Hawk BM26 - Early Review

[Iguanadon]

Hello Villagers,

As I was cutting today I thought I'd provide a review of the Hawk BM26 after having used it for a couple of weeks and having cut a couple dozen puzzles.

To recap:

The first saw I received had major issues.  Bushton Manufacturing (BM) arranged to ship me a replacement and had the first one picked up. Unfortunately the 2nd one wasn't a whole lot better and after providing videos and information and speaking with Nilus, the designer of the saw he narrowed the issue down to the lower arm.  He manufactured a new batch and shipped one to me and I replaced it.  The saw runs a lot better now.  There is still some sideways blade vibration/movement at certain speeds, but I can usually find a sweetspot speed that minimizes that.

But... there is still some vibration.  I'm trying to make minor adjustments to get rid of it and it's improved, but it's still there and I'm trying to look past it and just get used to it.  But it isn't easy as it makes my work "dance" around a little bit and makes my eyes go blurry after a while.  I really want to get this resolved because otherwise, I LOVE THE SAW.  As I knew would be the case, it does cut slower than what I was used to with my DeWalts and quite frankly I like it.  I find I'm enjoying the actual cutting process a little more and the responsiveness of the saw and the amazing ability to cut tight angles and corners really shows in the final product.  I can make detail cuts so much more precisely with this saw, it's fantastic.

Replacing blades and bottom feeding are already second nature for me, I have no issue at all with either tasks.

If I can get the vibration issue tweaked just a little bit more I'll rave about the Hawk.

Keeping in mind that the primary reason I shopped around for a new saw and narrowed down to the Hegner or the Hawk is durability.  I wore out 2 brand new DeWalt's in under 2 years.  Maybe I'm a little too aggressive or rough with them, I don't know, but I wanted something that would last me 5, 10 or more years with minimal maintenance/repair.  It's obviously too soon to tell and if I decide to keep using the saw, I'll report back in 5 years.  ;-)

For Hawk owners and lovers out there, I'd love to hear from you with any ideas or suggestions about the vibration.  I've done everything I can think of including loosening the main bolts holding the arm assembly, allowing it to settle to a natural location and re-tightening.  I've checked and double checked every bolt, nut, allen screw on the saw in case it was something silly that wasn't tight.  Let me know of other things to check and/or try.

I'm very well stocked for the rest of the year and will only need to cut my most popular items over the next 3 months as they sell so I'm going to enjoy taking my time and not feeling like I have to cut 50 puzzles a week as I was doing the past 3 months.

Catch ya later,

Iggy

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by Iguanadon

[rjweb]

Glad the saw is starting to work out, and that you can get the vibration deal work out also. There is Bpardue here that ordered a new BM 26 and said today it is being shipped, I am anxious to see if he has the trouble that you had, ok keep safe from the weather, RJ

[Bpardue]

Still waiting on mine. Bushton said it would be shipping either this past Friday or early this week. Bad news is if It ships towards the middle to end of the week, I will not be able to get my hands on it till the following weekend sense I have to travel out of town next week for work.

 

[hawkeye10]

40 minutes ago, Bpardue said:

Still waiting on mine. Bushton said it would be shipping either this past Friday or early this week. Bad news is if It ships towards the middle to end of the week, I will not be able to get my hands on it till the following weekend sense I have to travel out of town next week for work.

 

Call in sick.  

[Iguanadon]

42 minutes ago, Bpardue said:

Still waiting on mine. Bushton said it would be shipping either this past Friday or early this week. Bad news is if It ships towards the middle to end of the week, I will not be able to get my hands on it till the following weekend sense I have to travel out of town next week for work.

 

Best of luck.  I'm starting to get a little frustrated with mine.  

You happen to live where my son does... hopefully when I'm in the area I can come by and see one that works smooth.  :-)

[Rolf]

Is the vibration across the entire range? Or just at certain speeds.? Even my old G4 (2005) has a couple of spots it is not happy with.

Not having another Hawk to compare it to makes it difficult. I still wish I could have taken Nilus up on the deal he offered me at one of the open houses. Maybe then I would have been able to make some suggestions on the new BM series.

[Bpardue]

1 hour ago, Iguanadon said:

Best of luck.  I'm starting to get a little frustrated with mine.  

You happen to live where my son does... hopefully when I'm in the area I can come by and see one that works smooth.  :-)

Give me shout if you are ever in the Winston Salem area and we can visit.

[Iguanadon]

22 minutes ago, Rolf said:

Is the vibration across the entire range? Or just at certain speeds.? Even my old G4 (2005) has a couple of spots it is not happy with.

Not having another Hawk to compare it to makes it difficult. I still wish I could have taken Nilus up on the deal he offered me at one of the open houses. Maybe then I would have been able to make some suggestions on the new BM series.

Hi Rolf, I've found the "sweet spot" speed that causes the least amount of vibration and the least amount of sideways movement/vibration in the blade but it's still bad enough to frustrate me and cause the piece I'm cutting to move/vibrate making following the line a bit difficult as it looks "blurry".  I've tried really hard to adapt to it and try to get used to it, but I honestly shouldn't have to "settle" and accept these things.

