Scroll Saw Opinions

[Douglas Robinson]

Having seen over 20 NCWWer's shops now, I have noticed a lot of scrollers have DeWalt Scroll Saws. I have four questions:

1. What features are most important to you?

2. What is the best scroll saws?

3. What is the best scroll saw for the money?

4. What extras do you consider te best value.

I am just curious. I am still getting used to the round world.

Doug

 

[Glennbear]

Having seen over 20 NCWWer's shops now, I have noticed a lot of scrollers have DeWalt Scroll Saws. I have four questions:

1. What features are most important to you?

2. What is the best scroll saws?

3. What is the best scroll saw for the money?

4. What extras do you consider te best value.

I am just curious. I am still getting used to the round world.

Doug

Thanks for asking the questions I would be asking Doug, I have an ancient Delta that will be replaced at some point and I anxiously await the answers from our scrollers :wsmile:

 

[nelsone]

I guess all of the serious scrollers are busy! I have a Dremel that's ok for what I do. The Dewalt always to seem to get high marks. There are a couple high end saws for those who are really serious. Pinless blade clamps are probably the most important feature. Depending on what you are cutting throat depth in an issue. Outside of that, I'll let our expert scrolleres give you the advise!

 

[rita541]

The best scroll saw I have ever had is my Hegner, amd I have at least 5 scrollsaws. The most important feature to me is the ease of changing blades. I think for the machine it is a good value for the money. It may be more money than a lot of the others but it is well worth it to me. I LOVE MY HEGNER.
Rita:gar-Bi

 

[woodlaker2]

Doug,

I have a Delta (5 yrs old) that works fine. As others have said, ease of blade change is a big plus. Depends a lot on how much you will actually be using it. For someone doing mainly scroll work, the Hegner is the way to go. But if you are like me and the scroll saw is not your primary tool of interest the Dewalt and Delta are pretty good for the money.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[Don Sorensen]

I started on a Craftsman and moved to a Delta. My Dad started with the Craftsman and moved to the DeWalt. I've had the extreme pleasure of using the DeWalt. The biggest differences I've noticed:

1. Vibration - or lack thereof - I had to clamp the Craftsman in place. The Delta is on it's own heavy-weight stand but still vibrates anything loose onto the floor. The DeWalt is a dream - slow or fast, it's the smoothest I've worked on. And it has that great big work surface.

2. Built-in blow-off - neither the Craftsman nor the Delta that I have has this feature. The DeWalt has it built in, with nice flexible tubes for directing the air flow.

3. Blade changing - the DeWalt is tool-less. The Delta requires a tool on the bottom of the blade. The Craftsman requires a tool at both ends.

4. Variable speed - the Craftsman is not. The Delta is, but doesn't seem to have a wide range. The DeWalt is.

5. The Cost - yes, the DeWalt is by far the most expensive of the three, but is about half the price of the "fancy" ones. ( I use "fancy" because I can't seem to think of the brand names at the moment ).

Now, as an old band teacher used to tell me, it's a poor player that blames his instrument. Both myself and my Dad have done some nice work on the Craftsman. It's very possible with a little patience. But you can become disappointed with it as a hobby. Starting off with that kind of saw enables you to appreciate the improvements of the better saws.

Also, my Mom and my sister use a Dremel, and they love it. I've not used it, so I have no opinion. I'm lucky enough to be able to use the DeWalt (it's a father-son thing....and I bought it for him for Xmas a few years back)

Hope this helps

 

[Douglas Robinson]

Thanks for the replies so far. Keep them coming. I am not in the market right now, but I am interested in learning about these tools. Don you addressed a lot of the issues I was wondering about: Work surface size, variable speed, blade changes, and vibration. Everyone has placed a lot of emphasis on blade changes.

So what is the advantage of the Hegner or Hawk scroll saws? Are they very expensive? Is the Dewalt in the sweet-spot cost vs. features? Is lighting an issue?

Doug

 

[toolferone]

Yes I think the DeWalt is in a sweet spot. One of the differences is the fancy saws use a true DC variable speed motor. (the dewalt is AC) It is a much more expensive motor then others. It has full torque at all rpm's. The AC motors loose torque at low rpm's. On some less expensive saws the table only tilts one way. Keeping the blade near vertical on it's entire stroke is what you are after. The better saws do this better.

