Help selecting a scroll saw

[John Coloccia]

I know nothing about scroll saws other than I had a crappy Dremel scroll saw 20 years ago, and it only could perform 2 functions:

1) completely tear up anything that came near it
2) vibrate up and down aimlessly, barely leaving a mark on whatever bit of wood goes near it

I was using it to build radio control planes at the time.....wait, scratch that. I TRIED to use it, but quickly grew frustrated and it sat in a corner for 20 years. 3 or 4 years ago, I ran across it at my parents house and thought, "Gee, I was 13 years old at the time...maybe I just didn't know what I was doing" and tried it again. 10 minutes later, it was in the garbage can.

I know there must be good scroll saws out there, but I know nothing about them. I'm looking to do some inlay work, and...er...build model airplanes! My big band saw is just not appropriate for this sort of fiddly work, especially for all he inside cuts that need to be made.

I'm not cutting jig saw puzzles full time, but the thing needs to work well enough that it doesn't end up in the trash. Does someone have a recommendation for a decent scroll saw that can do this sort of light work?

[Steven DeMars]

Bought my wife a Dewalt . . . Works like a champ . . . Well made, parts available through Dewalt . . . Not too expensive . . .


Steve

[Rick Potter]

Excalibur, DeWalt, RBI. All good machines. Check on Craigs List, I have seen them there occasionally. Do not forget, good blades are as important as a good saw.

Rick Potter

[Dave Lehnert]

Another vote for the DeWalt.

I had the same trouble as you with cheaper saws. Purchased the DeWalt and everything is good. The other brand saws listed above are also great choices but more expensive.

[John Terefenko]

Midrange price get a Dewalt 788 and don't look back. Get your blades from Mike at Mikesworkshop. They are the Flying Dutchman blades. Again don't look back. You are set. Happy scrolling. :D

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have a Delta VS. Can't remember the number. There's only one. I like it, doesn't vibrate at full speed. Didn't operate any other saws so can't compare. Cheap. As anything, spend more, get better. I don't really do that much scrolling, so it works for me.

[george wilson]

What I don't like about any of the newer scroll saws is that all of them have the blades traveling on a circular arc,rather than straight up and down,like they used to.

I have a Hegner $1200.00(or so) scroll saw. I got it cheap when a shop was liquidated. It runs very smoothly,but has that walking beam action. The blade goes in and out with each stroke,which "files" the sides of what I am cutting out. This is a real pain if I'm cutting out small inlay work. I end up cutting it by hand as I've always done,but it now is difficult due to neck pain.

I don't use a scroll saw much,but if I wanted a decent one,I'd get an old Delta from the 60's. They go straight up and down. Trouble is,they have pot metal guts,and the reciprocating part inside always breaks. Delta wanted $219.00 for a new piece of zinc,so I helped a young guy who bought one to make a steel part that will never break.

The blades on the old Delta are also MUCH easier to disconnect at the top,and replace for internal cuts. The Hegner is a huge pain to do that with.


I used to have the nicest old Walker Turner jigsaw with a round overhead arm. At the time I had no room,and had to sell it.

I wish manufacturers would start making jigsaws properly again,but that isn't going to happen.

[Montgomery Scott]

Do a search on scroll saw reviews and see what you can find out. There are some good sites that will also help you decide which ones are right for you.

I bought a used Hegner from a gentleman on this site and it's a fine saw. The downside is the steep price for a new one.

The Canadian made DeWalt got great reviews, but when manufacturing went to Taiwan there were complaints about the quality. I don't know if they have resolved those issues or not.

I'll second the recommendation of Flying Dutchman blades, they cut very nicely. After starting out using a Crapsman with Olson blades, it's a treat to experience the difference.

[Stephen Edwards]

George,

I have one of those old Delta saws that you mentioned. Before I bought this one I had no experience with a scroll saw. Photos are on the last post of this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=77241

The blade on this saw does go straight up and down. I have no experience with the ones that have the "walking beam action".

They were taken shortly after purchasing the saw and before I got the table cleaned better. I paid $40.00 for it at a yard sale:D . Since buying it I've used it quite a bit with no problems.

Please explain in more detail your comment:

"Trouble is,they have pot metal guts,and the reciprocating part inside always breaks."

I ask because I'm ignorant about that part of the saw. Is that something that you can only see if you disassemble part of the saw?

Thanks to this current thread, I'm gonna try some of the blades that "Mike" sells, as mentioned by another person. Now, I'm excited about using the saw with some "good" blades.

John, Good luck in your search for the right saw for your needs!

