Excalibur Ex30

[BadBob]

This showed up today in the Facebook marketplace. If it were closer, I would buy it. It is a six-hour round-trip drive from me.

 

[Scrappile]

If it was at the right price the trip wouldn't stop me.  You do not see many of those around.  

[BadBob]

48 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

If it was at the right price the trip wouldn't stop me.  You do not see many of those around.  

Do you think $700 is too much for a saw that old?

Trust me; I am seriously tempted to get it to replace my old Hawk

[Matt B]

Reading the ad, it seems as if the husband passed away or is sick and his wife is selling the saw.  
I don’t like to take advantage of people in that circumstance but $700 might be high.  But I don’t know on a 30” saw.  

She said the saw is almost new.  What would the youngest age of a General made Excalibur?  The instructions shown have a publication date of 2008.  The saw does look to be in nice condition.  

[BadBob]

2 minutes ago, Matt B said:

Reading the ad, it seems as if the husband passed away or is sick and his wife is selling the saw.  
I don’t like to take advantage of people in that circumstance but $700 might be high.  But I don’t know on a 30” saw.  

She said the saw is almost new.  What would the youngest age of a General made Excalibur?  The instructions shown have a publication date of 2008.  The saw does look to be in nice condition.  

I have an EX21 I paid $400 for several years ago. It was not near as good-looking as this one. $700 seems high for a saw that old, and I'm sure some parts are no longer available, not to mention support. This one is made in Canada, from what I can see on the label.

 

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

I think all parts are available for this model.. The one that the parts are no longer available are the ones that have the tension lever like a DeWalt. This saw new would have been about $1200 if memory is correct. You can look on Seyco and see they have parts for the EX-30.. I would think the Pegas 30" saw would also share the same parts. Not sure if shop space is tight for you but this thing will take up a larger spot.. The factory stand for this is bigger than the ones for the EX-16 & EX-21.. I would think this is a "okay price " for the condition with all the goodies.. that magnifier light looks like one of the higher priced LED's? Certainly a upgrade to the old Hawk you have..  Shows a lot of blade storage tubes.. mentions a dust collection but not sure if a vacuum is included.. If so I'd say this could be a good deal. 

On a side note: Every used saw I've bought that mentioned several blades go with it.. when I go look they end up being blades bigger than my bandsaw blade and of no use to me, LOL.. But this one shows a lot of different storage tubes so there is bound to be a few you'd use.

EDIT: somewhere on this site there is a chart with a timeline of the various colors etc of the Excalibur saws.. It shows the timeline of when they moved production out of Canada etc.. That might give you a better idea of age of the saw..

Edited March 19, 2023 by kmmcrafts

[Scrappile]

You can usually get an indication of use on the old ex's by the table top.. the paint would wear off around the blade opening. From the looks of what I can see it was not heavily used.  Nice dust collection system, lamp, and maybe she will throw in that cool stool also,,,,, if it is in pristine shape, and I had money, I would go for it.  You could try to talk her down a little but.  maybe not.  If the motor runs fine and quiet and no great vibration. why not.  The only real expensive part is the motor... I think.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Scrappile

[BadBob]

I did some measuring, assuming that the EX-30 is 9 inches longer than an EX-21, and did some calculations. Assuming I did the math right, here are the numbers I came up with. The measurements surprised me enough that I went back to my shop and measured three times. To my eyes, the Hawk always looked bigger than the EX-21, but it isn't. The second surprise was that even if it were an EX-21, I would need to rearrange my shop to get it to fit.

Hawk 220
Base 34x19
Footprint 646 square inches

EX-21
Base 27x25
Footprint 675 square inches

EX-30
Base 36x32
Footprint 1152 square inches
171 square inches larger than EX21
506 square inches larger than the Hawk 220
9 inches longer than EX-21
7 inches longer than the EX-21
2 inches longer than the Hawk 220
13 inches wider than the Hawk 220

[BadBob]

36 minutes ago, Scrappile said:

The only real expensive part is the motor... I think.

The drive linkage assembly is $139.
The motor is $213.17 including shipping. I know this because I bought one in November 2022.

 

[Matt B]

I found the chart.  They changed from green to black in 2012.  So with an 08 owners manual, it was from between 2008 and 2012.  
 

 

[OCtoolguy]

4 hours ago, BadBob said:

This showed up today in the Facebook marketplace. If it were closer, I would buy it. It is a six-hour round-trip drive from me.

 

The last saw I bought was about that same time/distance. If the deal is good, I'd already be on the road. What are you waiting for?

[OCtoolguy]

I guess it really all depends on how bad you want it. I have a 16 & 21 green so I'd love to have it just to complete the set. $700 doesn't sound bad for all that appears to be included but being who I am, I'd have to dicker some. Depends on circumstances. Those 30 inchers don't come up often.

[Tallbald]

That is a beauty. Good thoughts your way. Don.

[OCtoolguy]

Well BadBob, what was the outcome of this saw? Did you jump in your car and head over to buy it? I, for one, hope so.

 

[BadBob]

1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said:

Well BadBob, what was the outcome of this saw? Did you jump in your car and head over to buy it? I, for one, hope so.

 

Not yet. I have Dr. Appointments and other things to deal with. It's still there.

I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to put it. The length is not much of a problem, but the width is.

[Scrappile]

I have a small shop but will make room if you need a place to store it.

