I recently acquired an RBI Hawk 20" saw. I just used it for the first time with some Flying Dutchman blades. My pattern had some areas of 6" or so straight lines and I noticed that when cutting them I had to skew the wood to the centerline of the saw (this was 1/4" thick sasafras). This saw has not rotation of the chucks (like for a rip cut) so I'm wondering if the blade could be the problem? I guess I can switch blades and see, but though I'd ask here. I'm not a big scroller, but didn't have this problem on my last saw ( a cheapie 2 speed 16" Delta).

Fred, hang in there sir, I got our Scroll Saw Forum Host Fred coming over here soon to help ya out. I am sorry I am not much help here, but I am sure glad to see you here and posting, great to have aboard again!

I'm not a scroll sawer either but maybe the blade tension might have something to do with it. Tension really affects my bandsaw.

Fred

The blade is not really the problem. More like a culprit. The way blades are made they can have an edge on the back side of the blade. This tends to make it so on straight cuts it wants to wander off the line. What I do it take an extra fine diamond hone, with the saw running touching lightly to the back of the blade on both sides, like you were trying to cut a chamfer. This eliminates the little drag in the back of the blade. I am assuming your have the correct blade tension set  and the top and bottom arms are parallel with each other.  RBI, Excaliber and Hegner saws are all fine saws. Hope this helps a bit.

 

Wayne

Fred

The blade is not really the problem. More like a culprit. The way blades are made they can have an edge on the back side of the blade. This tends to make it so on straight cuts it wants to wander off the line. What I do it take an extra fine diamond hone, with the saw running touching lightly to the back of the blade on both sides, like you were trying to cut a chamfer. This eliminates the little drag in the back of the blade. I am assuming your have the correct blade tension set  and the top and bottom arms are parallel with each other.  RBI, Excaliber and Hegner saws are all fine saws. Hope this helps a bit.

 

Wayne

Great tip Wayne, don't know why I did not think of that, I do that for new band saw blades too.

Thanks Wayne, I'll try that.....

Hi guys, sorry I'm late to the party.  Judy and I have been vendoring at a craft show this past weekend.  I know - no excuse - was staying at a KOA that had marginal web access (can you say 300 baud).

 

Anyhow - FRED - glad to get to know ya.  Your symptoms are very common with "stamped" blades regardless of manufacture.  If you hold a blade between your fingers, teeth toward you, gently pull the blade down through your fingers, you will probably feel that the right side of the blade is a little sharper than the left.  That will let you know that, indeed, the blade is stamped.  Only on "precision ground" will the sides be equal.  That is what causes the blades to appear to cut on an angle.  Most of us don't think much about it and just adjust our cutting angles.  The easiest way to do this is to move your chair (or other sitting device) a little to the right in front of your saw.  Try cutting your straight line again, then readjust your sitting position.  Pretty soon, you will be cutting straight ON THE LINE without a problem.

 

Honing the back side of the blades is ALWAYS a great idea.  Also help burning from the back edge and marking the wood caused by the sharp back side.

 

Want to try an experiment with this phenomenon????  Get one of those "2-way cutting" blades.  Install it one way, readjust chair to get a straight cut, turn the blade over, make your cut and see how much the angle changed.  Report back if it does NOT change.

 

Great question, Fred.  Hope the answer is as good.

Thank you...I did adjust to the skew it had but it still struck me as odd, especially given there was no alignment mechanism on the chucks.

Fred,

three important ides to check out. Make sure your table is square to the blade. Check your bled tension, your blade speed and finally it takes practice on viewing your line area. you need to look ahead of your blade and as mentioned before the quality of your blade make a difference as some are more aggressive then others,after awhile you will find the blades that work for you. I have as many as 15 types and 5 different manufactures that I use.   Good luck  Tony

Fred,

three important ides to check out. Make sure your table is square to the blade. Check your bled tension, your blade speed and finally it takes practice on viewing your line area. you need to look ahead of your blade and as mentioned before the quality of your blade make a difference as some are more aggressive then others,after awhile you will find the blades that work for you. I have as many as 15 types and 5 different manufactures that I use.   Good luck  Tony

Excellent advice Antonio, thanks for chiming in!

It took me a little while to get back to this. First, thanks to all for the advice. I went back and checked the things suggested as well as hone the back of the blade. I'm square to the table, and if you believe the Hawk tensioning setup is good I have that correct as well. The speed is one of those things that will come with practice (I guess) but I did hone the back of the blade. While it still cuts at a skew, it does cut straight quite a bit better so I'm good for now. I mentioned easrlier I'm not a big scroller....but with this saw I may be. I really like it. Thanks to all.

