Bauer 22" ( New videos added)

[Hawk]

Well, I've been on the fence about this saw from Harbour Freight for about a month now. 

Short back story. I started with a Delta P-20 back in 2000. Loved that saw. Mt daughter wanted it to start her scrolling, so I gave it to her and picked up a Hawk 220VS to replace it. While the Hawk is a great saw, and replacement parts still available,  I just couldn't figure out an easy to top feed for fret work. The Delta was a breeze.

So I finally pulled the trigger today on the Bauer.

Here are a few pics , the video is literally 2 minutes after I put it on the bench and plugged it in. I was amazed the nickel stayed put thru the speed range.

Tomorrow I'll really get into this saw, but as of now, I'm impressed 

Edited Tuesday at 07:08 PM by Hawk

[Denny Knappen]

Chris, that video is impressive.  Looking forward to a review.

[Hawk]

@Denny Knappen, here are a couple of pictures of the blade holders, would any of the Pegas upgrades fit?

Edited Monday at 03:36 PM by Hawk

[rjweb]

Looking forward to the review, RJ

[Denny Knappen]

4 hours ago, Hawk said:

@Denny Knappen, here are a couple of pictures of the blade holders, would any of the Pegas upgrades fit?

I checked with Pegas several weeks ago and yes, the Pegas Chuck Head Set will fit.

[Hawk]

31 minutes ago, Denny Knappen said:

I checked with Pegas several weeks ago and yes, the Pegas Chuck Head Set will fit.

Just want to confirm before I order, that would be the 90.300 Pegas Chuck head set for popular saws?

 

Chris

[Denny Knappen]

19 hours ago, Hawk said:

Just want to confirm before I order, that would be the 90.300 Pegas Chuck head set for popular saws?

 

Chris

Yes, the on with the lever.

[Hawk]

Had a chance to explore this saw a bit more. The tilt gage has a pin set for 90 degrees, as you can see in the pic it was off a bit, so I did a minor adjustment to the gage and now it's dead on.

A couple of more videos. One is the start up, a bit of a "clunk" when the peddle is pressed, not sure how this will play our over time.

The other is the pin at the back of the saw, kind of a neat feature  as it pops in place when the arm is raised to hold the arm up, only problem is its a bit of a reach (33 inches from the front of the saw) to release. 

After a month or so I'll do a proper review in the review section.

 

[Scrappile]

Are you using a foot switch?  If so could that account for the jerk?

[Denny Knappen]

Is the table rack and pinion?

 

[kmmcrafts]

Looks like a really decent saw for the money... I couldn't deal with that pin to hold the arm up.. maybe a easy solution is a block of wood that holds it up just high enough to not put the arm in that lock position.. Look forward to hearing your thoughts after you put a few miles on it.. 

[OCtoolguy]

I can see many ingenious ways to release that pin without reaching. A cable with pulleys comes to mind. 

[Hawk]

5 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Are you using a foot switch?  If so could that account for the jerk?

Yes I am, I'll try bypassing the foot switch to see if it removes the jerk start.

 

5 hours ago, Denny Knappen said:

Is the table rack and pinion?

 

Can't say as I know exactly what a rack and pinion is, but is the same set up as the King and Hawk has if that helps.

2 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I can see many ingenious ways to release that pin without reaching. A cable with pulleys comes to mind. 

Oh, believe me, my brain is on over drive on this. I still have  a few servos from my R/C Plane days. Thinking about hooking one of those up,  I tend to over think things sometimes. But for now I have a 1/2" dowel that I use to reach the pin.

 

5 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

maybe a easy solution is a block of wood that holds it up just high enough to not put the arm in that lock position.

Didn't think of that, I may do that for the short term.

[Scrappile]

Or just design it so the pin snaps in, then to release it, you raise the arm sightly, and it releases the pin, and the arm comes down. I am sure some engineer could figure that out pretty easily.

[timelett]

What advantage is a arm that tilts if not doing a lot of inlay?I am curious if the arm stays at angle desired for long periods. 

[kmmcrafts]

22 minutes ago, timelett said:

What advantage is a arm that tilts if not doing a lot of inlay?I am curious if the arm stays at angle desired for long periods. 

I rarely do angle cuts but when I do it's very nice on the Excalibur with the arm tilting rather than the table. 

[Hawk]

2 hours ago, timelett said:

What advantage is a arm that tilts if not doing a lot of inlay?I am curious if the arm stays at angle desired for long periods. 

