Rolf

I am not sure about lubing the front tension cam. Friction keeps that engaged. I would worry about it vibrating loose when i put a heavy load on it with a big blade. I occasionally have to tweak that a bit. I think I will take a quick look to see what type of bearing is in the upper arm pivot. I looked at my G4 manual they say to spray a light oil (WD 40) into the upper and lower arm pivot bearing every 100 hours of use. Not sure I have been that diligent, actually I have never sprayed anything on those bearings.

I have been very busy but I have some fretwork to do for SSWWC. I took another hard look at my saw discovered that the the upper arm pivot bolt had backed out a bit allowing the upper arm to move a bit side to side. I was sure I had checked that, but evidently not. Snugging that up eliminated the side to side movement. Too snug and the arm gets a tad stiff. So Kevin I will follow your lead and When I get a chance will tear down my saw and replace all of the bearings. The connecting rod is new. but the arm pivots are the originals. Also the rear tensioning wedge assembly is showing signs of wear. If I am reading my hour meter correctly I think I have at least 4K hours on this saw.

Many of the recent projects I have done for the magazine use mortise and tenon for assembly. Not my favorite method but necessary for certain projects, like the Japanese inspired shelf in the SSWWC summer issue. What I do is cut the tenons then mark around it where I am putting the mortise. an easy cut with the scroll saw just up to the inside of the lines. If need be I clean up the mortise with a very sharp chisel until I get a slip fit. If I don't get a perfect fit or small gaps in the back I just rub in a bit of sawdust and spray on my finish. It is much stronger than screws and less risk of splitting your project.

I have been working with Sloans and Rhonda probably since I got serious with my scrolling 14 years it think. She and her family will certainly be in our prayers. She won the first battle I pray she wins this one also.!

Did anyone attend the woodworking show this past weekend? How was the turnout? I hear that there were not very many vendors.

Thanks Guys and Gals, great feedback. ! I have always liked to dial something in to specific value. But like most of you once I have a good feel for my tools I just do what I need to do with a minimum of fiddling. The reason for my asking this. An analitical tool may be helpful. I have learned something about my Hawk and probably any saw with the long arms. My normal small detail blade has been the Olson 2/0 R 28 TPI. It is slow cutting but very controllable. I figured that after 14 years I should be able to control a more aggressive blade. Bought some Pegas 2/0 R MGT 15.4 TPI , they are a bit thinner an narrower than the Olson. I noticed that the blade had a sideways wobble when running at my normal cutting speed. I have never noticed this before. So I increased the tension beyond where it should be and yes I broke a few blades. Brought the tension back to where it should be and slowed the saw down until the wobble went away. That worked and the the blades really cut very nicely. This is where I wish I had access to one of the EX style saws and do a comparison. I am thinking that the long arms of the Hawk have so much mass that there is some sort of varying tension going on with arm flex? I do not see this effect with a bigger blade. Or I need to go through my saw for a thorough tuneup.

We need more teachers like you! This country needs more kids with these skill sets. We had a heck of time trying to find a suitable replacement for me when I retired. The ability to think and solve problems is very rare. Our department now has found several brilliant and driven young folks one young lady absolutely blows my mind with her drive and skills. I hope she doesn't get bored an leaves them.

I posted this on the SSWWC forum also. Blade tension is always a bit of a challenge, especially for those just entering the hobby. If someone created a device that clipped onto the blade and gave you a quantitative reading instead of pinging the blade would you buy it.? They say about a 1/8 deflection when tensioned properly, but me with my meat hooks can easily push that where someone with a light touch wouldn't. What much would you be willing to pay for a gadget like that? Free is not an acceptable answer.

I made a mix of the beeswax also and use it on some turnings. Kevin how big is this cross.? I must have missed it somewhere. I do like beautiful grain, I used Bocote for one of the projects I did for FC. It is a very dense wood. All wood moves but some woods grain structure really weakens it. Has anyone ever seen or used any quarter sawn Red Oak. ?

I use the same 3M half mask that ray is using. Kevin what truck are you driving? 8-10 MPG ouch.

Good point JT. When I read oscillating I immediately thought spindle sander as it appears some of the others did also. To me the hand held sander is a orbital, as in random orbital. I guess Rockytime needs to clarify. If it is an RO My wife blessed me with a Festool ETS EC 125-3 for Christmas a couple of years ago. I had suggested the $99 special they had going on back then. But they were sold out. I absolutely love it but they are crazy with their prices.

