Scroll Saws

Sears has one on sale for $120, 16-inch throat. Any recommendations in the not too expensive range? I assume that accuracy of vertical cut would be a main consideration, unless they are all about the same.

Thanks,

Kim Mortimore

"In one ear and gone tomorrow"

By all means check out the Delta units--couple different sizes. I believe they are much more robust machines.

IMHO

I have the Craftsman version, which was on sale for $115. It is a very nice machine, I have no complaints with it. Very smooth and quiet, and will run very slowly. At the time I bought it, Sears had the Delta saw right next to it, which also looked very nice. I forget now exactly why I got the Craftsman saw instead of the Delta. Either one would be a good choice. (The Craftsman has a tube which puffs air over the cut as well as a fitting to connect a vacuum as well as the air tube.)

For years, I got by with a Dremel Motoshop I picked up at the club auction for $20. I still have it, but the new saw is downright luxurious by comparison. I think the Motoshop is something like $79.95 full pop price..

You certainly won't regret getting a good jigsaw.

L.

I've got the Craftsman saw. Picked it up at Christmas of this last year. It was on sale for $116 back then. I've put 50+ hours on it in the last six months. Still runs like it was new, quiet for a Scroll Saw and with more than enough power for me. I like the sawdust blower and vaccum features. I would buy it again.

Home Depot has Ryobi scroll saws on sale every now and again for a really good price. They look well made, and will probably give excellent service , but I know nothing about scroll saws. I have one of the old Dremel vibrators, and it is noisy, hard to adjust, etc. etc. But it works, and is paid for. GO FOR IT!

Last week I decided that my 25 year old Dremel just wasn't hacking it anymore. I had to JB Weld the motor housing back together again and the 5/16" stroke really sucks if you are trying to cut something like thin aluminum.
I went to Home Depot and purchased a Ryobi 16" scroll saw for $99. Be careful, there are a couple of versions of this. One requires an allen wrench to change blades. The one I bought will handle pin blades and I can change a blade in about 30 seconds. Mine is variable speed, has a bellows that blows the dust away from the cutting line and I really like it. I also bought some Dremel blades, 18 teeth per inch and it made it work even better.
Bill Calkins

I'm not immediately familiar with that particular saw, but have a lot of experience with a lot of saws.

All scroll saws under a couple hundred are hobby saws. BUT, since we're using it for a hobby, they really are pretty well suited. If it's quiet and sounds reasonably well balanced, it's probably a good deal. Really noisy means out of balance, parts rubbing that shouldn't, stuff like that. It takes energy to make noise, and noise doesn't do the cutting. It's the power left over after you get the blade going up and down that does the cutting. Sounds a bit oversimplified, but remarkably true.

I'm not sure what you mean by accuracy of the vertical cut. If you're referring to the table tilting and it's ability to stay perpendicular to the blade, well, that's only really important if you're cutting thick stuff. This may be a factor if you stack up piles of ribs to cut all at once. A really sharp blade with as few teeth as possible should make any hobby saw do well enough. About any trunion system is adequate for pieces of wood that aren't heavy, usually the case in model airplanes. Then all that remains is that you don't hold yourself up with the little table while you're cutting.

The things that are more pragmatic than associated with pure quality are things like how easy it is to change the blades. However, the ones that have the clamps and usually need allen wrenches hold a larger variety of blades than are available with pins. For model making, the pin variety is probably adequate. I have a coping saw that uses straight ended blades. I have some blades that are capable making kerfs that are hard to see!

If you're not hogging 2" hardwoods through the thing, durability probably isn't a big deal.

Take a look at the hold down thingy, some of these squish balsa! It's nice if it's easy to take off and put back on. Not a big deal though.

I'm pretty certain it's a parallel arm model. Generally speaking, STAY AWAY from spring tensioned models. Unless you're talking about the 24" Delta or Powermatic, these things are about $1300 though...and even then a midgrade parallel arm model will run circles around them at less than half the price.

The little air puffers ARE COOL! Will keep you from getting hypoxic (light headed and dizzy from huffing and puffing) on long cuts.

Throat depth vs price is EXPONENTIAL. 16" should be fine.

These things don't make a big mess. Get a couple pieces of whatever you'll be cutting the most and take them with you to the store...getting the picture?...and USE IT. Similiar to speakers, if they sound good, they're doing what you want. Total Harmonic Distortion, Qfactor, RMS power handling, blah blah, if it pleases you to use the tool, buy it with confidence!

Last, buy good blades, TRUST ME on this one.

Have fun,

Mr. Tools,

How about the DeWalt? It looks really nice.

I have a Makita I'm very happy with. Smooth & quiet & variable speed. It has a place to hook up a vacuum & the little dust blower tube. The table tilts, which is handy, & either flat or round blades can be used. I think it was around $140.

