Jet Scroll Saw

[orangeman]

Recently I spent about an hour test driving the new Jet scroll saw at our local Woodcraft store.

I took an assortment of blades. Pegas #3,5,7, Flying Dutchman Puzzle blade, and a jewelers blade from Sloans. I use them all.

All the The Pegas blades worked well cutting puzzles from 3/4" cherry after tinkering with the tension a bit.

I could not get the Jet blade holders to accept the puzzle blade or the jewelers blade. I looked at the owners manual and it looked like adjusting the set screws on the blade holder might solve the problem but I wasn't going to spend any more time to do that and I'm not sure that Woodcraft would have let me do that anyway.

I bought the floor model DeWalt788 which was set up next to the Jet. I need a saw that can accommodate puzzle blades and jewelers blades. I took the DeWalt on the floor because it ran perfectly, unlike some I have purchased in the box and had to return for a variety of reasons. This is the 5th DeWalt I have purchased in 12 years. In my opinion it is the best value for the $$ even though I wear them out after a few years.

And one further comment. I will always buy from our local Woodcraft store in Roswell, GA. Very accommodating folks. Several years ago I had my one and only saw in for repairs at the DeWalt Service Center and I needed a saw for an upcoming craft show. Woodcraft was out of stock of the DwWalt 788's so the manager, Robert, loaned me a saw from their classroom training room! Now that is service!!!

[heppnerguy]

Thanks for the report. It will be helpful to a few of us that might be deciding on a new saw in the future. Always good to hear personal comments like these to use as appraisals

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[Ron Johnson]

Service like that Brian I to would remain a loyal customer. But purchasing a new saw every two years. That's more than I could or want to handle. Hopefully your new saw gives you longer service.

[dgman]

Thanks for the review Brian. I do all different kinds of projects from puzzles to fret work. Doing fret work, it is important to have a saw that is top feed friendly, and the new Jet saw defiantly is not top feed friendly.

It's good to hear your Woodcraft store is as accommodating as the Woodcraft store I teach at.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I have not seen the jet yet and have not actually tested any new Dewalts. My question is what is the major difference of them. They were suppose to be built off the same platform. Other than the blades not holding for I believe that is as you said a minor adjustment. Has the Dewalt done anything with the arm raising on its own or the jet???  What would make the Dewalt more top feed friendly over the jet as again I thought they were built on the same platform and are basically clones. Thanks for the feedback.

[lawson56]

I agree,Thanks for the report.  

[NC Scroller]

I have not seen the jet yet and have not actually tested any new Dewalts. My question is what is the major difference of them. They were suppose to be built off the same platform. Other than the blades not holding for I believe that is as you said a minor adjustment. Has the Dewalt done anything with the arm raising on its own or the jet???  What would make the Dewalt more top feed friendly over the jet as again I thought they were built on the same platform and are basically clones. Thanks for the feedback.

John T. I think the Jet is more like Excalibur than the Dewalt. The big difference being the Excalibur is a top feed.

[jamminjack]

Any one interested Steeve Goode is doing a two part video review on the Jet saw now.  The first part

is listed on his site, and the second part should be complete sometime this week.

[Scrolling Steve]

I watched the first part of Steve Goods review....My question was will the blade holding system be spiral friendly?....The 2nd part should be up soon, like Jack said.

[hawkeye10]

I agree Brian I like buying from our Woodcraft store in Franklin Tn.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

John T. I think the Jet is more like Excalibur than the Dewalt. The big difference being the Excalibur is a top feed.

Yes I can see it because of the tilting head. But all use the same blade motion. 

[Rolf]

From my discussions with Carole Rothman regarding her review of the Jet, you will have to tweak the clamps when you go to the very fine blades. Instead of buying a new saw every 2 years you could have bought a new Hawk as I did in 2005, with normal maintenance it is still going strong with no indication of issues. I will have to check my hour meter to see how many hours are on it.

[CharleyL]

It amazes me how many of you keep buying new DeWalt 788 scroll saws every two years, when all that usually wears out in them is the bearings, and with an annual re-lubrication or replacement of the bearings (all of the bearings cannot be re-lubricated) will get you a new or better than new saw again for a just few hours work and less than $30 for the bearings that cannot be re-lubricated. Another part of the saw that is kind of a weak point is the bolt through the pivot of the rocking arm back near the motor. To reduce the chances of having trouble with it, I now just replace this bolt at a cost of less than $2 each time that my saw is re-lubricated.

 

I went through and replaced all of the bearings shortly after buying my Type 1 saw used, but have just done the annual re-grease and change the non grease-able sealed bearings since then. The rocking action that rotates the bearings less than a full rotation is very hard on bearings, because the action drives the grease away from the side of the bearing receiving the load. If the bearing rotated a full 360 degrees the grease would be constantly re-distributed around the inside of the bearing. When the grease moves away, that part of the bearing begins wearing out. Even just rotating the sleeve in the bearing 1/3 of a turn without even adding grease will prolong the bearing's life. I'm willing to bet that I can do my annual service of 788 faster than most of you can to go to buy another scroll saw. Nothing in these saws usually goes bad except the bearings, and that one bolt. There are several Youtube videos available to show you how to do the bearing replacements. The videos are rather long, but very well made. My only complaint with the 788 is that there is no frame to hold the saw together when you take a covers off to do this greasing, so you have to work with only one side cover off at a time. It would have been much easier to service these saws if DeWalt had designed them with a frame to hold them together when you took the covers off. Still, it's not that hard to work around this. It's just not as easy as it could be.

