stevan

There is so much in life that's a gray area any more... If it is art then I would say okay but I don't think this site has that sort of bent/direction (mature/adult art) so I would lean toward not in this case.

Your work looks great. I'm sure it will translate well into scrolling. Welcome aboard.

One new guy to another, welcome.

This is such a great place. I had not even thought about sanding in this manner.

So I have this book, "Using the Scroll Saw" by Nick Engler, copyright 1994. In it he has a section on preparing the blade and says that you can remove the burr and round the back edges for a smoother, more controlled cut by using a small sharpening stone or hone to actually grind the burr off. Does anyone really do this? I have attached a pdf with the relevant information. See pages 35 and 36. Stoning the Blade.pdf

I've already popped on here and asked some questions about Hawk saw so I thought I would tell my story on how I obtained a used Hawk VS220. I posted an introduction on January 31, 2017 and also started looking around for scroll saw recommendations. I saw a few Hawks and a lot of Dewalts and some mentions of Craigslist. I was considering the Dewalt 788 but thought I would look on Craigslist and see what was being offered. There was a Hawk VS220 for sale for $450 about 30 miles from here (and one for $650 in the Cincinnati area). The ad said hardly ever used, like new and comes with over 200 various blades. $450 is about the price of a new Dewalt 788 so my thought was, let's low ball an offer and see if he takes it. I knew that new Hawks were $1100 so what did I have to lose? So I offered $350, cash and I could come pick it up tomorrow. He took it. I went to pick it up on Wednesday February 2. I had a chance to talk with "G" the owner who is a very nice, retired school teacher who explained that he didn't really buy it himself, his wife bought it thinking he could start doing scroll work and she could sell it in her little art store at the local mall. Well, he said if the saw had 5 hours on it he would be surprised but it had been setting in the garage ever since it was delivered. Tracking the serial number with Buston revealed that the saw was about 25 years old. These saws have a few steel parts on the them and they were all pretty old/rusted and needed to be reconditioned and/or replaced. I called Bushton a few times and placed an order on February 2 for the parts that I thought needed to be replaced. I also started a WD-40 reconditioning program on the existing steel parts just in case. Buston notified me yesterday that a partial shipment went out yesterday (partial means something is back ordered. I know at least the lower blade chuck is on backorder.) So we'll see what is there when the package arrives. I spent the weekend dismantling and cleaning the saw. I feel I really need to recommend Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish if you ever need to polish up some aluminum. The milled pieces look great, almost new. The saw is still partially dismantled waiting for the new parts to arrive. I could put it together but the upper blade holder is held in place by a pin and I have to have the upper arm off so I can hammer the pin in. The reconditioning program worked well and right now I could restore the saw and use the old, reconditioned parts but I will wait on my Buston delivery. And the irony is not lost on me, I have almost $450 in this saw right now, I've never used it anda Dewalt 788 can be had for $488 on Amazon with free Prime shipping. So I wait and scheme of home made dust collection devices. Think Scrollnado clone but for a Hawk. I hope to be up and scrolling almost any day now and I promise to get back with my rookie attempts.

Thanks Gang. I really appreciate the responses and all your knowledge and experience.

So what do you think is the function of the bronze bushing? Lubrication and/or to keep the steel blade chuck from contacting the aluminum lower arm? I asked Bushton and they said that without asking an engineer, they just think it was a method to help keep the chuck in the clip.

It is plastic so no bending. I'm sure Hawk would sell me a new lower arm with the more modern blade clamp. What worries me though is in conversation with Hawk customer service, the technician first asked what kind of motor the saw had and then said, "The Fasco's are not very reliable but we have a $350.00 upgrade/replacement". The person I bought the saw from said that he doubts if the saw has 5 hours total running time so I think (er, uh, hope) the motor should last a while.

I had not thought about this. Thanks, good starting point.

I don't mean you have to be older, your Hawk has to be older. I've managed to end up with a 25 year old HAWK 220VS. I'll post the story later but right now I have a couple of questions about the lower blade chuck and the clip it fits in. This saw has been sitting in a garage for about its entire life so there is some rust and a couple of missing parts (on order from Bushton right now but the a new and more current lower blade chuck is on back order). The lower blade chuck does not appear to ever have had a T-knob screw and has to be tightened with an Allen wrench although the manual does show a lower blade chuck with a T-Knob. First photo. The blade holder is supposed to fit into a "lower blade holder C clip" on the lower arm but it appears that this lower blade chuck is too small to fit the "lower blade holder C clip". Third and fourth photos. It would appear to me that the tension in the blade should hold the blade chuck in place and the C clip’s function is to keep the chuck in place during installation of the blade and if (and when) the blade breaks. The C clip is plastic and not a very substantial member. So my questions are: Do I have the correct lower blade chuck? Is the chuck supposed to fit snugly into the C clip? Is my assumption on the function of the C clip close to being correct. And just as a “This is interesting†note the second photo shows my Hawk chuck with three Jet lower blade chucks. I didn’t mic these but they appear to be about 1/32†smaller in diameter than Hawk chuck. I think these may work if I can figure out the clip issue mentioned above. Thanks in advance.

Hi Gang and Greetings from Lexington, KY. Heart of the Bluegrass, Keeneland and of course, the University of Kentucky. I attended the Woodworking Show in Columbus this weekend and now I'm all fired up to learn to scroll. I have a very old Delta Type 1 SS200 with a tool release blade holder and the only thing I have ever used it for was to do tight cuts for other woodworking projects. So I'm practicing my cuts and trying to do little/simple projects (flat Christmas ornaments come to mind). I hope to upgrade to something "slicker" in the near future so I am looking\reading\researching about everything I can and I have just about worn out youtube watching scroll saw videos. Sometimes I even watch on my iPad while my wife is watching television. I, of course, have to use ear buds. This seems to be a great place to belong to and I hope to participate here more than I do on most other message boards and forums. Thanks for letting me join and for thanks for reading. Stevan (Same pronunciation as Steven. My mother had some pretty unique ideas)