Thank you...I did adjust to the skew it had but it still struck me as odd, especially given there was no alignment mechanism on the chucks.

 

You are most welcome, Fred.  Asking questions is sometimes easier than OJT.

 

I only adjustment that I can think of on the chucks would be moving the set screw(s) in and out to either center the blade or make small adjustments to get the blade vertical to the table.  Anyone else think of anything we have missed????

oh man there's tons of stuff that can make that Blade go a little bit awry. got to go to work right now will write more later.

OK, SORRY TO DOUBLE POST.

 

HAVE YOU TRIED A SPIRAL BLADE?  THEY CUT BETTER WITH A FENCE AND WON'T FOLLOW THE GRAIN AS MUCH.

 

AS WITH BANDSAWS, THE WIDER THE BLADE IS THE MORE "TAIL" STAYS IN THE CUT AND KEEPS THE BLADE STRAIGHTER.  ON A SMALL BANDSAW A SET OF ROLLER BEARINGS LIKE THE KIND MADE BY CARTER WILL KEEP THE BLADE STRAIGHT. A SCROLLSAW DOESN'T HAVE THAT OPTION.

 

THAT BEING SAID, HERE'S 2 FACTORS THAT WILL AFFECT TRACKING OF THE BLADE.  THE QUICK CHANGE CLIPS THAT HOLD THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE BLADE ARE GREAT FOR QUICK BLADE CHANGES BUT DON'T REALLY "ALIGN" THE BLADE. THERE IS STILL ROOM IN THE CLAMPS FOR THE BLADE TO BE TIPPED FORWARD OR BACK.

 

YOU'LL NEED TO CHECK THESE ALSO TO MAKE SURE AFTER THEY CLAMP THE BLADE AT TOP AND BOTTOM THAT THEY ARE DIRECTLY ABOVE/BELOW EACH OTHER.  AND BELIEVE ME, 1/8 OF AN INCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM IS ABOUT 1/16TH OF AN INCH CUT DIFFERENCE ON A 5 INCH BLADE.  ENOUGH TO DRIVE YOU NUTS, LOL.

 

DO NOT TRUST THE MANUFACTURER, CHECK IT YOURSELF.

 

I HAD BOUGHT A GRIZZLY SCROLLSAW AND THE ARM BUSHINGS WEREN'T DRILLED STRAIGHT AND THEY USED A RUBBER BUSHING TO TAKE UP THE "SLACK".  NEVER DID TRACK RIGHT.

 

FOR BLADES SLIGHTLY TIPPED FORWARD/BACKWARDS YOU CAN USUALLY JUST UNCLASP, MOVE IT A BIT AND RE-CLAMP TO STRAIGHTEN IT OUT.  FORWARD/BACK TILTS USUALLY ONLY AFFECT CUTTING CURVES AS THE BLADE IS BEING "BOUND" AS IT GOES INTO A CUT, CAUSING IT TO CUT THE WOOD AT AN ANGLE.

 

IF YOU'VE CHECKED EVERYTHING AND YOUR OK WITH IT BUT STILL HAVING PROBLEMS, GO TO A SPIRAL CUT BLADE.  THERE'S A LEARNING CURVE IN USING THEM (THEY'LL CUT ANY DIRECTION) BUT THEY ARE A SUPER VERSATILE BLADE AND GREAT FOR TIGHT WORK.

 

THAT MACHINE ONCE YOU GET COMFORTABLE WITH IT AND GET IT "TWEEKED" WILL BE YOUR FAVORITE PLAY TOY!! LOL

 

AND LET US KNOW HOW YOU ARE DOING!!!!  ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF THAT MACHINE THERE'S TONS OF STUFF YOU CAN DO WITH IT!!

Antonio

Thanks for the reminder. I guess some of the seasoned scrollers take for granted what we do when we cut projects out. I know I tend to make on the fly adjustments to the cut. I use Flying Dutchmen exclusively and not of the spiral variety. But to each their own. Thanks for a "different" view, always nice to hear and learn from other scrollers.

Antonio - alwas glad to have differing views.  You are 100% on the length of the "tail" on the blade helping to keep the line straight.  Personally, I just never got the hang of cutting straight using a spiral.  Glad to know someone who has mastered the skill.