Scroll Saw comments please: Craftsman 20" 137-216200 & Harbour Freight 16" 93012-5VGA

I would stay away from both. I would look and try to find an older Delta 40-440 and restore it. But thats me. I dont like the newer chiwanese stuff and will not buy another one. Powermatic also has an older model that might be looking at as well. Look at craigslist and be patient, a good one will turn up.

-- My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist....medic20447@gmail.com

i just got an older craftsman 20” (the one shown here) for $75 off craigslist. i think something like a scroll saw is a really safe bet used. and the thing is SOLID. it must weigh 150lbs or so with the stand!

MedicKe: Thank you for your input. I have seen some old ones already and thought the same thing but without having some guidance I had no clue as to which of the old ones might be good. I will keep my eye out for those. Look here is a picture of a Delta 40-440. Now that is just toooooooooooo nice!

Below is another I found, an older Craftsman the other day for $ 30.00 that I thought might be good for light duty or a starter but again, I am just not so familiar with all of them.

Craftsman 18” 113.207600 Scroll Saw

Dremel 1671 16” is another old one I found for $ 65.00

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

I would be more concerned about the features. I would want quick release/easy blade change and threading. If the Craftsman has that and runs smoothly, I would choose that one. I wouldn’t fool with the HF if you want to do very much scrolling. If you are new to scrolling I would also recommend Flying Dutchman blades from Mike. You can google that easily.
Vicki

AaronK: Yeah that is nice! I can tell that one is weighty just by looking at it. I am afraid the 20” I am looking at is quite a bit newer and probably not as good. You are in Texas as well?

Here is Aaron’s nice 20” Craftsman. Sweet deal.

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

Hey Vicki,
You are the second person from here that recommended the Flying Dutchman blades. I sure will get some of those. Thanks.

Here is my real machine of choice. You all have probably already seen this out there. Pretty cool.

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

i have a craftsman similar to the one in your pic… in fact i think it is the same. i replaced the knobs which hold the blade in place with replacement parts off the dewalt saw (same threading; order new from dewalt for cheap) and it makes a WORLD of difference with ease of blade instillation / performance. I like it now for the occasions when i need a scroll saw (occasional marquetry or detail work; i’m not a heavy user).

the big difference in the dewalt knobs is that the tip of the knob, which comes in contact with the blade to clamp it, has a bearing of sorts which prevents the torque that comes from tightening the knob from transferring to the blade. with the craftsman knobs, this torque kinked the blade, causing difficulty in instillation and weakening the blade causing frequent breaks.

BTM: You are referring to the one pictured here again below right? Good tips regarding the knobs. This guy selling it said it was labelled ‘professional’, not that that should mean anything but does your’s say that as well? Just trying to compare apples to apples. Of course you could look at the model number on yours I suppose but assuming they are the same do you think $ 150.00 (with stand) is a fair price? It is in excellent condition only used a couple of times.
Here it is again.

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

i cant really address the other models, but mine seems solid and easy enough to adjust/replace blades even if it’s not really quick release. there is no light though, and the blower is weak.

i would guess that you have a good deal on that newer one. the “professional” series seems to be much higher acclaimed than the run of the mill craftsman.

i’m in WV, btw :-)

The hitachi I reviewed awhile back looks like the craftsman you have pictured above. In fact I think it’s only made for hitachi now. Even though the body looks like it, there are some differences like the controls, blade storage and interestingly the blade tightening knob at the back of the top arm is missing. The one I bought is $179 new at Lowes when it’s not on sale. If you were considering the used craftsman, I’d purchase the similar saw new for $30 more with what looks like updates and a warranty.

I also took a look at your link for someone who owns the craftsman and the complaints do seem trivial. The hitachi also has changes from this guys article. i.e. the table doesn’t rust for me, the insert is level and the blade insertion/clamping mechanism seems to be different in mine.
Good luck with your decision. Whatever you do, let us know the results.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

Craftsman on the lake: Ok thanks. Unless I hear something really scary about the Craftsman I may offer the guy $ 100.00 for it. I am rather taken by it because of the 20” depth, however; if he won’t budge then I will certainly consider the Hitachi 16” CW40 per your review I read. Yesterday after reading your review which I found to be honest and fair, I searched online for more reviews on the model and found several people on one site really trashing the CW40. It makes me wonder if maybe Hitachi had a bad run on the assembly line and these people got a hold of them. It could also be other factors as you well know of and perhaps more attributable to the user’s level of understanding and education as to what the saw is supposed to be and do in relation to how much they paid for it and the kind of work they are doing with the saw. This reminds me that I myself should have mentioned at the beginning of this topic that I will be an occasional user and even at that I don’t envision scrolling on really thick materials too much. Reading your review it would seem you are in the same camp and so your comments carry more weight. Labor Day weekend. Maybe Lowe’s will drop the price on the Hitachi to $ 150.00!

