Iguanadon

I mentioned the fact that I have several folks closely following my Hawk purchase and upcoming review and I'll be sure to mention it to Nilus (designer and co-owner) next time I speak with him. As a matter of fact I just shot off an email to him with pictures of what I make and the number I produce in a year along with the type of wood I use, etc asking him if he feels confident the Hawk can handle the workload. I explained that I've worn out 2 brand new Dewalt 788's in just 18 months. We'll see if I scare him off. LOL

Hi Randy, Here is a link to an overview I wrote a while back of my cutting process But real quick... Yes, standard 1x wood from Home Depot or Lowes is fine. You want the puzzles to be able to stand up on their own. I use poplar but others use pine and some use high grade ply. Whatever you're comfortable with. I find that the puzzles are enjoyed by all ages. The dogs are particularly enjoyed by all ages of dog owners. Unicorns are admired by kids and adults as are the sea critters that I make. I have a side area at my booth with kids puzzles, dinosaurs right now, but expanding that in a couple of weeks. Iggy

Tuner, and any others out there thinking of trying one, here is one I drew from one of Harvey's outlines, a free sample. Give it a try and see how you like it. If you're interested in others, I sell them for Harvey and you can see them on my website. If you see it out there, I have the pattern for it. Rescue.pdf

Nicely cut. Funny side story... I actually modified that pattern from what Harvey designed originally. He had the dogs tail curling down, under and forward (which is how Whippet's tend to have their tail, "tucked")... however... it ended up looking like something other than a tail... and I didn't want people thinking I was selling dog porn puzzles.

I appreciate the feedback, comments and thoughts. I'm not saying I believe everything they're saying, but I simply want to give them a chance. I like to support small businesses when I can and am willing to be patient when dealing with them. Honestly, if they were trying to hide something, they'd have simply agreed to refund my money once I sent the saw back and they'd be done with me forever. They'd be foolish to try to screw me over at this point and drag this out. I have not been terribly pleasant with them during this entire thing. I'm never crass or horrible, but I'm politely pissed and I see to it that they realize that. ;-) As I tell potential tenants in my rental house... "I'm the nicest guy in the world, until you screw with me. Do not confuse my overall kindness as weakness, you will regret it." If nothing else, you all get a front row seat for The Wild and Crazy Iggy Show...

OK... well... it has not been a fun few days but I wanted to update those who are sitting on the edge of their seats wondering about the Hawk saw. After 5 weeks of waiting since the order was placed, my saw arrived this past Friday July 14th. Joy and happiness ensued. I assembled it, which meant attaching the legs and I made a couple of very brief test cuts as it was literally over 95 degrees in my garage. The saw was rather noisy and vibration was very noticeable. I didn't think much of it at the time. Saturday was farmers market and then other tasks needed to be done, so no cutting. Sunday I was able to get out there and dedicate some time. I did a few more test cuts, I grabbed one of my animal puzzles and cut a couple of the puzzle pieces to test and adjust the table and blade as needed. I got it somewhat close, but the noise and vibration was really becoming more noticeable. I double and triple checked that the legs of the saw were solid on the concrete floor in my garage, I checked for any loose parts, etc, but no luck. I then decided to just cut outlines of some of the animal puzzles so that I could get used to the saw. While cutting 4 outlines of animals, I snapped 5 blades. I figured it was my fault not installing the blades correctly and needing to get used to things. But the more I played with the speeds on the saw, the vibration and noise was beyond normal. I'd put a piece of scrap wood on the table and watch it dance across and fall off... that's not right. I emailed BM (Bushton Manufacturing) the maker/seller and provided a couple of videos that I recorded and asked that they call me Monday. Monday they called me and had me check a couple of things, but no luck. The machine is not all that complex so there are only so many things it could be and it seemed to me it was as if the motor was out of balance or something. Tuesday I call to let them know the things they had me try didn't work. They offer to send me a new motor and a couple of other parts but I tell them I'm really not interested in rebuilding their saw and we get into a bit of a "discussion" and I end up asking to simply get my money back and then into the discussion about having to crate it back up, ship it back, etc. During the discussion it is stated "Yeah, we've been having problems with the motors and controllers causing delays while we worked out the issues..." Wait... what? That's the first I'd heard about that during this entire 5 weeks and I've had half a dozen conversations during that time... So I'll admit, I got a bit pissed and said I wasn't paying squat to ship it back, etc, etc. I was told they'd have someone call me. I get an email from Nilus last night, the designer of the saw. He is apologetic, offers to send me a new saw and I can then package up this one and they will have UPS pick it up. I ask him outright if the replacement saw is likely to have the same problem now that I know of the issues they're having. He convinces me the problem occurred during shipment. There was no damage to the box, but if it gets jostled too much it throws the motor off he says, it rarely happens but they've had it happen a time or two. He says he is personally going to inspect the one they'll box up for me tomorrow and make sure it's in top working order before it leaves... So after thinking I was just going to give up and stick with my Dewalt's, I decided to let them try to win me back over. I'm guessing I'll see the new one the middle of next week and hopefully it's in top working order at which point I can provide an actual review of the saw. Sometimes I'm too nice and give people the benefit of the doubt, but I truly want this to work out and allow BM to show me how good the Hawk saws are. I may simply be the unlucky 1 out of 1000 that is having issues like this, so I don't want to tarnish the company or the saw in a lot of peoples minds. Let's see how this turns out. Cross your fingers and ask the scroll gods to be nice to me. Iggy

