Woodworker's Journal 1985-9-6, страница 70

Tool Review

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TABLE

BILLOWS

BLADE TENSION KNOB

Ins review is [he sequel to ihe one I did on scroll saws that sold for under S200 in llie September/ October 1991 issue.

If you now own one of these saws, or your present scroll saw isn't giving you the cut you w ant, it might jusl be time to move up to one of the precision machines covered in this review.

What Makes A Quality Saw? Nowadays, you can pay anywhere from $650 to over $1,90(1 tor a precision

scroll saw. How much___

you spend depends on the features you warn and how much capacity and mechanical precision you need. Naturally. the more you pay for a scroll saw. the better you can expect it to perform: at the very leasi, the machine should make smooth, precise euls that require little or no sanding. The blade should follow a line without excessive drifling to one side or another, and should not bow in the eul when scrolling thick stock. And a precision scroll saw should operate smoothly with minimal noise and vibration.

Cutting capacity is a second consideration: the throat depth of the saw imeasured from the

blade to the back arm of__

tin- saw i determines the largest workpicce you can cut on it. For example, an IX in. saw will cut lo the center <>l i panel 36 in. wide. Cutting depth i ! i i" ill- thickest stock the saw will handle (typically I'A in. to I'A in. -see chart cm p,»iv 73). One thing that separali ili> Ivtiei s.tws from the cheaper ones, howevci is how well the saw can cui thick stock w ithout breaking blades, bowing in ihe cut. or hurtling the wood. A good scroll saw should be able to make reasonably clean, accurate, tight-radius cuts in 1'/-' in. pine, or 1 in.

7(1

High-End Scroll Saws

Are You Ready To Move Up To A Better Machine?

b\ Jim Barrel!

CLAMP

RETAINER

KNOB

UPPER BLADE CLAMP

FINGER GUARD

HOLD DOWN FOOT

PP

1)1

\RM

PIN

O

BLOWE* NOZZLE

PO \

I s

TENSION ROD

LOWER ARM

DUST PORT

TABLE

TILT

KNOB

hardwoods, for instance.

Beyond these basic size and perform ance characteristics, ihe single most important feature to most production-oriented scroll-sawyers is how quickly the blades can be changed and tensioned. Each machine operates a bii differently in this respect. I'll discuss ihese and other features in more detail later.

Which Saws Do the Experts Use? In the world of precision scroll saws, four names immediatelv come to the

minds of veteran scroll-sawyers: Delta. Excaliber. Hegner. and RBI. These lour manufacturers have the reputation of making quality "high-end" saws, w ith price tags to match. For this review. I asked each company to send me their best-selling model. These turned out to be 18 in. to 20 in. saws (RBI also sent me their 16 in. saw): the makers agree that this size range is the most practical for doing most scrolling projects. Each model I reviewed has variable speed control, along wiih a complement of

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