 

Does anyone within a couple of hour's drive of me want to sell me one of their old (worn out) DeWalt 788 saws? I could use a spare, and I'll likely have it running perfectly the following day. I might even go further (to Georgia) if the price is right, but the saw has to be in running condition, and just worn out and noisy.

 

Charley

[WayneMahler]

Thanks for the great review. Nice that you were able to use their saw for so long to evaluate it. 

[rjweb]

Great review thx for doing it, as for the Hawk it seems to be one of the best saws out there now, and close in price to the jet. The only thing that concerns me would be, they are a smalll company and hard to compete with these big outfits are they going to be in business in another 4 to 5 years after spending that kind of money. But nothing is guaranteed in life I guess.

[Lucky2]

Thanks for the review Brian, it was quite informative. What I don't like about the jet, is the bottom blade clamps. I would never want a saw, that requires me to attach a separate piece to the blade to make the saw work. To me, that is just a bunch of frigging around with something you'll drop. I'm not sure if it is the Hegner saw or not, that has the same type of system. If it is the Hegner, that's what stopped me from buying one years ago when I first got into scrolling.  

Len

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

The hegner I have, you set up a blade in a holder similar to the hawk and slide it in very easy to do. I am not familiar with the jet.

[Rolf]

I like having separate blade clamps. When I go on a ornament binge or large fretwork piece I have several clamps preloaded with my favorite blade. When one breaks or wears out I just pop in another. Also if a screw strips I don't have to replace an entire assembly, just a cheap clamp. Hawk G4-26

[Rockytime]

Thing I like about my Hawks is their simplicity. Fewer parts to wear out. Nearly all repair parts come from the hardware store.

[Sparkey]

I also buy a lot from Woodcraft. Always friendly. I usually go to pick something up and spend an hour or so talking to the guys.

[Gonzo]

This is in response to your great customer service from Woodcraft. Unfortunately, I had the complete opposite with my south metro Woodcraft. I used to buy my Pegas blades, wood, and sundries from them. When my 788 went on the fritz, I went shopping for an Excalibur. I asked Woodcraft if I could try their Excalibur that they had for demo's and classes. The manager said no. Guess who didn't get the sale when I bought my EX-21. Guess who no longer gets my scroll saw blade business. Guess who no longer gets any of my business.

I am now in the market for a Festool vacuum. Guess who won't even get a chance at that.

It's unfortunate, because I truly believe in shopping local and I used to like shopping there.

However, thank you for the review on the Jet, and it is nice to hear about the good customer service you were treated with.

[amazingkevin]

It amazes me how many of you keep buying new DeWalt 788 scroll saws every two years, when all that usually wears out in them is the bearings, and with an annual re-lubrication or replacement of the bearings (all of the bearings cannot be re-lubricated) will get you a new or better than new saw again for a just few hours work and less than $30 for the bearings that cannot be re-lubricated. Another part of the saw that is kind of a weak point is the bolt through the pivot of the rocking arm back near the motor. To reduce the chances of having trouble with it, I now just replace this bolt at a cost of less than $2 each time that my saw is re-lubricated.

 

I went through and replaced all of the bearings shortly after buying my Type 1 saw used, but have just done the annual re-grease and change the non grease-able sealed bearings since then. The rocking action that rotates the bearings less than a full rotation is very hard on bearings, because the action drives the grease away from the side of the bearing receiving the load. If the bearing rotated a full 360 degrees the grease would be constantly re-distributed around the inside of the bearing. When the grease moves away, that part of the bearing begins wearing out. Even just rotating the sleeve in the bearing 1/3 of a turn without even adding grease will prolong the bearing's life. I'm willing to bet that I can do my annual service of 788 faster than most of you can to go to buy another scroll saw. Nothing in these saws usually goes bad except the bearings, and that one bolt. There are several Youtube videos available to show you how to do the bearing replacements. The videos are rather long, but very well made. My only complaint with the 788 is that there is no frame to hold the saw together when you take a covers off to do this greasing, so you have to work with only one side cover off at a time. It would have been much easier to service these saws if DeWalt had designed them with a frame to hold them together when you took the covers off. Still, it's not that hard to work around this. It's just not as easy as it could be.

 

Does anyone within a couple of hour's drive of me want to sell me one of their old (worn out) DeWalt 788 saws? I could use a spare, and I'll likely have it running perfectly the following day. I might even go further (to Georgia) if the price is right, but the saw has to be in running condition, and just worn out and noisy.

 

Charley

Your exactly right  the saw is a shambles taken apart .no stability at all

[Rolf]

I agree with you Charley, I would keep a stock of the parts that fail and repair the saw. Although when I need new tires I buy a new Car. Kidding (almost)

[rjweb]

Years ago when everyone was smoking, they would say ash trays are full bought a new car