I have used/abused the old Craftsman scroll saw for years, up to 1/8" aluminum, and lots of plywood. Last winter I bought a 9" Delta 2 wheel bandsaw, which I think was around $150. I sure would consider a bandsaw instead of a scroll saw if the price is that close. I was told that the 3 wheel type saws are trouble. So far, I've mostly used it to cut cedar 2x4's to fit around the posts on my new deck, and it doesn't slow down on them. I like it. Steve

I'm sure Dewalt is the one to beat, but Rigid makes a nice 16" one for $169 at Home Depot.

I looked long and hard at scroll saws before I bought one. The same saw is sold under many name brands. The $169 Makita looked exactly like the $99 protec down to color, motor ratings, speed control.... I got the protec demo model for $69 and have been very very happy with it. Had enough left over to get a drill press. I was prepared to spend as much as $300 for one. I was replacing a very old dremel saw.

The stuff we do is not all that tough on a scroll saw. Balsa cuts easily, and we are not making lots of tight turns. We are not making puzzles out of hardwood. Parallel arm saws the way to go. If you want to do pericsion pattern work, then consider spending more.

What I looked for was HD base and arm, it doesn't shake so much, a hold down foot that you can set the tension on ( and move), and easy to chage blades. Some of the sears hobby saws have a plastic hold down/ guard that looked like it would be in the way all the time.

One important thing! Go borrow a book from your local library on scroll saws. Learning how to set one up and properly select and tension a blade makes a big differnce.

I also made a plywood table top for the saw with a smaller slot for the blade. This top fits over the one that is there. When cutting small/ soft stuff it helps a great deal.

My 8 year old uses the saw with perfect safety on ply and balsa. I would not let him use a band saw like that.

How about the Dremel variable speed saw? It includes a light, blower, place for a vacuum hose hook up. Can take both pin end and plain end blades. Has a "quick change" function. and is available from Tower for "only" $295.99 plus shipping. I have got one. Nice saw.

Here is the url:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXSP93&P=0

Now the good part. I was over at Harbor Freight last week and noticed they have the very same saw for $89.99. And I could pick it up with no freight cost. Hmmm.

Ah yes, so many good saws, but maybe you shouldn't throw away your Dremel just yet. the rubber sanding disc on the Dremel is just about perfect for shaping props. If you do any prop rework, this is the tool. The disc sander on the side of my bench sander just dose not cut the mustard or shape props. So for now I'll just limp along with my Dremel and small band saw. How can we be so discerning about tools and ignore some of their most important uses in the construction and TRIMMING of the flight characteristics of our models?
Al

My father always said: "Buy the best tool you can afford and you will only cry once". Still very good advise today!

Fly Safe, John

I've been using a Ryobi SC162VS for several years now. It has a 16 inch throat and will accomodate almost 2 inches under the guide. The variable speed goes from 400 SPM to 1600 SPM.

It's a great unit and sells for about $150. You need to check this one out before you buy.

Man I love talking about Tools, uh, I mean tools (wups, nasty ego kicking up again...).

Generally speaking, anything DeWalt makes is good. Not the wildest about their "sawzall", shakes too much, but otherwise, like EVERYTHING they make. Same goes for Rigid, although some of it is a bit pricey.

Steve makes a REALLY good point, I REALLY like bandsaws. I have three (two 14" and one 20") and will buy more if I find them. Also totally sage advice, STAY AWAY from 3 wheel models if you can. If it's used and a super good deal, a present, already have it, fine, just like scroll saw, buy a good book and tune it up, it'll work fine for most modeling. But a good 2 wheel model is an indispensable tool.

Something not mentioned here is used tools. Out of a couple dozen stationary power tools, only 3 were bought new. They can be had from about half price to pennies on the dollar. Finding them can be a problem, but worth the effort.

I also agree with the fact that it's HARD to overbuy. I wound up with a 16" jointer (it's like 7 feet long and weighs nearly 2 thousand pounds), and once in a while I wish it were bigger! Everything I ever underbought is sitting dusty somewhere near it's replacement, or was given away.

Hey Al, about that rubber disc for the Dremel. Are you talking about the bayonet mounted sanding disc that mounts on the side of the tool near the on/off switch? I have a Dremel Motoshop I bought a couple years ago and love the thing. My son also uses it like crazy, and I think it's quite safe for him. Anyway, I don't have that disc, do you (or anyone here) know of an extra from a defunct saw?

Oh, one more thing, when I was a kid, I had a homemade scroll saw. Really worked well, don't know who made it though, or what ever happened to it. Turns out, I've found plans for one very similar, it anyone wants to try their hand at making one. Could very easily be powered by a used fractional HP motor out of a washing machine or dryer. I have several and would happily give one away to someone who wants to try. Can't remember right now if the plans depict a tilting table, but I think that's a generally useless thing for modeling anyway. A good rigid correctly aligned flat table is more important. It uses standard blades, even shows how to make the blade holders, is a parallel arm design and get its motion from a flexible driveshaft and eccentrically mounted weights, really clever. Probably in a class just above the old Dremel and below the $150 scroll saws. I've always meant to make one...