The oscillating spindle sander is a great tool. I use mine a lot when doing intarsia. I bought the Jet because it has a 1/4 inch spindle and I also wanted the tilting table. Great for doing Scrollsaw bowls.

Jt you do take a different spin on things. I cut wood that appeals to me. If smell were the only reason for not cutting oak I would not be doing much cutting at all. I think it was Sycamore that smelled like cow dung, walnut has a very sour aroma, mulberry has a nice sweet aroma. Spanish cedar one of my favorites leaves a nasty bitter taste in my mouth. ( that was before I got my dust under control) Baltic birch ply actually makes me a bit nauseous, so I always wore a half mask when cutting it. Visually I like red oak for furniture and flooring. For fretwork I feel the grain detracts from the details. JMO. I have also watched a magnificent highly detailed fretwork basket cut in red oak (1/4") literally self destruct because of a huge humidity change. That was when I did a presentation on woodworking at one of the FC open houses. So Jt feel free to corner the Oak market, I am sure that your beautiful work sells very well.

Kevin, regarding the dust in your lap, I added the handle and wheels to my Hawk G4 after I bought it. The handle ends up being really useful. I put a plastic bag on it with a few clothespins. Plus with the dust collection i gen very little dust anywhere. All of my small cutoffs go in the bag. I am not sure any of the folks at Hawk are hard core scrollers. When I bought mine in 2005 they had one guy who really did a great final tune on the saw. But my saw came in with a slight crown in the table, drove me nuts squaring the blade, until I put a straight edge across it. They did send me a replacement that was good.

Kevin I agree with you I have no love for red Oak, don't like the grain or as you say the smell. The only Oak I do like is the quarter sawn white Oak that I used for a dining room table insert. How long is it taking you for each one.?

I like both products. I used to have the Delta version of that bench to jointer, it was a real work horse. I was finally able to do a decent glue up. I sold it to a friend and bought a Jet floor model as my confidence grew so did my projects.

Dennis, I assume that was directed at me. I never inherited the organizational skills from my German toolmaker father. My biggest problem is space and wood storage., Once I started doing Intarsia I lost all control. I also have low ceilings so no room for cabinets or floor space for that matter. It is a constant battle that I am not winning. Scrappile I really like that chair.!

Ray just a heads up on the stool that you have at your saw. All four legged stools were tossed at my work place because they are dangerous. When you push back from your saw If the legs catch on anything you will go over backwards.! All of my stools are now 5 legged on casters. Here is a picture of my mess, all it takes is one project. and the stool that I am using. My choice of flooring way back in 2005 was not so great either the diamond plate vinyl is tough to roll heavy machines on but better than concrete

I am so glad that you are happy with your New Hawk. It is a tall Saw, I guess the original designer must have been a big guy. Adjustable legs would have been a nice feature. Regarding top feeding it doesn't take long to get used to feeding the blade into the bottom clamp. On the older hawks where you had to reach around the angle plate that would have been a pain.

Does this Hawk have the barrel clamp on the bottom? Take your time selling the other saw. The Hawk will be an adjustment, especially coming from a Dewalt or EX. The blade clamps are very different. And as I said earlier wipe the surface of the table until you get no more black on the wipes, or you will have black marks on the back of your projects.

This is an older Hawk so not sure it will top feed. I would buff out the top with a fine scotch bright. Then paste wax and keep wiping it until you have no more black on the wipes.

The photo would be best, but you could also use tracing paper with a very soft pencil so you don't put any impressions in the leather. Then scan it. You can then clean it up in a drawing program.

If you are looking for stuff that looks like wood. I would get some wood.

Does the Wen take pinless blades?

Floor underlayment is typically Luan, I just bought a square of it to demonstrate Pyrography. I would only use it as a backer on certain projects. The 1.5mm (1/16) 50" x 50" for $44.70 that equals $2.50 a sq ft. I use that for my 4" x 4" ornaments (30 cents). I sell the ornaments for $10-$12 The 3mm (1/8) is only $15 for the same size sheet. $.60 a sq ft. That is used for larger fretwork projects. It is good one side but I rarely find any football patches on the back. I also pre-sand all of my ply to 320. The 2 x 2 x 1/8 Luan that I bought from Lowes cost me over $4 so not so cheap.