Hello;
I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
comparison that would help me make a decision?
I have a delta but some stuff I am doing now is so small and thin that the
slop in the machine makes thing more difficult than I suspect they need be.
That, coupled with my decision to cut, say abalone shells, resawed 1/32
Corian, and things smaller than a quarter, marquetry and other things of
that ilk have me seeking a better solution. I have even cut these things by
hand, but I can't properly injure myself that way, so I am looking for
something with a motor.
I have not found any other forum, like rec.hardtocutyourfingeroff, but no
luck.
Suggestions???
T McCoskery wrote:
> Hello;
>
> I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
> or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
> the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
> Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
> comparison that would help me make a decision?
>
> I have a delta but some stuff I am doing now is so small and thin that the
> slop in the machine makes thing more difficult than I suspect they need be.
> That, coupled with my decision to cut, say abalone shells, resawed 1/32
> Corian, and things smaller than a quarter, marquetry and other things of
> that ilk have me seeking a better solution. I have even cut these things by
> hand, but I can't properly injure myself that way, so I am looking for
> something with a motor.
>
> I have not found any other forum, like rec.hardtocutyourfingeroff, but no
> luck.
>
> Suggestions???
Sounds like you're getting pretty seriously into scroll sawing. If I
were that serious and had the money, I'd buy a Hawk brand. I don't own
one, but I've seen them in action. I was plenty impressed with the way
it was made and the precision it showed. But seriously pricey.
DonkeyHody
"A bulldog can whip a skunk, but it's probably not worth it."
T McCoskery wrote:
> I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
> or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
> the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
> Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
> comparison that would help me make a decision?
Get a Dewalt. Every review I've read says it's almost as good as the high end
stuff at half the price or less. I have one. I can't compare it to the
Hegner et al, but it's by far the best scroll saw I've ever used.
--
It's turtles, all the way down
Two suggestions:
1st:
There are several hosted forums that you can search and read without
joining, but if you join you can ask your question. Few scroll saw threads
appear in this newsgroup.
http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/index.php? Hosted by a scroll saw hobby
magazine
http://dgroups.woodmagazine.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=scrollsawing (watch
the link wrap) hosted by Wood Magazine
http://www.woodworkingcrafts.com/info/forums/index.php? hosted by a Scroll
Saw hobby vendor.
There are several more hosted forums, including MSN Groups, Yahoo Groups.
and so forth.
2nd:
If you decide to go with a DeWalt 788 (about $500.00) be aware that there
still may be a few boxed new ones that have a warped table top. The table
top should be flat, but a manufacturing defect had the center blade hole
quite a few thousands below the rest of the table top. Until the bad ones
are purged from stores, take a steel ruler and check before you take one
home. By now most of the bad ones should have been purged.
Not a suggestion, but a comment:
10 years ago and before, scroll saws were all long arms that moved up and
down with the blades between the two arms. Modern design has only the last
few inches of the arms actually moving the blade up and down (the rest of
the long arms are stationary.) This makes for low vibration, longer blade
life, plus noise reduction.
Phil
"T McCoskery" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello;
>
> I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
> or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
> the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch,
> any Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
{snip}
In article <[email protected]>,
T McCoskery <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello;
>
>I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
>or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
>the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
>Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
>
>Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
>comparison that would help me make a decision?
>
>I have a delta but some stuff I am doing now is so small and thin that the
>slop in the machine makes thing more difficult than I suspect they need be.
>That, coupled with my decision to cut, say abalone shells, resawed 1/32
>Corian, and things smaller than a quarter, marquetry and other things of
>that ilk have me seeking a better solution. I have even cut these things by
>hand, but I can't properly injure myself that way, so I am looking for
>something with a motor.
>
>I have not found any other forum, like rec.hardtocutyourfingeroff, but no
>luck.
>
>Suggestions???
