DME72

if you look on the motor and see what brand it is i should be be able to get a rough date within a few years. RBI changed motors 3 or 4 times on the ultra series. if it has the black flex air line it is 2002-2003 or newer.

only the new ultra saws had the square clamps, as far as i have seen. these saws are built to use, and will last many years with some basic maintenance.

looks like a good saw. if you ask the owner what brand of motor it has it would be easier to tell the date of manufacture. i have a chart from another site i was on that shows what years the various brand motors were used. not exact but a good timeline. is the seller reasonable on the price?

i was the one who made the clamps several years ago. they work well. i made my own inserts from 0-1 drill rod that i turned on my metal lathe. i wish Bushton manufacturing would make these for the saws they sell. i made a set for a member on here, but he no longer has the hawk scroll saw. the clamps worked really well at holding small blades. if i have time in the next day or so i will see about posting a picture of the clamps i made.

that saw is like new, but it has the fasco brand a/c motor that bushton will not repair anymore. just because of the expense, about $350 to change the motor and controller out i would pass and find something newer. doug

looking on bushton website they have lowered the price by $25 on each saw. the bm20 was 1200 last time i looked and is now 1175. most companies are raising the price. just looked at laguna bandsaw model 1412 and they want $1599 when they were $1079 about a year ago! would like to have a bigger better saw for resawing but not for $1599 plus tax! i will end up buying a used bandsaw one of these days. just have to wait and find the right deal. doug

you will like the new saw. i was fortunate enough to buy a used BM-20 model with less than 10 hours on it. huge difference from my type 1 dewalt. if properly leveled you can do the nickel test! as long as you do the suggested maintenance on the saw it will last a long time. the only thing i had a difficult time with was the blade clamp screw. total different set up than the dewalt type saws. i would not trade my saw for anything. doug

i also ordered some stuff in the spring of this year and got it pretty quick. not a large order maybe thirty or forty dollars of stuff. they at least seem like they are trying to improve on the ordering and customer service. doug

dan, does the motor do anything at all? i think it might be able to be fixed as long as the motor is not burned up. i would check the variable speed control box for a fuse. do you have and or know how to use a electrical test meter to do some basic testing? i know from another forum i used to go on MET out of mankato minnesota made a lot of rbi controls for them. dont know if they made them for the a/c motor though. another option is the variable speed controller might be able to be repaired. if the person you got it from did not do a good job with dust collection it might just be saw dust on the contacts of the main switch. it is not always an expensive fix.let us know what you find out. doug

les, i have a taig lathe, a taig mill and lots of tooling.only thing about the taig is no way to cut threads. you have to use taps and dies. not a big deal as most what i do is small stuff. i bought both for my other hobby of pen making, which i like but nobody wants to buy a pen for the amount of time and money i have in it. i guess i could say the same for my scroll saw stuff also. just a fun hobby. doug

les, you know mcmaster carr sells the wing knob as well as knurled aluminum knobs. they however do not sell what i made. next time i think i will buy the inserts from seyco and save some time. doug

here is the picture of what i use to to make the thumb screws. sorry it took so long. doug

kevin, i am talking about the insert kit. i will try and post pictures after while. doug

kevin, the plastic ends come seprate from the screws. they sell them in different colors and sizes. they have the big aluminum knurled ones also but i could not come up with a good way to drill them out and still accurate on the hole being centered. if you have a wood lathe and a few tools you could drill the screws out. just go slow. a beall collet chuck and some scrap brass or aluminum rod drilled and threaded to screw thread size and you can drill on a wood lathe. i have done it before i got my taig lathe. doug