Hawk 220 Scroll Saw Questions

[Fred Childs]

I have been thinking of buying a scroll saw for a while now and finally bought one today at a yard sale. It was an impulse buy and I don’t know if I got a good deal or not. I purchased a used RBI Hawk 220 for $350.00. I was told it was 10 years old but found out when I got home it is really 20 years old (date of purchase was in the manual). It looks in great shape and seems to operate well. It does not have variable speed. It is a two speed but it seems you have to move the motor to make the change and it does not seem like a quick thing to do.

My questions are:

Did I pay too much?

How important is variable speed?

Is there a way to retrofit this saw to get variable speed?

Any other insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Carroll Courtney]

Fred,I think that you broke even,maybe paying on the upper end of its worth.I also purchase a 220 model that was also 10yrs old w/papers and it was 350.00 and no VS.I had shop around for used for some time and most were from 500 on up.But, like yours they look like brand new.I think that purchasing this quality of saw,we will never have to upgrade.These saws are the best!As far as VS,I was told that if your cutting thick stock then you need to slow down the blade some.You can purchase a realostat(wrong spelling)something like a lite dimmer that will do the same thing.Fred,I also think that you will love your purchase.I had a Sears scroll saw and its a big difference like nite and day.Good Luck and post some pics of your weekend finds. Carroll

[Bruce Glazier]

If you like the saw - and you're going to - it's worth what you paid for it. I bought mine 20 years ago for about $600.00 and it's still going strong.

[Fred Childs]

Pretty much as I thought. I didn't get the deal of the century but it doesn't sound as though I paid way too much. The saw is nice and I think it will be fun to work on it. I haven't had a chance to do anything beyond a test cut but I should be able to fire it up this weekend.

As for weekend finds, between yard sales and Craig's list I'm not in a rush to purchase a new tool anytime soon. A good tool will hold it's value over the years and work just as well as when it was new. I have been able to round out the shop pretty well between these two. Now I just need a lathe....