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Kierri

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Hi everyone,

I have a great scroll saw, but really need something that can cut thicker stock. So I asked around about different saws, miter, circular, table and band saw. Sad thing is, I can only afford budget priced and I know you get what you pay for, but a budget is a budget.

I want it to be able to cut near 2inch hard wood - somebody on here gave me a lot of hardwood offcuts and even though they're only about an inch thick, my scroll saw won't touch it.

Does anyone have any positive experience of a table or band saw that will cut hardwood comfortably, though I will work with softwood most... under £150 if possible? Want to make boxes but also small tables and step stools etc.

Many thanks in advance,

Kierri
 
Before you think about replacing your scroll saw (at any cost) with something/anything else, I suggest you tell us what scroll saw and what blades you're using.

2 inch hardwood might be a bit of a stretch for some scroll saws (my Exc 21 willo do it, but that's a top of the range machine), but any scroll saw with the correct blade, correctly tensioned, will definitely cut 1 inch hard wood with no problems. Yup, it will be slower (a bit slower) than, say, a band saw doing that job, but any scroll saw will definitely do the1 inch job.

Just a suggestion.
 
I'm not looking to replace the scroll saw, just adding something that can cope. I have an Axminster AFSW18 and I used a no7 blade to cut a 4cm square piece of pine and it wouldn't do it comfortably. So I put an old fashioned pin blade on it, as rigid and toothy as they come and it did it... Am I doing something wrong?
 
Sounds like "Yes, you are doing it wrong" (sorry). Was the blade tensioned properly (a high "ping" sound when you pluck it without it being in contact with the wood)?

Are you cutting with the saw set at a slow speed (rpm)? I don't know that particular saw, but there are several much more experienced scrollers on here who say it's a VERY good saw (it's a Hegner clone sold by Axi) - look in the Scroll Saw section for posts by member Claymore (amongst others). His work is top class and he says that's a good machine.

Try Pegas blades for your present blades, especially the MGT range (modified geometry teeth). What you've tried sounds "crude but at least it cuts" (sorry again).

A no 7 from that Pegas MGT range will zip through the jobs you mention, and if you want a really nice finish (no sanding afterwards) a Pegas MGT No 5 or even a 3 will do that job easily - and only a little slower than a No 7 would.

I'm not 100% sure but I THINK your machine is big enough to do your 2 inch work as well - send Claymore a PM and ask him, he's a very helpful and knowledgeable guy and is bound to know.

Back on post "track" (sorry for mis-understanding your OP, I thought you want to REPLACE your scroll saw) - personally I went for a cheapo band saw (I could only afford a cheapo, as SH stuff is difficult to fine here in Switzerland). It's an Einhell which after a lot of adjustment and fettling (thanks to Steve Maskery's excellent band saw DVDs) works OK. That suits me (together with my scroll saw) for 99% of the stuff I do, but one day I'll replace it with the much better Metabo table top band saw.

I don't have a table saw (they scare me, and anyway I don't have the space), but do also have a cheapo Aldi SCMS which gets used seldom (for big stuff) and also an old B&D hand-held circular saw (NOT a track saw), also for big stuff.

But all that's just me, I'm far from expert, and anyway a lot depends on what you want to do as that will to a large extent tell you what "other saw" to buy

But just to repeat, your Hegner clone will definitely cut 1 inch hardwood easily (and nicely), and I'm pretty sure will do 2 inches too (it's "only" a question of how high is the max stroke of the arm).

Good luck, HTH
 

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