Old Hawk Vrs. New Hawk (Review)

[kmmcrafts]

As many of you know I've added hour meters to my saws.. and I've had my new Hawk BM26 for a few months now.. I thought I'd share some thoughts on the Older Ultra and the New BM26

I love the saw.. and have been enjoying using it. Took quite a lot of tweaking and whatnot to get it set up and running as good as it can.. My guess is.. right around 20 hours on the meter before I really started getting the saw tuned and me getting use to it. I'm just shy of 50 (48) hours on the meter now. 

The saw seems to be really smooth running with virtually almost zero vibration from about 5/8 of the way up on the dial to full speed.. super smooth.. however about anything below that speed seems to be a little shaky and one spot between about 3/8 - 1/2 is quite shaky to the point I just don't go there with it.. I do think some weight would sturdy it up some more but I'm just talking saw itself since I don't feel people should have to go to those lengths to get a saw smooth running.. 

I've played around a bit with the blade forward / back adjustments and really don't see a huge improvement in cutting other than the quality of the cutting if doing stack cutting or cutting thick stock will make the piece act as though your table isn't square.. There is a mark on the machine to see a visual of where your at with the aggression setting.. I assume it came set up as close to straight up / down as possible and I run it about 1/8" back farther than that set up.. Something I do not like is.. this piece that moves the lower blade holder is adjustable by just turning a screw in the center of the lower chuck.. and it ( in my opinion ) could be a problem down the road with blade alignment.. I've had this thing work its way forward and almost make the blade chuck fall off.. so it's something that you have to keep an eye on.. I may end up putting a little blue loc-tite on it then set it where I like it..   I'll probably call Hawk about this so they have a heads up.. and maybe make a fix for it or keep a better eye on this area for tolerances.. If that thing runs when the thing is all the way at the end of the threads it could bugger up the threads both on the chuck and the screw / bolt and possibly wallow out the threaded hole . I know Loc-tite will take care of my issue in this.. however calling Hawk so they are aware of it is a must and maybe they will send out some new parts.. who knows.. 

Now onto the saw vrs the other saws.. While I think the new saw is a pretty darn good saw.. I don't think it's as solid / robust machine that the older Ultra saw is.. Not that the new saw isn't worth the money in my opinion.. the older saw seems to be smoother in a wider range on the speed dial than the new saw.. Both cut real nice.. pretty much the same..  I'm not a top feeder so I actually prefer the blade to be back behind the angle mechanism simply because with the blade out front the sawdust drops in your lap just like a DeWalt or EX does.. something I never got with the older two Hawk saws..

Something very different with the new Hawk is.. you hit the foot switch and the saw is BAM.. up to speed... ( Older Hawks have sort of a soft start where it gradually ramps up to speed ) It's not a bad thing I guess.. at first I was having blade wobble issues with that instant on.. but found my blades just wasn't really tight enough.. I'll say any model of the Hawk saw is fussy with blade tension compared to a DeWalt or EX.. however once set up they are good.. same tension all the time every time..

Would I buy the saw again if i could do over? Nope. Not because of anything with the saw itself or the company.. but more about the fact that there are a ton of good used Hawk Ultra and later model G4 type Hawks out there on the market.. save yourself some money and buy a quality used one.. since if I was blindfolded and cutting on the new or old saw.. I'd probably not notice much difference.. at least not for the money difference.. LOL

Is the Hawk saw price worth the extra $$ over a EX type saw.. Really more of an opinion and everyone would have a different opinion / answer to that question.. For me.. Yes IF.. primarily cutting thin stock doing detail fretwork.. Not so much so if cutting 3/4" thick plus stock on a regular basis.. I like having the option to have both the Ex and the Hawk.. If I'm making puzzles or other thick stock.. i like the EX better.. My clocks and other things I make I mostly cut 1/2 - 5/8 stock and i primarily use the Hawks.. Once in a while I use the EX to change things up..  If I could only have one saw... wow that's be a tough call really.. I like both saws very much and could probably get used to using just one.. in that case.. I might have to save the extra money and go with the EX type saw.. most likely a Pegas actually.. LOL

I've gotta say since I put the hour meters on the saws.. I find that in a 6-8 hour day in the shop.. I'm only getting 4-5 hours cutting time on the meters on a good day, LOL.. Doing fretwork with having the saw run short times between frets.. LOL that time is short but sure does effect the actual run time quite a lot.. 

