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I have a Scroll Saw dilemma ... please help


LarryEA

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How much is a 'New' Hawk?

I don't know the model or year and can't call him until  01:00pm today.

that looks to be a 26" Hawk they are $ 1400 new.

my vote is the Hawk. I've had a Dewalt wore it out after 2.5 years. I replaced bearings, brushes and then the motor or speed control board started acting up, plus a loud banging came back. I am saving to buy the Hawk. I'm almost there hope to have it after the first of the year.

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Eclipse is no longer being made.  Ernie Mellon made them and I worked with him for about a year trying to get one but he had several health issues and went to just trying to fill orders on hand and furnish parts if needed.  They were around an $1,800 saw.  At this point I do not think he has sold his business or the patents.  Maybe they will reappear in a few years.  I did not check today but the last time I looked his web page was still out there and he had a unique drive system which allowed for a perfectly straight up and down cut and also a longer stroke than most saws.

 

That being said, Larry, you have a birthday in a few days - do birthday and Christmas together and spoil yourself with a new Hawk. Happy early birthday.

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Eclipse is no longer being made.  Ernie Mellon made them and I worked with him for about a year trying to get one but he had several health issues and went to just trying to fill orders on hand and furnish parts if needed.  They were around an $1,800 saw.  At this point I do not think he has sold his business or the patents.  Maybe they will reappear in a few years.  I did not check today but the last time I looked his web page was still out there and he had a unique drive system which allowed for a perfectly straight up and down cut and also a longer stroke than most saws.

 

That being said, Larry, you have a birthday in a few days - do birthday and Christmas together and spoil yourself with a new Hawk. Happy early birthday.

 

Thank you and I have always know that I get one of my Christmas presents on my Birthday. :lol:  LOL

I  am checking the Hawk out tomorrow (Friday) at 10:00 am. looks good  that it's coming back with me.

Edited by LarryEA
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Thank you and I have always know that I get one of my Christmas presents on my Birthday. :lol:  LOL

I  am checking the Hawk out tomorrow (Friday) at 10:00 am. looks good  that it's coming back with me.

Larry - we share a birthday so I know what you mean.  I am the 18th, a sister on the 20th, and one on the 25th - all in December; when we were young and all at home things just kind of all ran together this time of year.  One sister was born in August and we assume she must have been adopted.

 

When I realized I would never get Ernie to make an Eclipse for me I did a lot of looking, reading, and listening so I could decide what my next scroll saw would be if I ever got another one.  It came down to Hegner and Hawk and I am committed to the Hawk if it ever happens.  It is a four hour drive to Bushton, Kansas but maybe one day I will make the drive to check it out at the factory.

Edited by Doug
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Larry - we share a birthday 

  It came down to Hegner and Hawk and I am committed to the Hawk if it ever happens.  It is a four hour drive to Bushton, Kansas but maybe one day I will make the drive to check it out at the factory.

 Doug, Happy Birthday coming up in a week. We've had a lot of birthdays (un)together.  I was born eleven days after

Pearl Harbor, 1941.

Wish your siblings (all sisters it looks like) a happy birthday from me. Even the one in August. ;)

If I livedd near by, I would push to go with you to Bushton, Kansas

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OK ! remember the arm does not raise up high out of the way with the hawk.

I think blade changes are strange but that may be another quality saw

I suggest the dewalt sir.florida rules!

 Yepper, blade change is strange.

 

Hawk, I have had mine for many years and cut many project. I never had a problem and never needed to use the warranty. It's still going strong.

You're the one to tell me how to change blades and thread holes.

The bottom clamp is odd looking to me. This saw, never used and maybe not completely assembled is 'rusty' from sitting in an unheated garage for six years.

The bottom clamp is so loose that I removed it with my fingers along with a copper sleeve that goes around it.

There is a 3/4 wide metal spring plate that must tighten to hold these pieces firmly in place.

The bottom clamp assembly and the copper sleeve both have a 1/8 inch hole. The blade has to fit in this hole to be clamped.

The bottom clamp has to be installed in place, the 3/4 spring plate tightened then the blade inserted.

One the bottom clamp is securely in place, I cannot see the 1/8 inch hole to insert blade.

No user instruction manual available as yet.

So until I feel comfortable that I can thread blades in holes as easily as I do

with my Delta, I will not buy it.

 

 

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Larry

 

If you got the Model #, check here for a user manual

 

http://www.hawkwoodworkingtools.com/WebsitePages/Scroll-Saw-Manuals.html

 

Bushton acquired Hawk in 2009 and I do think some of the older models did not have as good a blade clamp / blade change mechanism as the now current models but you would need to have the owner of one of the older Hawks speak to that and whether there are upgrades available or call Bushton directly and ask them.

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The manuals are there and you can also get any part replacements through them. The manual should explain everything you need to understand.. They also have some new kind of blade tighteners they sell too that does not require the T handle tool, if you so desire..

Way to go Larry, I hope everything works out to your liking. Oh by the way, their parts are very reasonable and they don't gouge you for shipping

 

Dick

heppnerguy

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Larry, here is another really good quality scroll saw that most people do not know about     .Eclipse2.JPG10411_5F00_02.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSCN0006.JPG

 

Larry, here is another really good quality scroll saw that most people do not know about     .Eclipse2.JPG

 

 

 

Anyone here have an Eclipse?  Are they still being made?

I seem to remember reading some where that the guy who makes the eclipse saw is giving up, so there could be  problems with spares. And it's very expensive.

Rob Roy.

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IMHO that Eclipse saw looks too complicated in it's build, it may be brilliant quality and may be superb to use but all those electronics and special mechanisms would put me off, it's fine while it works but has a lot more to go wrong and would be more difficult to fix if it does; especially if spares are hard to find. Often these days electronics are used in products that do not really need them and add very little in usefulness. Technology for technologies sake!   

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