Wife wants a scroll saw

[Shawn Stennett]

My wife wants a scroll saw, what would be a good one?

[Paul Steiner]

Hegner, or an old rockwell or powermatic

[John Terefenko]

Be good to her and get her a top of the line mid price range saw. The Dewalt 788 20". For about $450 you get saw stand and light and with the saw comes smooth vibration free workability along with the option of top feeding or bottom feeding. Have a great scrolling day.

[Steven DeMars]

A second vote for dewalt . . .

Steve

[Robert Parrish]

Get her a Dewalt with a light and foot switch.

[Josh Reet]

I'm not a scroll saw expert. I just happen to have been looking for one recently as well.

As far as I can find, the Dewalt is universally recommended. The major issue with the cheap ones (HF, Grizzly, etc) is that they often have massive vibration problems. Even the mid range ones (whatever the BORG's have) seem to suffer this as well. I've read reports that saws like the 18" craftsman and the 16" Dremel can perform decent on a budget. But I've also read vibration complaints about them as well.

Not knowing a lot about scroll saws, it's hard to sift out the actual problems from the "user error" type problems. I'd love to spend $450 for the dewalt. But for me, I can't justify spending that much on a tool I don't anticipate using that much at this point.

[Shawn Stennett]

I am with you Josh, I would love to go with something like the Dewalt, but that kind of price is not in the budet. How much vibration is there with some of the other ones, is it just irritating or does it cause other problems?

[harry strasil]

No vibration, variable speed, with lots of exercise as a side effect. LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/scrollsaw.jpg

[Andy Sowers]

I bought a Hitachi at Lowes for some scroll work I wanted to do this summer. It was ok... but did suffer from some vibration issues at certain speeds. You definitely wouldnt have been able to use it for detailed work at those speeds.

However, after using it for a total of about 12hrs of operation (not all at the same time), the motor stopped. I'm guessing it overheated because it started working again the next day, but it really wasnt warm at all when it failed. Nor was I doing anything particularly taxing. Then some of the plastic parts started working loose (its amazing how much of this thing was made out of plastic, including the tension mechanism). The most annoying thing was the light shroud loosened up and wouldn't stay tight.

A few weeks after purchasing it, I ended up finding a used Dewalt on CL for essentially the same price I paid for the hitachi. So I returned the Hitachi. The used one I found had some rust on the table, but that cleaned up actually pretty easily.

The Dewalts come up from time to time on CL here, so I'd keep an eye out for one. I also looked for reconditioned models, but at the time I was looking I didnt find any which were priced competitively enough.

HTH
Andy

[Dave Sharpe]

I had an old Sakura scrollsaw I purchased at a flea market that I just didn't use much because it seemed so much trouble to change blades. I'd never really learned much about using it, but I struggled through a couple of intarsia projects that got a lot of attention and sold well at my first craft fair, so I went out and bought a Dewalt 788. What a Difference! Smoothness aside, the ease of changing blades (something you do constanstly in scrollwork) makes it well worth the price. Naturallly, 2 weeks after I bought the saw, all the retailers started offering a free stand and light with it :(
One other reccomendation is that you buy a copy of John A Nelson's book "Scroll saw workbook:Learn to use your scroll saw in 25 skill-building chapters". I bought this along with the new saw and spent a week or two working step-by-step through each project and really learned a lot about what I can do with the saw.

[Paul Wunder]

Shawn, Considering your budget, you may want to consider the Dremel 1830-01 which normally sells for about $200. It's a nice little machine, very little vibration, variable speed, cast iron table and a little dust blower. Very nice for the price. I wasn't looking for one per se, but while at Home Depot in Fairfield, Ct, a few months ago saw one last one on the shelf for $119.95.

It is certainly not a Delta, but it surprised me by not bogging down on 3/4" oak and maple. I also saw a favorable review on the Lumberjocks forum.

It may be a now discontinued model, but someone must have it.

[Dave Sharpe]

Beware of Home Depot's saws. I bought one of the Ryobi saws for that $119 price and it lasted about 45 minutes of cutting before it broke. HAd to ake it back for a refund, then went ahead and spent the bucks on the Dewalt 788. Definitely more money invested, but better able to make some projects that will sell - especially with Christmas coming....

[Shawn Stennett]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, especialy the manual version with exercise mod. I will look for a while oncraigslist and try to find a Dewalt.

[Shawn Stennett]

What would be a good price on a slightly used Dewalt 788?

[Andy Sowers]

I picked up mine for $200 on criagslist. Seems to me that the base price for used tools on CL here goes for ~50-60% off the price if purchased new...

[Chris Tsutsui]

I bought one of those HD closeout dremel scroll saws Model 1830-01. I ended up selling it for $140 or so because I found a used RBI Hawk VS220.

I used the RBI Hawk now and it's been great.

My only issue is that it does vibrate at the higher speeds because most parts are aluminum and not cast iron.

Blade changes are easy, tension is easy, and I find it weird i've never had a blade come lose while sawing because it's just a screw pinching the blade and no pin.

But the RBI stuff is good IMO.

[Darrin Davis]

The Dewalt 20". It costs more but once you've used it after using others you will know why. It's awesome!

[John Pratt]

I have had the Dewalt 788 for a while now and I really like the set up, low vibration, and pin-less blades.

