 100 grit sand paper. This will give the blade holder a grip to "bite" the blade & help hold it better. Like I said, just by lookin' at your pictures, this is just a thought. I may have to research your machine to verify my thinking. As far as the tension adjustment, what is so difficult about getting your tension correct? No offense, I'm not tryin' to be a smart a**, just trying to help you with your saw. Is the tension adjustment a hand knob @ the back of saw you twist either direction to tighten or loosen tension? does it have a flip up on the twist knob to release tension? If so, my first thought would be what shape are the threads in for adjustment? Are they rusted & corroded up? If so, that's an easy fix. Are the threads damaged from tryin' to force adjustment? Another easy fix if so. Without more information as to what or why you're havin' issues w/tension, one can only guess. My apologies for the length of my post, but I'm typin' as I'm thinkin' about your situation. Trust me, you're not the first to get bit in the a** on his first saw. Used at that. We'll try & help you out as much as possible to keep ya makin' sawdust. God Bless.

not ever' body disagrees w/ya, Mr. Jerry. I use luan for Christmas ornaments & other things. But I buy my luan in 4' x 8' sheets. I keep some 1/4" underlayment around, too. It has a lot of uses. As far as your Olson blades Runa, I use Olson & FD both. Some Olson blades are better than FD, & vice versa. Depending on the material you choose to cut the patterns in, if you go with 1/4" material, I certainly wouldn't go above a #3, & use ultra reverse or skip blades at a medium rate of speed. When buying blades, look at the dimensions of the blade. With fretwork, the thinner the blade you can use, the better off you'll be. jmo. If you go with hardwood, say 1/2", I wouldn't be afraid to use a #4 skip tooth for the open cuts, & a #3 polar blade for the inside cuts. You can maneuver the #3 polar better, & it's a thinner blade therefore breakage & tear ups are less likely to happen. jmo from personal experience & use. Buy your wood carefully. Starting with good wood is a BIG plus!!!

runa, might I suggest you post a couple pictures of your blade holders so we can have a look see at your situation. Sometimes being able to see the issue can help us help you with a better way to work with your current equipment until you can afford a better saw. Another thought, there are blade conversion kits available for different breeds of saws. It'd be worth looking into. Try eReplacementParts.com & see what you can find.

thanks Rolf. I will make that suggestion. KM, I agree. there isn't a saw out there that doesn't take some time to get to & understand. My first Hawk was a 220 & it took me awhile to get it set up to cut the way Im used to workin'. I've owned several brands of saws myself, & no two saws cut alike, imo. You can get them close, but not exactly. That's another reason I invested in the BM. I can adjust the aggressiveness of the blade to how I'm cuttin'. The best way I can explain it, if you've ever spent any time on a combine, put this in perspective. The older machines we couldn't make all the adjustments these new computerized machines can. Everything was adjusted by hand. Now all the adjustments are made from the cab with the push of a button. The machine will do its job goin' thru the field as you're makin' adjustments. The BM is, in comparison, the same. You can adjust the blade aggression & tension on the fly & keep cutting. And still get the results you want & need for that given project. The other saws I've owned, adjustments are pretty limited.

I'm with you, Scrap pile. I don't have to be a trapeze artist to bottom feed. I use #0/2, #0/3 blades often in detail work. Cuttin' out wheat heads & corn cobs, feathers, tractor engines in the tractor, sunflower heads, etc. I don't have any issues. But like you, I'd see a video of it done. Actually see someone do it in a project.

the BM's are designed to be top or bottomfeeders. Personally, I learned to bottom feed, & have tried to top feed, & all i accomplished was bend blades. So Bottom feed for this ol' jay bird! I mark the holes with a red sharpie so i can see the entry holes better. Out of curiosity Dave, if you don't mind me askin', how was your visit at bushton? what did you think of the help & their set up? The reason I'm askin', Not only as a Hawk owner & user, but, my wife & I are very close to the folks there. We have been told we're considered "family." Last year, they a invited me to the Kansas State Fair to demonstrate for them, along with others. In the 26 years I've been scrolling, I've never been asked to do anything like that. As it turned out, I had back issues & couldn't go. But have been asked again for next years' show. I hope you decide on the BM. They'll take care of you & the saw.

