Question about cheaper scroll saws

[Chris Kennedy]

I am contemplating purchasing a scroll saw. Now, I don't do a whole lot of scroll work, and I am not intending to. But there have been several times when I have been making templates with a jigsaw and then refining with files, rifflers, sandpaper, etc. where I have thought it would be much easier to start with a scroll saw and then have less refining work to do.

I don't want to sink $500 or more into the DeWalt for such rare use. I have looked at some of the cheaper ones (Grizzly, ShopFox, Ryobi, etc.), and they look like they will do the job.

So, does anybody have any recommendations? Is one of the lower end saws worth it for this or will they just be an exercise in frustration?

Cheers,

Chris

[Don Whitten]

I have a Hitachi which is no longer sold at Lowe's but replaced with a Porter Cable unit. The PC unit has a few changes buy basically the same saw, I'm am totally happy with it for what I do and it will probably fill your needs. I would recomend you checking it out.

[Cary Falk]

I have an older Craftsman that I gave $20 at a garage sale. The thing vibrates like a jack hammer. I don't have experience with any otheres. Get one that takes pinless blades.

[Jeff Glass]

I have a Hitachi which is no longer sold at Lowe's but replaced with a Porter Cable unit. The PC unit has a few changes buy basically the same saw, I'm am totally happy with it for what I do and it will probably fill your needs. I would recomend you checking it out.

I second this. I have the same Hitachi and it has done everything I've needed it to do. Definitely take a look at the PC saw that replaced it.

[Don Whitten]

I have an older Craftsman that I gave $20 at a garage sale. The thing vibrates like a jack hammer. I don't have experience with any otheres. Get one that takes pinless blades.

The PC will take pinless blades, .

[Stephen Cherry]

Older Canadian dewalt, bought used for about 250. These saws show up used semi-regularly on craigslist. And if you don't like it, someone else will for about the same price. The great thing about scroll saws is that they were great fathers day gifts, and many were lightly used.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Here is a link to a scroll saw buyers guide that was recently published. http://www.scribd.com/doc/33519964/Scroll-Saw-Buyer’s-Guide

I noticed it because I am hoping to be in the market for one soon.

I will make a few comments to add to the article.
1) The PC saw has an aluminum table. It has been my experience that the aluminum rubs off on to the work leaving black spots and marks. For jig only use I doubt it would matter.
2) The PC saw has a plastic trunnion (I believe that what it's called. The gear and mechanism that tilts the table.) If you don't tilt it, again may not be an issue.
3) There is a Rikon saw on the market, but is not covered in the article. Darn it!

I was all for the PC saw until I noticed those items. Now I'm saving for the Dewalt and waiting for it to go on sale. The best proce I found was from Grizzly, with light and stand for $520 shipped.

[Julian Tracy]

The Dewalts are on CL every other month for $200-350. A used Dewalt is better than a new one. The new one's are made in Taiwan, the old ones are made in Canada.

I've had both and the castings on the new one's are a bit rougher.

You'll love the Dewalt for the nice table, good light and blower and EASY blade changes.

I had a Hegner 22V ($1500 new) and sold it to keep a Dewalt. The Hegner was a bit smoother, but the Dewalt is pretty darn close and has easier blade changes.

I've bought the Dewalt saws as low as $150 on CL - they're out there. They usually come with $40 worth of blades as well.

I use mine all the time for small cuts that I'd rather not do on the big bandsaw. As mentioned, if you buy a used Dewalt for $300 or so, you'll never have any depreciation on the tool - it'll always be worth exactly what you paid for it. Can't say that for any of the $100-200 retail saws out there.

Scroll saws are like the truck caps of depreciation - no matter what you paid for it, it's worth about $45 used. (Trucks being worth about $200 no matter you paid $1500....)

