Scroll Saw and Blades Question

[Bryan Cramer]

I have a old Powermatic jigsaw no. 95. I use it little with mainly coping saw blades, but I have now started doing more detailed cuts with a no.9 blade. One of my clients saw my scroll work and requested a very large (18"X26") and detailed fret work pattern. My old saw can't properly clamp small blades like no.5 and under, so I am looking for an upgrade. I was set on the Delta because I could get it local and it came with the stand and a light over the Dewalt. I then saw that the Excalibur 16" was only $75 more than the Delta. I can't afford a 21" Excalibur.
Here are my questions:
I like my large 24" throat (but I never have cut anything that large), so stepping down to a 20" wouldn't make a difference, but what about a 16" throat? Will that size be so limitting than a 20" (its only 4" difference)?
The requested pattern is larger than the 16" throat can handle so would spiral blades work? They would solve the throat issue, but do they cut as well as regular blades? What brand do you reccomend Olson or Flying Ductman?
For $75 more would you go with the Excalibur and live with the throat size, or go with the Delta?

I know I still will seach Craigslist, but in Fargo ND the market is limitted. I set time constaints when working with my clients, so if I don't find one on Cragslist soon I will buy new.

Thanks

[Michael Moscicki]

Go with Flying Dutchman blades from Mike's Workshop. You can buy them in bulk and save.

As for the scroll saw, I do not have the new Delta 40-695 or Excalibur, but I do have a DeWalt 788 that was made in Canada by Excalibur and can only say good things about it. Both(the new Delta and Excalibur) are made in Taiwan. If the Delta 40-695 fixed the QC issues with the Delta 40-690 then it's a solid saw just like it's predecessor, the DW788.

As far as size goes, when I ran out of room on my 20", I just flipped it around and started from the other side and met in the middle.

[Andrew Kertesz]

The distributor for the Excalibur has a sale right now; free shipping on saws with a stand. So no tax and no shipping costs. I was lucky and found a used Hegner 22v. The Delta 695 has been getting some pretty bad reviews. You can get a lot more information at the scroll saw website and a couple of reviews. The thing with spiral blades is they usually leave a lot of fuzz on the bottom side of your work piece and require extra work to clean it up.

[Bryan Cramer]

Andrew are you talking about General International that has the sale or another company?

[Andrew Kertesz]

Bryan, PM sent...

[John Bion]

Hi Brian, I agree with the other post that recommends Flying Dutchman blades from Mikes Workshop, I cant find better and even on a great saw, the blades make quite a difference. I love my Hegner saw and can recommend them, however we do not have the selection here in the UK that you have in the USA.
John