I guess I’m just disappointed

[wagner1958]

I actually started to write this late afternoon and accidentally put in in the wrong topic thread so I apologize and will try again . The pictures are the switch box on my 6 month old BM26 hawk. The metal screw connector holding it on came loose in the box so I am sending it back to Bushton manufacturing for warranty repair. This was kind of the final straw on a saw that I have not been very happy with. It constantly breaks blades, will not keep proper tension and has more vibration than my old RBI that I purchased new in 1992 and is very tired. I was showing my wife this evening what had happened and as I looked at the 2 saws sitting beside each other it was really obvious how much heavier build the old saw was in comparison to the new one. I went back to using my old saw this afternoon and to be honest it just felt like an old friend I have been missing. If I can’t get some of these issues resolved I may end up selling the new one and buying a good used one somewhere, I’m just really on the fence with this entire situation.

[kmmcrafts]

Sorry to hear you're having issues with the new saw. I know these saws are very picky about blade tension and will break blades very easily but you coming from a older Hawk shouldn't be having that issue.. I don't know your tuning capabilities but could the vibration issues be the stand legs not firmly planted to the floor? I know all my Hawks are very picky about the legs being firmly onto the floor where it sets at, especially my BM26... IF I move my saw from one spot to another spot more times than not I have to re-adjust the legs for the new spot and I have a pretty smooth flat concrete floor that was professionally done in my new shop. They are built slightly lighter than the old saws but to be honest the older saws was probably over built much like everything else in this world.. Things aren't built like they were 40 years ago, LOL.

Being your old saw was from 1992 I assume it had the round barrel style clamps.. I had a 220VS from 1993 that was the round clamps.. I loved that saw and sometimes wish I had kept it. They do take a lot of get used to those clamps and many folks hated those.. it seems people either loved them or hated them. I kinda like them better than the newer style.. 

I love my new BM26 and the only thing I wish different with it is that it would have a "soft start" where the saw slowly ramps up to speed like the older saws do.. They claim the new saws have a soft start but it's not the same soft start of the older saws.. it's more of a pause start where you hit the switch and it takes a half second to run but when it does it's at full speed of whatever you have set on the speed dial.. I like the old way where it has to take 3-4 blade strokes to get up to speed. But I've grown used to it now I suppose. Been a great saw for me and I've put about 500 hours on it since I bought it back in 2018.. I've not had any issues so far. 

Hoping they get things squared away for your saw and when you get it back you'll like it better.. 

[wagner1958]

thanks for your reply, i have the chair legs on my new saw which i really do like . i have adjusted them and believe they are solid on my floor. the concrete floor in my shop was poured by the amish and everyone has commented how flat and nice the floor is so i think my base is good. since you own the bm series i have a question on the tension lever on the rear of the saw. it has a flat spot on the lever where it is supposed to stay but when the tension is off the blade it sometimes falls over which of course changes tension on blade ,( hopefully that makes sense )  what am i missing here ? also i put a mark on the rod to see if it turns when i scroll and it does , i would not think plastic washers are worn out already. my old saw i could make the blades tight and they would stay , on the new saw if i  put on same amount of tension it will either pull out of top or break the blade just underneath the table. as far as vibration goes i have a magnifer light i cannot use on the new saw because it vibrates to much, i put it back on my old saw and i can use it just fine. i remember the old days when they would demo these saws they did the nickel test on the table and it would not move, there is no way my new saw could do that. sorry for the long rant but i have been scrolling for 30 years and with this new saw it feel like i have been sawing 3 weeks.

[wagner1958]

one more thing i forgot to add, i loved the old barrel style blade holder , i admit i have had a very hard time getting used to this new style

[kmmcrafts]

9 minutes ago, wagner1958 said:

thanks for your reply, i have the chair legs on my new saw which i really do like . i have adjusted them and believe they are solid on my floor. the concrete floor in my shop was poured by the amish and everyone has commented how flat and nice the floor is so i think my base is good. since you own the bm series i have a question on the tension lever on the rear of the saw. it has a flat spot on the lever where it is supposed to stay but when the tension is off the blade it sometimes falls over which of course changes tension on blade ,( hopefully that makes sense )  what am i missing here ? also i put a mark on the rod to see if it turns when i scroll and it does , i would not think plastic washers are worn out already. my old saw i could make the blades tight and they would stay , on the new saw if i  put on same amount of tension it will either pull out of top or break the blade just underneath the table. as far as vibration goes i have a magnifer light i cannot use on the new saw because it vibrates to much, i put it back on my old saw and i can use it just fine. i remember the old days when they would demo these saws they did the nickel test on the table and it would not move, there is no way my new saw could do that. sorry for the long rant but i have been scrolling for 30 years and with this new saw it feel like i have been sawing 3 weeks.

That nylon washer to prevent the rear adjustment from moving never worked for me very well on either the old 1993 220vs or the 1998 226VS Ultra and again on the new BM26 saw.. I'm not sure if I'm getting some oil on it or what but that has never worked well for keeping the tension from moving on any of my saws.. I'd have to replace the washer every month or so which is cheap I guess and maybe they don't last very long.. What does work for me is a drop or two of "blue" loctite on the threads of the rod.. this allows me to still turn it, though a bit stiff the first couple times I need to adjust it sometimes need to hold the rod with some pliers while I turn the knob. But after the first few times I can just hold it with my fingers and turn it.. holds just enough to keep the rod from spinning freely but not so tight that it cannot be turned.. That works way better for me so that is what I've always done rather than replace the washer several times a year. 

I wonder if you have a defective rear tension lever.. seems odd that it just falls over like that.. I've not had that issue with mine.

This is my saw straight out of the box before I even tuned it or adjusted the legs as I assembled it out in the middle of my shop floor in the open bay for more room. You definitely have some issues with your saw I think.. This test the nickle did  move some as it wasn't fully tuned and set up yet.

 

[wagner1958]

I think there are 2 spots where my vibration get better, one of them is around the 3 mark on the dial and the other is wide open. Unfortunately I like to scroll in the 5-7 range on the dial which seems to be one of the worst spots for the vibration 

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah, mine vibrates / shakes quite a lot in that same speed range. I don't run mine full speed but somewhere between the full speed and that vibration area, LOL.. I'm guessing it to be right around the 1500spm is where I run my saws. The old 1993 saw I run full speed as that one tops out at 1500spm.. as does the Excalibur which I also run full speed. I started scrollsawing on a old single speed saw which was 1500spm so that may be why that is my speed of comfort... actually it was a two speed saw but low was way to slow and while just learning 1500 was a bit on the fast side but I dealt with it and it's where I like to be at now days..

I often wonder how the BM20 compares to the BM26.. that extra length in the arms moving I'm sure give a more pronounced vibration or maybe that harmonic balance is at a different speed range on the smaller saw.. was always kinda curious about that. In some ways I wished i'd have went with the 20" saw since I have the 226VS Ultra anyway for those larger projects.

[wagner1958]

i purchased my first RBI at Iowa state fair which i believe was a 16 inch , about a year later i purchased what i believed was my last saw but soon ran into a pattern where i ran out of room and had to put my blade in backwards to complete project , so made a return trip to Harrisonville Mo to trade it for the 226

[Oldmansbike]

I purchased my 226vs at Splinterfest in the Amana Colonies Iowa in 1996. It has had a lot of use and still works great.