LOL, well I'm thinking of having a wall built, my garage is a 2 1/2 car garage, literally 900 sqft and my workshop areas is in the "1/2"... I could build a wall with a door and probably be able to heat and cool it rather easily... but that's something I'll pursue down the road. By the way, the entire Hawk saw thing is a bust. I'll be providing details soon once I calm down. ;-)

Beautiful work. I'll take one, my grand-daughters name is Wren.

Yep, that things gets almost red hot doesn't it. I have it mostly running out the garage door which I keep open and I do have it wrapped in insulation from when I used to use it in a garden shed at my previous house.

I'd be thrilled if it was only 88 degrees in my garage. LOL Mine is reaching 93, 94 with 80% humidity. I just moved into this house 10 months ago, so this is my first summer and I am also trying to decide what to do, if anything. I have an area enclosed in plastic where I do all of my scroll cutting, intended for dust control, but it also is great for cooling a small area with a portable AC (bought at Home Depot). It's fabulous and I can cut in there for hours if I want to. The rest of the garage is still unbearable, so any work that needs to be done outside the plastic area is done first thing in the mornings.

The issue I'm having is the saw is very loud and vibrating a lot... I'm in communication with Hawk. I'm hoping that whatever is causing those issues helps with the blades, although I still think the blade issue is my fault and I just need to adjust my cutting to what the saw will allow me to do. I'll keep everyone posted.

Unfortunately I believe there may be issues with the saw... I don't want to start bad-mouthing it and it ends up being something simple, but I'll be holding off on cutting with it and any updates until I speak with them hopefully tomorrow.

Hey Hotshot, the video wasn't working for me, but your description made it clearer. I had adjusted mine to be more aggressive but set it back because I think it was causing me issues with puzzle pieces not sliding in from both directions. I used the line/marker to get back to where I think it was from the factory. See pic.

Sunday Update - So this morning I prepped 20 puzzles to replace what I sold yesterday. After mounting them to the wood and rough cutting them into sections of 2-3 puzzles I started cutting the outlines using the new Hawk. I figured I'd start with outlines, get used to the saw, etc. Anyone have any spare blades? I'm snapping them like crazy! LOL I know it's all my fault, making sure the blades are 90 degrees within the clamps, making sure the tension is appropriate and slowing down... slowing WAY down. I'm getting there... just having to adjust to things. I'll use my Dewalt to cut these 20 into puzzle pieces because I need to them done and oiled as soon as possible. We have friends coming to visit this afternoon for 2 nights so my cutting time will be reduced this week.

Hi Dave, my website is thru Shopify. Cost is $30 a month. I had never done anything related to creating a website before and Shopify was very easy to setup and configure. I only needed to have 1 call with them after I'd set everything up to have them review what I'd done to make sure I hadn't missed anything. They were very helpful. As far as sales... they are few and far between. I have folks take dozens of my cards at each event, but there is very little follow-thru. I have always said my puzzles are an impulse buy type item. I am constantly asked "Do you have a website? Do you ship?", etc, etc but not much actually comes in. But that's just me and as you know I'm a one-trick pony doing only puzzles. Good luck! Iggy

Happy to help, I sent you a message with my phone number so you can call me tomorrow and walk me through what you'd like me to check.

