Scroll saw recommendations ?

[rudy de haas]

I have a bunch of things to cut for which my jig saw just doesn't deliver the accuracy I want - so I'm getting a scroll saw. This won't be heavily used (in fact, it will mostly gather dust..) but has to work well for an inexperienced user (me). There are currently eight or nine possible choices for used on kijiji (craigslist for Alberta) - none of which look very attractive except for a dewalt 788 in Calgary at $300 described as "Brand new, never been used". If it wasn't a two hour drive, one way, I'd go look at it right now.

The shop fox W1713 (16") is on sale at amazon.ca for $225 canabucks (about $0.75 US each - about $170 at grizzly.com); the Dewalt 788 is $584 (Cdn - about $470 at grizzly).

Various on-line reviews suggest the dewalt is the class act in this price range; but it's expensive for what I want to do.

So what's your advice? is the shop fox going to be more than good enough? is there another brand I can get that would be better at a reasonable price? should I wait for a better kijiji opportunity? (this isn't urgent; a month is not a problem) and those dewalts seem to come up often.

[Bill Orbine]

You seemed to answer your own question for the time being......you are leaning towards a Dewalt and that you are willing to wait for a better kijiji opportunity. Do this until you lose your patience and buy what you don't want.

[Chris Schoenthal]

The Dewalt is a great saw, but don't know why you are looking over the Delta 16" that's on kijiji as well for $80?
I'm sure that it has the accuracy that you are looking for and if you say that it is probably going to mostly gather dust, then why spend the extra?
I would get the cheaper saw and spend the difference on blades and wood.

[Ben Rivel]

Personally I wouldnt consider anything less than the DeWalt 788. Its a tried and true product. To me that alone is often times worth extra money. Sometimes Grizzly runs sales throwing in the stand and light for free, maybe something to keep an eye out for.

[Charles Lent]

If you are finding clean and lightly used DeWalt 788's for $200, you had better grab one of them quick. That's a great price for that saw. I'm looking for my second 788 to keep as a back-up, since I do a lot of scroll sawing. I have used many models of scroll saws and consider these to be the best quality saw for their price range.

Charley

[rudy de haas]

The Dewalt is a great saw, but don't know why you are looking over the Delta 16" that's on kijiji as well for $80?
I'm sure that it has the accuracy that you are looking for and if you say that it is probably going to mostly gather dust, then why spend the extra?
I would get the cheaper saw and spend the difference on blades and wood.

I would not consider either delta now on kjiji alberta because I don't know anything about scroll saws and would not know a disaster from a bargain - generally the less I know about a product, the more likely I am to buy new to guarantee that any problems I have in using it, are mine - i.e. not the result of a machine that doesn't work properly or is missing pieces. That's why the shop fox at $225 looks attractive to me even though everything I've read suggests that the dewalt is the better machine.

[Geoff Crimmins]

Cheap scrollsaws tend to be better at vibrating around your shop rather than actually cutting wood. So you want to avoid going too cheap and buying something that will be so frustrating to use that you won't want to use it. I wouldn't buy anything of lesser quality than the Dewalt without hearing from some owners of the saw you're considering to be sure they are happy with it.

--Geoff

[rudy de haas]

Cheap scrollsaws tend to be better at vibrating around your shop rather than actually cutting wood. So you want to avoid going too cheap and buying something that will be so frustrating to use that you won't want to use it. I wouldn't buy anything of lesser quality than the Dewalt without hearing from some owners of the saw you're considering to be sure they are happy with it.

--Geoff

Agreed - so who has used the shop fox?

I looked at a porter cable 18" yesterday at $329 (cdn) at lowes. Don't see any used ones for sale around here, but is that a halfway solution? heavier than the shop fox, not as good as the dewalt, but not insanely over-budget either?

[Steve Mellott]

2 hours is not that far to drive to buy a "brand new, never been used" Dewalt scroll saw. If it comes with a light and/or stand, I would get in the car and buy it now. You never know when or if another opportunity like this will come along. Just my 2 cents.

[Mike Kees]

Hey Rudy if you would like to try out a Delta 16" I have one "collecting dust" at the moment. I use it about once every 7 years. My wife uses it far more and my dad had it for about two-three years. Right now it is just sitting on my garage floor because it has not been moved to my shop yet. PM me if you are interested. I am only about 45 minutes from Lethbridge.Mike.