Iguanadon

Unforgiving is a nice way of putting it. LOL This is like dating a new woman... have to figure out what she doesn't like by trial and error and remembering so you don't do it again. I've had good luck with the Olson Mach Speed #3 blade... I get 4, 5 or 6 puzzles per blade on the Dewalt. I cut the outline of 10 puzzles out of poplar Saturday with a single blade on the Hawk and was pleased. I knew from others that cutting on the Hawk would be slower, and it is, which is fine. I heard that the Pegas Modified Geometry blades are more aggressive so I ordered a sample pack which should be here within a week so I can give them a try.

Note: If you cut puzzles from thick stock... do NOT modify the forward pitch of the blade to make it more aggressive. Holy crap, I spent 2 hours this morning trying to recalibrate pitch and angle of the blade after I decided to try setting it a bit more aggressive... Puzzle pieces wouldn't slide in and out from both sides, so I had to un-do what I did (once I remembered I'd changed it Saturday afternoon), but it took a lot of tweaking to get things back to where they were. In the meantime, poor ELMO the Aussie was sacrificed. May he rest in peace. LOL But I got him cut again and he's oiled now. Also, FYI, the little mark underneath that moves when you're adjusting the forward pitch is not exact, so be sure to double check the actual pitch rather than lining up the mark with where you think it should be. I ended up going from an aggressive forward pitch to a negative pitch and didn't realize it until I was still having puzzle issues. Good news... when stuff like this happens, you really get familiar with things on the saw as you're checking and tweaking various things. I still like the saw overall and I look forward to getting some Pegas blades that were recommended to me. It's all a learning experience when you buy a new/different saw. I'm getting there. My farmers market was a rain-out Saturday so this week is dedicated to cutting 40 puzzles for the big event. I'll then review my inventory and decide what else I think I need.

LOL, I tried black walnut a while back and ended up with kindling... I know my limitations, not necessarily the saws limitations. :-)

I just finished cutting the outlines of 11 animal puzzles in poplar and used just 1 blade. I do like the machine, it's smooth. I look forward to trying the Pegas blades when they come so that maybe I can gain back a little bit of speed. Going slow is actually nice and soothing, so I'm not complaining. An extra minute to cut each one is not an issue. Cutting curves and angles with this saw is fabulous. Tight turns are a breeze and smooth as silk. I will say, because of the blade breakage issue I was having with the first saw, I've been very paranoid... When a blade snaps on this machine it scares the crap out of ya. LOL Nice to know I don't need to worry about it any longer.

Hi Roland, Welcome. I buy mineral oil by the gallon from Amazon. $21.25 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VNI1JI0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I can't help with the dust mask, I don't wear one. Good luck and keep asking questions. Iggy

Thanks. I'll order some Pegas right now and give them a try. I love Amazon... Just ordered a variety pack of the Pegas Modified Geometry blades so I can try various sizes. (I'll buy them by the gross from a scroll shop if I like them.) If I like them, someone is going to need to buy the 2 gross of Olson Mach Speed blades I have on hand.

I use Olson Mach Speed (#3)... Have you used them before to compare to the Pegas?

My first dog puzzle with the new saw... I'm so happy I could almost cry... OK, not really, but I'm very pleased. As I knew up front, the cutting is slower. I have not adjusted the pitch of the blade to make it more aggressive yet, I didn't want to make any adjustments until I was sure everything else is working properly so that I didn't end up having to figure out if something I did was causing an issue. That puzzle required 7 inside cuts and I had no trouble bottom feeding as I always did with my Dewalt. I won't have any issue with that at all. Just the fact the puzzle pieces slide in from either side is a HUGE thing and always my fear every time I crank up a new saw out of the box.

Phase 1 testing complete... cut 28 kids puzzles out of 3/4" pine using a #3 Olson Mach Speed blade. Vibration is just about gone after a bit of an adjustment to the main arm assembly I made late yesterday. I did snap a couple of blades, but I'm sure that was all on me as I get used to installing the blades in the clamps which need to be as close to 90 degrees as possible. I'm snapping them at the top, so I'll pay more attention and I'm sure it'll become second nature soon enough. Phase 2 testing later today will be to cut a few of my signature animal puzzles out of 3/4" poplar, including doing inside cuts which will give me practice with the upper blade clamp, over and over and over again.

Hi Bob... Did you build your own stand or modify the existing one somehow?

Nickel test PASSED! And a snapshot of the "adjustment" I made to the main arm assembly, you can see the saw dust line of where it was before I realigned it. At least now I know I can tweak things if/when necessary.

Nice. I'm actually not even removing the lower blade clamp when I replace blades... I just feed it down thru the hole in the table, insert it into the clamp and tighten it. So far so good. LOL We'll see if I keep the blade properly aligned when I do it. That's how I've always done it on my Dewalt, so I have pretty good hand/eye coordination although it was easier on the Dewalt.

