Hitachi CW 40 16" Scroll Saw

For Mother’s Day last year my husband asked what I wanted. I said a scroll saw. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but I didn’t have one and I wanted one. Since that is about the same logic that keeps my husband buying chain saws I knew my reasoning would work. (I think the chain saw count is up to 6, just yesterday he came home saying “but I don’t have this one, and it has a turbo, none of mine have a turbo)
Not knowing exactly what I would do with the saw, and never really using one before it was hard to determine what I was looking for. I had used a dremel scroll saw and a makita saw while at school, and used a couple of rockler(?) saws that are older then me, but they didn’t give me much to go on. I could rationalize buying a saw that I had no real idea what I was going to do with it, but I wasn’t looking to spend a fortune on the saw. So all of the cool German build scroll saws were out of the question, my future saw was going to be found at one of the three big box stores in town (Menards, HomeDepot, Lowes).
My husband and I started our search for the saw at Menards, and found two saws to choose from a PreforMax and a Dremel. Neither saw jumped in the cart. The PreforMax looked and felt cheap, and the Dremel was much like the one I had used at school, and I wasn’t convinced. So we went to HomeDepot and had about the same luck, just the dremel saw on display. Then finally we stopped at Lowes. The saw that was on display was shiny and bright green and I fell in love. Ok, I am being dramatic, but we bought the Hitachi CW 40 16” Scroll Saw.

At the time of purchase the reason I got the saw was that it was the right price. I got the saw for $150, the other saws I looked at were $80-$200 depending on brand, model and location. The other major factor was that it came with a stand. I didn’t have to worry about finding room on a workbench, or making a stand for the saw. Since it was my first machine, it would be hard to build a stand for any machine with a scroll saw. My husband and father-in-law do have welders and woodworking machines that could have built a stand, but I was impatient.

My Thoughts:
I have had the saw for 9 months now, and I am really happy with the purchase.
The Hitachi CW 40 16” Scroll Saw is quieter then the dremel saw that I have at school. I can use the saw in the basement while my 2-year-old sleeps upstairs.
The Hitachi CW 40 16” Scroll Saw has quicker blade changes then the makita and rockler saws that I have used. It accepts plain and pined blades, I only use plain blades and they work really well.
The saw has had all the power that I have ever needed. I have sawed through 1” material with out any problem, larger material and really dense wet stuff are a little tough but not really what a scroll saw is for. Most of what I cut is 1/4 to 1/2 inch solid or plywood, and the Hitachi breezes through.
The saw has an attached dust blower and work light, as do most other scroll saws. They work pretty well.
I like the big central on/off switch, it is easy to turn the saw off fast if need be.
The table tilts in both directions, so I don’t have to do complicated math to figure out the other angle or cut backwards from the way I want to make the cut.
The saw looks good. Since I am a woman, I figure I don’t really need to explain odd reasoning like that but I will. I personally don’t like the apperance of dremel scroll saws. They are nice saws but I think they are a little ugly. I was really happy to find a saw that worked as well or better and that looked good doing it.

The offical specifications:
Amps-1.6
No-Load Speed-400-1,600 spm
Blade Type-Pin End or Plain End
Depth of Throat-16”
Blade Stroke-11/16”
Depth of cut at 45 Degrees-1-1/16” Left; 3/4” Right
Depth of cut at 90 Degrees-2-1/8”
Table Tilt-45 Degrees L & R

Bottom line:
The Hitachi CW 40 is a good saw for the average hobbiest. It has stood up to my tests, and is still running.