Doug

Les Found the Steve Good pattern and my amateur modification to it. tractor.pdf nothing runs like a deere.pdf

Les Cut it a long time ago. I am pretty sure the tractor is a Steve good pattern. I added the script "Nothing runs like a Deere"

Grew up on green and yellow

I give mine to a friend who volunteers at a thrift store and then the proceeds go to the local food bank.

Sorry for the late contribution but have had little leisure computer time the past few months. I am not very good at keeping track of pattern designers but I think both of these are Steve Good patterns.

Ernie Mellon in New Kent, VA designed and built this scroll saw. About two years ago I started dialoguing with Ernie by telephone to place an order for one. Ernie was having health issues and was accepting no new orders and trying only to fill his current orders and supply any repair parts needed by owners. Owners of this saw consider it and its design the best scroll made which influenced my desire for one. His web page is still up if you want to check out the design differences from most scroll saws. You can try but I really doubt that Ernie will accept any orders and the Eclipse is likely going to be a footnote unless he sells the business and patents to another organization. As I recall, Ernie told me he is either in his late 70's or in the 80's so it seems unlikely he will be resuming the production. Here is the Eclipse web site http://www.eclipsesaw.com/

This is cut and pasted from a response to Randy in another part of the forum and refers to the Hawk BM 220 and the Excalibur 21 and has not been edited to apply only to the Hawk: My experience and opinion only. Both machines have their advantages. The BM is made in America - I actually drove down to Bushton, KS to pick mine up. It is solidly but simply engineered. A reasonably talented handy person could probably do most repairs. It has fewer moving parts and fewer bearings and most of it is easily accessible. The EX has more bearings, more moving parts, and some parts are not very accessible. When the EX arm is fully up you have a solid 10 inches between the bottom of the top clamp and the table top. When the BM arm is fully up you have 5 inches between the bottom of the top clamp and the table top. Also on the BM there is an arm extending along side and below the saw arm which ends just before the top clamp and the height between the bottom of that arm and the table top is 4 inches. However the BM does have a blade slot which is elongated to the front and with the way the lower clamping mechanism is attached it will let the blade swivel to the front to give some relief to bottom feeders. The top clamp is also mounted in that manner but will not give as much relief to top feeders. I think the clamping mechanism is more awkward on the BM than it is on the EX. On the BM you generally will slip one of the clamps out of its holding mechanism, insert the blade and tighten the thumb screw, and then reinsert the clamp in its holding mechanism. You will then feed the blade through your work piece to the other clamp - this only has to occur when you change blades. If I had used the BM more I do think I would have gotten more used to the procedure and been able to do it almost subconsciously but I did not use it enough to get to that point. The BM clamps themselves are somewhat similar to the EX and DW clamps in that they have a set screw on one side and a thumb screw on the other side. The BM screws are a smaller diameter than the EX and DW which are interchangeable. I have also had to replace clamps on my EX - I am a bottom feeder so it is my top clamp which gets used the most on fret work. After I learned that I do not have to tighten the thumb screw as hard as I can, I have not really experienced a problem with threads although I am sure it will happen again. I doubt there would be that problem with the BM. I do prefer the thumb screws on the EX and DW over those on the BM. The BM is just a solid thumb screw and as you know the EX and DW thumb screws each have an end which swivels and will stop twisting when contacting the blade and while you are continuing to tighten the thumb screw. I think this design probably relieves some blade stress when you put it under tension and start sawing and that you may be more likely to break blades with a BM whereas with an EX and DW you are likely to be able to run the blade until dull; all other factors being equal. Both are excellent machines. I love the solid but simple engineering of the BM and if I could change anything it would be the size and configuration of the table top and the thumb screws. If you recall from postings on another forum, I had a machine shop friend do a new EX table top for me which is four inches wider and four inches deeper to the front of the blade. I do not care for the EX dust collection so it did not bother me to take that table top off when I got a newer EX and put the larger table top on. I think my under table dust collection is just as good or better than what EX has attached to its table top. Biggest disadvantage of the EX is a lot more moving parts to go bad and more difficult and costly to repair even if you can do it yourself. At full throttle the BM probably has a little less vibration and the BM is a little less noisy. I do have my machines mounted on the EX stand (separate stands for each) which is bolted to 3/4 plywood and 4 inch locking swivel casters and a bag of water softner salt on the plywood. I also have 3/4 plywood between the top of the stand and the machine so I could make an extra work surface right beside the machine. I really do not have a serious vibration issue with these machines.

Travis Not sure it makes any difference but I would note the DW788 has a teardrop table with the widest point being at the blade and I cannot measure now but it might be interesting to add a category for how far the table top extends in front of the blade. I say this because I like the rectangular table on the EX21 better than the teardrop on the DW788 but having said that I still wanted more table and had a friend with a machine shop make a new tabletop for my EX21 which is four inches wider and four inches longer in front of the blade. The greater table area is wonderful. It probably depends on locale but I have found my local authorized DeWalt service centers do not know how to repair a DeWalt scroll saw. Thanks for the obvious effort which you have put into this project.

For a review/comparison of the EX 21 and Hawk BM 220 see my discussion under the review topic for the Hawk BM 20.

Good saw and I enjoy using it. I rank it higher than the DW788 (which I also have) and for the additional cost it should be a better saw. However, I am not impressed at all with the dust collection. A little ingenuity and some PVC can provide a better dust collection system. If worth noting, the table is rectangular which I prefer to the teardrop tables.

Eye, dust, and hearing. Too old to loose any of what I have left and above all as JT indicated

I switched from FD to Pegas 2/0 spiral and use them almost exclusively for what I cut. They do not have flat ends but I have not found that to be a problem if you are using a DeWalt, EX or clone of EX, or Seyco - not sure about Jet. I did have a problem with clamping spirals with a Hawk. The others have a swivel end on the thumb screw for clamping and the Hawk did not which I think makes a difference on clamping spirals without a flat end. I found the Pegas more suited to my cutting which is primarily 5/8s hardwood. Also FD has a film (or at least used to) over the blades which I had to remove to avoid getting on clamping surfaces and causing slippage. I always soaked the ends in denatured alcohol, wiped down, and then before using the blade ran the ends over 220 grit sandpaper. I still do that with Pegas just to try and assure no slippage but I do not think Pegas has any film on it - at least I have not noticed it on my blade wiping cloth. By the way Pegas 2/0 spiral is about $6.00 a gross cheaper here http://www.dndsawbladesonline.com/page/79798238 than at Bear Woods.

This is my go to and use it all the time: and you can get it here http://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/fs36240/

Just guessing - DeWalt? If so, you now you know why the table tops on DeWalt and saws with similar table tops are called "tear drop" table tops.