I am late to this party...
Right now, I don't have a good saw, just a cheapy to get me by for now. I had a somewhat better one that was still rather cheap, but I kept wearing out the blade holders on it and got rid of it. So don't just get any pinless saw; you want blade holders that will hold up and are easy to use. Low vibration is a key feature to me. I really liked the cast iron table on my last saw. I am less excited about variable speed; I generally want the blade moving fast and I will adjust the feed speed if the wood burns easy.
The cheapy I have now is a pinned blade model, which limits what I can do quite a bit. But it is fine for cutting sound holes and accurately following lines on thin wood. I would not buy a pinned one new. I think I paid $20 for this little saw/sander (it's a combo unit); it has a tiny table and the whole thing is light so I can store it away easy. I treat it more like a power hand tool - a jig saw that is more accurate in maintaining square edges and can be used on fragile stock - than as a saw for scroll work, if that makes any sense.
Right now, I don't have a good saw, just a cheapy to get me by for now. I had a somewhat better one that was still rather cheap, but I kept wearing out the blade holders on it and got rid of it. So don't just get any pinless saw; you want blade holders that will hold up and are easy to use. Low vibration is a key feature to me. I really liked the cast iron table on my last saw. I am less excited about variable speed; I generally want the blade moving fast and I will adjust the feed speed if the wood burns easy.
The cheapy I have now is a pinned blade model, which limits what I can do quite a bit. But it is fine for cutting sound holes and accurately following lines on thin wood. I would not buy a pinned one new. I think I paid $20 for this little saw/sander (it's a combo unit); it has a tiny table and the whole thing is light so I can store it away easy. I treat it more like a power hand tool - a jig saw that is more accurate in maintaining square edges and can be used on fragile stock - than as a saw for scroll work, if that makes any sense.
