Hawk saw question

[OCtoolguy]

Of all the Hawk users here on SSV, are any of you folks using something other than the factory legs for your saw? I am thinking of taking my saw and putting it on a home-made heavy wood stand. I'd appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks.

 

[NC Scroller]

Factory stand for me.  Like you I have the 226VS.

[Scrappile]

Do you get nose bleeds when you sit too high?   I'm a shorty my feet don't touch the ground on either of my saws.  I have a box my foot peddle is taped to with double sided tape on the Hegner. My Seyco is on a homemade cabinet type stand with foot rests and foot peddle screwed on it.  I like my cabinet stand best because I have a cabinet and drawer for storage under the saw.   I say build a stand then, it can be custom made to suite your needs.

Sorry I know I was not invited to respond, it was just for Hawk owners, but I think the theory is the same no matter the saw. 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Scrappile

[kmmcrafts]

Honestly not sure how you'd go about mounting it to a flat top table.. Hawk does make short legs for table top use... 

[fredfret]

You have to make room for the motor on the left side. Ventalation is also needed. I use the bush ton wheelchair legs 

[Foxfold]

Are there saws that 'have' to sit on a stand ?  Just being nosey, as my saw is bolted to my  work bench. It's at an angle that I feel comfortable with and doesn't vibrate.  I'm really, really new to saws as this is  my first 'proper' saw and somehow thought they were all much of a muchness in build.

[SCROLLSAW703]

Howdy Mr. Ray.

My BM is sittin on its factory legs. Personally, since yers is outta warranty, I don't see why ya couldn't put it on yer own custom built stand. There are a few things I'd take into consideration in your design, though. 

Remember, Hawk mounts their motor underneath the saw, so allow for air circulation around the motor for adequate cooling. 

Second, make sure your sawdust has a place to go rather then just pile up under the platform around the motor & other movin' parts. Also, keep in mind that you change blades from the bottom, IF you're a bottom feeder, Ray. So allow plenty of room for that process.

Build your stand to the height comfortable for ya, & allow room on the top for your blade holders, maybe a magnifying light, items like this. 

I don't see why a feller couldn't, Mr. Ray. Best of luck, Sir! 

Sawdust703 (Brad)

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

Do you get nose bleeds when you sit too high?   I'm a shorty my feet don't touch the ground on either of my saws.  I have a box my foot peddle is taped to with double sided tape on the Hegner. My Seyco is on a homemade cabinet type stand with foot rests and foot peddle screwed on it.  I like my cabinet stand best because I have a cabinet and drawer for storage under the saw.   I say build a stand then, it can be custom made to suite your needs.

Sorry I know I was not invited to respond, it was just for Hawk owners, but I think the theory is the same no matter the saw. 

Paul, the only reason I limited it to Hawk owners is because there was a thread here a while back that dealt with vibration on Hawks and the legs/position came into play. Something about letting saw settle prior to tightening the leg bolts. And then there was the suggestion to put a 100# sack of sand or concrete or rice or whatever you might have a 100#sack of lying around, on or under the saw to stabilize it. So, with that in mind, I thought it might be important. Right now, I have my saw sitting on the thick rubber matting that I bought at Harbor Freight. The weight of the saw has pretty well smashed that rubber down to the plywood floor under it. After seeing how Les has mounted his saw on two sets of wheels, I got to thinking that maybe it's not all that important to "splay" the legs out.

 

[kmmcrafts]

I've seen pictures of Hawks for sale where they was mounted to a homemade stand.. I think you'd be fine so long as the stand is heavy enough.. I think as for vibration goes.. a lot of people can deal with small vibration.. For me.. I loosen stands etc. on all of my saws and let them settle.. for me.. that's just part of the tuning process for optimal performance.. It's not something specific to Hawks.. My first Hawk had small wheels on the stand.. that thing was usable at various speeds.. It was vibration 90% of the speeds...  My Excalibur was quite shaky too until I let it settle to the ground..  I do think the Excalibur is smoother than any of the Hawks.. but not by too much.. It still has more vibration than the DW.. but I'm still toying with it too.. and honestly it's smooth enough.. 

[Scrappile]

I knew why you ask Hawk owners.  Please always take my post as being light hearted rubs. I scroll for fun, I come here for fun and take nothing too serious.  I know there are those that say you have to stick with the saws stand.  They may be correct.  I never had my DeWalt on the stand that came with it nor my Excalibur so I cannot compare.  The cabinet stand I have is not supporting it's third saw.  I do have a 60+lb of sand in the bottom of the cabinet.  Does not vibrate enough to bother me.

