1st scroll saw on a budget

[evanso82]

Hi All,

This is my first time posting on this bit, so please be gentle.

I am a keen hobbyist, and am interested in getting a scroll saw, but I can only afford around the £100 mark, which I know isn’t going to get me the best machine but will be good enough for what I want to do with it. I’ll probably just make things for family and friends so I don’t need the best machine.

ive been looking at these up to now.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ho ... scroll-saw
http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jss-16-b ... scroll-saw
http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb11 ... 230v/21062
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clarke-CSS400B- ... U8C3QP4UJH

ive also been looking for second hand Hegner, but nothing has come up close to where I live or within my price range.

Can anyone advise which is the best machine to go for please?

Thank you for any advice in advance and again please be gentle with me (I don’t really know what am doing)

Cheers

Mark

 

[delboy]

Hi Mark i would recommend a hegner if you can get one on your budget they are best .

Regards
Derek.

 

[gilljc]

Hi Mark
you are very unlikely to get a hegner in your budget (if you do, I want it!)
my first scroll saw was a titan cheapie from screwfix, and it did me just fine, til I wanted to do lots of very fine stuff, if I had known about blade converters I may well still be using it. it ran smooth and cut well, allowing for the rubbish blades I bought, as I didn't know about being able to buy good quality blades online - yes, I knew nothing :roll: - still had fun tho
Would guess that the ones with flexi shafts and stuff might be a bit of a gimmick, but I still know not much more than nothing
Bite the bullet make a choice and enjoy scrolling , there probably isn't much to choose amongst the basic saws
good luck

Gill

 

[evanso82]

Thanks for the advice.

Out of curosisty and npt knowing anything what i a blade converter?

Thanks

 

[cowboy682]

Hi Mark
Out of the 4 saw above l would go for the Jet JSS-16 Bench Top Variable Speed Scroll Saw with the Variable Speed you will get used to the saw alot
easier than one with no Variable Speed, also it accepts pin blades and plain end blades, plain end blades will allow you to make internal cuts, l have never used the axminster Jet JSS but from the list l would say its the best out of the 4, just remember take your time and dont rush the job your doing get used to you saw oh and dont forget to bolt it down on a good solid work top some one will proberley give more advice on the machine,
look forward to seeing your 1st project good luck

cowboy

 

[evanso82]

Thank you again, but what is the difference between pin blades and plain end blades? And what is an internal cut? Sorry for the stupid questions

 

[toesy]

Don't pay £100 for a Scroll saw, Buy a 2nd hand one from Ebay or elsewhere for around £30

Play with that, get used to it, buy some decent blades (this is your biggest differential maker) for around the £100.00 mark.

When you start really enjoying the art, then save, save, save, stick to a budget and say to yourself your reward is a £200.00 scroll saw, or £400.00 and then look around.

NEW - Axminster range are very good
USED - Hegner

That's what I would do if I knew what I do now, and most of what I know is from within these forums, from the members.

PIN Ended blades - have a horizontal pin going thru the top and bottom of the blade (not good for trying to thread thru a tiny drill hole for fine scroll work)
PLAIN Ended Blades - No pin, just the thickness of the blade, whats needed for fine scroll art

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Hi Mark a very warm welcome to the forum,I hope that you get fixed up soon.Some members have been able to use the clamps from Axminster so that they can use both type of blades.The one you will use the most is the pinless one.Good luck in choosing the one for you. :roll:

Bryan

 

[martinka]

I agree with Graham that the Jet is the better of the saws you have linked to, but toesy has it right, go for a second hand one.

Internal cuts - say you were cutting a donut shape, to cut out the centre you would have to drill a small hole and feed the blade through the hole to be able to start cutting. A quick and easy way of being able to unclamp, feed through, and reclamp the blade, is one of the most desirable features of a scroll saw, especially for fretsaw work. Unfortunately not many saws make it easy, and most budget saws make it difficult, or at least very awkward.

 

[bodgerbaz]

Hi Mark and welcome to the scroll saws forum.

There isn't a lot I can add to the excellent advice that you've been given already. However, I can recommend a book which you may find very useful as you are starting out in the wonderful world of scroll sawing and that's John Nelson's Scroll Saw Workbook http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scroll-Saw-Work ... w+workbook - If I'd found this book when I first started I'd have picked things up much quicker.

Feel free to ask away for any advice, that's what we're here for.

