SCROLLSAW703

good to see another Kansas Scroller on here, Mr. Fred. I'm at the other end of the state, in the nw corner. St. Francis, KS. A shout out to ya, brother!

I wouldn't say it's near impossible to get hurt on the scroll saw. For some, it comes as easy as turnin' on the saw. Those of us that spend several hours a day on the saw could get hurt at any time, but we also know that if it has teeth, there's a good chance of a bite if ya give it the chance. I've had my fingernails trimmed a time or two, & a bite that a band aid wouldn't take care of. The faster the blade is cuttin', the easier it is to get bit. One can get overly sure of himself on occasion I suppose, but I still say the scroll saw is the safest tool in the shop, next to a lead pencil!

km, your tension adjustment lever should be pointed towards you, or the front of the saw, however you want to look at, it at all times. To adjust tension, you really don't need to flip your blue lever. Once you get your blade in place, you can adjust the tension by turning the adjustment rod at the back of the saw. Flip your cam lock over at the nose of the top arm & check your tension. If it isn't enough, flip it back, & add another twist on your adjustment rod. That's how I've done it, & leave the lever alone. A piece of advice. Try to make sure your blade is centered in that bottom blade holder. Your chances of breakin' blades are greater if it isn't. Also, on the underneath side of the top arm, right under the cam lock, there is a 3/32" allen screw. It needs to be tightened against the cam til you can just start to feel resistance. That little screw needs to tightened every few months to keep resistance against the cam in order for it to keep the blade tight. Make sure the little nylon washer under the blue lever stays clean & dry, or your tension will back off. Once you get your bottom blade holder in place, make sure the keepers will hold it, but at the same time, let the blade holder move. If not, loosen them up just a touch. When you insert your blade in the top holder, make sure, as mentioned, it's at the back of the blade holder & push it up til you feel it stop. Your blade is in place. Once you get the tension set, it will hold it. These are some feathers I cut with mine using a #0 blade. A butterfly from beetle kill pine, & a small Crucifix from oak. The feathers are 3/16" thick, & scrap wood glued together, & run thru the planer to 3/16". All cut with my BM.

The Hawk saws have the ability to cut at a slow enough rate, any size blade can be used for any purpose. The blade holders, from the barrel type to the new style for the BM-26 are designed to hold & keep the smallest blade in place. The tension setting is easily adjusted at the back of the saw, & tightened & released at the nose of the top arm with a cam arm. Tension is consistently kept on the blade. I've been scrollin' 25+ years, & of all the saws I've owned & used, the Hawk has been the easiest to use, easiest to work on, & the most unique. The new 26's have the aggression setting on the bottom arm which makes a completely different saw out of it at every setting. The capabilities of it are endless! I use #0 blades to cut 3/16" thick with no issues. Fretwork is so much easier. The Variable speed can be adjusted in small increments to keep a slow rate of cut if needed, regardless of blade size.

i started out with a single speed Craftsman 25+ years ago that I bought used. I completely wore it out. My next saw, & first new one I'd bought was a CW-40 Hitachi. I still use it. I have another 16" Craftsman I use. I bought my first Hawk 3 years ago used. It was a 220VS. I had it two years & wore it out. I traded it in on the BM - 26 I have now a year ago. To date, no issues with it. The main reason I wanted the Hawk saw is they are made here in Kansas. And American made. I'm about 3 - 3 1/2 hours drive from Bushton. I went down & picked my new saw up from the plant, & traded my 220 in. I did my share of research on the Hawk saws before I made my final decision. I cut mostly hardwood from 3/8" to 2" thick. No issues. I also do fretwork on it, lettering, I cut my own feathers for my dream catchers, & they are 3/16" thick. You won't find a finer machine. IMO.

welcome to the Hawk family, Brian. You'll enjoy years of service from the saw, & their tech support is top notch!

im with ike, a #5 or #7 polar blade if it was me, but you could use a skip tooth, or even ultra reverse if the urge hit ya. My preference is the skip tooth or polar blade. which ever cuts the bets. Pay attention in your pine. the blade may have a tendency to follow the grain of the of the wood.

Zen hit on the head! What are your future plans with this new saw? What size of projects do you intend to produce? my advice is to take all these things into perspective, & then think about the wood you have in mind for use of all this. Are you of a mind to use nothing but hardwoods? 1/4" baltic birch? If you don't have plans of workin' the saw overly hard, & on a constant basis, a light duty saw will suffice. If you're looking at more production type cutting, a heavier, more hp saw would be to your benefit. Look at the Hawk line of saws. You can look on cl & find pretty good deals, & then move up as you get better. There are other breeds, too, but, I recommend the Hawk.

i think were i you, tuner, I would be on the horn to where ever ya bought your blades from and discuss the issue with them. They will have record of your recent order(s) & explain to them it's the most recent order you've had the issues with. They need to know there are problems, too, & may work out the issue with you.

Rolf may jump in here later. But I've found the deeper the aggression is set, the faster & easier it will cut, & cleaner. Especially in hardwood. My BM - 26 has given me good service to this point. I use Olson & FD blades. Mostly skip tooth & polar blades. I don't cut much of anything under 1/2" thick, & all hardwoods. So unless I get into a lot of tight turns, I don't adjust the aggression much. Iggy, I'm happy to hear ya finally got your Hawk up & runnin'!

welcome to the forum & the greatest addiction since diesel smoke!;);) Like Mr. Wayne said, it'd help us more to know the breed of your saw. When you start lookin' at blades, don't let all the types & sizes intimidate ya. You'll learn that as you go along. Ya don't need a drill press to get started. If you've got a cordless drill & small bits(1/16" - 1/8") will suffice. Personally, were I you, I'd stick to outside cuts for now until you get to know your saw, & figure out the vibration. Maybe we can help with that from here. I mainly use Flying Dutchman & Olson blades, but there are many other preference here.

did the saw come with a manual? if it didn't, i'm sure you could go to DeWalt's website, look around it for scroll saws, & it may ask for your serial number. Download a manual.