Later,

Speaking of saws. I have an 8" Bandsaw. Delta brand. It is about 100-120 at HomeDepot. What an excellent machine. I have never needed the scroll saw again. The cool part is it is small enough to do that really small scroll saw work or the large Cowl cutting work. You know the big 5" Balsa block that the cowl comes from. If you are wanting to kill two birds with one stone this is a a good thought. That saw is absolutley essentail in anyones shop. Even if you have to talk yourself into it you wont be disappointed.

The other day I had to fix a fence post and Being lazy as I am and not wanting to drag out the skill saw to cut a 4X4 I headed for the band saw. I just needed to cut off about 4". I looked at it and it had my really small hobby blad on there and I laughed out loud that I even thought it would do it. But then my neighbor said just go slow it will rip right through there. He is a carpenter and local handyman. He was advising for the skill saw but I was like what the heck you think itll do it? He said it would but he wouldnt do it. Well I tried it and the saw went right through it nice and easy. The eight inch band saw rules. I hope I am saying that right. Eight inches is the depth from the blade to the side of the saw. It has eight inches of clearance. It is such a good and DANGEROUS addition to any shop.

DMoon

PS sorry for the rambling on.

PSS My brother has my old dremel scroll saw with the sander Al talks about. Somehow I think I have lost that one for good. It rules for shaping tips and cowls. One of the reasons is that the sander itself is just sticking out there. There is no table or gaurd just a sanding wheel out in mid air. You can really use that thing to do some amazing stuff. I miss that sander.

Only down-side to band saws for modeling is when cutting totally enclosed cut-outs. Cant do that with a bandsaw. (unless you're willing to re-weld the blade after putting it throught the pilot hole)

But I use my 16" bandsaw at least as much as the scroll.

FWIW

Sorry Tools, can't help.
Al

Hi Tools,

You seem to have a lot of knowledge about power tools so I'd like to pick your brain about my INCA #259 10" Cabinetmaker's saw. Please email me. [email protected]

Tools

Are you looking for the rubber sanding disc backplate or replacement sandpaper disc. You should try aircraft spruce for them if they don't have it I will look in my local art store they might still have one.
Dana
Email [email protected]

I blush to admit that I haven't used it yet, but one tool I have is my saber-saw mounted inverted in a panel that drops into my router bench in place of the router. Between that and a power jigsaw, I should be able to do internal cuts up to about 3" thick.

I use a 2-wheel bandsaw for heavy stuff, but the 3-wheelers will work quite nicely if you get the right blades and set the tension right. I got the variable speed one from Harbor Freight when they had it on sale for $99. Today, I will pick up some custom blades for it from:

Industrial Blade and Products Co, Inc
2230 So.Ritchey St.
Santa Ana, CA 92705

714-557-4131
1-800-SAW-BLADE (ignore the last "E")

I expect they will do business by mail.

Looking for the entire rubber disc, with the bayonet mounting on the back side. A friend of mine also has one of these, that's the only one I've seen, and honestly, the only reason I knew I was missing one in the first place!

Since I have several other stationary sanders, I never really cared. But when Al mentioned how good it does on the props, and why, it dawned on me that having one might be a good idea. Among little sanding discs, it really is unique in how flexible it is, never really thought how useful that might be.

Here's another question for Al, what kind of sanding discs do you use on it? I imagine PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) discs that are close to the right diameter, but I guess there are other possibilities. I also imagine to preserve the flexible qualities of the disc, they would be lightweight paper backed sanding discs. Enquiring minds...

Tools,

Sears used to sell their version of the Dremel saw as a Craftsman. You might find the disk sander there. They also had a flexible shaft with the same "bayonet" fitting.

I have a couple of three wheel bandsaws - a 10" Delta, and a 12" generic variable speed. They seem to work well if the tension is set correctly. Most folks tend to set the tension too light. The only bad thing I can see is that they seem to go through blades quicker, probably because of the bending radius on the small wheels.

ANYTHING is better than a coping saw. Once you COPE with one you will understand how it got its name

Tools,
It dosen't seem to make much difference what kink of disc you put on the things. The rubber disc is 4" diameter. I don't think I've ever had 4" sanding disks. I used to cut down whatever I had on hand. Now I use 6" pressure sensitive disks, mostly because I got a whole roll of them for my bench samder. I just slap them in place and cut around them with scissors. Considering the pressure used to shape a prop, thick disks don't seem to hurt performance.
Al

Thanks Al. How fine of a disc do you use for shaping props?

George, good point! However, curious if you have ever used a coping saw with a "birds mouth"? That really seems to help them out. Also, I have a fairly high end coping saw that did a pretty nice job cutting the glove box door out of a dashboard I built for a car. In that case, it was easier to maneuver the saw than the whole dashboard. Really can't imagine where it would be very useful in modeling though.

Ok, tools trivia, anyone know what a "cope" is? Hard to believe the coping saws available in mainstream stores are what's left of what they were originally designed to do.