# A scroll saw with potential ... maybe



## johnhutchinson

My old Dremmel scroll saw finally bit the dust, so I went to Craigslist, Columbus, OH, in search of a replacement. There were a few nice DeWalts, but the one that caught my eye was a *NEW* 16" KingCraft for $40. When I went for a look, the box had been opened and taped shut, but the machine was still embalmed with cosmoline and none of the accessory bags, including an assortment of blades, had been opened. When I asked about an instruction book, the owner shrugged his shoulders and dropped the price to $25. So I bought it.

I've used it for about an hour, and I'm impressed with its stability (massive chunks of cast iron) and it purrs at a constant 1750 strokes/minute. Tensioning the blade is awkward because the knob for that is at the back and on the bottom, it only takes pinned blades, there's no provision for dust collection, and the table in front of the blade is ridiculously short. BUT … it's a stout little machine that I'd like to trick out to the max … for another $25 max.

I have some ideas for turning it into a silk purse, and I'm wondering if anyone else has taken on a similar challenge. Tips and tricks?

p.s. - I found the picture below on an eBay ad where the seller was asking $125/used. Mine's all bright and shiny.


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## MrUnix

Looks almost identical to a Grizzly G0536.. maybe.. hard to tell the difference between them, but you might start there.

Cheers,
Brad


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## longgone

For $25 you can't go wrong. I am not familiar with Kingcraft.


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## crowie

Now that's a top deal…. if you find a second one, please, send it on down under John….


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## CFrye

Nice John! When you say "trick out to the max" do you mean things like extending the table, adding a blower and light,...?


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## johnhutchinson

*MrUnix:* I looked at your link to the Grizzly GO536, and it *IS* identical, but the Griz is variable speed. I have a speed control that I purchased about 10 years ago-for a router-but never used. I'm going to give it a try.
The mount for the pin blades is interesting because blades can be set parallel or perpendicular to the arm. Not sure when I'd use that feature, but hey.

I'm thinking about making a shallow "torsion box" table with I/4" tempered Masonite pegboard. I'm going to attach an exhaust port to the box and pull dust through the holes. The torsion box table will attach to the iron table with rare-earth magnets. The hardboard has 1/4"-diameter holes, it takes a 3/16" pilot hole for the pinned blades, so I should end up with something close to a zero-clearance table. And it'll be slick.

And then a great lighting system. And a foot-pedal switch. And flames on the side. And …


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## johnhutchinson

*Candy:* Great minds.  You popped up while I was responding to MrUnix.

It has a blower with an old-school plastic tube and copper nozzle. I like it, but it's TOO powerful. That's why I want to add a dust-catching extended table.


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## TheBoxWhisperer

I just scored this Delta 16" for free, and am in a similar boat. It's no Dewalt but for free it works well. I had done some searching around for tricked out scroll saws and had not come up with much, Ill be watching this thread closely. Maybe we will get lucky and Sheila Landry will chime in.


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## johnhutchinson

*The Box Whisperer:* I still don't understand the thinking (or lack of) behind my KingCraft's table. Your Delta, with almost the same design, has at least a fair amount of table in front of the blade. The KingCraft has 3". As much as I like the color of your "workbench". that's where I'm going to concentrate my efforts for improvements, along with extending the table. A chunky MDF base would add more mass and could serve as the base for lights and an articulated dust collection hose. Rather than a dust blower, I want to run it with a dust sucker.


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## Detoro

JOHN, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE FUN! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE SCROLL WORK FROM YOU. HAVE A GREAT DAY!
ROMAN


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## TheBoxWhisperer

John,

I had a peek at the delta just now and I'm eyeballing 5-6" in front of my table, so yeah I guess I'm a little better off there. I was going to bolt the whole thing down to a sitting height bench for stability, I also wanted to run DC, looking at this for it…

http://www.busybeetools.com/products/BLOWER-DUST-MAG.-BASE.html

If needed I might do a blower DC combo, to push the dust towards the DC. I also of course want a lamp, and call me crazy, but if I'm going to do all of that Id like a sled for repeat cuts too. So that means I need to add a tapered piece to the table to bring the edge parallel to the blade. I'm thinking of something done with plywood or UMHW plastic and would hold to the iron table (side of it) via rare earth magnets.

Last of all, all of this needs to be removable in case this delta kicks the bucket or I fall in love with scrolling and need the dewalt. Id like to be able to move this stuff to a newer machine.

thats my list so far.


