An Awesome Day

[Hawk]

Yesterday was an awesome scrolling day for me. I was actually able to spend most of the day at my Hawk saw, and it was incredible.  I've had the Hawk about a year now and it did not start good. I'd been using a Delta P-20 that I got back in late 1998 and that's all I used until my daughter asked if she could have the Delta , I taught her on it when she was about 8. So faced with getting a replacement,  and the Hawk is something I've always wanted for as long as I've been scrolling,  I found this one. After I got it home I really wasn't impressed. You see with the Delta I was a die hard top feed for the blade, for more than 20 years. The Hawk, while it can top feed, fir me it was difficult if not impossible.  Fast forward a year and I finally found a groove with the Hawk which is what lead to yesterday's awesome scrolling day, the result of which you can see from my dust tray I have under the cutting table on the Hawk.

After a rough start a year ago, the Hawk is now my number 1 saw!

[kmmcrafts]

Glad you finally got to a point where you truly enjoy the Hawk. Many people either love them or hate them. Doesn’t seem to be a in between with them and most that hate them usually do not properly tune them and or give them time to learn the clamps and tension system. They are a totally different experience from the average saw but if you get it tuned and learned good they’re also a totally different experience to use as well. Unfortunately many give up on them before that happens. 
 

I almost gave up on them as well when I got my first Hawk. They’re so different from the DeWalt that I had used for many years and also all the other saws I had before the DeWalt.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

A LONGGGGGGGGG time RBI guy here and love the saw. If I were to buy a new one I probably would not like that one as much as the older version I have now because that is what I learned on. I started with an old Dremel 2 speed and went up to a Hegner which was not bad. But the Hawk was the sweet saw that I loved the first day I started using. Had a Dewalt that I really never liked and could not get a good handle on. Enjoy the saw it will last a life time. 

[Denny Knappen]

A year is a long time to get used to the saw, but I am pleased that it now works for you.

[Hawk]

4 hours ago, Denny Knappen said:

A year is a long time to get used to the saw, but I am pleased that it now works for you.

I still had the Delta for a few months  when I got the Hawk. Being so accustomed to top feeding the blade, having to bottom feed on the Hawk was a real pain for me. And learning the tension intricacies of the Hawk took time. I'd tinker with it from time to time, but never really could get comfortable with bottom feed. After my daughter got the Delta I had no choice.  And it finally clicked that day.  

[kmmcrafts]

39 minutes ago, Hawk said:

I still had the Delta for a few months  when I got the Hawk. Being so accustomed to top feeding the blade, having to bottom feed on the Hawk was a real pain for me. And learning the tension intricacies of the Hawk took time. I'd tinker with it from time to time, but never really could get comfortable with bottom feed. After my daughter got the Delta I had no choice.  And it finally clicked that day.  

Took me around a year as well, and just like you.. If business was slow and not rushed to get a order out the door I would use the Hawk.. If I was rushed to get something out the door then I used my Dewalt at that time.. I still sometimes do that but now have the Excalibur and it really depends on the project at hand too. 

That being said the first Hawk I bought had a lot of issues and not knowing the Hawk saws didn't help that situation either.. but it was used a lot before i got it and many things were very worn that I didn't understand at the time.. Lucky I only paid $100 for it and that was probably $100 too much after basically rebuilding the whole saw and adding another $300 in parts it finally worked great, lol.. Without that experience though I still wouldn't know much about those Hawk saws.. but through a lot of trial and error I learned those Hawk saws inside and out. Of coarse much help from Bushton too..

[Hawk]

46 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Of coarse much help from Bushton too..

They have been a huge help to me too!!

[OCtoolguy]

It's nice to hear about good customer service. We all need to spread the word regarding both good and bad service. 

[Denny Knappen]

As a top feeder since I started scrolling, I just could not get used to bottom feeding.

[Mike Crosa]

I guess I am a bottom feeder as I have a devil of a time trying to do it the other way.  Can never find the bottom clamp.

[Hawk]

6 hours ago, Mike Crosa said:

I guess I am a bottom feeder as I have a devil of a time trying to do it the other way.  Can never find the bottom clamp.

On the Delta P-20 it was easy, the Hawk not so much. Now that I bottom feed with the Hawk I can see an advantage to it.

[Roberta Moreton]

I got a Hawk a few months ago at an incredible price.  I hated it! I could NOT understand the blade clamps! Then, eventually after trying every day for almost 2 months, it clicked! I am a top feeder.  It works perfectly! Just guide the blade into the hole with my thumb!  Getting the tension right was the hard part. 

[Hawk]

23 hours ago, Roberta Moreton said:

I got a Hawk a few months ago at an incredible price.  I hated it! I could NOT understand the blade clamps! Then, eventually after trying every day for almost 2 months, it clicked! I am a top feeder.  It works perfectly! Just guide the blade into the hole with my thumb!  Getting the tension right was the hard part. 

I've tried to top feed my Hawk, I just can't seem to get the blade holder tight enough on the bottom. So I just bottom feed now. And I agree, blade tension is tough, I don't try using the lever thing at the back, I get up from the saw , walk around to the back with the new blade in, pluck the blade, if it doesn't sound right I release the tension, just spin the tension connector rod, reset the tension lever and pluck the blade. Repeat this until I have the blade tension right.