Question to others who have this saw. Has anyone had problems with the lower blade clamp? Mine broke twice, not a big deal they sent replacements both time for free. Just wondering if anyone else had this problem.

[johnny means]

I recommend the Dremel. I have one in my shop and I absolutely abuse it. Half inch, three quarter, whatever and everything I scroll is really large and requires 8 to 10 hours of scrolling, which I always do in one sitting. It is not the Dewalt, but for the hobbiest, on a budget, I can't see needing much more.

[Larry Fox]

I have no advise on which scroll saw to buy but you are a lucky cat to have an interested wife. I love it when my wife works in the shop with me when she is actually doing something of her own instead of holding the other end of a piece of ply for me. :)

[Gene Howe]

I have no advise on which scroll saw to buy but you are a lucky cat to have an interested wife. I love it when my wife works in the shop with me when she is actually doing something of her own instead of holding the other end of a piece of ply for me. :)

You and me both, brother.

[David DeCristoforo]

I keep reading about how great the DeWalt scroll saw is. Several years ago I had a lot of cutting to do which required a scroll saw. My instinct was to buy a Hegner one of the Excalibur saws but they just seemed to expensive for the amount of work I anticipated. And I had read so many rave reviews of the Dewalt that I felt pretty safe going with one, especially since the price was half that of the Excalibur or the Hegner.

I have to say that I am not at all impressed. The stand is absolutly nothing to write home about. The hold down is about as "cheezy" as anything I have ever seen attached to what is supposed to be a "top quality" tool. It's just a bent piece of wire and the "adjustment" is crude at best. Blade changing is quick and painless as it the tensioning system. But the thing never wants to cut straight (I know, I know, it's for cutting curves) or track properly. Over the years I have read tons of stuff about band saw "drift" but my band saw does not "drift" at all. I wish I could say the same thing about this scroll saw. I thought at first that maybe I had the blade in wrong but the blades have "flats" on the ends that are held in the clamps so unless one were to put one in upside down or sideways, there is really only one way to put the blade in.

I admit that this is not a tool I have used a lot (the scroll saw) but I used to have and old Delta jig saw (the cast iron one) and I remember it being much better and easier to use. The DeWalt is reputed to have minimal vibration but mine vibrates a lot. I have checked it over very carefully and nothing seems amiss... no bent or broken parts or missing pieces or anything like that.

Since this is a thread about scroll saws, maybe some one with more experience with these things than I have could shed some light...

[John Terefenko]

David

You can get a lemon in any tool. You should returned it or used the warrenty work. Not sure when you bought but these were first made in Canada and to see if yours was, check the motor name plate and if it says type #1 then it was and if it says type #2 it was made in Tawain. When they moved the plant there were some real problems in different areas but they have been worked out. Type one was the more sought after units.

There are alot of homeowner's checks you could have done to see if the problems you mentioned could be simply fixed. The stand is actually one of the best on the market because of its design in that it can be tilted. The big key with any stand is to have on flat solid surface and not bouncy material.

The Dewalt is the #1 saw in the midprice range and now that Delta has stopped making saws it is just about the only one. To me ease of use and no tool blade changing is a great advantage. I have large hands and getting under the saws to tighten those clamps is easy on the Dewalt compared to others. I do have to say because I am more of a a production scroller my saws that I use the most are RBI Hawks. But they are not cheap and as it has been said before you get what you pay for. Have a great scrolling day.

[David DeCristoforo]

"You can get a lemon in any tool. You should returned it or used the warrenty work."

Probably right about that.

"...if it says type #2 it was made in Tawain..."

I'm betting on that. I'll check on Monday when I'm back in the shop.

"There are alot of...checks you could have done..."

As I said, I went over it pretty thoroughly and could not find any obvious problems. The stand is firmly planted on the concrete shop floor. It may be good that it can be tilted but it does not impress me as far as it's construction goes. If this was a tool I used frequently and I was happy with it's performance, I would drop the stand in the dumpster and take the time to build something to put the saw on.

[John Terefenko]

David

The stand maybe your source of vibration. Take the saw off the stand put it on a solid table and see if you still have vibration. Alot of times when we put those stands together they are not sitting level when they are tightened. Maybe a good idea to loosen the bolts and let the saw on top settle the stand and then lock it up. Vibration by some can mean a couple different things. I have seen people call blade wobble vibration and that is a different story. As far as the hold down thing goes, 99.9% of people take that off and throw it away the first day they try to use it and that goes for all saws. It is a safety thing that is suppose to help beginners but it is a device that is definetly not needed. Just need to learn to control the wood with the fingers and let the blade do the cutting. Good luck and if there is something you may need just holler and someone will help.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I was lucky enough, many years back, that my wife was interested in scroll saws at a woodworking show in Mass. We ended up buying an Excalibur saw and have never regretted it. The Dewalts made in Canada are an excalibur under the skin. A good saw makes a lot of difference between continuing to use it or quitting early. Try to look for a good used saw.. and get something in the middle to high end range for your wife. You both won't regret it in the long run.

[Jim Finn]

I have a dewalt and in 1 1/2 years it has broken down 3 times. I like it a lot when it runs. Now it is out of warranty and locked up. It is now a yellow boat anchor. I have a Hegner on the way.