 

[sawduster]

I have a Dewalt and a Hawk . I prefer the Dewalt for several reasons, most of which have been covered
Ease of blade change , little or no vibration, 20" throat ( wish it was bigger ), variable speed, blower, nice auxiliary lite ( extra ) , arm lifts for top or bottom feeding of the blade on piercing cuts, on/off switch and blade tensioner are at the top and easily accessible ( very important when a blade breaks ) , little ( if any ) PM or regular maintenance ( oiling etc ) except for motor brushes ( rare but easy to get to ), deck tilts 45 degrees left or right for bevel cuts

The Hawk has a 26" throat ( very kewl ! ) a little more vibration, blade change using bottom holders that you can load ahead of time. ( Nice feature when you get used to it but there is a learning curve ) , variable speed, blower , nicer magnifier lite on an adjustable arm ( extra ), adjustable position on bottom blade holder to change the blade angle front to back for thicker wood , Top arm does not move when a blade breaks , switch and variable speed dial are on the side, regular periodic oiling of bearings required, deck tilts 45 degrees to the right but only 32 or so to the left because the blade holder knob gets in the way :BangHead: ... MADE IN USA !! :eusa_clap

Basically the Dewalt, in my opinion does everything the higher - end saws do for about half the price ........definitely in the sweet spot. If you get one and don't like it I will buy it off ya in a heartbeat :gar-La;
I'm looking for another Dewalt anyway

To sum it up , I use the Dewalt for detail, stack and fine work and the Hawk for larger pieces and thicker woods. Only because I have it , The Dewalt will handle thick woods as well

Hope this helps

 

[ScottM]

Doug, I have not much more to add. I started with the Dremel and quickly grew into the Dewalt which I got from Tom at WC. There are other higher end machines loaded with features but the Dewalt suits my needs for 1/2 the price. I would be glad to let you try our my Dewalt anytime.

AND if you buy a Dewalt and don't ilke it I will buy it off your hands for $20.00 more then Sawduster offers. :gar-Bi

 

[PChristy]

Doug, I can't add to what has been said - I started out with a single speed 14" saw from Lowes over 20 years ago - now I have the Dremel with verible speed and pinless quick change blades - and it has served me well for five years - I will be looking to up grade in a few years and and I will most likely go with the DeWalt

 

[ebarr]

Doug,

I bought a lower end Hitatchi from Lowes. I think I paid about $150.00 and a $25 rebate card. I have no idea how it compares to any other brand because it is the only one I have owned. Having never tried scroll sawing I had no idea if I would be wasting my money on a Dewalt only to have it sit unused. By step father has a dewalt and a craftsman that never gets used. Mine takes pin and pinless, is toolless, has the dust blower thing and a built in light.

I like my saw quite a bit. I don't see myself doing complicated clocks that you have to put a gazillion ours to complete. However, I didn't want to buy junk either. I looked at about every saw from the Dewalt downward in price and read every article I could find. I think the saw I purchased will suit my needs for many years. I might look at purchasing another one later.

I guess I look at it in the same way as purchasing a lathe. I didn't want to go spend the money on a $700 lathe to start turning pens and duck calls, so I bought a smaller one to try. Now that I have sold my soul to the dark side I might buy a larger one someday but the one I have suits me fine.

 

[cskipper]

I have been known to not stick with a new hobby if I don't just love it. Therefore we did not want to spend a lot on a saw when I first started. I figured I might move up to a DeWalt at some point, but didn't really foresee a reason that I thought justified the expense of the Hegner or Hawk. It is a hobby. So:

I started with a really cheap Craftsman - bounced me out of the room and took pinned blades. Bought a really cheap Dremel - same thing. Moved up to a variable speed Delta - was around $250 and used it for several years. As mentioned above, I did a lot of scrolling on it and as long as I didn't stack cut more than a layer or two, it was fine. I wouldn't have even attempted the really delicate cutting that I've been doing on it due to the vibration it did have. i still have it mostly because I haven't gotten around to posting it.

I was fortunate last year to sell a number of pieces to The Wooden Stone Gallery. About the same time I found a Hegner on the CL in W-S. It was only a little more than the DeWalt. Needless to say, I jumped on the Hegner.

The major difference between the Hegner and Hawk and the DeWalt is that they are true parallel arm saws. That gives you the least vibration and the most accurate cutting when stack cutting. The DeWalt is a linked parallel arm and has more weight than either the Hawk or Hegner.

I love my Hegner. That being said, if I hadn't sold enough to justify the purchase of the more expensive saw, I would not have spent that much money on a piece of equipment for a hobby. I would have bought a DeWalt and been tickled with it. I'm the same with my lathe. Being unsure that I'd really really love turning, I bought the variable speed Jet midi to start out. When I go bigger I will probably get the HF lathe. I can learn to do a lot without spending several thousand of dollars on the big dog lathes.

As far as what's REALLY important:
1. the type of blade (non-pin vs pinned).
2. Variable speed.
3. Vibration.
4. Ease of changing the blade.
5. Throat depth.

