Don't overlook second hand machines

[Chris Knight]

For those folk who like cast iron, there is a good company not too far from my place that sells mainly engineering stuff but also a bit of woodworking kit (Startrite, Wadkin, etc.) most of this is rather heavy duty for many folk but I like to look at their site ( http://www.homeandworkshop.co.uk/ ) from time to time.

Gill might appreciate this Meddings 24 inch fretsaw for instance only £245 and I bet it doesn't vibrate much!:-

and there are a couple of nice bandsaws:-

No affililiation etc. I am just a past customer, well satisfied with what I bought.

 

[Gill]

Gill might appreciate this Meddings 24 inch fretsaw for instance only £245 and I bet it doesn't vibrate much!

If only I had the space! It's very difficult to get a scrollsaw with a 24" throat without paying considerably more than £250. Having paid £225 last year for a saw which did have such a specification, I think I'm in favour of buying second hand machines, although it took a lot of expensive refurbishment to get the darned thing working and it still needs a replacement variable speed controller .

I don't suppose you checked if the Meddings saw has a parallel or 'C' arm? Not that it matters really - as I said, I've already got a 24" saw so I'm not in the market.

Anyway, I've bookmarked the site for future reference. Thanks, Chris .

Gill

 

[Scrit]

Gill

Meddings, Wadkins, etc have a rigid arm with a spring return mechanism at the end of the arm. They were mainly three-phase machines, even the smaller ones.

Scrit

 

[Gill]

Something like a sewing machine?

Gill

 

[Scrit]

Sort of. The blade is pulled down from below (that's the sewing machine-like acttion) and the other end oif it is secured to the lower end of a vertical coil spring. The top end of the coil spring is secured to the end of the C-arm (frame). There is generally some way to vary the blade tension, but I think they require longish blades. You can make out a length adjustment mechanism at the end of the arm

Scrit

 

[Colin C]

I have use a meddings scrollsaw and found it very hard to set up.
Not just me but everyone in the workshop had trouble

 

[wizer]

Cheers Chris, only up the road, might have to have a mooch