[John Terefenko]

Boy there is alot of dated scrollers here. Talking about the old delta tube end saw. Their old Delta "C" arm saw was one of those saws too that would not make it in todays scrolling world. There are some that still use that saw and like it but not many. Delta does not make scrollsaws anymore.

There are many saws on the market that are great saws and if you want a true parallel arm saw the Eclipse is the one you want. Made by Ernie Melon and is a waiting list. If you want the next best thing or closes to a true parallel arm saw is the Hawk G4 saw. You can adjust the cut angle by moving the blade clamp. It is a top and bottom feed saw. Then there are the Excallibur saws, ex21 and ex30. Both have the parallel link blade holding system that the Dewalt 788 20" saw has. They are the next closes thing to a true parallel blade cutting system because the parallel arm that move the blades are closer to the blade and are very short thus making a shorter arc. The Dewalt 788 is a top and bottom feeded and is in the mid price range of about $450. Great saw and many people in the marquetry business use them so the is no problem with over cutting or undercutting of small pieces like someone mentioned. Look how thin the material they use. There are alot of factors to look at when buying a scrollsaw. Ease of use, no vibration, ease of blade changing, ease of blade tension, good warrenty, can you get parts if needed and so forth.

I own a Hawk 220, Hawk 226, Hegner 18" and the Dewalt 788. Have a great scrolling day.

[John Terefenko]

You want a scrollsaw well here is a deal of all deals. Never see this again. If you live in this area it would be worth the drive. $100 for 2 saws that are at least worth $800 new.


Wow

http://greenville.craigslist.org/tls/1355960440.html

[John Coloccia]

Dewalt it is. Grizzly's selling the Dewalt for a full $100+ less than anyone else I've found. Nice.

Thanks for the help, guys.

[george wilson]

Inside the mechanism of the old Deltas is a potmetal piece that has a groove in it which receives the stud on a rotating wheel,to convert rotary motion to up and down. It is this part that always gets distorted until it breaks. Not a difficult piece to make if you are a machinist like me. But,Delta wanted $219.00 for this piece of potmetal because it is in their "Historic parts" collection. This should be a $5.00 part.

I helped a young guy who had done some work for me to make a steel replacement part which will never wear out.

John,I don't understand your remark about the Dewalt. Ity seems to me of the pivot is closer to the blade,the in and out motion would be worse. Maybe I'm not understanding you.

The point is moot for me,anyway. I made up my own accurate jigsaw. I took an old die filer,which is a small machine that moves files straight up and down. I made a long overarm out of machined aluminum to hold the top of the blade,and put on a variable speed motor to emulate hand sawing. It is better than anything you could buy that is currently on the market now. An old Delta made variable speed would be perfect,with the internal repair I've described.

[John Terefenko]

No just the opposite. The longer the arm the more pivot. Somewhere I had a chart with all the measurements front to back on just about all the top brand saws out there. There have been a few new players but I mentioned in order above where they stand. I can pull those measurements if they are not on my old computer which is in the landfill somewhere. Or maybe in some car parts or maybe they sent it overseas to make some scrollsaws.:) The one saw that I did forget to mention was the Delta P20. That was a very well rated saw and was right there for the least front to back motion because of the clamps they used helped that some. Again Delta did away with their scrollsaw line.

[John Coloccia]

Actually, I'm a little confused also. The longer arm should give less of a back and forth motion for a given amount of up and down motion. It forms a triangle, with the arm as the hypotenuse. With a longer arm, the difference between the length of the hypotenuse and the base is negligible for small angles. At infinity, everything's parallel and the motion goes to 0. Conversely, the shorter the arm is, the larger the angle must be for the same stroke, so the greater the movement back and forth needs to be...

It's late...maybe I'm not thinking about that correctly, but I think it's correct.

[John Terefenko]

Actually, I'm a little confused also. The longer arm should give less of a back and forth motion for a given amount of up and down motion. It forms a triangle, with the arm as the hypotenuse. With a longer arm, the difference between the length of the hypotenuse and the base is negligible for small angles. At infinity, everything's parallel and the motion goes to 0. Conversely, the shorter the arm is, the larger the angle must be for the same stroke, so the greater the movement back and forth needs to be...

It's late...maybe I'm not thinking about that correctly, but I think it's correct.


You would have to look at the way the arms are constructed and you will see why. There is alot of great information on Rick Hutcheson's site. scrollsaws.com Just scan the topics on the left. Good luck in choosing a saw. Nothing like having a good saw to make this enjoyable hobby more enjoyable.