Awwww, sorry to hear that... I couldn't tell, but did you have any unpackaged, available to be touched and played with? Be sure to have at least one open. All of mine on display are available to be handled and it allows everyone to truly appreciate the full effect. I had some puzzles in a store 1 block from where I sell them at the farmers market and I think only 1 sold in a month. They had to all be wrapped so that they didn't get scattered around.

Is this what you're looking for?

Hi All, Several folks have expressed interest in the Hawk BM26 saw that I ordered, so I'll provide information as I move forward now that I'm in possession of it. The saw arrived yesterday afternoon and I suffered through the ridiculous heat in my garage and got it assembled and turned it on to be sure it worked. I also moved the accessory arm which holds the blower from the right side to the left side as it was on my Dewalt and that's what I'm used to. I did a couple of small test cuts but that was it for yesterday. I had my farmers market this morning and when I got home I decided to try starting to cut a puzzle and it went OK. It's definitely slower cutting than the Dewalt but that's ok. I did have some trouble with puzzle pieces not sliding in from both sides, but I just need to get the tilt of the table right. I played with the "nose stroke adjustment which is the forward pitch of the blade to make it more aggressive. I think this may have been part of the issue with the puzzle pieces not sliding in from both sides in my initial test. Which makes sense logically, especially for puzzles, the blade may need to be more vertical. Again, requires more testing and playing. Attached are some pictures that folks have asked for. (I still haven't moved it into my cutting area, it's out in the open in the garage for now) Blade insertion and replacement is definitely different from the Dewalt but it's nothing horrible, just a matter of getting used to it. The lower blade holder comes out, (as does the top blade holder if needed), and you can insert the blade and screw clamp it, then slide it back in and then clamp it at the top. You can bottom feed or top feed just about equally on the saw. I bottom feed so I won't have much to report pertaining to top feeding. Below are links to the Hawk website as well as the owners manual if anyone is curious. I'll report back as I get to continue playing and cutting with it over the next week. Let me know if any particular questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Hawk website: http://www.hawkwoodworkingtools.com/WebsitePages/The-Hawk-Scroll-Saw.html Hawk Owners Manual: (give it a minute to load) http://www.hawkwoodworkingtools.com/files/SawManuals/BM-SERIES_SAW_MANUAL_4.pdf Iggy

It's 95 in my garage right now but I wanted to try out the saw... I started cutting a puzzle and it definitely cuts slower than the Dewalt which is no big deal. A couple of the puzzle pieces didn't slide in from both sides so I'm adjusting the tilts/angle of the table a little until I find that perfect sweetspot. I lot of testing and playing still to come. Changing the blade isn't too horrible, I bottom fed to make a couple of inside cuts and it wasn't as awkward as I first thought. I'll definitely provide a full report after a week of cutting.

Market started out great, sold 8 in the first 45 minutes which had never happened, but then it slowed down and then the heat really hit... it was a scorcher. I sold 23, slightly below average, but a solid day and enjoyable as always. Weather forecast for next Saturday says a few degrees warmer than today... I'm thinking of skipping... but then I think about all the $$$ I come home with and it's hard to say no. LOL

Thanks for all the feedback and info. I just got home from my weekly farmers market and hope to play with the Hawk either this afternoon or tomorrow. I'll snap pictures and share for sure. And I'll provide my thoughts and review of it once I get some time on it. I don't want to make any snap judgments and say something is good or bad only to think the opposite after some time using it.

I'm gonna have to practice replacing blades on this thing... totally different. There must be a trick to it cuz it's not easy. Or I'm just slow. LOL

I'm literally soaked from head to toe, but it is assembled and it turns on (very important LOL) I'll test it later once I replace a couple gallons of fluids.

We have delivery! Santa just arrived in his big brown truck. First impressions... it's very red and it's VERY heavy. LOL And it's 95 degrees in my garage right now... not pleasant to be assembling a saw, but I'll keep working on it.