Which saw for coin cutting

[waxman]

Hi all,

I am about to upgrade my old Delta saw, I am going to try coin cutting, could you advise me which is the best saw for this, Hegner or Excalibur. I will only need a 16" model.

Thanks for any advice.

[Scrappile]

Maybe the type of blade is even more important than the saw.  Hotshot step in here. You are the best coin cutter I know of.

[amazingkevin]

Hi all,

I am about to upgrade my old Delta saw, I am going to try coin cutting, could you advise me which is the best saw for this, Hegner or Excalibur. I will only need a 16" model.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Maybe the type of blade is even more important than the saw.  Hotshot step in here. You are the best coin cutter I know of.

One saw will cut as good as another ,yes blades are the trick.Google metal cutting scroll saw blades.

[Lucky2]

Ian, if your a competent cutter, you should be able to cut coins with any (variable) speed scroll saw. I used to cut coins with a small 16" Delta variable speed scroll saw,it did a great job. It's more like Paul has stated, you should be checking into which blade would be best to use?

Len

[hotshot]

This is an old thread, but since it somehow found it's place to the top of Google results for this topic, I thought I should weigh in for any users that happen this way, so too late for Waxman, but for whoever comes next:

 

Hegner will require special blade clamps (not included with saw) to hold the smaller Jewelers blades, so you will need to add that to your purchase if you go the Hegner route. You will also want the QuickClamp to replace the standard top clamp as this is basically fretwork, so you will go between holes and break blades often.

 

I do have a couple of Hegners, but I personally prefer the Ex for coin cutting as that saw is great for top feeding, and the stand is at sitting height.  Also, you will break a slew of blades, so that means completely changing out blades multiple times through the course of a single coin, which means, you want the absolutely easiest blade changes.  Though the top blade clamp on the Hegner would be easier with the quickclamp, the bottom clamp would still be more effort for those times when the brade breaks, which is often.  DW 788 would work also, despite it's greater blade travel.  If you don't mind bottom feeding, you can now choose a Jet which might work for you (it would not work for me because I prefer top feeding.)

 

So, to answer the question, any of the top tier saws would work fine, but you keep the blade change process as one of the core concerns.

 

Waxman, if you already bought your new saw (which is likely), what did you buy, and in retrospect, would you go that route again?

 

------------Randy

Edited November 1, 2016 by hotshot

[Fab4]

Maybe the type of blade is even more important than the saw.  Hotshot step in here. You are the best coin cutter I know of.

Hi Scrappile:

Agree with what you said 110%

Fab4

[Rockytime]

Would not a hand piercing or fret saw be easier?

[hotshot]

Would not a hand piercing or fret saw be easier?

 

Rockytime, glad you asked, because, that is the tool I use when I'm away from my saw at home.

 

So, with so many folks doing this with the Jewelers Saw (HandFrame), it must be easier or more accurate, right?  Well, no, not at all.  First, the scroll saw provides a stable cutting plane, straight up and down and frees you to manipulate the coin or small objects with both hands, as you would a larger piece..  You have two hands to make the turns and control the piece, and because of the speed, you can do grinding operations with the side of the blade that would be very time consuming/not practical to do with the handframe.  Even the tricks "like over cutting to float elements" is easy with the scroll saw.

 

So, though I enjoy trying to do it the old fashion way from time to time, the scroll saw is much faster, and for me at least, capable of superior results, in a fraction of the time.  If you curious about how the other side lives, you can get a traditional Jewelers Saw on Amazon.com for less that 20 bucks.  However, if you have a scroll saw, your time would be better spent using the more modern tools.

 

--------Randy

Edited November 4, 2016 by hotshot

[Rockytime]

I have several piercing saws but have only used them for cutting out brass repair parts for clocks. I don't think my vision and hand steadiness would allow me to do that precise work you do. Your work is outstanding!