Thread: Scroll saws?

Does anybody have any experience with the cheaper brands of saws sold by Home Depot and Lowes? They look good, but.....
Lowes has a Hitachi for 149.95 that looks really nice and comes with a stand. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Fred

Forget scroll saws, get a band saw.

I have a Ryobi scroll saw from Home Depot. It's always been noisy and kind of difficult to use. Well, I found out why last week... The part that connects to the motor arbor was broken, probably since I got it. I ordered a replacement part and installed it today. What a difference.

So far this saw has cost me about $110, including the replacement part. It does the job for cutting thin woods to shape for scales. It won't do the jobs that a bandsaw will, however.

If I had to pick, I'd probably pick the scroll saw for my current use. I think I'd get a Delta or some other brand that was a little better than Ryobi, though. This one is just OK.

Josh

I have a Delta.
The bottom blade clamp nut/bolt assembly broke a week after I bought it. It was made of some kind of cheap white metal. I replaced it with stainless hardware and it's been working great ever since. I paid CAD $129 for it. Make sure you get one that takes the studless 5" blades, they are much cheaper than the studded kind.

I used to sell tools- if you can help it stay away from Ryobi anything that is not cordless. You'll be happier in the long run it truly is a home owner usage brand except for their cordless stuff.

A Scroll saw will let you do things a band saw will not and vice versa- it depends on what you're future goals are. The band saw will give you better straight cuts in general, but the scroll will let you work on more intricate cuts.

I have a Delta scroll saw- it does everything a small bench top band saw will do (with the correct blade choice) and more for me. Now, if all you are doing is cutting out scales from blanks, a band saw will be faster and smoother.
Delta in general is good stuff but the lower price/end tools are rebadged for them. Hitachi is good stuff too (they make some of the best miter saws). I don't think you could go wrong on the face of it with either of them, but I've been out of the business for while and am unfamiliar with the specifics of each brand respective features.

That sounds great! About what I thought on the cheaper ones. I've always had champagne taste and a wino pocketbook.

Fred