Vibration

[coachgrd]

Hello everyone. I started scrolling during the pandemic and have never looked back. I started on a WEN and quickly outgrew it...returned it to Home Depot within 30 days and bumped up to a Delta. The Delta has been a complete workhorse, she has been so good to me. But...I've noticed more and more vibration as time's gone by. I've checked the undercarriage and tightened anything I could find, to no avail. I'm beginning to wonder if I may be ready for the next step up. I really find the vibration annoying at this point. Is there a saw between a Delta/Dewalt and the Pegas that you think I should look at? (Not sure I want to plunk down $1K for a Pegas if there's something else out there for a lesser price.) Thank you inadvance. 

Incidentally, I like making football helmets...

[kmmcrafts]

Just my opinion since I've been there done that with many different saw brands.. I suggest running the saw you have a watching Facebook marketplace or craigslist, ebay, and etc. for a good used higher end saw.. Many times a really nice older Hawk, Hegner, Pegas, or Seyco etc pop up at a better price than a new DeWalt.. A lightly used Pegas or Seyco and a moderately used Hawk or Hegner would likely outlast any of those new saws in the price range you're looking at. 

Many times I've seen the 18" Jet come up on sale for a inbetween price of the DeWalt and the Pegas and they ( last I knew ) are a good saw made in the same plant as the Pegas and Seyco I believe.. They have a bit different of a blade clamping system that you may love or hate.. good news is if you hate it you can buy the pegas clamp upgrade and have the same basic saw as the Pegas I think..

Nice work on the football helmets.. cool idea.. how large are they? I could see those selling good as a Christmas ornament size.. 

[OCtoolguy]

Rather than buying another saw, ir might be just a Saturday afternoon's work to fix yours. More tha likely it is in need of a good service and with the videos available from Gwinnette Woodworkers Guild, it's not difficult. Not many tools needed. We are here to help.

[BadBob]

You can set up automated searches on Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook that will notify you when something new is posted. If you are patient and careful, the used scroll saw market offers some great buys. However, depending on where you live, you may need to be willing to drive a bit. I bought a Pegas that had never been used from a Facebook ad.  I had to drive from Tallahassee, Florida to North Georgia to get it.

I have owned four scroll saws and only one was purchased new.

 

[coachgrd]

On 7/10/2024 at 4:24 PM, kmmcrafts said:

Nice work on the football helmets.. cool idea.. how large are they? I could see those selling good as a Christmas ornament size.. 

Thank you for the kind words! They are roughly 17" round.  I only do high schools, as most are not trademarked.

[rash_powder]

My Hegner was having some vibration problems.  Some of the things I learned are - bolt to a good, solid, heavy bench; lube the arm bushings; blade tension seems to affect vibrations; it will vibrate at certain speeds and be dead smooth at others - i'm guessing harmonics happening and amplifying the original vibration.  

If your bench is stout, lube the arm bushings; if possible adjust them - my saw has grub screws to retain the bushings and they can be snugged up to take small amounts of wobble/slop out.