# looking for a new scroll saw



## palmtree (Apr 28, 2015)

my 16 inch Delta scroll saw has finally died after 30 years. The range of saws on todays market is broad and sometimes confusing. Any suggestions?


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

Go to www.scrollsawvillage.com and ask this question. You will get flooded with help on this topic. Also, look around the forum and you will find more than you ever wanted to know about scroll sawing. You will find me there too.

Charley


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

I love my dewalt. I have owned or used several others and found the dewalt to be way above the others and fun to use. If I had a unlimited budget I would go top of the line. 



buttonwood said:


> my 16 inch Delta scroll saw has finally died after 30 years. The range of saws on todays market is broad and sometimes confusing. Any suggestions?


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## Anselmo357 (Dec 5, 2020)

palmtree said:


> my 16 inch Delta scroll saw has finally died after 30 years. The range of saws on todays market is broad and sometimes confusing. Any suggestions?


Well if u loved your old one I have three vintage machines for sale one being a scoll saw


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## Anselmo357 (Dec 5, 2020)

Anselmo357 said:


> Well if u loved your old one I have three vintage machines for sale one being a scoll saw


1942 delta. And milwalkee


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

I consider any scroll saw that was made before about 1995 to be good for not much more than a door stop. Until about that time, every scroll saw used a spring to pull the blade back up and a mechanical mechanism to pull it down. Bind the blade and the spring could not pull it back up, but the mechanism would push it up anyway, resulting in many broken blades. These blades were held in place via small cross pins at each end. They had to be fairly large to be able to hold these pins, and could not be made anywhere near as small as the pinless blades of today. Today's scroll saw design uses mechanical arms that both pill the blade up as well as pull it down, and there is a means of applying significant blade tension to keep the blade cutting straight. You should really try one of these newer scroll saws to see the difference, before trying to restore and use one of those old scroll saws. There is no comparison.

One of the most popular of this new scroll saw design is a DeWalt 788 and they have been available for about 20 years now. Some people buy scroll saws new, only to discover that they don't enjoy doing it, or don't have the patience to learn how to do it right. Eventually, these saws go up for sale as an almost new saw, but at 1/2 or less of the original selling price. These are the scroll saws that you should be looking for, or at least another brand with the same style double arm blade control mechanism. I frequently use 2/0 size blades in my DeWalt 788 saw to make non-ferrous jewelry pieces. I use a #1 size blade to make reindeer from wood similar to the ones seen in the photos attached. I've been making and giving away reindeer every year for the past 17 years at Christmas time. As of this time, I have made over 7,000 of these, and given all of them away. 

These are 3 dimensional reindeer and not just flat pieces of wood shaped like a reindeer. The larges of those pictured take me about 6 minutes to cut and there is no sanding required. The little ones for the ear rings are harder to make, so require about 15 minutes to cut. Each reindeer must be cut twice. I cut his face view first and hold the pieces in a clamp while cutting his profile view. When completed, he is like a chicken in an egg. Remove all of the outside pieces and there is a reindeer in the middle, if he was cut correctly. You can do a lot of very precise and intricate work with the latest style of scroll saw, but will only become very frustrated at making even larger and simpler projects using one of the older saws. Try one of these newer models of scroll saws before dragging one of those old scroll saws home and trying to restore it. I'm certain that the old saw will become a planter or a door stop like mine did 20+ years ago.

Charley


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Nice work! One of the guys in my Royal Ranger Outpost made one of these for each of the folk that attended a fundraiser. I still have that Christmas Tree decoration after 30 years! The Dewalt scroll saw makes cutting these type of things fun. While other saws I have used make you struggle to keep the work on the table the Dewalt just makes it fun!


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