A Sad Day

[Sycamore67]

Today was a sad one for me.  A 31 year old friend passed on.  I have spent much time with her and will miss her greatly. 

Oddly, she passed due to complications of a broken finger and the passing was quite sudden. 

She was born in Europe and moved to Delaware at an early age.  After that she spent 20 some years in central Indiana.  About 8 years ago, I met her and she moved to NW Indiana and we have been great friends spending a lot of time together. 

Her name was Hegner and I will post pictures tomorrow.

[dgman]

So sorry To here that Larry. It must be hard for you and your family for this to happen to such a young person. My condolences.

[Sycamore67]

Here is a picture of her from a couple of years ago....

 

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, Sycamore67 said:

Here is a picture of her from a couple of years ago....

 

She was beautiful! So sad! Life without her will never be the same!

[wombatie]

To go so young is heartbreaking.  Condolences for your loss.   

Marg 

[meflick]

I’m truly sorry for your loss Larry. Heagner sounds like a great friend. I am curious though, how exactly did she break her finger and then died from that? I know she had lots of cousins and siblings out in the world and I am sure they would be interested in hearing more to prevent this untimely tragedy from happening to them especially I. Light of the fact that their family heritage touts that they come from such fine upstanding stock.

[Sycamore67]

There are fingers on the back of the upper and lower arms which hold the wedges on the tension rod.  One of the fingers in the lower arm broke likely some time ago.  Yesterday, the tension rod broke caused by the broken finger.  I will post pictures later.

The parts would be over a couple hundred and it was 31 years old.  I have decided to buy a new saw but will part out this Multimax 18. The motor and speed control are fine.  

I thought a bit about what saw to get as a replacement but not too long.  My new Hegner arrives next week.

[meflick]

Thanks for the explanation on her untimely death, me being not mechanically Inclined (but fortunately married to a man who is ) I didn’t know of how life sustaining fingers were in this instance. it is good to know however that you will be facilitating organ donations from your good friend so, in part, her life will continue to aid others in need. Good to hear too that you have already found a new and younger cousin to move to Indiana to help carry on her life’s work.

[Scrappile]

I look at the parts at Advanced Machinery and look like $61.00 for the rod and wedges and the little chips $3.95 ea.  Most be more damage than those parts.  I have looked this up just a while back because my rod was a little bent when I first got my used Hegner, I was able to straighten it enough that it worked fine, but I think the threads may be getting warn now because the the tension work loose and I have to readjust the tension more often than I use to.

But hey,,,, 31 years is reason enough to by a new saw.... Congratulations!  Did you get the 18"or the 22"?

[Sycamore67]

Here are some pictures of the broken parts.  If it had been just the rod, I would have replaced it but it also included the bottom arm and a few other pieces.  This is considerably more than just the cost of the tension rod.  Also, I do not really know if there are other problems until I tear it apart.  At 31 years old, it was not worthwhile for me to repair it.  If someone is interested in the parts from this old saw, please let me know.  The motor and speed control still work fine.  

I have aa new 18" Hegner on the way now and should be here early next week.  At least I can re-use the old saw stand.  

Initially, I thought that the problem was just a broken tension rod.

However, I looked at the fracture surface and the damage to the wedge and Had to look harder.  The rod broke due to a fatigue type crack starting at the roots of the thread.  However, the the rod should not be moving sideways very much.  The lower wedge also showed damage primarily to one side.

 

Looking at the lower arm, it was apparent that one of the fingers had broken off causing the wedge to be supported only on one side and bending the tension  rod.  It made a pretty loud noise when it went and gave me a start.  The picture shows the bottom arm where the finger was broken off and also how it was supposed to look on the top arm.  By the look of the fractured finger, I think that it had been broken for some time.  

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

Are those arms cast aluminum? I only seen one Hegner in person and I never really "Looked" at how it's made or what kind of materials it was made from.. The pictures make it look like its cast Aluminum.. but maybe just how it wore down etc.. 

[Sycamore67]

The arms are cast aluminum as is the table.  The main frame of the saw is cast iron.

I do not see any evidence of unusual wear at the fracture point and there were no visible defects in the fracture surface such as voids or bad casting. The upper arm has no visible wear at the point it came in contact with the wedge. I can only guess that the finger on the lower arm was damaged at some point perhaps when it was moved.

At times I wish I was still working and had access to a scanning electron microscope as then you can really look at a fracture surface.  

[trackman]

Every thing wears out at sometime an sometime faster than other. 

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, Sycamore67 said:

Here are some pictures of the broken parts.  If it had been just the rod, I would have replaced it but it also included the bottom arm and a few other pieces.  This is considerably more than just the cost of the tension rod.  Also, I do not really know if there are other problems until I tear it apart.  At 31 years old, it was not worthwhile for me to repair it.  If someone is interested in the parts from this old saw, please let me know.  The motor and speed control still work fine.  

I have aa new 18" Hegner on the way now and should be here early next week.  At least I can re-use the old saw stand.  

Initially, I thought that the problem was just a broken tension rod.

However, I looked at the fracture surface and the damage to the wedge and Had to look harder.  The rod broke due to a fatigue type crack starting at the roots of the thread.  However, the the rod should not be moving sideways very much.  The lower wedge also showed damage primarily to one side.