[kmmcrafts]

12 hours ago, Iguanadon said:

Hi Rolf, I've found the "sweet spot" speed that causes the least amount of vibration and the least amount of sideways movement/vibration in the blade but it's still bad enough to frustrate me and cause the piece I'm cutting to move/vibrate making following the line a bit difficult as it looks "blurry".  I've tried really hard to adapt to it and try to get used to it, but I honestly shouldn't have to "settle" and accept these things.

Throw something padded under the back legs.. see if it runs smoother.. then try the front legs as well..then all four.. Just to rule out that your stand is truly planted onto the floor firmly.. My 226 is terrible fussy about the floor.. and my floor is real smooth and done right by the pros when my shop was built just 5 years ago.. My 220 was also very fussy.. but I bought some different bolt on feet that was bigger diameter and padded on the bottom.. they was for furniture I believe to prevent scratching wood flooring.. anyway.. it's been running real smooth ever since.. Not DeWalt smooth but still would pass the nickle test.. I'm going to buy another set for my 226.. I can level it out and get it running nice and then someone bumps the saw just slightly and it's all out of wack again.. I don't know what they give you with the new saws for the feet.. but my new old 226 came with feet that was hard plastic on the bottom and they way the stand is formed on the bottom.. they don't seem to be perfectly bent in.. and those little hard rounded plastic feet are worthless to try to get planted firm to the floor.. then that plastic will slide so easy.. just a light bumping into the saw will change the angle of the feet.. 

I used a piece of the foam squares that you stand on for your feet from harbor freight.. and put under the legs of my 226 until I can get a bigger feet set like I have for my 220.. probably a rug or something would work just to test it and see if that helps on your saw as well.. Seems like they'd give you some rubber anti slip feet for these saws.. maybe they do now..  

Edited: just reread and you mentioned side to side blade movement too? maybe you still have something wrong with this saw..

Edited September 12, 2017 by kmmcrafts

[Iguanadon]

7 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Throw something padded under the back legs.. see if it runs smoother.. then try the front legs as well..then all four.. Just to rule out that your stand is truly planted onto the floor firmly.. My 226 is terrible fussy about the floor.. and my floor is real smooth and done right by the pros when my shop was built just 5 years ago.. My 220 was also very fussy.. but I bought some different bolt on feet that was bigger diameter and padded on the bottom.. they was for furniture I believe to prevent scratching wood flooring.. anyway.. it's been running real smooth ever since.. Not DeWalt smooth but still would pass the nickle test.. I'm going to buy another set for my 226.. I can level it out and get it running nice and then someone bumps the saw just slightly and it's all out of wack again.. I don't know what they give you with the new saws for the feet.. but my new old 226 came with feet that was hard plastic on the bottom and they way the stand is formed on the bottom.. they don't seem to be perfectly bent in.. and those little hard rounded plastic feet are worthless to try to get planted firm to the floor.. then that plastic will slide so easy.. just a light bumping into the saw will change the angle of the feet.. 

I used a piece of the foam squares that you stand on for your feet from harbor freight.. and put under the legs of my 226 until I can get a bigger feet set like I have for my 220.. probably a rug or something would work just to test it and see if that helps on your saw as well.. Seems like they'd give you some rubber anti slip feet for these saws.. maybe they do now..  

Edited: just reread and you mentioned side to side blade movement too? maybe you still have something wrong with this saw..

Half a step ahead of ya my friend.  I tried the cushioning and no luck.  Legs are definitely solid on the level concrete floor.  And yeah, there is still some sideways motion in the blade.  I'm still using the saw for the time being.... hoping...

[tonylumps]

I may be wrong .But I think there is a design flaw with the 26" saws.I think the arms are too long and you are getting side to side flex when cutting.And doing puzzles with all of the turning. It will make it more obvious cutting 3/4 and make it really flex.Where as the Dewalt and Excalipur type of saw has the short linkage and the side flex is nill.May not have that problem with a shorter Hawk saw.My Hegner has an 18" arm and no flex at all.I am not an engineer but the longer the arm the more flex under reciprocating load. Iggy try some straight line cutting and see if it is as bad .Of course I may be wrong like I said.

Edited September 12, 2017 by tonylumps

[Rolf]

There should be absolutely no sideways motion, unless you have blade clamps that are set up differently with regards to centering the blade.  I wish you were closer I would love to take a look at the saw,

How did you make out with Irma?

[Iguanadon]

59 minutes ago, Rolf said:

There should be absolutely no sideways motion, unless you have blade clamps that are set up differently with regards to centering the blade.  I wish you were closer I would love to take a look at the saw,

How did you make out with Irma?

I wish you were closer too Rolf... I really, truly want to like this saw and would love to have someone familiar with them to actually be able to check it out.

Irma was just a breezy and rainy event for us last night and this morning and now she is gone.  Jose may stir up our surf in a few days but isn't expected to make landfall on the east coast.  So, we'll just wait for the next storm, and the one after that, and the one after that...  ;-)

[tonylumps]

1 hour ago, Rolf said:

There should be absolutely no sideways motion, unless you have blade clamps that are set up differently with regards to centering the blade.  I wish you were closer I would love to take a look at the saw,

How did you make out with Irma?

 Rolf .I don't know what Hawk saw you have .Bushton changed the design of the arm.It is stiffer on the up and down motion but lateral flex is more evident on the new design Check out there video on YouTube.i have been looking at that saw for a long time but have not been sold on it yet.