Barry

 

[evanso82]

Thank you for all the advice, I never realised that blades were that expensive!! Where is the best place to get them from?

If I go for second hand what are the best brands or best to avoid?

Thanks Barry, I will order that book when I get my saw

Thank you all again, am sure ill be backing asking other silly questions

 

[martinka]

Mark, blades aren't that expensive, you would get about 500 blades for £100. I think toesy was just saying buy plenty and buying plenty is good advice because most people break plenty when they first start. A lot of scrollers buy their blades from America, because they (me included) like the Flying Dutchman blades. I forget the exact price but the last lot I got was something like £25 for 144 blades. You can also buy reasonably priced blades from the Hegner website. Hopefully others will chip in with places to buy blades.

In my opinion the Jet is a decent saw, but others might not think the same. The Jet is also sold under quite a few different brand names but with different features. Delta is another recommended one, though I have never even seen one. Often second hand saws are little used as people buy them and then find they don't have time, or decide they don't like the hobby, or, as some will tell you, they were put off by buying a budget saw. Don't be put off by them, just remember every saw has limitations so work with them or around them. Some saws can be modded to work a little better. For example, the blade clamps can often be changed for the better and very cheap Axminster clamps, and small handles can be made to tighten the blade clamp instead of messing around with allen keys. When I got my first saw I had as much fun messing around with the saw as I did using it.

 

[evanso82]

Thanks Martin, I think I will scour ebay for a while, where did you get your blades from, I very quick search I cant find any?

Thanks

 

[bodgerbaz]

Before you start buying blades Mark you ought to familiarize yourself as to which type of blade cuts what. I personally prefer reverse tooth blades which means that all the teeth point in one direct except for the last few which point in the opposite direction. The advantage of this is that you tend to get a clean cut on both sides of the wood as the reverse angled teeth just nip off the fuzzies caused by the downward cutting action.

To learn a bit about blades you could do a lot worse than having a read here http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/arti ... -selection

The type of blade and number of teeth depends on what you are cutting. Normally, the thinner the wood the finer the blade (low number), the thicker or denser the wood coarser the blade (higher the number). The usual mid-range type of blade is a number 5.

Get yourself a dozen of say, #3, #5 and #7 and start experimenting.

Barry

 

[martinka]

Mark, I get my blades from Mike at https://www.mikesworkshop.com/ I use Flying Dutchman - Ultra Reverse (FD-UR) blades in #3,#5 and #7 sizes. If you buy a gross, you can mix and match within a type of blade in multiples of 12, for example you could get 36 x #3, 48 x #5 and 60 x #7. Postage is as cheap as buying from the UK.

Hegner sells Niqua blades. Niqua also make the Flying Dutchman blades, but Hegner don't sell the UR blades. They also sell Pebeco blades but I don't know anything about those. I think they do next day delivery. The reverse blades are on pages 5 and 6. http://www.hegner.co.uk/catalog/search.aspx?keywords=blades

Reverse blades can make the wood bounce on the table if you don't hold it down firmly enough, especially on sharp corners. Disconcerting at first but you soon get used to using enough pressure to ovecome it.

When you get a saw, PM me your address and I'll send you some blades to try.

Before I found this forum and got some advice, I was buying from a shop in York and was paying as much for 60 blades as I now pay for 144.

 

[evanso82]

I didnt realise buying blades was complicated. Thanks Martin i will take you up on that kind off when I get one sorted, ill send you some money for them though

 

[evanso82]

Just to update everyone, ive ordered a saw, I decided to go for the Jet from axminster, because I can’t see my self been able to afford a better one in the next couple of year (blame the 2 young kids and big mortgage) so I thought I’d get a new one so I get the guarantee rather than a second hand one, and it is only going to be a part time hobby as I won’t have too much time to play with it, so it will probably be more than enough for me. Plus the missus agreed to buy it for my birthday which is coming up in a couple of weeks.

 

[bodgerbaz]

Good for you Mark. I hope you'll be very happy with it.

I think most of us start out with scrolling as a part time hobby but once you start seeing the things you can turn out it quickly becomes the main hobby.

Good luck and don't forget to post some pictures of your work.

Barry

 

[evanso82]

Thanks Barry, am all excited, i cant wait to have a play over the weekend, i hope it arrives in time

 

[gilljc]

Really pleased for you, have fun and don't restrict yourself to 'easy' try anything that takes your fancy. Nearly everything I make is an experiment, most work and some are a learning curve