Rolf

Iggy I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with your new saw. I have a couple of questions, bear with me. What blade are you using and is the tension giving you the classic "C" sound? I ask this because on my older Hawk if the tension gets too loose I get more noise and vibration especially at higher speeds. With your puzzle parts not coming out, did you put a square on the edge?, is it bowed or is it beveled? Bowed will be either too low a tension or pushing sideways. beveled is the obvious table not square to the table. I know you are not new to scrolling so I hope you are not offended by my basic questions. This trouble you are having with your saw are very disappointing to me almost as much as the frustration you are feeling.

Thanks Kevin, That is what I did for a living and it was the most enjoyable aspect of my job. My dad was an old world German tool maker so I grew up building stuff. Good thing I had some skills because I certainly was not an academic type.

As a start you should be wearing a good dust mask, especially with the exotics, some are very toxic. The Festool Midi on low is only 62 dB Rigid 85+ from what I have read. They don't list the specs'

This is my nozzle placement from below. The newer Hawks have the bottom blade clamps up front of the angle adjustment for easy access. I may move the nozzle behind if it gets in the way, so far it doesn't. I will do a before and after picture when I get a chance. 15 minutes of scrolling no Vac with the stock blower. Then clean the saw and do it with just the Vac no blower.

I use the 2" wide spindle mounted mac mops 180 and 240 grits on everything, including my fretwork. gently with a support board behind it. Like Denny said $40 but they last a very long time. They seem to be less aggressive than the regular mops and lat longer http://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/mm07204/

I use the Xyron machine. No spray adhesive.

Who will be presenting the classes and on what subjects? We will have 40 guests at our house on the 19th.

It is a solid simple machine and I have used it a couple of times at woodworking shows. I found the stroke to be too aggressive for my style of cutting.

I thought it was about time for me to add dust collection to my saw now that I have a quiet Festool Midi vacuum. I used 3/4 Loc-Line at the suction ends(.Amazon). The rest is PVC pipe and fittings from Lowes. I added a trap for those times when it sucks up that small piece you needed. The trap is not in the bottom picture as I just added it. I mounted the contraption to a piece wood and made it easily removable with a couple of Mag switches. I don't need to use my blower at all, the vac picks it all up. The vacuum comes on with my foot switch.

I don't know about aluminum oxide, but I wonder if the Hawk table is electro polished, A chemical etching process. I say that because the bottom of my G4 table is also very shiny. I also don't think it is anodized because that would wear off in time. Most of the tables on my cast iron tools are fly cut, it is fast and cheap it also makes for a very flat surface. Flat is much more important than supper smooth.

That front back motion is in all probability normal for that saw. Most saws have some, a few are adjustable.

Bloodwood. I have been cutting and turning some Sycamore and that makes my shop smell like a barn yard.

I never saw a three legged Hawk. Mine sits on an uneven concrete floor. I don't move my saw often but when I do and it is not sitting solid I just nudge the legs a bit until it settles in. They do have a special leg set to accommodate a wheel chair. Randy where are these bolts into the aluminum that concern you? One reason that the Hawk is not as aggressive is it has much less front back blade motion, especially if you adjust it out.

OMG you got saw dust on it, Yikes.

Tony good for you! it is nice that your was and is appreciated. Do you think that all of the kits came from different manufacturers or just re-branded? The most challenging and fun pen I ever made had a laser cut horse and Jokey on it. Had to assemble it under a microscope with tweezers.

I make my own hooks from coat hangers or I put a loop of wire through the sawtooth and hang it from that.

Fortunately or unfortunately, most folks that decide to take up wood turning will start out making pens. It is easy and safe. There are so many people making and selling pens now that I am afraid it will pull the prices down. This has also created a big demand for parts and kits, since all of the kits are the same with a few exceptions there must be one primary supplier and the rest are re-sellers who are at the mercy of the big MAMA supplier. I suspect that PSI is the big MAMA. I know two local pen kit sellers that get their supplies from PSI.

Yea !

Great pictures Randy. You really are sharing lots of good information about the Hawk. I hope this helps folks realize just how simple the saws are.

tuner, unfortunately many people don't understand anything mechanical and are intimidated my them. I was blessed to be raised by a German toolmaker., mechanical things are my comfort zone. Randy in 12 years I have never worn out one of the newer clamps, and I am heavy handed.

I have never had to sand, adjust or clean any of my Hawk clamps. I also never clean the ends of my blades. I did have some problems with the original clamps that came with my G4 in 2005. They were a multi piece assembly with two halves held together with a couple of socket head screws. Because I was heavy handed back then I stripped out those screws by over tightening the clamps. I fixed them by putting in heli coils. The newer, current clamps are much simpler and I have not managed to destroy any. The newer and simpler version is on the left. The one on the right is the original. I will take one apart to show how it is made. It has two hard metal blocks that are pressed together to hold the blade, no rotation at the blade.

Mark that is a beautiful dog! I never put clear tape on the wood especially not on fret work. It is too easy to miss small pieces when taking it off. Like many others I use blue tape under my patterns for small projects and removable shelf paper for the big ones. I don't like solvents or spray glue so I use a Xyron machine for the adhesive on the patterns. Regarding the cost of blue tape a 1.88 (2") roll of the standard 3m tape is almost $9 at my Local Lowes, it is 45 yards long =135 ft= 1620 in. That is $.0056 cents /inch. I don't get why people say it is expensive. While I am at it the Contact paper I use is https://www.amazon.com/Con-Tact-24F-C9998-06-Repositionable-Self-Adhesive-Lamination/dp/B0042SWP8Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1500992377&sr=8-4&keywords=clear+removable+contact+paper It comes out to $.003 cents /sq inch so the 11 x 14 inch fretwork that I am working on cost me $.46 cents. with the shelf paper or $.86 cents if I did it with blue tape. My biggest issue is time so I want to minimize the non scrolling part of any project. As a reference a pack of cigarettes in our area is $10+ that is 50 cents a cigarette, going up in smoke.

The standard Hawk clamps work fine for me I don't get any hockey stick blades or slippage. Use the stock ones for a while you can always tinker if you have problems.

What vintage? I would go to the Hawk web site I am sure they manuals are the same . http://www.hawkwoodworkingtools.com/files/SawManuals/model_220_serial_2100-6300.pdf this may be close

Like Mark said the closest drill bit for an M6-1 in aluminum is a #8 drill. If you look at the chart that I linked to in my last post. Regarding the rear lever and vibration. I have an App on my phone that measures vibration. On my G4 there is no noticeable difference between lever turned to the back or front. I have a Samsung 6 and the app is Vibrometer. There are lots of apps for this, they put a a number to what you feel for comparison.