Excalibur EX-16

Never seen one yet.

Santa brought me this saw. Replaces a craftsman..so far so good..

Welp,mwhat I thought was an ex 21 Santa left me turned out to be an ex16. Didn't really look at the box and it sat there by the tree for a few days until I got to it, but I'm still happy with a 16" one. After burning up a craftsman, then having a 788 type 2's motor go out, then just about burning up another craftsman, it is a huge step up in finely made equipment.

So far I've got only about 20 hours on it. Out of the box the only thing I had to do , besides bolting it to my stand, was turn the motor to be the blade to cut more verticle- as in less front to back movement during the stroke. It was simple to do.

The table is super solid and the built in dust collection is pretty cool. Also the hole in the table for the blade to go through is nice and small leaving lots of support for fragile cuts, which is a blessing after using a craftsman with a huge hole and plastic throat plate.

It's super quiet and almost no vibration. What's there isn't anything to even mention. The rubber pads I made out of a scrap of rubber I had may be helping there, but from what I read even without them there's very little vibration.

The warranty... Wow!!! What a warranty and from the reviews of people that do a lot more scrolling than me, well, it doesn't rad like general tools has too much warranty work on these machines.

I'm still learning the blade change on it, but it isn't bad.

Very well build saw and I look forward to many years of scrolling with it.

a year later and uncounted hours-well over 200- my ex 16 is still a joy to run.

I have this saw for over 3 years, never had a problem just run like the "Energizer Bunny".

Nice to hear the reports on the Ex16, as it's the one I favour at present. I have not done a lot of scrollsaw work, having only been in woodwork 2 years in retirement, but bandsaw boxes have been fun to make. http://wwwbadgerwoodcrafters.co.uk

Thought this year to have a go at intarsia, but need a better saw than the old 16" one I have..

Malcolm

Advertised my old scrollsaw yesterday and sold it today. The intention was to then go and get an Excalibur EX16 and move up a gear or two.

Unfortunately the sole distributer in the UK (Axminster) have withdrawn all Excaliburs in order to re-brand them as 'Axminster Excalibur Trade' and in thier own business colours - Grey & Red.  Launching 3rd week in February.  Now I have no saw until then.

They say that the machines have not changed and will in fact be a little lower in price, but as the brand was so good, why does it need re-branding?

Any comments over on your side of the pond about any changes with Excalibur there?

Malcolm

Nothing I have heard of.  I do know, if I could get a decent price for my Hegner, I would sell it and buy a second Excalibur. 

In the UK, there has been many comments on the Excalibur Scrollsaws, it's problems and how it compares with the likes of the Hegner. If anyone is interested, they can se these comments on UK Workshop at ......  http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/excalibur-scrollsaws-t95005.html 

The Excalibur was being sold in the UK through one distributer, but that has now ceased and another similar machine has taken it's place as the Axminster Trade Ex 16, Ex21 & Ex30 with a 3 year guarantee and the earlier problems have been overcome. These machines have only just come on to the marked in the UK and there are a couple of reviews on these also in the Scrolling - Scrollsaws section.

I have just purchased the new Ex16 version and have reviewed this in UKW. Perhaps some of you may be interested.

Malcolm

I bought the EX16 used. I have only had it about a week. So far I think it is  very user freindly. Easy to change Blades, quiet and minimal vibration.The bad. Lack of a descent blower.But I jury rigged my small trim compresser to the underside of the lift arm.Works great.Now I will compare the rest with my Hegner.The Hegner has a lot more power little less vibration and a little quieter.,So the bottom line is i really like this saw.But I will be using my Hegner for any hardwoods over 3/4 and all of my compound cuts.And the EX for a lot of blade entrance work. If I did not have the Hegner I would not hesitate to use the EX for everything. But both saws are set up next to each other with lights and foot switches. The Hegner has fewer moving parts so why give the EX a work out when it is not needed.I think I have 2 great saws.So both will be used no back up saw here

I had bought the EX16 to replace and old Sears this spring. It came in one well built box! The Sears drove me crazy. I had modified it so many times and it still took time just to tighten the blades right. The EX16 is well built and quiet and down feeding blade changes are a breeze. No need to look, just feel. The blower works just fine, even on slow cuts. I never hooked up the vacuum base. The pieces I cut can be very small and would clog up the container so I eventually removed it and added a plastic tub under the blade that traps all the dust and chips. The EX16 is so quiet that I can listen to music in the background while I'm cutting. Very relaxing. The tilt mechanism works well and have done a few angle relief lettering cuts. A little experimenting with depth, thickness and angles to get it just right. When I upgraded to the EX16, I went from the stone age to the jet age!

I bought a DW 788 from Woodcraft wanting an EX all the time. The lady at the store said it was a better saw. I took it home and something was wrong with it. It made a lot of noise so I took it back and traded it in for an EX 16 and never looked back. So far I love it.

2 years later and my ex16 is still going strong with LOTS of hours on it.

another years worth of work and my EX16 is still doing great. no parts replaced to date and a lot more hours on it.

I am looking at a 2011 EX-16 (serial ends in 11).  Originally guy was asking $300.  I talked him to $250.  What do I need to look for and how do I check it?

I know the blade clamps strip out and bearings/linkage wear...but that's it.  Not sure how to check or what else to look for.

Thanks in advance.