 

Looking at the lower arm, it was apparent that one of the fingers had broken off causing the wedge to be supported only on one side and bending the tension  rod.  It made a pretty loud noise when it went and gave me a start.  The picture shows the bottom arm where the finger was broken off and also how it was supposed to look on the top arm.  By the look of the fractured finger, I think that it had been broken for some time.  

 

 

Great pics and explanation. Hegner owners should take note and thoroughly inspect and lubricate their saws. Actually, we should all do this as preventative maintenance on our equipment and our bodies.

[GrampaJim]

This is so sad.  I always believed Hegners lived forever......

[rash_powder]

Did you check if a local welder/machine shop could weld that up and fix it?  They would be able to tell you too right off if the repair would work.

[Sycamore67]

I think she would have lasted longer but suffered from abuse.  I do not see any indication of fatigue type cracking such as beach marks.  Nevertheless, it was produced in 1988 and lasts lo get than some other brands.

I no that others would have suggested a different brand.  I have it some thought but have been happy and comfortable with a Hegner and will stay with it.

I do not have the finger that broke off so welding it is not an option.  Even if I did have it, I do not think I would try the welding the aluminum.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Sycamore67

[kmmcrafts]

Well if they never wear out you never get the joy of a new exciting tool.. LOL

Does that wedge ride directly onto the cast aluminum arm? I guess these saws last a very long time.. But.. I just thought they would have been solid machined aluminum.. and the wedge rode into a replaceable insert in the arms.. just like the Hawk saws..   I always thought they was built real similar to the Hawk saw..  I wonder if the new Hegners are updated with replaceable inserts for the wedge's .. The old Hawks didn't have the inserts.. BUT.. if the arm wears out.. you can send the arm in to have them A) re-machine the area or for a little more..B) they'll drill it out for a replaceable insert..

[Matt B]

The wedge/aluminum arm is not a wear area. There might be minimal wear, but not much. Based upon this topic, I took my 1994 Hegner apart and there is no wear. I looked as hard as I could for a crack, but the arm has a blue coating and I did not see anything. I am not concerned. They do not instruct the user to put any oil or grease there. It probably would not hurt to do so.  I wonder if there was a flaw in that casting that caused that failure. 

I did take my arms off to check the bearings for oil. It was well oiled, but I cleaned them up anyway and reoiled. Ready for more cutting.

Edited December 13, 2019 by Matt B

[Sycamore67]

As I said earlier, I carefully examined the fracture surface and the area around it and did not see any defects.  I really do not think it was caused by a defect but rather getting hit at some point.

As Matt B mentioned, the upper arm finger area showed no wear at all.

[kmmcrafts]

I guess I would have to see a saw in person and how it all works.. to see why this is not a wear point.. maybe it's design is much different than the Hawk.. though they look very similar in design at the back of the arms and the rear tension mechanism.. But this wedge area is a wear point for the Hawks.. Hawk manuals say to apply a drop or two of 3n1 or other light oil in the wedge pivot point every 25 hours.. The new saw manual says to use a dry lube.. 

I have no idea how much wear or personally never heard of or known anyone that needed to replace the wedge or arm because of wear on the Hawks.. but they have told me over the phone that it was a wear point and to look in those areas when shopping used saws.. 

[Sycamore67]

I am not saying it is not a wear point but there is virtually no wear on the top arm wedge or fingers.  I cleaned the parts and carefully examined the area looking for wear.  

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, Matt B said:

The wedge/aluminum arm is not a wear area. There might be minimal wear, but not much. Based upon this topic, I took my 1994 Hegner apart and there is no wear. I looked as hard as I could for a crack, but the arm has a blue coating and I did not see anything. I am not concerned. They do not instruct the user to put any oil or grease there. It probably would not hurt to do so.  I wonder if there was a flaw in that casting that caused that failure. 

I did take my arms off to check the bearings for oil. It was well oiled, but I cleaned them up anyway and reoiled. Ready for more cutting.

 

43 minutes ago, Sycamore67 said:

I am not saying it is not a wear point but there is virtually no wear on the top arm wedge or fingers.  I cleaned the parts and carefully examined the area looking for wear.  

Sorry Larry I should have quoted Matt B.. He said its not a wear area.. I was just trying to understand why it's not a wear area.. Like I said before.. I don't know Hegner saws.. only seen one in person that was a 1988 14" saw.. I almost bought it for the $60 they was asking for it at the estate sale.. I figured the stand was probably worth that.. But i ended up spending my limited ( at the time ) funds on a high end wood burning set.. so I passed on the saw.. I'd like to get a Hegner some day just to mess with and see if maybe one day I'd like a new one.. LOL.. They aren't cheap to buy a new one and then not like it.. LOL

I try to soak in all the info on them I can so i know things to look for if I ever run upon a deal on a used one.. so these topics about them are interesting to me.. 

[rash_powder]

I can't see how it would be a wear point.  There would be very very little motion of the tension rod blocks in their spots.  There is a bit of play in the holes the tension rod runs through the blocks in; thats where I would guess the wear to be.  That tension rod almost looks like it was eaten away by an acid or something

[Sycamore67]

I think what happened is that the finger broke off at some time but the saw still ran.  Since the wedge was only supported on one side, there was wear on one side of the wedge and the tension rod was wearing against the area where only one finger was left.  The rod was also flexing back and forth because of the missing finger and eventually caused a fatigue fracture of the rod.

I agree that there is little movement of the wedge in the v of the fingers resulting in very little wear.