DME72

it has to do with the new GREEN designation. look for the regular one, if it is available in your state. buy the kleen strip in the blue/gold metal can if it is available where you live. i know like about 15 years ago a shop did alot of mail order stuff for woodworking. certain states restricted the sale of certain finishes and thinners.i am not a big fan of what they have done with all this stuff. doug

never bought anything from them, or heard any bad about them. also acme tools in grand forks has really good prices too.

i am still looking, but looking at grizzly and shop fox saws the blades are not standard length. 131 1/2 for the grizzly 513 and 120 for the shop fox 14 inch resaw saw. i have read way too many bad reviews of laguna to think about one of them. mostly bad customer service after the sale and a lack of checking machines before they leave for shipment. apparently they have some QC issues going on from what i read about, sad considering how much they cost. i guess i am to critical of stuff but if i pay $1500-2000 for a bandsaw it should be right and already tested by the seller when i get it. i am looking at the rikon 10-326. so far circle saw in houston has the best price i have found.i dont need anything over 13 inches of resaw and my delta 14 inch saw has the carter guides on it which i really like. i assume the rikon guides would be the same thing.plus rikon has the BEST warranty out of all of them, 5 years! i also like the grizzly g0513x2 saw but not being able to go to rockler or woodcraft here in town and pick up a new blade kinda stinks. because it will break at 10 oclock at nite i like being able to go either store and get a new blade the next day.if i had a blade welder, which i dont, i would buy and cut and weld my own. it is looking more and more like rikon for me. now to convince my wife i need a new saw! doug

dont buy an new excalibur! they are now made in china and not the quality of the ones from 5-6 years ago. king scroll saws are made in taiwan by the company that used to make the excalibur. older excalibur made in taiwan are good saws. doug

if the hawk saw is true at 10 years old it will be made by bushton manufacturing. if it says RBI it is at least 12 years old.RBI closed down early 2008 and then bushton bought them. does he have a serial # and model number as well. you can also ask what brand of motor is on it and date it with in a few years. fell free to ask any questions. was the hawk saw reasonably priced? doug

they have gone downhill since going over seas IMO. the saws dont seen to be as well made as they were. i guess they had to cut costs somehow. in the $500 range of saws it is still one of the ok ones. if i had to get a type 2 i would totally strip it down and grease ALL the bearings with really good grease and check the fit on everything.no you should not have to do that on a $500 saw or any new tool for that matter, but if you want it to last as long as possible you do want some PM work on it first.dont know where annis is located but i would look for a second hand saw and save some money. do a little research and see what used saws are selling for in your area.hegner, dewalt, hawk, pegas, delta, excalibur/ king are all good saws if they work properly. you will see alot of the cast iron tables rusted from sitting in a damp basement or garage, cleans up easy if not all pitted. doug

if you watch craigslist or facebook marketplace you could get a deal on a higher end saw. i see hawks and hegners all the time. just depends on what your budget is.avoid the older style hawks with the ac motor and round barrel clamps on the bottom arm. it also depends on where you live as to what is available on the used market.the new dewalts are not as good as the older type 1 saws that were made by excalibur in canada. you might be able to break the saw down and repack all the bearings in it if you buy a new dewalt 788.not that difficult to do. great video from gwinnett woodworkers on you tube about this, several hours long. doug

dont know anything about the jet bandsaws. alot of them look very similar though to other brands. i think for what they cost laguna could give more than a 1 year warranty, same with grizzly. my main reason to get a bigger saw is to resaw thick lumber for my scroll saw projects. mainly 8 inch or less in walnut,cherry, and oak. one thing i do know is all bandsaws have terrible dust collection, at least the ones i have used. grizzly is having a very nice sale right now, but all of their bandsaws use a oddball size blades it seems. i would not want to have to order blades and wait or have them custom made. although i do know a guy that has a blade welder. the rikon has alot a features for a great price. maybe i should look at them. it also looks like the rikon 10-326 does not take up much more space than my old delta saw. also has a decent resaw height capacity. doug

looking to upgrade my old delta 14 inch band saw. been a good saw but i would like something bigger. main reason is for resawing hardwoods. if you had a budget of about $1000-1200 or so to spend would you get a laguna, rikon or grizzly. all the specs look great on the g0513 series grizzly saws. dont know anybody who owns any grizzly tools.laguna tools look good also, they are on the upper end of the price range.then there is rikon bandsaws. again i dont know anyone who has any rikon tools. although they have the best warranty out of all 5 years. i have resaw on a friends old delta 14 with a riser block the saw never felt that strong. what brand and size of bandsaw does everyone else use for resaw. doug

that was built when stuff was made to last! good score and will give you many more years of service.

