Jet 727200B Saw Review

[MTCowpoke22]

I've had my saw for just over 6 months now and am really getting comfortable with it. A few on here asked for a review back when I got it, so I'm finally getting around to it. I was upgrading from my Delta 40-560, which I started with about 15+ years ago. I bought my saw from Seyco back in December. I did not get the stand that comes with the saw, as I have my own that I made years ago. The saw came pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. The only thing you have to put together is the blade holder, and you have to have that on the saw. Here are some of my thoughts about the saw.

1. Wow, I didn't know scrolling could be this fun and easy. This saw purrs compared to the old Delta. Obviously, it is a much heavier-built, larger saw, but there is very little vibration in it. At first, it did vibrate (a lot), but after I added one brace to my stand, it stopped. The stand was built for the smaller, lighter Delta, so I'm not too surprised that I needed to beef it up a little. The saw still vibrates a little at the highest speed, but if I back it off just a little, that goes away. I tried the quarter test on it, and it passed just fine.

2. I don't know how I cut without a foot pedal before. I love being able to have both hands on my work piece when starting and stopping cutting.

3. The upper blade clamp is awesome. I'm a bottom feeder, and have no desire to change. I can see where this saw is completely incompatible for top feeders. It is simply impossible to top feed on it with the top and bottom clamp set up. But for us bottom feeders, this clamp is a dream come true. You simply line the blade up inside the clamp and flip the handle over. It grabs the blade and tensions all in one motion. When changing from one hole to another. it's a lot quicker than what I had to do before. One thing I did discover, the bolt connecting the upper clamp to the tensioning lever is threaded.  You can change the blade tension by turning the tensioning handle one way or the other. This is NOT the proper way to change the tension, as it also raises/lowers your clamp and can make it impossible to grab the blades. There is also a tensioning knob on the back of the saw. Adjusting the tension with this know is the correct way to adjust your blade tension. Also, the top arm does swing up out of the way, and stays up. I did have a little bit of an issue with it getting too loose and falling, but tightening one bolt just a bit fixed that.

4. I've seen a few of angry reviews claiming that the blade changing is not tool-less as claimed and too big of a hassel to bother with. What I have noticed is most of these reviews are from people who have only looked at the saw, and haven't tried it. If you want to nit-pick, sure the bottom clamp is not tool-less, as the bottom clamp itself can be considered a tool. But I don't have to use any saw-specific tools to insert a blade. I don't have to keep track of an allen or open-ended wrench. I simply pull the bottom clamp out, insert it into the opening on the blade holder, loosen the hand screw to release the old blade, insert the new blade, tighten up the hand screw and re-insert the clamp into the saw. The saw comes with three bottom clamps. So depending on what I'm doing, I can have three of the same blades loaded and ready to go when I start, or I can have different types/sizes of blades loaded. Until I break or dull all three blades, a complete blade changes take less than 5 seconds. I haven't see any other saws that can do that. At that point, it just takes a minute or so to change all three old blades. I think Rockler or Woodcraft is selling extra bottom clamps, 3 for $15-$20. At this point, that's a little too steep for me and I'm doing fine with the three that came with the saw.

5. Setting a blade in the bottom clamp takes a little to get used to. Steve Good talks about this in his video about the saw. The blade inserts into a hole on the bottom clamp. The clamp has no backside, so you can run the entire blade through it. Steve has invented and is selling a tool that will help you set the blade at the correct depth. I found that with some practice, I can install new blades to the correct depth without much trouble at all.

6. I have not tried the dust collection system, but I did leave the blower arm on the saw. The blower arm on my Delta was an immovable piece of pipe that was always in the way. So, it was the first thing I took off that saw. I honestly learned to saw while blowing the dust off of my work. Let's just say my lungs are appreciating the new flex hose they put on saws today. I haven't tried the dust collection system. The noise of my vacuum is too much, so I clean up every so often, or when I'm done for the day. Maybe someday I'll pony up for a quiet vacuum and try it out.