After doing it, I was thinking I'd have preferred just loosening the 6 bolts underneath holding the main arm assembly only and not the pitman arm... let the main arm assembly "align" with the pitman. If that makes sense.

You got me to go out and tinker with it... I loosened the 6 bolts underneath that hold the main arms assembly after loosening the pitman arm from the lower arm and I simply jiggled everything and let them "re-align" and then tightened everything back... It actually seems to have helped. I can now run it at full speed and it's smoother. I'll put it to a full test tomorrow. I really like the fact that this machine has far fewer pivot points, bearings, etc. A lot less to wear out and go bad. I truly want to fall in love with this saw and use it for years to come.

Hey Hotshot My 788 was perfectly smooth, zero vibration, and the Hawk vibrates noticeably. I'm playing with speeds and found a couple of worse speeds, but no speed is perfectly smooth. At full speed it's pretty jumpy. I may try loosening some of the mounting bolts of various pieces and see if they simply need to re-align and "settle". The legs are rock solid on the floor and I'm on a concrete slab, just so you can mentally eliminate those as potential issues. I had leg extenders on the back legs because I like a tilt, but I removed those so that I could eliminate them as the problem. With the first saw I wasn't even able to cut without snapping blades, so this is definitely an improvement, and I really hope I can get rid of the vibration because I love how the saw cuts so far.

Quick update... the replacement saw arrived yesterday afternoon. I got it setup and have been cutting kids puzzles out of pine this morning to get comfortable with it. It's much better although there is still some vibration, but I don't know what is normal for Hawk's. The one very good thing is, no blades breaking. The first saw, I snapped 5 blades in an hour and so far I haven't had one break and I'm using #3 blades. I've emailed Nilus at Bushton Manufacturing thanking him for getting me the replacement and I have the first one boxed up and ready for UPS to pick up this afternoon. I'll continue testing, playing and tweaking and will provide a full review once I swap out a few dozen blades, make interior cuts and cut a couple dozen of my real puzzles out of poplar as a thorough test. Looks like my farmers market will be a rain-out tomorrow, so I'll get some extra cutting time. Enjoy the weekend everyone, Iggy

Glad the oil is working well for you. I pour mine in that plastic container you see in the lower right of the picture, I keep it in there and add to it as it runs low. I get 400-500 puzzles per gallon.

Thanks Roberta, they're truly fun to make. Don't cut one... or you'll get hooked.

Good news... replacement saw just arrived and I swapped the legs to the new one and cranked it up and so far, so good. Much smoother. I'll slowly play with it and get familiar with it over the next couple of days. It looks as though my farmers market will be rainy this Saturday so I won't go. That'll give me some more time to cut.

If you put the lettering along the bottom, there will be plenty of support as they'll be connected to the bottom of the "track". Here is something I created and even with only a single "contact" point, it's plenty sturdy. In your case, the letters don't necessarily need to connect/touch each other, they'll be connected at the bottom of each letter. This was a test I made a while back in oak, I make them out of poplar now.

Hey Jim, Just a thought, but have you considered doing the lettering along the bottom, on the inside, so that the shape of the track is fully seen and appreciated? With the letters so large filling the big area, you kind of lose the shape and look of the full track, at least in my eye anyway. And that way you could use any font style that you like because you wouldn't be trying to fill an entire space. Here is a horrible, quick mock-up to try to show what I'm saying.

Funny you should ask... I just received an email from UPS letting me know it's on the way and will arrive tomorrow.

That's when I know I've taken this "hobby" too far. LOL!

I may be strapping my tables and tent to the top of the SUV. :-) Mrs. Ig may not be joining me. If the weather forecast is too hot, she won't go. She can't deal with excessive heat, so I'll be on my own. I have friends in the town where the event is and I'll ask for a couple of volunteers to come help me... one in the morning and one in the afternoon each day.

Hey Charley, good to hear from you. My weekly sales are perfect in that I sell 24-29 puzzles each Saturday which is easily manageable. But right now I'm simply pushing hard to stockpile for the big event coming up. I don't want to have a single person ask for something and I have to say "Sorry, I did have some of those, but sold out." So, for an anticipated 200-250 sales event, I'm heading there with 600 on hand. I'm actually going to increase my price for the event from $25 to $29 and the kids puzzles which are normally $10, I'm going to list as "$15 each or 2 for $25" I'm somewhat of a jokester and I plan on putting up a sign that says $29 each or 3 for $99" and see how many people go for the "discount" :-) In small print on the price sign it'll say "You'll only be charged $87, this was a test" Many years ago I was selling candy bars for one of my Iglet's school sales and I put them on my desk at work $1 each or 2 for $3" It was pitiful how many people picked up 2 and tried to give me $3.