Hawk 220 Blade Tension

[Jimpask]

Got a question for the group. I am using a RBI Hawk 220 and cutting 3/4" Oak. I felt I was going slow when feeding the stock into the blade but I noticed that some of my cuts seem to have been cut at an angle, ie,not square shoulders. I watched one of the cut while in process and I noticed the blade was "bowed out" and not cutting a straight up and down stroke.

Any explaination what what I may have been doing wrong? I am using one of the Flying Dutchman # 5 blades.

I appreciate all teh help you could provide.

Thanks

Jim Paskett

[lucky788scroller]

Mike M should be replying.....

... but, Ill throw in my idea. I think you had a bit to much sideways pressure on the blade, your blade got hot either from being dull, or to fast of a feed rate. Try it and cut a little slower maybe?

[William Young (SE BC)]

Jim;
Dale had some good ideas there and just to add to it a little, make sure your blade is real tight and the blade is true 90 degrees to the table.
And I will repeat what Dale said about no sideways pressure on the blade because that is very important. Feed the blade straight in and take your time on 3/4" hardwood.
You can do it . . . Just takes a little practice.
Also, if you put some clear packaging tape on top of the pattern, your blade will last longer and cut better. When the blade gets dull, toss it and start with a new one. You can't do good work with a dull blade.

W.Y.

[AuDust]

Jim,

I have a 220 and find that "ballpark" tension is obtained when you feel resistance when the front tension lever is approximately 60 degrees from the horozontal before camming over to the closed position. Minor adjustments can be made for different woods and blades. Most of my cutting is 4x4 mahogany and 6 mil baltic birch stacked 4 high. 5R and 9R blades are used. Good luck.

[urband]

I'm not familiar with the RBI, but I have been doing a lot of cutting recently on 3/4" walnut using FD blades. You can cut pretty aggressively with the FD-SR #5 blade. It does an excellent job until it starts to get dull, and then the blade starts to wander.

I've also tried the TC, PSR and Polar #5's from Mike's assortment pack, but they don't work as well for this application.

Dan

[Old Mooner]

Jim--
The advice you have received so far is good. I use an RBI 220. The tension lever should be at about the "12" or "12:30" postition on a #5 blade (varies a bit with blades and saws). I cut 3/4" oak (ref the Tiger in my gallery) with an Olson #5 double tooth PGT blade (PGT costs a bit more but worth it). Another thing to try is speed adjustment. I usually use the number 4 or 5 setting (sometimes slower) when sawing oak. You can't rush it when cutting wood that hard and that thick.
Moon

[Jimpask]

Blade Tension

Thanks folks, all great suggestions...I am popping in a new blade and slowing down the speed of the saw...and trying to eliminate any sideways pressure.

Thanks again

Jim

[Jimpask]

Problem Solved

I think I have found out the cause of my problem. Yesterday when I got back to my scroll saw after several weeks being away, I placed a level on the saw table and it seemed "off bubble" a little so I made the necessary adjustment to level the table.

However when I put a small protractor behind the blade, the blade was was square, it was off a couple of degrees...required me to again adjust the table top to ensure the blade was square to the table.

For some unknowen reason I am nat able to "zero out" the scale below the table, for a square blade to table, the scale reads about 1 degree to the right of zero. I attempted to move the scale indicator so that it read zero, but it has been moved as far as it will go...hence I have that 1 degree off zero as noted above.

[William Young (SE BC)]

Jim;
Glad to hear you got it working good again.
Happy scrolling

Moon;
You mentioned using Olson PGT blades. I tried them once and they were not at all to my liking. Wide kerf in the same # range and started burning the wood way too soon.
I thought maybe I hade just got some bad ones because that can happen and it was only a dozen so I chucked them out.
A year or so later I tried them again from another supplier and they were no different so I sent that dozen back.
Then about 6 months ago I discovered the Pegas Modified Geometry Blades for cutting straight in without the wood going off to one side like most blades do. I couldn't believe the difference. I found them to be the best blade I have ever used. They were the first blade in the Pegas line-up that I tried and after finding out the quality of them, I am now using the full line of Pegas blades.
You can check them out here.

http://bensscrollsaw.com/blade.html

W.Y.

[Old Mooner]

W.Y.--
Your experience with PGT blades surprises me. They are one of the few blades that I found that do the job on thicker material. They very seldom break--even with abuse--and I have never had the burning problem you mentioned. They are agressive and they do leave a fairly wide kerf, but not so wide as to hamper me in my projects. I have never tried Pegas blades, but now that you mention them, I might. I have seen them advertised. I think I just like Olson blades. I know that a lot of folks don't, but I use their flat end spirals and their #3 Mach blades all the time with good results. I gues the tool just has to fit the carpenter.
Moon