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## Mahdeew

Now that is one heck of deal John. I bought a scroll saw last year but haven't used it yet.


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## TheDane

> ... I'm wondering if anyone else has taken on a similar challenge.


About 8 years ago, I bought one of these on sale for $39 at Aldi. I used it for one project, then let her sit until I donated it to Habitat for Humanity. The blade tension adjustment mechanism was a PITA, the table surface in front of the blade was way too limiting, and it only uses pinned blades.


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## BillWhite

The speed controller will only work on motors with brushes if I recall correctly.
You might try a lamp dimmer.
I have an old AMT scroller that looks a lot like yours. There are "blocks" that will hook into/on to the pin retainers. I bought 'em for my AMT at the time of purchase. There is a site for a fellow who makes and sells add-on equipment for scroll saws. .http://www.pozsgaidesigns.com/index.htm
I've not bought from him.

Bill


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## johnhutchinson

*Gerry:* This whole thing is an experiment in "conquering" what seems to be a crappy machine. The funniest part is that I own a big-rig Dewalt DW788, but it's on loan (probably forever) to my brother who's making wooden clocks.

The blade tensioning mechanism is a PITA, but I don't change blades that often. I intend to fix the limited table space with an add-on, zero-clearance tempered hardboard top. I've never used pinned blades until now, but I'm starting to like them-they seem to track better.


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## johnhutchinson

*The Box Whisperer:* I'm beginning to think that besides extending the table, the table for the saw is where the "tricks" should happen. If the table becomes a shallow box, it can house the speed control and the dust collection port. If I'm going to invest any more money, it's going for a stay-there articulated hose coming up from the box and mounted to the side of the saw ($13, pic below).

The existing table on the KingCraft lends itself to an add-on table because the sides are parallel for half of its length.


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## johnhutchinson

*The Box Whisperer:* One more thing. There's nothing crazy about a sled for a scroll saw. The MicroLux saw (pic below) has a fence and a miter gauge. I think I'll toss those features into my auxiliary table. After using pinned blades for the first time, it seems that they might rip straighter than pinless blades. No loss because I've miter gauges out the wazoo.


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## TheDane

> *Gerry:* This whole thing is an experiment in "conquering" what seems to be a crappy machine.


Ah … kind of like my brother-in-law's 'project car'. It will be interesting to see what you turn it into. BTW, I have a DW788 Type 1 … it is a great saw.


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## Finn

"I have some ideas for turning it into a silk purse, and I'm wondering if anyone else has taken on a similar challenge".
I bought this Jet saw from creigs list for $15. It is a fifteen inch 1988 model. It is my go to scroll saw for doing double bevel inlay. I up graded the blade clamps to Hegner clamps and a Hegner tension adjuster. What I like about it is: It has an induction motor, runs very smoothly and is light to transport. I sometimes take it to my outdoor sales and run it from a battery with an inverter. Downside is an induction motor cannot be speed controlled. If your saw has no brushes do not put a speed controller on it. That would kill the motor.


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## runswithscissors

My cousin tried to make a silk purse out of a scroll saw, and it was a disaster. When he was done, he didn't have anything resembling a silk purse, and all that was left of the scroll saw was a bucket of loose parts


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## johnhutchinson

Thanks for the encouragement, *runswithscissors*. 

But I'm not your typical cousin.


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## a1Jim

Super bargain ,enjoy!


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## stefang

Hi John, the scroll saw you bought is a generic machine sold by many retail outlets under different brand names. The first one I bought was almost identical, except the tension know was on the top at the back. The no doubt changed the location to make it smaller for shipping. I used mine quite a bit, and while it was great for doing fine sawing it wasn't good for fretwork because it only took pinned blades and even more important it didn't have a quick blade release and tensioning system. That can drive you nuts if you want to do fretwork. Otherwise It would work fine for sawing out small parts for example. The one I had could use unpinned blades too, but the blades were held by a little gizmos that in turn were hung on the pin holders. You might have fun trying to turn it into a more useful machine, but I bet you will just buy a better quality saw in the end.


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## Tenfingers58

The saw may not do fine fretwork well, but it may be great at projects like Bandit571 in the thread "that time of year again".

I also think it would do well on most of Steve Goods patterns.

Put a sharp blade in it and cut some projects. If you like the hobby but not the saw, replace it. If you find scrolling isn't your thing, you haven't wasted a pile of money.

If it were me, I'd use it for a while as is. Then decide for myself what "upgrades" it needs.


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