thanks for the nice comments. hopeful i will have more time in the shop this week. doug

just finished cutting these out. coat of oil and take some pictures. i thought these were a good pick to cut out for easter sunday.

i used to use a generic brand CA glue. now all i use is starbond brand. comes with lots of fine tips and caps and such. when i am done with my glue job i put the tips in a small jar of acetone for a few days to clean them.works great. starbond brand is about the same cost as the other brands. i have never been able to use those big bottles in enough quantity before the glue goes bad. doug

that is the one JT.

not that one JT. the one that is $269 the 3 in 1 machine.. shear brake and roll combo machine.

wichman, how hard is it to cut with that shear? i have also looked at those online. accucutter also sells a shear like that. i will not use everyday but i like good tools for my shop. i dont really have a use right now for a slip roll or brake. would only buy one for the shear. new hermes used to make a shear for cutting brass stock, but have not found one close to me.i am really wanting to know how much effort it takes to shear with that style cutter that wichman uses. doug

JT i do not know how to post a link. i would have to have my wife or kids do that. just look at amazon.com type kaka industrial. it is a 8 inch 3 in 1 machine sells for $269 the one guy reviewing it cuts like 16-18 gauge copper with it. let me know what you think doug

the harbor freight scissors dont work. i already tried them.really been looking on amazon because i have alot of gift cards.the kaka industrial 8 inch 3 in 1 machine has pretty good reviews. one by a guy that cuts 16-18 gauge copper for jewelry work. the copper i cut is 26 gauge, about the same for the aluminum. i may just get one to try it out. doug

soda cans are very thin. the metal i am using is 26 gauge .018 thickness. some might be 24 gauge. i have tried a good pair of scissors, to thick to cut. thinking about picking up an old school paper cutter, the heavy duty ones that worked. may try and cut with that and see if i get good results. doug

does anyone on here use copper or aluminum sheet for earrings and small ornaments? i have made some metal earrings with both metals. glued between 1/8 baltic birch plywood. cuts pretty good. my problem is cutting down the sheets from hobby lobby. it is like 26 gauge copper about .018 thick. i have a good set of aviation snips, but the thin copper and aluminum bends to easy. thinking about getting a small shear but the reviews are all over the place unless you spend $800 or more. does anybody on here use a shear to cut copper aluminum or brass for that matter? doug

you know mcmaster-carr sells the thumb screws as well as the plastic thumb. if i remember they are about $9-10 for fifty of them and you can get different colors too. maybe use different colors for different blades. the ones i bought are black, gray, red and yellow are also available. they press right on the end. doug

kevin, the info i got from that other forum was from 2010 and the guy was an ex RBI employee. the fusion saw looks like the old ultra sides instead of the red cast iron of the g4. i suspect the arms may have been made in china also, but not sure. the guy was banned on that forum, but not sure why. he had alot of info on hawk saws.

i dont know that it is coasting. just not alot of people willing to spend $1200-1400 on a scroll saw. RBI ended the cast iron frame which was made overseas. along with several other parts. they made about 100 or so called g4 fusion saws before closing up. the fusion saw went back to the aluminum sides and did away with the casting. all this from another forum website.

JT i am glad they are finally getting you the parts you ordered. been looking at another hawk saw as a back up but not sure about it due to some parts being made out of plastic and a few being made in china. not sure i want to mess with all that because by the time i buy the saw and possibly fix the plastic pitman arm and it looks like it might have plastic blade holders too. i will have to get some better pictures from the seller. why buy that and fix when i am already 2/3 the way to a brand new one. anyway glad you got the parts. by the way the saw i am looking at is the last one made by RBI from the looks of the picture it is a G4. waiting on better photos from seller.

wow. those are some old hawk scroll saws. i see hawks all the time for sale mostly 220 and 226 saws. i still think bushton has done alot of improvements since they started making the saws. i would worry on some of those really old hawk saws that the parts might not be available anymore.