Julian

[Dave Cav]

I have two of the cheaper Grizzly cast iron saws in my school shop, an earlier version of the G0536 with the exposed arms. I got them last year to replace a Hegner and two Deltas. The Hegner was too fussy and delicate, and the Delta blade clamps were a HUGE PITA for the students and for me. The Grizzly saws use pin end blades and so far have been bulletproof. They are not very refined and they do vibrate, but for our uses they work much better than a high end saw. Blade changes are very quick and easy. I know pin end blades don't come in a wide variety like plain end, but we're not doing a lot of delicate fretwork here. A recycled coping saw blade works fine for what we do.

[Rick Potter]

Keep an eye on CL, there are always good ones coming up. Look for RBI (seen as low as $250, cost new was $800+). You also see DeWalts, and the occasional Hegner, or Excaliber. Of these the DeWalt is the most common.

I actually picked up a very lightly used Canadian Excalibur, forerunner of the DeWalt, for $100. It was over $900 new.

Rick Potter

[glenn bradley]

IMHO, they are a lot like jigsaws. There's real cheap jumping-jacks, various middle ground units, solid performers and the upper end that would be wasted on my talents ;-) As long as you just want to cut rough shapes, you could stay pretty low-end but, it sounds like your jigsaw is already letting you get "close" and you want better. Another option would be to buy a quality jigsaw for much less than a quality scroll saw. My Bosch 1591 allows me to get templates cut out, often with no cleanup at all.

I decided on the DeWalt as the only consistently well reviewed saw under $500 that I found during my research. I went ahead an got the scroll saw as the styles I work in require some detailed fretwork and it got to a point where the scroll saw just made more sense but, the jigsaw worked quite well until I hit that point. HTH.

P.s. I didn't want to come off too strong. Chris posts that he can do inlay on his Dremel saw and that is pretty close work. I did not mean to convey that "under $500" saws were not viable ;-)

[Chris Walvoord]

I got the Dremel a couple of years ago and I have been quite happy with it. I have to admit that 1) I have not used any other scroll saws and 2) I don't use it very often so I can't say much about durability. I do appreciate well made tools and am willing to pay up for quality if I use it a lot (the Laguna band saw was worth every penny.) It is relatively easy to change the blades (which is important as they break often and dull quickly) and it does not vibrate much. I use it mostly to cut out shapes to be inlaid and the occasional quick trim of a pattern. For my needs it is more than good enough.
Chris

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Hmm, no one mentioned a Delta? I have the variable speed model. Does not sound like a jackhammer. It is not smooth at high speed. Takes both type of blades. I also have nothing to compare it to except my B&D jigsaw. It has a cast table. It's less than 500 bucks. Picked up mine on clearance for 65 bucks. May be worth a look, IF you're not looking for a high quality model.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'll say something about the Delta. One of the models, I think the current one, is a clone of the Dewalt. Check out the comments in the link listed above.

[David Gaab]

I bought the new Delta during a black friday deal for $350 (w/stand & light). It is exactly the same as the DeWalt-except color. Been quite happy w/it but only have 10-20 hours on it so far. I did do a bit of tightening to the head to take a bit of knock out of it at high speeds. Found a video on scrollsaws.com that was very easy to follow.

[shane lyall]

Although I use it very little, I have a Ryobi variable speed saw that works well for what I need. It will accept pin and pinless blades. I bought it to try out scrolling before I blew 1k on a high end saw, stand, lighting, ect. Glad I only droped $100 or so because I just can't sit still long enough to do the kind of work I've seen others turn out. Some of the fretwork stuff is pure art from where I sit. WAY out of my class.

[Chris Kennedy]

Everybody,

Thanks for all the advice. I think I am going to have to spend some time this weekend inspecting a lot of saws.

Cheers,

Chris

[brett gallmeyer]

I would look for an vintage delta 24" variable speed. Ive got on I bought at an auction. And its amazeing! Actually its for sale but I dont think you would want to pay shipping from indiana. Cause its a little cast iron beast! Lol.

[Jonathan Spool]

Be sure to try out any saw you are considering. Its all about the sanding, or not needing to sand. You could end up with an inexpensive saw, only to find yourself sanding on your scroll work for the rest of the day! I ditto the suggestion of looking for a pre-owned Dewalt as the best bang for the buck.