7. The table is nice, but maybe not the best. I love having the larger table size, and especially, the added throat depth. However, the hole in the table around the blade is rather large. I know this is nothing new on Scroll Saws, but still vexing. So, I'm still taping old playing cards over the hole for zero clearance. The blade is set really forward on the table. So far, this hasn't been a huge issue. but on a 27" table, the blade is set in only about 5". I'm not huge on spiral blades, so I turn the entire work piece while cutting. Sometimes that leaves a lot of weight unsupported off the front of the table. I guess it's really not new because my old saw had a smaller table that led to the same issue. Just something to be aware of. I've also noticed a few negative reviews about the slot in the table. The slot is needed to swing a new blade up through the hole when installing the lower blade clamp. Addressing some of those reviews, the table is perfectly flat, I have not had anything catch on the slot, and it has not caused any vibration in the saw.

So, with that I'm done. I am really enjoying this saw. But I don't have the experience on multiple saws that many of you have. Therefore, all of my comparisons go back to that one 15+ year old saw. For those of you who have this saw, feel free to add your thoughts and comments. Ask any questions, and I'll try my best to answer them.

Edited July 21, 2017 by MTCowpoke22

[Scrolling Steve]

Thanks for taking the time to give this feedback !

[Wooden Lace]

Glad you like your new saw!  I also got my new Jet last December and my review would be pretty much the same as yours.  I talked to the people at Jet about the problem with the bottom blade holder not having a positive stop so you know how far in to insert the blade, and they are working on that.  As you stated, after using it for awhile, you get used to where to set it, so it's really not an issue anymore.

As far as the blade set-back from the front of the table, I really like it.  I've never had any problem with the work not being supported in front, and it's much easier for me with the blade hole there.  I can always tell if I'm using the Jet or the DW788, because after only about 15 minutes, my neck and left shoulder are sore if using the 788.  That's because I'm only 5' 3" and I have to lean forward more, and tip my head up to see through the bottom of my tri-focals to see the line, since it's 8" away instead of only about 4".  But there are times if working on a large piece with lots of interior cuts that I prefer to top feed, so I use the 788.

Any tiny issues with the Jet are completely over-shadowed for me by the fantastic upper blade clamp.  It's magnificent!

Nancy

[tuner]

Good review, if and when I will add it to my list to look at.

Thanks.

[Denny Knappen]

Thanks for the review.  At this time, I do not need another saw, but a good review.

[amazingkevin]

11 hours ago, MTCowpoke22 said:

I've had my saw for just over 6 months now and am really getting comfortable with it. A few on here asked for a review back when I got it, so I'm finally getting around to it. I was upgrading from my Delta 40-560, which I started with about 15+ years ago. I bought my saw from Seyco back in December. I did not get the stand that comes with the saw, as I have my own that I made years ago. The saw came pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. The only thing you have to put together is the blade holder, and you have to have that on the saw. Here are some of my thoughts about the saw.

1. Wow, I didn't know scrolling could be this fun and easy. This saw purrs compared to the old Delta. Obviously, it is a much heavier-built, larger saw, but there is very little vibration in it. At first, it did vibrate (a lot), but after I added one brace to my stand, it stopped. The stand was built for the smaller, lighter Delta, so I'm not too surprised that I needed to beef it up a little. The saw still vibrates a little at the highest speed, but if I back it off just a little, that goes away. I tried the quarter test on it, and it passed just fine.

2. I don't know how I cut without a foot pedal before. I love being able to have both hands on my work piece when starting and stopping cutting.

3. The upper blade clamp is awesome. I'm a bottom feeder, and have no desire to change. I can see where this saw is completely incompatible for top feeders. It is simply impossible to top feed on it with the top and bottom clamp set up. But for us bottom feeders, this clamp is a dream come true. You simply line the blade up inside the clamp and flip the handle over. It grabs the blade and tensions all in one motion. When changing from one hole to another. it's a lot quicker than what I had to do before. One thing I did discover, the bolt connecting the upper clamp to the tensioning lever is threaded.  You can change the blade tension by turning the tensioning handle one way or the other. This is NOT the proper way to change the tension, as it also raises/lowers your clamp and can make it impossible to grab the blades. There is also a tensioning knob on the back of the saw. Adjusting the tension with this know is the correct way to adjust your blade tension. Also, the top arm does swing up out of the way, and stays up. I did have a little bit of an issue with it getting too loose and falling, but tightening one bolt just a bit fixed that.