[Scrappile]

@kmmcrafts the Hegner I have is mounted on a Hegner stand and it was highly recommended by Advance Machinery that that stand be used.  It is a solid stand, welder together, so no settling possible.  I have it because paying that much for a Hegner, I was not going to argue with them or take any chances, but, I am not sure it really needs to be on a Hegner stand.  I see pictures of them mounted on home built stands and the ones that I have see so mounted, the owners do work far superior to me.  Fiona Kingdon for instance. Her's looks like it is mounted at a pretty radical angle on a wedge shaped stand that sits on a bench....  Who am I to argue with her.  I just watch in awe!

[kmmcrafts]

I see a LOT of Hegners on homemade stands.. Makes me wonder since the stands are rigid if they create vibration on un-even floors. so they build their own..? Adjustable feet on the bottom? for uneven surfaces?  

[Rockytime]

Anything that is good can be made gooder. Hy hawk is a 220VS Ultra so I have no qualms cutting or drilling on my Hawk. I just put a tray on the front of it. The tray is from HF. It will stay with the magnets mounted on the back of it but I don't want it moving so I drilled the frame and used a couple of 10-24 to mount it. The Hawk frame is very sturdy steel. I don't recommend using HF drill bits. I would not hesitate cutting the legs but would rather use shelf legs from Bushton f they were reasonable.

[kmmcrafts]

2 minutes ago, Rockytime said:

Anything that is good can be made gooder. Hy hawk is a 220VS Ultra so I have no qualms cutting or drilling on my Hawk. I just put a tray on the front of it. The tray is from HF. It will stay with the magnets mounted on the back of it but I don't want it moving so I drilled the frame and used a couple of 10-24 to mount it. The Hawk frame is very sturdy steel. I don't recommend using HF drill bits. I would not hesitate cutting the legs but would rather use shelf legs from Bushton f they were reasonable.

Nice tray.. I'll bet a lot cheaper than the side tray I ordered with my new Hawk too.. I think mine was $40 and it's pretty cheesy they way it's designed to only be held on with one bolt..LOL I may drill it for another bolt..

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

First off the Hegner is designed with that stand in mind so taking off the stand you risk adding vibration. They use a 3 legged stand to take care of unevenness Kevin so no problems there. That can sit on an angle if you want because again the stand is part of the saw and is all welded together. The Hawk is designed to sit on that stand and for the life of me can not figure out why Ray can not find a adjustable chair to sit in it Cut the legs down evenly if you want to lower it. But after you do again loosen the legs to let settle in the place you put it. These type saws are again designed with the stand in mind. The same goes for the Dewalt and it too has a 3 legged stand to accommodate for eneveness Very rarely do you see high end saws on a home built platform with 1000000 lbs of sand under them. Not designed for this. The $150 saw Ryobis and others need to be bolted to a heavy table or else they will walk right off the table. I have first hand knowledge of both Hegner and RBI when I bought mine this is some of the things I was told. You do need to splay the legs on the RBI . The people who owned RBI before this were so much better people to talk to and get straight answers from because they cared about their customers. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, Scrappile said:

I knew why you ask Hawk owners.  Please always take my post as being light hearted rubs. I scroll for fun, I come here for fun and take nothing too serious.  I know there are those that say you have to stick with the saws stand.  They may be correct.  I never had my DeWalt on the stand that came with it nor my Excalibur so I cannot compare.  The cabinet stand I have is not supporting it's third saw.  I do have a 60+lb of sand in the bottom of the cabinet.  Does not vibrate enough to bother me.

Paul, I knew that. You are the chucklehead in this group. And I love ya for it. I was just answering your question. Keep up the humor. We all need it. Some more than others.

 

 

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I see a LOT of Hegners on homemade stands.. Makes me wonder since the stands are rigid if they create vibration on un-even floors. so they build their own..? Adjustable feet on the bottom? for uneven surfaces?  

That Hegner that I had shook like a "dog.." well you get the idea. Anyway, on the plywood floor of my shop, there was just too much spring in the wood. Once I put a piece of carpet under it, most of the vibration went away. If it hadn't have been for the speed problem, I'd have kept that saw. I hated to get rid of it but I know there will be another down the road.

