zimmerstutzen Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 I have not done any scroll work in nearly 40 years. I had an old Powrkraft (monkeywards) brand unit back when they were called jig saws. I am slowly transitioning into retirement and gearing up a new work shop for my hobbies of black powder shooting and wood turning. A few items I want to do can't be done on the band saw and I am looking for a scroll saw. I have a few projects lined up and a couple of charity projects that will require some scroll work. I recieved a gift card to Harbor Freight and wondered is one of their scroll saws would fit the bill. There was a time that I would not touch their stuff with a toll call, but some of their products have improved greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton717 Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Hi Perry. Welcome to the Village. I haven't used a cheaper light duty saw for a long time but a few come to mind- porter cable, Ryobi, craftsman. Buy the best saw you can afford. I can give you a couple things to look for in a saw. - 1. ease of blade change, knobs easy to get to and not using an allen wrench 2. blade tensioning is it easy to access and to change. Check out the scroll saw review section it may give you an idea. I can tell you one thing DO NOT BUY the harbor freight saw. I was teaching a teenager to scroll and do intarsia and that is the saw he brought over. It was loud and vibrated bad. he had problems following a line so I tried and a couldn't get it to cut straight either. Jim Finn and Scrolling Steve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrolling Steve Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Clayton is right , do not buy the HF saw !....Save your money for something elese! Jim Finn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zimmerstutzen Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thanks. I am going to look at a 1960's Craftsman tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazingkevin Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thanks. I am going to look at a 1960's Craftsman tomorrow. The 60's craftsman may only take pinned blade ,Which limits the kind of detailed work you can do .I took the harbor freight saw back i tried .the blade change was ridiculous and the motor speed would not stay the same while cutting.my friend bought one to and threw in in the garbage with the problems he had with it to.Somebody gave me another one and i gave it away very fast.I like their tools and electric tools but the saw needs to be discontinued Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young_Scroller Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 I have the new craftsman and is the only saw I have used but I certainly love it. For $120 you cant really go wrong, only thing i changed was put thumb screws in instead of the ones that need the allen wrench. If it is for light use I would certainly suggest it as I have had it for over a year and it hasnt given me any problems yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrylee Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Boy if you were close by,I have a saw I can give you for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 I had a 60"s Craftsman and all I can say if it was the only saw I could have, or no saw at all, I would have no saw at all. Not saying all Craftsman saws of that era were bad, but the one I had was. They had several models. Mine required special tools to change the blade and the bottom clamp I had to get down on my knee to attach the blade. You can do that when young, but at retirement age..... I finally built a platform to mount it on that was hinged, and when I changed blades, I could lift the platform and lay the saw on it's side to change the blade. Please check out the one you are going to look at closely. Let the seller demo a blade change. His may be totally different than mine was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky2 Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Perry, personally, I don't think you want a saw from the sixties. They're big and cumbersome, and take up to much space. Plus most of them are worn out, and getting to be very hard to get parts for. I think you'd be better off, if you could find a newer saw that you can get parts for. Len Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zimmerstutzen Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 nearly everything in my price range looks like Asian disposable. Parts expensive and/or non-available. Right now my metal lathe is an old 1880's screw cutting lathe. Until a few months ago, I was using an old 1940's 6 inch Powrkraft wood lathe. It still works fine for turning between centers. Cant mount a chuck or face plate though. Somebody just listed a Ryobi NIB on our local craigslist. might try to check that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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