Rbi hawk: Are they worth the hype?

[Calvin Jamison]

I've got a guy willing to sell me an Rbi Hawk 220 for $225 at the end of the month, if it doesn't sell for his current asking price of $400. Its in perfect condition, not even a scratch. Anybody have any experience with these saws? Are they really worth it? Any down side to them? Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

[Nick Christensen]

The hawk is an excellent scroll saw, the college I went to had 3 of them, and 225 is a great price. Even 400 is a good price. The only problem is that RBI went out of business a few years ago so parts might be harder to get a hold of if you have any problems.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Calvin
It's great saw for that price, and your can still get parts as Hawk is still in business. Tom .hawkwoodworkingtools.com

[Mike Henderson]

I have a Hawk. It's a very good scroll saw. My only caution is to make sure the throat is what you want. The 220 has a 22" throat, if I recall correctly. I went with the one with a 26" throat just so I could do bigger pieces.

Also, you might want to add a "surface extender" if you do big pieces. The platform on all the Hawks is a bit small. And a light shining on your work really helps.

Mike

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[Bryan Cramer]

Just make sure it is a electronic variable speed, not a step pulley. Those are the older designs made from (I think) 1989-1991. Not only is it hard to find a speed that works well, the parts for them are even more expensive. I had to buy a new belt for mine and it was $22 shipped.

[Mike Henderson]

One more note about the Hawk. I found that it would trip an older GFCI, but worked fine with a newer GFCI. The way I found this out was that I had an older GFCI on one side of my shop and a newer one on the other side of the shop. The Hawk would work on one side of the shop but not on the other. Once I figured it out, I replaced the older GFCI.

Mike

[Larry Frank]

The RBI Hawk is a very good scroll saw. There is a good web site for the saw and it appears that they have quite a few of the parts. If you get a chance to buy it, I would try it out and make certain that it is functioning correctly and then buy it.

The size of the table will depend upon what you are going to do with the scroll saw. If you are making large things then you may want to go for one with a 26" throat. I have a Hegner with only a 18" throat and it does everything that I need it do. Most of my work is Intarsia and smaller kids puzzles.

[Calvin Jamison]

Thanks for the input y'all, if its still available at the end of the month I'll definitely get it. Its a 20" by the way, which I'm ok with, I would like a 26", but 20" is ok. I currently have a 22" grizzly which is ehh, has plenty of power, it will do scroll work on 6/4 oak, but vibrates more than I like.

[Larry C Smith]

The Hawk is now being sold by a company in Kansas called Bushton Mfg. They have parts for the Hawk and sell new ones. Here is a link. http://www.bushtonmanufacturing.com/index.html

[Rich Engelhardt]

One more note about the Hawk. I found that it would trip an older GFCI, but worked fine with a newer GFCI. The way I found this out was that I had an older GFCI on one side of my shop and a newer one on the other side of the shop. The Hawk would work on one side of the shop but not on the other. Once I figured it out, I replaced the older GFCI.

GFCI's both wear out over time & not all GFCI's are created equal. You did the right thing by replacing it.
I've had brand new ones do similar after being in service for only a month or so.
They aren't necessarily "bad" or "worn out", BTW. Just overly sensitive.