 

[OCtoolguy]

16 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

First off the Hegner is designed with that stand in mind so taking off the stand you risk adding vibration. They use a 3 legged stand to take care of unevenness Kevin so no problems there. That can sit on an angle if you want because again the stand is part of the saw and is all welded together. The Hawk is designed to sit on that stand and for the life of me can not figure out why Ray can not find a adjustable chair to sit in it Cut the legs down evenly if you want to lower it. But after you do again loosen the legs to let settle in the place you put it. These type saws are again designed with the stand in mind. The same goes for the Dewalt and it too has a 3 legged stand to accommodate for eneveness Very rarely do you see high end saws on a home built platform with 1000000 lbs of sand under them. Not designed for this. The $150 saw Ryobis and others need to be bolted to a heavy table or else they will walk right off the table. I have first hand knowledge of both Hegner and RBI when I bought mine this is some of the things I was told. You do need to splay the legs on the RBI . The people who owned RBI before this were so much better people to talk to and get straight answers from because they cared about their customers. 

Thanks for you input here JT. To answer your question, I have very little space in my shop. I have an office chair that I use for my EX and I also have the tall shop chair that I bought a few years ago from Northwest tool. The seat on it is too small for my big butt. And, to have two chairs in my shop is just too crowded. In the end, I may not do anything but at this point, I'm on a fact finding venture. I will have to come up with something though. I may end up putting the Hawk outside on my driveway where I have room. I hate to do that but it is an option. Time will tell. I'm not going to rush in with an oxy/acetylene torch and start cutting. That won't happen. First I have to figure out if I'm going to "love' this saw. So far, I like it. It will grow on me, I'm sure. Maybe!

 

[Scrappile]

21 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Paul, I knew that. You are the chucklehead in this group. And I love ya for it. I was just answering your question. Keep up the humor. We all need it. Some more than others.

 

 

Holy moly awhile ago you told me how ugly I am, now I'm the "chucklehead" of the group....   "I get no respect"....  who was that that said that??

Edited March 26, 2019 by Scrappile

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Well if you are going to sell it Ray do nothing to it. Let new owner have it in good condition. You have tried all these saws. What are you looking for??  There is no way anyone can tell if a saw is to their liking with a few projects. Seems everyone like Pegas buy one of those. There is a guy on a penturning site who has 7 lathes all different. he just likes buying them. Only can use one at a time. Any saw will bounce on a plywood floor. Place some cinder blocks under it hanging from the frame.. There is a saw out there that you will like Ray and hopefully someday you find it. 

[Jim McDonald]

13 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

Holy moly awhile ago you told me how ugly I am, now I'm the "chucklehead" of the group....   "I get no respect"....  who was that that said that??

The late, great Rodney Dangerfield.

[OCtoolguy]

59 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Well if you are going to sell it Ray do nothing to it. Let new owner have it in good condition. You have tried all these saws. What are you looking for??  There is no way anyone can tell if a saw is to their liking with a few projects. Seems everyone like Pegas buy one of those. There is a guy on a penturning site who has 7 lathes all different. he just likes buying them. Only can use one at a time. Any saw will bounce on a plywood floor. Place some cinder blocks under it hanging from the frame.. There is a saw out there that you will like Ray and hopefully someday you find it. 

Well, I guess I just can't pass up a deal. I know I'm nuts. My wife does too. This one came up, it was close by so I went for it. After reading all about the Hawks, I just wanted to give one a try. Now I think I have 2 of the top 3 saws. I will be watching for another Hegner. The best part is, I never lose money on them. To me, it's just another hobby.

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

32 minutes ago, octoolguy said:

Well, I guess I just can't pass up a deal. I know I'm nuts. My wife does too. This one came up, it was close by so I went for it. After reading all about the Hawks, I just wanted to give one a try. Now I think I have 2 of the top 3 saws. I will be watching for another Hegner. The best part is, I never lose money on them. To me, it's just another hobby.

 

I wish you were close Ray I would sell you a Hegner and a Dewalt for $1000

[OCtoolguy]

33 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I wish you were close Ray I would sell you a Hegner and a Dewalt for $1000

Oh no you wouldn't. I only buy when the price is right. I will never pay more than $300 for any saw.

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

1 hour ago, octoolguy said:

Oh no you wouldn't. I only buy when the price is right. I will never pay more than $300 for any saw.

 

With me you know what you are getting A+++++ saws. When you buy like you are doing it is a crapshoot like you are selling off these saws now. Buy once and never buy again stop playing around and buy a good saw already. The hobby is cutting on them not buying and selling them.