I Live in the NW corner of Kansas. St. francis.

howdy & welcome to the forum, neighbor!:) Where does it sound like the noise is comin' from? there are some things to check on a 220. Wiggle your bottom arm to check for any excess movement. Have you checked to make sure everything is aligned?

where abouts in Nebraska ya located?

seen any pictures of it? are you close enough you could go take a look at the saw? I don't know the value of DeWalt's, but bein's it's a used saw, use caution. I'm sure there'll be some others with more knowledge of it that can answer your question. We scrollers kinda stick together.

yes they do, Dave! That's always the first thing they want to know, then what'll cost. I keep track of the amount of wood i use in every project. Sometimes it's not much, other projects use larger amounts. I buy my wood rough sawn & mill it in the shop to my needs for the project. I price out the cost of the wood/bdft + 25%. It may not make sense to some, but on smaller projects, it pays for the waste. I try to every inch I can to eliminate waste. I also keep track, or try to, of the number of blades, & what sizes I use for that project so I can go back & look to check & have those blades at the saw. It eliminates keeping a number of different sizes at the saw. I keep a large inventory of blades of numerous sizes.

looks like youre busy, Iggy! best of luck to you, brother! I just got a call from Nicole. She is slowly working back into the office. Sounds like they've figured your issue out & getting it taken care of. We were discussing some of the very same things on my saw.

I agree Rolf. I live 3 - 3 1/2 hours from bushton, & drove down to get mine. I traded my 220 in on my bm. That was a year ago. Fortunately, I've not had any issues with mine, & i am a loyal Hawk user as well. I spend several hours on mine, & wouldn't own any other major name brand for what I do. I am a bottom feeder. My shop has a wood floor, & I have the saw on casters. I have a little bit of vibration, but it's from sitting on the wood floor. My lathes are the same way. I discussed this with Nicole & Nilus before we made the sale, & decided it wouldn't be enough to bother me. To date, I've yet to break a blade with the BM unless I happen to bend a tiny blade & break it myself. Otherwise, no blades broken during cutting. The aggression setting fascinates me. I cut my own feathers, detailed projects, as you & Randy do. I've learned alot by using the aggression adjustment. It makes the cutting so much easier & faster, & lots cleaner cuts. Less fuzzies to fool with! The saw itself has a simple design, but takes time to get to know it. I believe Iggys issues will be solved, but It bothers me it has taken the length of time it has, & inconvenience it has put on Iggy. Not to mention his money spent. I am personally acquainted with Nilus, Scott, & Nicole. They are wonderful folks, & know their equipment. They are a busy operation. And very personable. They are more than willing to go that extra mile to do whatever it takes to help solve your issues. On the other hand, being a small company, I, like you, Rolf, think this is not a good situation for them & I feel like Nilus knew more than he is telling.

great job! cutting lettering takes alot of focus & patience. you done a fine job, neighbor!

I appreciate your concern, but I'm on the mend. The question was about whether or not you kept a shop journal, not just blade history. There are several reasons for keeping a journal. One was mentioned in dealing with customers. It does help, & speeds up estimates, & as stated, to find out if they're really interested. I was looking for other ideas for mine.

I got to thinkin' about this yesterday while sitting here in my chair, hoping the room would soon stop spinnin'. My allergies have settled into my ears. My bride says no shop work til we see the Sawbones, so my mind spins, too. I started keeping a journal recently on some different projects, mainly out of curiosity of time involved more than anything. But I also scribbled the wood species I used, blades, measurements, etc. In the 26 years I've been scrolling, I've never done this. I've found my memory ain't what it used to be, either.:( That was another reason for the journal. I also scribbled down adjustments I made to the saw thru the coarse of the project. That didn't amount to much, but a reference i reckon. I don't consider myself perfect my no means, but I am a perfectionist. And no two projects turn out the same, at least for me. So, I just thought I'd throw this out there & see what the rest of ya do, or think. Thank you in advance for your time & replies.

Iggy, I'm sorry to hear you're STILL havin' issues, brother. This situation appears to be getting worse instead of better. I've been tryin' to follow this thread to see if you're getting any results. I found out yesterday Nicole had her baby. So Scott is burnin' the candle at both ends. Did you end up loosening the six bolts underneath & move it around & settle it in place? And like I noted in the video you sent me, the blade doesn't appear to be centered in the blade hole in the table. Mine was off just a little bit when we bought it new. I loosened the bolts underneath & centered it. From the vibration you're describing, it makes me wonder if one or both of your arms aren't bent. To have that much vibration, it's all that's really left. If it got dropped on it's head in shipping, or fell & hit the trailer floor, or worse yet, somethin' fell on top of it. Which wouldn't surprise me in the least with ups, that's all it would take to tweak those arms. And as much racket as it makes, from my experience with Hawk saws, something is out of balance, or out of alignment. That saw should run so quiet, you can hear the blade cuttin'. just a couple thoughts i had, Iggy. keep in touch, & good luck.

walnut, cherry, & cedar.

personally, on something like that, I wouldn't waste my time with poly. Were it me, after it's been painted, dried & cured, I'd use deft lacquer on it. Or Watco, which ever you can get. Watco won't change the color like deft might, but the gloss look is outstanding. Get the rattle can so you can just spray it that way. A little less hassle. I spray shellac out of the rattle can, unless it's a bigger project. Then I spray shellac & lacquer both with my hvlp spray gun with air. I get a better coat on, & it looks much better in the end.