excellent work, runa! as mentioned, i would encourage you to invest in some stencils & practice the O's. Like Hawkeye said, use bullseye zinser spray shellac on them, & leave them be. keep about 10" - 12" away from your project when spraying, or it'll glob up. 3 light coats should be plenty. You're doin' great! keep makin' sawdust!

my apologies Rolf.

yea, I agree km. the 26 is, or appears to be a G4. i wouldn't go so far as to say they use whatever stickers they have on hand, but, the bushton stickers are different now. And the saw deck is different on the new BM's. I'm with hotshot. If i had the cash, I would own the 220.

the scroll saw was designed for fretwork, inside cuts, tight turn cuts in curves in designs & such. Not a dimensional saw. The blades aren't designed to for that. A table saw or band saw would be of better service for that, & has a fence already on the saw. jmo.

What Mr. Rolf said. I buy my hard wood from a local lumber store. Rough planed @ 1" thick in widths of 8" - 14" & up to 12' long. I have all my own equipment to plane, joint, & cut to whatever size I need. As far as practice, if I were you, decide what type of projects you're wanting /interested in takin' on, & go from there. Personally, most everything I work with I plane to 1/2" or there abouts. All hard wood. Leave the plywood alone. You'll dull blades faster'n you can change'em because of the layers of glue in it. Stick to WOOD. Even if you're makin' ornaments, use wood if possible. If you can't plane it yourself, your local lumber yard usually will. To be honest, I don't practice. I've got enough years at the blade, I've got the project planned out by the time I get it on wood. If ya want to practice, go to HD or Lowe's & ask to go thru their scrap bin & get ya some pieces there. Or, find ya a construction site & dumpster dive. You'd be surprised at what they pitch in the trash. It'll be pine, but it's still wood!

nice job! to bad my first project didn't look that shiny.:(

never used it, never needed it. If you're that concerned about blade lube, paraffin wax works as good as anything.

by the looks of the parts diagram, it uses pin end blades.

i fully agree! Iggy's situation could easily have been avoided had more care been taken not only at the time of assembly, but when the arms were machined. Bushton admitted to making "a bad batch of arms." The fault falls in more than one place in the business. imo. But, again, they went out of their way to make it right for him. Yes, he did still have to work on yet then, but look at the outcome now. Iggy has a saw he seems to be enjoying, Bushton, unlike a lot of manufacturers, did their best to help him get it runnin' to his satisfaction. Imo. Like the rest of ya, I still think it should have been ready to rock out of the crate, regardless. What's done is done, & Iggys patience paid off for him.

km, finally you said something I agree with. I set my saw up right out of the box when we got home from bushton with it. I had it runnin' & the first pattern on it in about an hour. Not bein' new to the Hawk saws, I felt familiar enough with it to make it fly. I did second guess myself on the aggression setting, so, I did have to study that part of the manual. I drove OTR 35 years km, & can't begin to tell you the number of trucks I've laid under, in all kinds of weather, workin' on brakes, fuel lines, air lines, electrical, because, like these saws, everybody wants to be a truck driver. Til the time comes they have to use their brain & some common sense. Ya get a semi load of cattle in -40* weather, snow up to your shorts, & their fuel & air lines freeze! No brakes & no power. The first question they ask is "now what?" In the meantime, the cattles' feet are freezin' to the floor of the bull rack. So, havin' the experience the wanna be doesn't, ya start dumpin' alcohol in the air lines, changin' fuel filters with fuel treatment & kerosene in them to dissolve ice in the fuel lines, hopin' like hell it'll start & keep runnin long enough to build air pressure to move alcohol thru the air lines. When she blows black smoke & runs, & pretty soon the brakes slowly start to release, this new steering wheel holder looks at ya & says " how'd you do that?" Ya hand'im his log book & tell'im to get his butt down the road!. Same with these saws. Not just "anybody", imo, can make them run. It takes patience, some mechanical ability, a brain, & a little common sense helps too. Having the ability to think for yourself in the event of a breakdown, or when something isn't right helps. Out dated stickers on the saws mean nothing to me. If I can make it fly, better for me. If i can't get parts, I'll make them myself. And trust me, I can & will make them if the need arises. Case in point, I do understand the frustration. Trust me. And I'm by no means a know it all, but with the experience I have with Hawk saws, I try to help where I can. I feel like my wife & I both have a close relationship with the folks at bushton, & have learned a lot from them. I guess I try to focus on the positives & leave the negatives til I get to them. I have enough storms goin' on right now in life, I just wasn't prepared for the discussion. my apologies for bein' a sh*thead about things.