[OCtoolguy]

You'll find a way. The same way I have 3 saws in my 9 x 13 shop. I have an 8 foot workbench, a 14 inch full size bandsaw, a drill press, my fold up Dewalt table saw and a stack tool box. You just find a way.

 

[kmmcrafts]

I wonder if the Excalibur saw footprint would mount on a Hawk stand.. I might have to do some measuring because those EX stands are wide.. Could always make a homemade wood stand.. Excaliburs don't do a whole lot of vibrating and would do fairly well on most any stand so long as it's bolted or clamped down. 

[BadBob]

1 minute ago, kmmcrafts said:

I wonder if the Excalibur saw footprint would mount on a Hawk stand.. I might have to do some measuring because those EX stands are wide.. Could always make a homemade wood stand.. Excaliburs don't do a whole lot of vibrating and would do fairly well on most any stand so long as it's bolted or clamped down. 

That is a good point.

[MarieC]

On 3/19/2023 at 6:54 AM, BadBob said:

This showed up today in the Facebook marketplace. If it were closer, I would buy it. It is a six-hour round-trip drive from me.

As you may or may not know, I was "Sleepless in WA"  over trying to purchase my EX 21 vs a Hawk about a month ago....with the suggestions from a lot of folks on here I bought the EX and am SOOOO happy with it.    It didn't have a scratch on it, not even where the blade is.  I paid $350 but he originally had it posted for $500.  If I was looking at that one, I would ask them to at least take a picture of the table without anything on it and see if the lamp, stool, etc (as mentioned by Paul) is included.  $700 seems a bit hight but if you need that much room on your table then that is something to consider...I bet it is hard to find a saw that size.  

[BadBob]

1 hour ago, MarieC said:

As you may or may not know, I was "Sleepless in WA"  over trying to purchase my EX 21 vs a Hawk about a month ago....with the suggestions from a lot of folks on here I bought the EX and am SOOOO happy with it.    It didn't have a scratch on it, not even where the blade is.  I paid $350 but he originally had it posted for $500.  If I was looking at that one, I would ask them to at least take a picture of the table without anything on it and see if the lamp, stool, etc (as mentioned by Paul) is included.  $700 seems a bit hight but if you need that much room on your table then that is something to consider...I bet it is hard to find a saw that size.  

I have an EX-21 and a Hawk 220. The EX-21 cost $400 several years ago. I wound up completely rebuilding it, and I still love it.

I paid $100 for the Hawk 220 and liked it until I saw someone change the blades on an EX-21, and I had to have one. I have probably spent $150 on it since I bought it. I upgraded everything that was upgradable and replaced the bellows, switch, and power cord.

I don't know that I "need" a 30-inch saw, but I know that when I went from a 15-inch to a 20-inch, it made a huge difference in what I could do with the saw.

 

 

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I wonder if the Excalibur saw footprint would mount on a Hawk stand.. I might have to do some measuring because those EX stands are wide.. Could always make a homemade wood stand.. Excaliburs don't do a whole lot of vibrating and would do fairly well on most any stand so long as it's bolted or clamped down. 

Both of my Ex's are on homemade wood stands. Each stand has 7 inch wheels on the far end so the can be rolled outdoors. They each have their own onboard dust control systems.

[MarieC]

2 hours ago, BadBob said:

I have an EX-21 and a Hawk 220. The EX-21 cost $400 several years ago. I wound up completely rebuilding it, and I still love it.

I paid $100 for the Hawk 220 and liked it until I saw someone change the blades on an EX-21, and I had to have one. I have probably spent $150 on it since I bought it. I upgraded everything that was upgradable and replaced the bellows, switch, and power cord.

I don't know that I "need" a 30-inch saw, but I know that when I went from a 15-inch to a 20-inch, it made a huge difference in what I could do with the saw.

 

 

The short time I have used my Ex 21 (I had a Delta that was 16 inches)  I have really enjoyed the depth.  I would get a 30 inch in a heart beat since I use my scroll saw for all sorts of things.  Tonight I actually was using it to cut a 4 inch hole in a dust collector box I am making for my router table and it just barely fit in the 21 inch.  That is a pretty long trip...you could make an adventure out of it, though...do some site seeing along the way, or?  

[OCtoolguy]

15 hours ago, MarieC said:

The short time I have used my Ex 21 (I had a Delta that was 16 inches)  I have really enjoyed the depth.  I would get a 30 inch in a heart beat since I use my scroll saw for all sorts of things.  Tonight I actually was using it to cut a 4 inch hole in a dust collector box I am making for my router table and it just barely fit in the 21 inch.  That is a pretty long trip...you could make an adventure out of it, though...do some site seeing along the way, or?  

Here, where I live, we don't think in terms of miles. We think in terms of hours. The last saw I bought was in Santa Barbara. That's roughly 126 miles but about 4 hours each way because no matter what time you go, there will be traffic coming and going. So, a trip of 8 hours not counting stopping for breaks and food. With that in mind I'd be off in a heartbeat for that saw.

 

[MarieC]

1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said:

Here, where I live, we don't think in terms of miles. We think in terms of hours. The last saw I bought was in Santa Barbara. That's roughly 126 miles but about 4 hours each way because no matter what time you go, there will be traffic coming and going. So, a trip of 8 hours not counting stopping for breaks and food. With that in mind I'd be off in a heartbeat for that saw.

 

Wow, I would hate that much traffic.  Not sure how you can tolerate that... Huntington beach must be a nice place to live...