The arm will stay where you put it until you set it back to 90 degrees. Some folks like to do bowl work, that requires an angled cut. but I would have to say a large chunk of scrolling doesn't require any angle of the cut other than 90 degrees.

[timelett]

I do some bowl making,I am watching this thread and would like to see how you like the new saw. If cutting a 30 degree angle on a pattern, its important the angle doesn't change. I do ok with the Hawk I bought from Kevin but maybe the arm tilted and the table flat would be better. 

[Bill WIlson]

My EX-21 has the tilting head and I like it much better than tilting the table to cut on an angle.  Mine uses a rack & pinion system to pivot, so it stays put very well.  Better, I think than my old Dewalt's tilting table.  The tilting table relies on friction from the tightening the table adjusting knob to hold it in place.  The rack & pinion style just feels more solid I stable to me.

[kmmcrafts]

51 minutes ago, Bill WIlson said:

My EX-21 has the tilting head and I like it much better than tilting the table to cut on an angle.  Mine uses a rack & pinion system to pivot, so it stays put very well.  Better, I think than my old Dewalt's tilting table.  The tilting table relies on friction from the tightening the table adjusting knob to hold it in place.  The rack & pinion style just feels more solid I stable to me.

Very much agree.. The EX, Pegas, Jet, King, and many others ( not sure how the HF one tilts ) that have the rack and pinion type angle adjustment is a big plus for anyone that might do angle cuts.. It's a real pain in the behind to try to tap the table top to move the angle when just needing to change it 1 degree or something and the table moves too far or not far enough etc.. being able to just twist the knob to move it precisely where you want it is a major improvement over the Hawk and Hegner type saws.. Plus these saws run super smooth.

One thing I don't like about the HF saw is it doesn't appear to be able to rotate the motor to dial in how aggressive your cut is.. motor doesn't appear to have a slotted mount.. great entree level saw though for the money.  

[kmmcrafts]

2 hours ago, timelett said:

I do some bowl making,I am watching this thread and would like to see how you like the new saw. If cutting a 30 degree angle on a pattern, its important the angle doesn't change. I do ok with the Hawk I bought from Kevin but maybe the arm tilted and the table flat would be better. 

That is one of the major flaws with Hawk and Hegner type saws is trying to precisely set the angle and with the pinch style clamping system they have trying to make sure you don't push on the table top slightly to move that angle.. I don't feel the "holding power" of that pinching ( tightening the knob ) that down is adequate enough.. the rack and pinion is so easy to just turn the knob to the precise angle is really nice.. as is the flat table instead of a angled table. Not sure but Grizzly has a similar saw to this HF saw but it looks to me like it also has the slotted motor so you can adjust how aggressive it cuts.. These parallel link arm saws are a bit more aggressive cutting than the Hawk.. and if you can't fine tune that out at least some you're stuck with a aggressive saw. Having the slotted motor mount where you loosen the screws and rotate the motor you can adjust how it'll cut.    

[timelett]

From what I read from the posts, I did purchase one of these today, I have a thing for making bowls and inlay patterns.

I cut one ring of 1/2 inch maple about eight inches in diameter, I thought it went well. 

I am concerned about the blade tension handle made from plastic. I plan on giving it a good test run the next few weeks. 

[kmmcrafts]

2 minutes ago, timelett said:

From what I read from the posts, I did purchase one of these today, I have a thing for making bowls and inlay patterns.

I cut one ring of 1/2 inch maple about eight inches in diameter, I thought it went well. 

I am concerned about the blade tension handle made from plastic. I plan on giving it a good test run the next few weeks. 

Congrats on the new saw! IF you have troubles with the blade chucks, I suggest upgrading to the Pegas chucks.. Most these tension levers are plastic... however I've never had any trouble with them with either the DeWalt, Excalibur, or Pegas chucks.. The issues I have seen is when people tighten the blade too tight they strip the threads in the cheap aluminum or pot metal chuck metal material.. Or they spread the clamp apart so they don't clamp properly. Pegas chucks I believe are made of a much better billet style aluminum rather than the cheap cast aluminum etc.. 

[Hawk]

1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said:

I suggest upgrading to the Pegas chucks.. Most these tension levers are plastic

Yep, ordered the Pegas blade chucks from @Denny Knappen, when I get them installed I'll let y'all know how it does.