>
>
I think it is still the case with scroll saws that the "middle ground"
is pretty small. There are a number of machines in the under $150 -
200 range, and there are some that are really expensive like the
Hegner. In the middle I don't think you will find much argument that
the DeWalt is the hands-down best value. Delta has made a couple
mid-range scroll saws over the years, I recently was able to purchase
a (* DRIVE-BY ALERT *) lightly used Q3 myself for $100 and it is a
nice saw, but the DeWalt is better. If I had more budget it's the one
I would get. I believe the Q3 was discontinued
a few years ago anyway. I haven't seen or heard much about Delta's
later top-end scroll saw, I don't know if it's still available either.
Especially since B&D owns Delta now and their DeWalt saw is the
superior product anyway.
For what it's worth I started off some years ago with the little Delta
16" and it was always a solid, dependable unit, but it _does_ shake
and the blade changing setup is less than ideal for inside holes.
--
When the game is over, the pawn and the king are returned to the same box.
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - [email protected]
T McCoskery wrote:
> Hello;
>
> I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
> or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
> the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
> Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
> comparison that would help me make a decision?
>
> I have a delta but some stuff I am doing now is so small and thin that the
> slop in the machine makes thing more difficult than I suspect they need be.
> That, coupled with my decision to cut, say abalone shells, resawed 1/32
> Corian, and things smaller than a quarter, marquetry and other things of
> that ilk have me seeking a better solution. I have even cut these things by
> hand, but I can't properly injure myself that way, so I am looking for
> something with a motor.
>
> I have not found any other forum, like rec.hardtocutyourfingeroff, but no
> luck.
>
> Suggestions???
>
>
G'day there,
I have had a number of scroll saws, starting with a Ryobi, followed by a
delta variable speed and now a Dewalt.
Each saw outstripped the previous in performance but the Dewalt is so
far ahead it's remarkable. Although the Dewalt was cost far more than
the other 2 combined it is worth every penny. Almost no vibration, ease
of threading blade etc etc.
Just my 2 bob's worth.
regards
John
T McCoskery wrote:
> Hello;
>
> I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
> or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
> the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
> Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
> comparison that would help me make a decision?
>
> I have a delta but some stuff I am doing now is so small and thin that the
> slop in the machine makes thing more difficult than I suspect they need be.
> That, coupled with my decision to cut, say abalone shells, resawed 1/32
> Corian, and things smaller than a quarter, marquetry and other things of
> that ilk have me seeking a better solution. I have even cut these things by
> hand, but I can't properly injure myself that way, so I am looking for
> something with a motor.
>
> I have not found any other forum, like rec.hardtocutyourfingeroff, but no
> luck.
>
> Suggestions???
>
>
I had the chance to use a DeWalt DW788 recently and boy was it nice. "Vibration"
Whats that? It was so nice. I have an old dremel that I have used for about 20
years. I am now considering buying a DeWalt.
Chris
T McCoskery wrote:
> Hello;
>
> I am interested in getting a new scroll saw and once you get past the $100
> or so mark you are in the real expensive stuff. I don't object to spending
> the bucks, but I have never had the opportunity to see, let alone touch, any
> Eclipse, Hegner, or other high end saws.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with these or done any side by side
> comparison that would help me make a decision?
>
> I have a delta but some stuff I am doing now is so small and thin that the
> slop in the machine makes thing more difficult than I suspect they need be.
> That, coupled with my decision to cut, say abalone shells, resawed 1/32
> Corian, and things smaller than a quarter, marquetry and other things of
> that ilk have me seeking a better solution. I have even cut these things by
> hand, but I can't properly injure myself that way, so I am looking for
> something with a motor.
>
> I have not found any other forum, like rec.hardtocutyourfingeroff, but no
> luck.
>
> Suggestions???
>
>
At work we have four Hegners and five Deltas (two different sizes and
models). I don't think that any of them hold a candle to my DeWalt at
home. IMNSHO they don't even come close.
Glen