 

[Rockytime]

That's a good review Kevin!

[ekud1946]

Thanks for the review Kevin

Duke

[OCtoolguy]

Thanks Kevin. Since I also have one of each, I'd have a hard time picking one over the other. So far, I have stack-cut 4 1/4" (1 inch) on both saws and they both performed well. I think I prefer the EX at this point only because I have a comfortable chair for it. Once I find a good tall COMFORTABLE stool for the Hawk, they will both be equal. The Hawk does take some getting used to though.

 

[Rockytime]

Your review makes me appreciate my ultra even more. Great machine. My Hawk is on wheels therefore the saw is not necessarily totally stable. I do get excessive vibration at about 2/3 speed and over. Since I rarely go beyond 1/2 speed it is not a problem. I am considering putting a single swivel caster on the front center rather than two giving me a three point stand eliminating some of the vibration.

[Scrappile]

Kevin, thanks for the great review and an honest one.  The second to last paragraph surprised me some.  I read it like you preferred the Hawk more for fret work and thinner wood, the Ex for the thicker stuff.  I would expect the the Ex, with the easier blade clamps for moving from one hole to another, etc., would make it the preferred for detailed fret work.  I cannot argue with you, I have never had the privilege of sitting at a Hawk so I can't compare.  But I do fretwork a lot and had an Ex and now an Ex "type" Seyco, and I always thought their clamps would be more compatible with fret work.... Very interesting.  I really hope that someday I get a chance at a Hawk that I just can not pass up.  I almost "pulled the trigger" a couple years ago on a real clean G-4 model, I say "pulled the trigger" because, we could not agree on price but I offered trading a WWI Springfield 30-06 rifle for it... then when he was really interested, I got scared and backed down...... such a coward...

[kmmcrafts]

10 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Kevin, thanks for the great review and an honest one.  The second to last paragraph surprised me some.  I read it like you preferred the Hawk more for fret work and thinner wood, the Ex for the thicker stuff.  I would expect the the Ex, with the easier blade clamps for moving from one hole to another, etc., would make it the preferred for detailed fret work.  I cannot argue with you, I have never had the privilege of sitting at a Hawk so I can't compare.  But I do fretwork a lot and had an Ex and now an Ex "type" Seyco, and I always thought their clamps would be more compatible with fret work.... Very interesting.  I really hope that someday I get a chance at a Hawk that I just can not pass up.  I almost "pulled the trigger" a couple years ago on a real clean G-4 model, I say "pulled the trigger" because, we could not agree on price but I offered trading a WWI Springfield 30-06 rifle for it... then when he was really interested, I got scared and backed down...... such a coward...

The Hawk just has a simple lever at the front of the saw to tension the blade just as the EX type saw does.. so I really see no difference in the two saw as far as that goes.. Where I find the difference is the quality of detail work I can do on the Hawk over the EX types saws on cutting thinner stock.. Now. most times i'm stack cutting.. but even when i use the DeWalt which is the most aggressive saw I've used I rarely stackd my stacks over 5/8" thick.. most times I stack to 1/2".. my clocks I make are cut from 5/8.. The cutting seems to really slow down for me on anything over 5/8... I've cut puzzle patterns in 3/4 on the Hawk but in doing them I find it ( for me ) slow..

I can pretty much do the same quality work on either saw... as well as the DeWalt.. BUT... find the Hawk more relaxed and enjoyable saw to use.. there are times when i'm in a hurry to get a clock out the door and i'll use one of the more aggressive cutting saws to get it done quicker..  

Yes the EX can have the blade aggression adjusted to not be as aggressive or be more aggressive.. I've found that moving that motor does help in one way or the other depending on what you're looking to do.. I makes a little difference but not so much to write home about.. Hawk has the same sort of thing but easier to change but as I said.. there isn't a huge difference between the aggressive settings and the not so aggressive setting.. other than quality of cut..    

[3Dface]

thank you for the review Keven.

i have never used an EX but am thinking of getting one for my wife. 

i started with a wen, then a craftsman, and now the hawk vs226. the hawk is many levels ahead of my first 2. i have the same vibration problem at 5/8 speed but did eliminate the low speed vibration by making and H frame to fit the inside bottom of the legs. on the cross bar of the H i added a platform with 40lbs of weight and keep my "go tool box", about an other 20lbs and now i have zero vibration up to the 5/8 speed.

 

chris