I have more than one scrollsaw, I have more than one router, I have more than one screwdriver, I have more than one tooth (thanks to some pretty nifty dental work this afternoon - ouch).
Okay... if you're sitting comfortably, dear reader, I shall begin. As many of you will know, I came to scrollsawing through marquetry, looking for a method to speed up the process. I wasn't a woodworker and I had no woodworking tools nor anywhere to accommodate them because I was in the air force at the time. So, knowing nothing, I bought a cheap Spiralux magnetic scrollsaw. I found it was pretty useless at cutting veneers but I did enjoy cutting out little plywood or MDF shapes and making jewellery with it. (At one stage, I had a profitable little sideline going in ear rings and engraved glasses, but that's another story).
On my discharge from the service I decided to upgrade and buy the saw that all the woodwork magazines recommended - a Hegner. At last, I thought, I'd have a machine that could cope with marquetry. It was a single speed Hegner 1 and it was a marvellous improvement on the Spiralux, but it was still not the right beast for marquetry. However, it assisted my ear ring production enormously and sales in the local area boomed. Time passed and I had to take a break from woodwork for various reasons to attend more pressing matters.
A number of years later I found myself with an opportunity to return to scrolling but when I tried to use my saw I found that it had suffered from being stored in a place that was too damp for it. Moreover, my puppy had taken an irrational dislike to it and chewed up some key components. My partner had some time owing to him from work so, rather than go to the trouble of arranging a courier to return the saw to Hegner for servicing, we decided to take it ourselves and have a long weekend at the nearby seaside. I hadn't been with my partner for very long at the time. When we entered Hegner's premises, he saw me start gazing over the range of new saws as he carried my bedraggled little old machine to the service engineer. We left the machine overnight and that evening I described the merits of the other machines we had seen. He gave the matter a little thought then suggested it would be a good idea if I got a new model

. So we returned to Hegner and picked up my old machine (which, for £20, had been completely overhauled and now looked like new

) plus a Multicut2S with variable speed.
The other saw I have is a reconditioned
Diamond AF19. For a number of years I'd heard rumours on the 'Murrican scrollsaw forums that "the best saw in the world" was the British Diamond and that it was such a pity that the saw was no longer made. A few months ago I learned that the Diamond was not only still in production, but the manufacturer operated within travelling distance

. These saws are very expensive and way beyond my means, but when an opportunity to buy one came up on eBay, I grabbed it. Unfortunately, the saw did not work when it was delivered so I took it to the manufacturer to have it serviced (I've posted about this elsewhere). As a result, I now have four scrollsaws, one of which I haven't got used to yet (the Diamond), one of which is my dearest mechanical friend in the whole wide world (the Hegner 2), one of which is my back up saw and very useful for lending to people who want to know more about scrolling (the Hegner 1) and one of which is practically useless for the work I now produce but is still very useful for children or people who are fearful of machinery because it's impossible to cut yourself on a Spiralux.
So now you know

.
Still with me?
A few months ago I learned that the veneers which are generally on sale in the UK are too thin to be suitable for cutting with a scrollsaw; those sold in America are thicker and therefore quite suitable. Not that it matters now - I prefer scrolling to marquetry.
Gill