Im not sayin' I don't agree with all of what you guys are sayin'. The BM has it's downfalls, I admit, & it's definitely got it's weak spots. But, in all honesty, it's a damn good saw overall. Out of all the saws I've owned, & worn out, I still think Hawk has a better design than most. I don't think I can honestly say I don't make adjustments, check alignments, etc. before I start a project on any of the three saws I use. Or any other machine in the shop, whether it's been moved, or not. It's just part of my regiment, if you will. Criticism is ok to a point, I suppose, but there are limitations. imo. When asked my opinion about the BM, I give my honest opinion of its positives, along with my experience of it's downfalls. I don't see the need to reconstruct the saw with them, either. In Iggy's case, I had yet to have an issue of any kind with mine when I suggested the BM to him.

too bad us ol' farm boys don't have the mechanical minds everyone else does. I reckon that's why we spend more time feedin' the country than buildin' assembly lines for scroll saws. Sorry if i sound offended gentlemen, but those are my country men you're downgradin'. And as far as the construction of the saw, be thankful it's not put together with balin' wire & hay bale string. Ya would have somethin' to "tune & tweak" then. And then the gripin' would be worth a pool hall discussion. Being in the trucking business all my life, & workin' on our own trucks, I can tell you nothin' built with iron & electronics is perfect "out of the box." There is always something to work on. I'm happy with my BM. It does everything I need it to do. You show me a machine without flaws, I'll show ya one that sits! Yes, iggys ordeal was one that could have been prevented in more ways than one, but bushton has made an honest effort to make it right. And with Iggys patience, he has prevailed.

I cut alot of cherry with Olson blades, & we all know how easy cherry burns. I don't burn it with Olson blades, or FD either. Burning is caused mainly from blade speed. You've got my attention, though. I'm curious. I've got the same questions Joe does. Was your blade speed the same with both blades? What type of wood did you test with?

welcome to the village, runa. As already mentioned, the size of your saw has a lot of bearing on the size of the project you take on. Personally, for fretwork, I wouldn't use spiral because they leave rough edges, tear out, can be difficult to guide, & can destroy a project in a matter of seconds. There is a learning curve with spiral blades. Some use nothing but. In my experience, they have their place, & work excellent for certain projects.

I second that, Iggy. I sure hope ya got the bugs worked out of'er. I was one that suggested the Hawk, too, & when ya started havin' issues, I really felt horrible. Not only somewhat of an embarrassment to those of us that own & use Hawks everyday, but to Hawk themselves. I even went so far as to call Bushton as a voice to express the seriousness of the situation. I hope it'll turn out to be your favorite saw after the smoke clears, & you get to spend time using it.

in fretwork? i have my doubts. I'd be more inclined to think turning to sharp to fast.

its great to see so many positive posts! this is my favorite hang out of the different forums I regular. We have more newbies here than most, imo, bcause of the friendly atmosphere, & the help & learning they can get without a bunch of nonsense competition over who has the best of the best, or most expensive wood, etc. We have so many different levels of scrollers here willing to give information to help. I think that is a feather in our hat compared to most. Even those of us with years of experience learn something here. And to me, that's part of the camaraderie, friendship, & willingness to come together when needed.

I hear ya. 26 years of scrollin' here, & ain't heard of that one. was your tension just a little loose? or did the blade just bind in the project?

i have those same questions, randy. I had bushton send me a new pitman arm w/bearings & i sent the other one back. but the bearings in the new one were the same bearings as were in my original pitman arm. Were i you, & the bearings are sealed, I wouldn't try to add any lube them. But, I have the same concern you do. my saw just is a year old, and already junked a bearing. I'm guessin' the pitman arm area(bearings) may be a weak spot in the saw, & something to pay attention to.