Scorpion Saw

[leveled]

Which would be best for occasional cutting of wood ,chipboard etc --B& D Scorpion or one of the all purpose Titan SJ750XP or POW 110 from Screwfix all around 30 pounds Regards E

[leveled]

Sorry POW 110 is from ToolStation

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

As a bloke who had the Scorpion said to me "I bought a piece of junk".

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Andy Hall]

I think that it's worth considering what the result is that you want before buying a reciprocating saw.

These are not that precise because they are very much hand guided and guiding in a straight line or even dealing with the saw's natural tendency to wander is not that effective. They are OK for relatively rough work, but not to cut accurately to a straight line over any distance.

Therefore, if you wanted to cut straight lines in sheet material, you would be better off with a circular saw, and cutting of dimensional timber would be better done with a handsaw. Circular saws, even quite reasonable ones by Skil are not that expensive. You can get good quality hand saws made by Bahco quite inexpensively or even some Japanese style ones made by Irwin and others which are pretty nice for general use.

Having said that, I have a Scintilla saw (subsidiary of Bosch, model no longer made) which is pretty good within the limitations of a reciprocating saw - it's like a sabre saw in style.

So I think the first question ought to be, are you going to be happy with the results of the limitations of this type of saw. It really doesn't matter if it is occasional use if the outcome isn't what you wanted.

I did try a BD Scorpion saw a while ago and they were crap. On the first one, the mechanism jammed solid. This was replaced with a second by B&Q, but on that one the motor smoked. It went back, we had a discussion, and they refunded plus a £20 voucher for my trouble. This funded the purchase of Scintilla, who is a much better behaved tool.

It may be that Scorpions now are better, but the other aspect is that they use a proprietary blade type and some are expensive.

The others do at least use a standard blade.

I haven't looked at the Titan product explicitly, but would probably go for something of that style rather than the bigger handle style of the Toolstation one, the Scorpion or the Bosch PFZ600E.

I've tried that style as well as the sabre style (Makita JR3050T, Hitachi CR13V) and much prefer the sabre style. The Titan appears to be like that. I found the tool better balanced and easier to control because the weight is further forward nearer to the blade. Those with the weight nearer the back in the handle I found harder to use and to maintain a reasonable cut.

[Andy Hall]

They haven't improved then.....

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Well they are good for cutting the sunday roast turkey.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[david lang]

Great tool for demolition work! I've used my to demolish shelving, remove door frames, garden gates frames, small tree branches etc.

As Andy says, not a precision cut though.

Jigsaws are pretty versatile, not so good on long straight cuts, but pretty multi purpose.

Dave

[John Rumm]

Nooooo.... they really are a joke. If you do seriously want one however you can have my one for the cost of the postage!

As a jigsaw they are crap compared to even a crap jigsaw. As a sabre saw they use propriatary blades and there is little choice so they lose all the main advantages of this type of tool. They have a very short stroke length - vibration saw may be a better description. They are under powered and cut slowly, and inacurately. The bigger panel saw type blade waggles about so much you get funnel shaped cuts through things. The vibration they create is hard to believe - but 20 mins of use and you will be lucky if you can feel your fingers anymore. Other than that they are fine! ;-)

Yup that is much more the ticket...

Again ok but a bit less power.

I have one of the "white" axminster ones which seems to be one of the better white tools. It is actually quite usable within the limitations of the breed.

More info here:

however none of these tools are really general purpose saws. They are great for rough cutting, demolition, or cutting in places that would be impossible to get at or very hostile to any other class of power tool, but they wont find much application in general capentry.

[Mark]

Don't buy a Scorpion if only because the blades are unique to that model , depending on your expectations Woolworths do a similar tool for far less money and it takes the standard blade. Ive got one, its useful for cutting out pipes/ joists/ skirting up against a wall were Circular or chain saws would be impossible to use, but little else.

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[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

I'm just wondering whether YOU would use a chainsaw for the skirting if it was possible?

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[leveled]

Thanks all for your advice, I think I will try the Titan ,and forget the Scorpion (£35 at Clarks Village B& D Shop)I do have a small chain saw , and its cut is too course for my purpose,I use it for fire wood . Regards E

[Mark]

What, like when you have ripped it out and its to long to go in the skip ? cue your words of doom, nails and health and safety.

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