There are lots of other things, but those are the biggies.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

As a caveat, I have only used one scroll saw in my life, but here goes.

I use the Hitachi scroll saw from Lowes, and I have been very pleased with it. I was afraid that I wouldn't like it when I bought it, but didn't figure it would get as much use as it has.

Here are some of the things I like about it:

-Accepts both pin end and plain end blades

-tool-less blade change on top and bottom

-Vibration doesn't seem excessive (see my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2fOcKe8jxs)

-Comes with built in flex arm blower and work light

-wide range of variable speed control

-sturdy stand

-nice fit and finish

-large, easily accessible on/off switch

-small storage compartment on side for storing blades/allen wrenches

-well constructed tilt mechanism that tilts to both sides and is sturdy

Things that I don't like:

-Had to remove the green plate on the side to make blade changes tolerable

-blade tension lever is at the rear of the saw, and from some sitting positions requires more of a reach than I would like


As you can see, the good outweighed the bad, and for the occasional scroll sawer, for $150 seems to be a bargain, but is often overlooked. Maybe This is just a symptom of my inexperience??? Have any of you more experienced scrollers used the Hitachi?

 

[Rob]

Can someone explain pin vs. non pin blades? Which are better, why?

 

[ScottM]

Can someone explain pin vs. non pin blades? Which are better, why?

Rob pin end blades are held in by a small pin that is attached to the blade on both ends. These pins sit in a little slot in the blade holders. The pins stick out about a 1/16th on either side of the blade. This is not really a problems when making outside cuts. The problem comes with inside cut like in fretwork. You would need to drill atleast a 1/8" hole to insert the blade through and this really limits what you can do. Also pin end blades are much harder to find and come in limited sizes and styles. I strongly do not recommend buying a saw that only uses pin end blades.

Well that is my 2 cents.

 

[clawofthebear]

I agree with Scott. Do Not buy a saw that only accepted pin end blades.:thumbs_do If you decide you enjoy scrolling, you will be very upset when you want to do small inside cuts and have to drill a hole the size of a pencil to start each one.

That being said, if you want a saw that only takes pin blades....I got one. :BangHead:The money I saved on it 4 years ago is not worth the headache it cost me, but at the time, I thought I knew what I was doing, and didn't have the benefit of this group to steer me straight.

 

[nightshade]

I say no to pin only blades. They SUCK:tongue2: You have to use blades that are WAy too big. We just purchased a pinless saw and the quality of work has really improved.

 

[cskipper]

As you've seen in this thread, most scrollers have a pretty consistent opinion about buying a saw that accepts flat-end blades. But, if you have purchased one that only accept pinned-end blades, please don't take our bias to say that you can't use your saw for scrolling. The limitations are mostly on the size hole required for inside cut and the availability of good blades (in other words, not the ones you can get at the BORG's.. I know that Olson sells some, just not many varieties. Some sites even sell conversion kits though I can't tell you how well they do/don't work. You will also probably experience more vibration with these saws than with some of the other saws, but this has nothing to do with the type of blade your saw uses. If you are unsure of how much you'll use a scroll saw, and don't mind upgrading it if you love it as much as we do, the saws that require pinned-end blades will be fine. If, however, you think you'll want to do the fancier pieces, whether portraits or other fret work, you will want a saw that does not use pinned-ended blades.

 

[BKind2Anmls]

I moved from a Sears to a Dewalt but both those choices were primarily because of price. When I began woodworking I was working on larger pieces so both saws were fine. However, I have since tried more delicate work such as intricate marquetry. While the Dewalt is a workhorse of a saw, I have had trouble with some fine cutting such as very tight zigzags in leopard wood veneer. I believe this is because my Dewalt does not move the blade straight up and down but actually moves the blade forward and backward while cutting. I talked to David Marks at a seminar and he told me the only scroll saw he knew of that went straight up and down was the Eclipse. I have also use a friend's Hegner and really appreciated the fine control. If I had the money, I would buy a more expensive saw than the Dewalt. However, for 95% of what I want to do, the DeWalt is fine. Whatever saw you use, I have seen a definite ease in cutting with precision ground blades over regular blades.

Pin end blades vs flat end blades: There was one big advantage to using pin-end blades for me...they never pulled out of the holders while I was sawing. It seems I constantly have this issue when using the Dewalt. Despite wiping the ends with alcohol, filing the ends of the hold-screws flat, and making a jig that let's me really cinch down the knobs, I still have this trouble. However, as others have pointed out, you can't do narrow, intricate cuts with a pin-end blade so there is a trade-off.

To me, it all depends on what you ultimately plan to do with your saw.

---Susan