Scroll saw, PS Wood Machines any good?

[jason lambert]

I need a better scroll saw I have a delta but it vibrates to much I was going to get a Dewalt but I found a PS Wood Machines 21" scroll saw, the older orange version. Is this a good saw or is the Dewalt better. What is it worth used? I am tired of junk tools so I want to get the best I can with out going overboard.

[Dave Sharpe]

I have one just like this that I bought at a flea market for $100. I didn't know anything about scrollsaws, but I didn't have one so I jumped at the chance. I did a bit of simple intarsia work that I was happy with, then it sat around unused in my shop for years. I'd occasionally dust it off to make something I needed at the time, but recognized that my inexperience with it left me frustrated. I kept breaking blades, and the PS machine doesn't make it easy to change blades - mine requires an allen wrench and a bent mini-screwdriver(honest) as well as three hands (OK, not-so-honest) each time I changed the blade.

I recently decided to learn more about this craft and decided that the PS (mine still has the old Sakura brand name on it, but it's the same saw I think) just wouldn't cut the mustard for me, so I bought the DeWalt. The DeWalt is a vastly superior machine, with simple tool-free blade changing and a fingertip tension control. I also bought some books to learn technique, worked faithfully through each lesson in them, and now feel much more competent on the saw. I realize that while some of my problems on the PS machine were due to limitations of the machine itself, a large part of my problem was ignorance about what the machine could do. I'm now dabbling in teaching beginning woodworking to kids and have considered changing out the blade clamp screws on the PS for something with a thumbscrew instead of the allen screw. This would vastly simplify blade changing. I think PS offers a quick-change retrofit for this saw, but the last time I looked it was $60 +.

I guess, other than blade changing, I have no complaints about the saw. The motor runs smoothly and the table top is adequate size for most of what I do. Tensioning the blade consists of tightening the handwheel on the threaded rod at the back of the saw, which seems fine for me. Now that I've learned more technique with scrollsaws, I 'spect I'll have more success with it.

Heere's a link to a scrollsaw forum that may give you more help: http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/