Thread: Any good old scroll saws?

No recommendations???

Not looking good.

I can't recommend a good one, but can reinforce what you've heard about a couple of the others. I have a Jet 16" and a Scheppach DecoFlex 16". Both are of the same mediocre quality.

Some minor differences - the Scheppach has a rotary flex-shaft cable built-in, for Dremel style rotary accessories. It also has a light, whereas the Jet doesn't.

In the Jet's favour, it has a quick-release blade tensioner, making it much easier to change blades and also reducing wear on the tensioner. The tensioner on the Scheppach failed after 7 months light use. The tensioner rod stripped it's thread. (H&F were very good and chose to replace the entire unit rather than repair it.)

Both are pretty average, as mentioned, but overall the Jet was slightly better value, taking price and the tensioner into consideration. (I have a Dremel, so never use the Scheppach's flex shaft, and the Scheppach's light isn't very good - I use a separate light anyway.)

Good luck with your search. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find a 2nd-hand Excalibur at a decent price.

Thanks for the reply Steve

Depends on what you are willing to pay. If you want good cheap jet etc. will do. If you want quality you will have to dig deep. I paid $1400 for my Hegner new 15 years or so and to date all I have had to buy is blades and still smooth as silk even though for 5 years it was used 6-8 hrs a day. I think to get quality saws it will cost. Maybe if just starting out try to buy a reasonable saw and if you enjoy scrolling then maybe go for a top of the line like Hegner, Hawk or Excalibur. A good cheap one is/was available from Jim Carroll a Trupro which seems to be a capable machine and a good price for a new machine

Pete

Pete, would you mind telling us what you were scrolling when you were at it a full day for so many years, please?Am interested to know if it was intricate work or something simple, such as name plates.Thank you.

mostly biggish clocks like the dome clock and similar plus portraits of various celebs etc. all for my own pleasure though I sold a few items but I don't do sales as to me its a hobby. Still do some between metalwork and faceting or when the fancy kicks in. I am in the process of making a couple of wooden geared clocks but progress is slow. There are some pics if you search here I think
Pete

T h a n k y o u , P e t e.

I bought one of the Trupros from Jim Carroll a bit over 12 months ago and its hasn't given me a problem so far. I haven't done a huge amount on it, maybe 60-70 hours but its handled everything I've asked it to do

I have owned a Tru Pro for possibly ten years now and I have done a lot of scrolling with it and with little or no trouble. It is a Hegna copy and if Hegna is better than it then they must be outstanding. The saw does need Hegna clamps and these are available from Carroll's. The price is right from Carroll's at the moment. I do recommend Carroll's as a supplier.

Red Gum

Hi,
Mine is a Hegner "lookalike", clone, WMS printed on mine but it seems to have come from the same factory as the Trupro (I'm guessing). I've used a Hegner and could find little or no difference to my WMS - BUT I'm no expert. Used to belong to a Scrollsaw club here in Perth and many members (we had a total of about 12) bought Excaluburs (not sure that's the right spelling!) and there weren't too many good words said about them, things might have changed since. I guess a search under that name might bring up some posts.
Started with a "starter" saw from Timbecom, it did all that the Hegner lookalike will do but a bit like my Ford Focus and a Bentley I guess, I still get to where I want in the Focus.
Best of luck.
Bob H.

Your comments are very interesting Hawkinob. I must admit I have wondered how much difference there is between Hegna and the Hegna copy and your comments help settle my curiosity. I have also been very curios about the Exalibur. It has many good features such as the angle cut setup and the controls up on top but reading some of the forum comments there seems to be a bit of dissatisfaction with it.

All in all the Tru Pro or what ever else it might be called seems to come out on top all the time especial when the price is taken into consideration.

I for one would welcome any other comments along these lines

John

I'd really like to find an old 1940's scroll saw like these





Only one i have used had a bent wheel on the motor and it caused the thing to vibrate like hell. I'm hoping that is not the case with all of them.