4. I've seen a few of angry reviews claiming that the blade changing is not tool-less as claimed and too big of a hassel to bother with. What I have noticed is most of these reviews are from people who have only looked at the saw, and haven't tried it. If you want to nit-pick, sure the bottom clamp is not tool-less, as the bottom clamp itself can be considered a tool. But I don't have to use any saw-specific tools to insert a blade. I don't have to keep track of an allen or open-ended wrench. I simply pull the bottom clamp out, insert it into the opening on the blade holder, loosen the hand screw to release the old blade, insert the new blade, tighten up the hand screw and re-insert the clamp into the saw. The saw comes with three bottom clamps. So depending on what I'm doing, I can have three of the same blades loaded and ready to go when I start, or I can have different types/sizes of blades loaded. Until I break or dull all three blades, a complete blade changes take less than 5 seconds. I haven't see any other saws that can do that. At that point, it just takes a minute or so to change all three old blades. I think Rockler or Woodcraft is selling extra bottom clamps, 3 for $15-$20. At this point, that's a little too steep for me and I'm doing fine with the three that came with the saw.

5. Setting a blade in the bottom clamp takes a little to get used to. Steve Good talks about this in his video about the saw. The blade inserts into a hole on the bottom clamp. The clamp has no backside, so you can run the entire blade through it. Steve has invented and is selling a tool that will help you set the blade at the correct depth. I found that with some practice, I can install new blades to the correct depth without much trouble at all.

6. I have not tried the dust collection system, but I did leave the blower arm on the saw. The blower arm on my Delta was an immovable piece of pipe that was always in the way. So, it was the first thing I took off that saw. I honestly learned to saw while blowing the dust off of my work. Let's just say my lungs are appreciating the new flex hose they put on saws today. I haven't tried the dust collection system. The noise of my vacuum is too much, so I clean up every so often, or when I'm done for the day. Maybe someday I'll pony up for a quiet vacuum and try it out.

7. The table is nice, but maybe not the best. I love having the larger table size, and especially, the added throat depth. However, the hole in the table around the blade is rather large. I know this is nothing new on Scroll Saws, but still vexing. So, I'm still taping old playing cards over the hole for zero clearance. The blade is set really forward on the table. So far, this hasn't been a huge issue. but on a 27" table, the blade is set in only about 5". I'm not huge on spiral blades, so I turn the entire work piece while cutting. Sometimes that leaves a lot of weight unsupported off the front of the table. I guess it's really not new because my old saw had a smaller table that led to the same issue. Just something to be aware of. I've also noticed a few negative reviews about the slot in the table. The slot is needed to swing a new blade up through the hole when installing the lower blade clamp. Addressing some of those reviews, the table is perfectly flat, I have not had anything catch on the slot, and it has not caused any vibration in the saw.

So, with that I'm done. I am really enjoying this saw. But I don't have the experience on multiple saws that many of you have. Therefore, all of my comparisons go back to that one 15+ year old saw. For those of you who have this saw, feel free to add your thoughts and comments. Ask any questions, and I'll try my best to answer them.

very good info for us ,Thanks

[Cricket]

I just got the Jet scroll saw and am having problems with installing the blade.  It should be so easy but with the blade just in the bottom enough to hold it, it will not get picked up by the tensioner.   MTCowpoke22  In his review said "One thing I did discover, the bolt connecting the upper clamp to the tensioning lever is threaded.  You can change the blade tension by turning the tensioning handle one way or the other. This is NOT the proper way to change the tension, as it also raises/lowers your clamp and can make it impossible to grab the blades. There is also a tensioning knob on the back of the saw. Adjusting the tension with this know is the correct way to adjust your blade tension."   That is not what is in the manual.  The manual calls the knob an oscillation adjusting knob.  It also changes the arm to table parallelism, and the arm and table should be parallel. If I change the parallel so the arm at the blade is lower it would help with the blade being in the tensioner far enough to catch it.  I will call JET Monday and see what I need to do!