Hawk Scroll Saw

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Rockytime

Rockytime

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2014
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Location
Arvada, CO 80003
Tomorrow I am to travel 65 miles to look at a Hawk scroll saw. Model SS14, SN321. It was advertised on Craig's list. Has been there for about three weeks and is still available. Price $300. 14" is a small saw. Might be OK since I doubt I will be a serious scroller. I looked up the manual but reproduction is so poor it is hard to clearly see the illustrations. Elderly owner claims it is in excellent condition. I worry about difficulty or ease of blade change. Although it is a Hawk I think $300 is a hefty chunk of change. I don't want to drive 130 miles for a pig in a poke. Any advise is appreciated.
 

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I have a RBI Hawk 21" saw. It is a good quality saw. Blade changes are not too difficult but not the easiest either. RBI went out of business several years ago but another company bought the rights to make parts and maybe complete saws.... not sure. Parts may or may not be easy to get if you need them. Not sure I would pay $300 unless it is in A+ condition.

Good luck!
 
Hello Les

I am sorry I did not see this post till today. I assume you went to see the saw from your post.

Here is what I could tell you being a RBI scroll saw owner. This was one of their earlier saws and do not make them any more. It is built on the 220 platform. From the photos it looks like any Hawk saw but shorter bed. The key things to look for are the motor. Does it start and stop. I am not sure if this is a VS model or not. I can not see the other side of the motor. If it is make sure it goes through its speed changes.

Next is the bellow. Being an older one make sure it is not dry rotted and it supplies air to the air hose.

Make sure you have at least 2 of the blade holders. These are different from todays holders so not sure how available they are. Make sure the table tilts.

The bad thing with this saw is it does not have a quick blade release up front. That means you have to tighten and loosen the blade from the rear and that becomes a pain in the butt if doing alot of pierce work where you have to continually thread a blade. Also if not VS speed I would stay away from it. 14" saw is way too small for me. You can do better for $300. You can find Dewalt 788 on Craigs list for that and they are a 20" saw with all the features.

Other than that it can cut wood.:smile::smile:
 
Well here is the story. Thursday my friend and I drove to Colorado Springs. It is 65 or 75 miles from where I live. I-25 was solid traffic which was nearly stopped for some reason. We wound our way around back roads and finally ended down there after three hours. Usually a hour and a half drive. The day was hotter than a two dollar pistol and the air conditioner failed. The seller lives way to gone up in the foothills. We finally found the place. The saw was not at all what I had perceived.It is quite small and appeared to have been used very little. It was so clean I really did not inspect it. My friend hauled it out to my vehicle. It had no motor. I did pay $100. After bring it home I mounted on a small bench. I happened to have a small motor and a 5" pulley which I mounted on the saw. I also had a foot switch which I also connected. The saw is a cute little bugger and will probably do whatever I need to do. Springing for dinner, gas, time wasted and sweating like the devil I really paid way too much for this saw. But is is smooth as a baby's butt and very quiet. Cosmetically it looks like new. It has the old style blade changing method but it runs very nicely and should I like scrolling I would likely spring for an Excelsior. In the meantime this is a tremendous step up from my Ryobi. Also many thanks to those who offered advise.
 

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That looks like a sweet setup.
Maybe it will be great for now and forever. Remember, you can always move up.
And when you 'out grow' it.....I bet there will be someone you can pass it on to that will enjoy it also.

Have fun. We all will be looking to see your work.
 
campzeke said:
I have a RBI Hawk 21" saw. It is a good quality saw. Blade changes are not too difficult but not the easiest either. RBI went out of business several years ago but another company bought the rights to make parts and maybe complete saws.... not sure. Parts may or may not be easy to get if you need them. Not sure I would pay $300 unless it is in A+ condition.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Have to ask Rick, what saw do you have?? You say the blade changing is not the easiest. Not sure why. They have always gotten high marks in that area. To me they are the easiest on the market. Yes I may be a little bias but I have scrolled on just about every saw on the market and own a Dewalt, Hegner and 2 RBI saws. My Rbis are 220VS Hawk and 226VS Hawk.

I would love to try their new BM series saws. They have some neat new features.
 
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This perhaps best posted on the scrolling web site but thought someone may be interested in this saw. I looked at all the Hawk user manuals and could not find one corresponding to my saw. However, a phone call to RBI found me speaking to an extremely nice person. I told her what information I was looking for and she said she would research it for me. I asked her who might have that information since the serial number is 321. I thought someone that would know a machine that old was probably in a nursing home. She said the person that would know was not that old and I would receive an call in the morning. Sure enough I did receive that call. Turns out the saw is made specifically for a Shop-Smith thus no motor. It now is single speed but am changing to two 3-sheave pulleys which will give me a moderate speed, a quick speed and a speed close to the sound barrier. If I find I like scrolling I will have to save my nickles and dimes for a real Hawk.
 
Rockytime said:
PS: I did order a good variety of Flying Dutchman blades.
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May I ask you where you got the blades from?? The person who brought those to the market recently passed away which I posted a thread here on, Mike Moorlock.

They are a German blade made from famous German steel, the best on the market in my opinion. I love the Penguin Silver double skip tooth reverse blades #5. They are the most used blades in my shop by far. I use to be one of Mike's trial guys whenever he had a new blade introduced. The one blade I never got the hang of was the spiral blades. That is a different animal. :smile: Good luck with the saw and have fun. Scrolling is a lot of fun. :smile:
 
New folks are in portland oregon.

Mike sold the business and had a bit of retirement before checking out. Nice guy!!!
 
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