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Scrollsaw selection
Last fall, I attended the Fox Chapel open house to educate myself on and decide which scrollsaw I should purchase. Well worth the trip! The two Delta scrollsaws I was using worked very well,but not to the production requirements I needed. For me, all the research I did paid off in the end. I purchased a HAWK, 220 for these reasons. Price was a secondary issue as all the professional machines are not that far apart in cost..........compatible design features that fitted my way in doing things was the deciding factor. Overall, the HAWK spent it's design money on a reliable, robust design that forgives and can absorb some dumb abuses. The drive motor mounted under the table protects it well and allows the cutting table to tilt 45 degrees right or left. This saw with a coolant kit can cut ceramic and glass! The biggest deciding factor was the blade clamping system. One has the option of premounting the bottom of the blade in a clamp and feed it up through the bottom of the table, or simply leave the bottom clamb on the lower arm and feed the blade down through the top of table. My preferred way. Although it took me a little time to get use to, the tensioning adjustment at the back of the saw is absolutely amazing. For the thinnest of blades, you simply loosen the tension, clamp the blade in in place and the start applying the tension a bit at a time, not unlike tuning a string on an instrument. I then "ping" the blade till it hits the right note! Like must of us retirees that have to supplement our incomes to pay the ever rising taxes, I'm lucky that I can do what i love to do and make a buck to boot! I've had my HAWK for a llittle over three weeks and have generated close to one third of the cost of my scrollsaw by selling the items I make.
Last fall, I attended the Fox Chapel open house to educate myself on and decide which scrollsaw I should purchase. Well worth the trip! The two Delta scrollsaws I was using worked very well,but not to the production requirements I needed. For me, all the research I did paid off in the end. I purchased a HAWK, 220 for these reasons. Price was a secondary issue as all the professional machines are not that far apart in cost..........compatible design features that fitted my way in doing things was the deciding factor. Overall, the HAWK spent it's design money on a reliable, robust design that forgives and can absorb some dumb abuses. The drive motor mounted under the table protects it well and allows the cutting table to tilt 45 degrees right or left. This saw with a coolant kit can cut ceramic and glass! The biggest deciding factor was the blade clamping system. One has the option of premounting the bottom of the blade in a clamp and feed it up through the bottom of the table, or simply leave the bottom clamb on the lower arm and feed the blade down through the top of table. My preferred way. Although it took me a little time to get use to, the tensioning adjustment at the back of the saw is absolutely amazing. For the thinnest of blades, you simply loosen the tension, clamp the blade in in place and the start applying the tension a bit at a time, not unlike tuning a string on an instrument. I then "ping" the blade till it hits the right note! Like must of us retirees that have to supplement our incomes to pay the ever rising taxes, I'm lucky that I can do what i love to do and make a buck to boot! I've had my HAWK for a llittle over three weeks and have generated close to one third of the cost of my scrollsaw by selling the items I make.
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