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

I saw some of those reviews too but it was mostly from people who had a hard time getting the clasps to hold a pinless blade. I was ready to just use pin blades but I find that my old set of pinless hold just fine. And in the scroll work I did for the desk I had to remove and reinstall the blade several times to get all the interior holes done. No slipping blade issues at all. I didn’t see any other big issues in my research. Maybe you found some.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

There are a number of things to look for in a good scroll saw but the two things most important in my book is how easily your connect and reconnect the blade and secondly how smoothly it runs. That’s why I think it’s best to see the saw in person before you buy.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Watch the pawn shops I picked up a Dremel saw for $35 at my local one.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

John Gray: What is the model number of your Dremel?

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

Dan,

As it has already been said: stay away from both. The cost of the Harbour Freight looks good, but you wiill have to replace it too soon. The Craftsman is a good saw, but it desn’t take too long to out work this saw.

ALMOST any model from the 40’s or 50’s will do. I have a 40’s Craftman 24” and the only negative I have for it is that it is too heavy in my “portable” shop.

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

I saw an online auction that has 2 for sale. RBI Hawk and the starting price is $35. The only draw back is they are in Minnesota. Do you have family or frinds there that could pick it up?

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=370024

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=370025

-- My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist....medic20447@gmail.com

Hi all,
I have the Harbor Freight scroll saw. I got one for my birthday 3 years ago and it broke after a year. The tension knob, the entire assembly, broke. It sits in the barn in a box right now. I bought a new one, same thing, on sale again for $59, October 1, 2007, It is on sale now for $69. I bought the replacement 2 year warranty on it this time for $10. Well this one is not working right either. It will be fine and all of a sudden, I hear like metal on metal and the blade starts to cut sideways or way off my line. I do intarsia and segmentation. I have been looking for a new saw and will exchange this one and keep it as a back up, we will see how this warranty actually works. Everytime I find one that sounds like what I want, I find they don’t make it anymore. This Hitachi sounds like exactly what I want. In order to get the blade on the harbor freight one tensioned right, I have to turn that knob over 20 times, not all the way around. I avoid changing the blade because it is so much trouble. THe Hitachi looks like, you can let the tension off with the flip up of the tension knob, change the blade, and flip it back down and your tension will be like it was before. I hope I am right. Also the easy blade change in this one and variable speed is needed. I also can NOT get the plain end blades to work in the harbor freight saw. They will not stay in and you have to use an allen wrench to clamp them in. I gave up on that. I would like to wait for spring to get a new saw because I live in Michigan and work in the barn, outside, and will have to close down shop for the winter soon.

I bought the Dewalt because of the ease of cutting interior cuts. The upper arm releases enough to put the blade thru without having to completely remove the blade. You can see from my projects that it works. It does cost the extra bucks, but you know the old adage “you get what you pay for”. I also tried the Craftsman but took it back and bought the Dewalt.

-- burl, Indiana,

I have a nearly brand new DeWalt DW788 with stand I’ll let go REAL cheap. I hate it.(se related story to “Why did I buy that tool?”). It also has the light, blades,blower, all the bells and whistles. Any s.s—no matter which one—- you can have them.

-- Remember--- one good turn-- gets most of the blanket!!!!

Way back when I had “scroll saw fever” as well I looked at the craftsman professional and the Ryobi at my local orange box store.

Some people hate on craftsman tools quite a bit, I understand more now then when I first started building my garage full of tools as to why and where the complaints come from. Many moons ago I think they were (and I use this loosely) “great tools”, but in years past they have slipped further and further down my list of “to buy” tools. They seem to get cheaper and cheaper as time goes on, but they still have a few good products and I would still buy a few of their tools. It just depends on the tool, how often I would use it and what my budget is for that tool.

I ended up with the ryobi only because it came with a free corner sander (which I never use and is mostly useless) but the price was $99. For the work I have done it has been a good tool. The table top is aluminum so rust is not a problem, the power has been good enough to get the job done. It will accept both pin and non pin blades. Blade changes can be a head ache, but not bad after you get used to them. I could change them in the dark now after a few uses.

If your going to spend many hours at this machine and this is the focus of your work spend the money and buy the biggest and baddest tool you can afford, if your going to play on this machine everynow and then craftsman will serve you well, plus at $150 for the tool and stand it’s hard to beat the deal. I get the harbor freight tool mailing with the discount emails…..I have yet to buy a single tool from them, even after driving to the store and looking. These are disposable tools. In fact we have a saying at our shop, if the harbor freight tool is red it’s a double use, if it’s blue it’s a single use tool.

-- It seem's I just make scrap wood and saw dust most of the time !

Rick, you want to sell the dewalt? How much????
Jackie

runngt: Excellent advice and make sense to me. I won’t be using the saw a lot, I just don’t want it to shake all to hell when I crank it up. What model Ryobi did you end up with? This one thing I have decided: I am definitely NOT buying the one from Harbor Freight. Just holding out for the best deal. I missed out on that “20 Craftsman and kind of wish I would have grabbed it but I would have had to drive so far so I am holding out again for a deal.

-- Dan Benson---Hitchcock, Texas......Got wood?

HardWood, I will look tonight. I know it’s a 16” but I can get you all the info in a bit.

-- It seem's I just make scrap wood and saw dust most of the time !