European DW788 not manufactured anymore, online stores?

So, after doing a lot of reading of different reviews on scroll saws, reviews found on the web, I was absolutely convinced that a DW788 is the one for me. BUT, and this really is a big but, they don´t sell it in my country and won´t order one either (market too small, they said).

So, I checked with other countries that use the same electricity as we do here in Finland, that is 240V, but nope, didn´t find De Walt scroll saws in any one´s catalog. Finally got a little more info from De Walt U.K.. They said manufacturing of the European model had ended in 2000, because sales where not high enough. They didn´t think there would be any saws in stock either, anywhere, which is a reasonable assumption I guess. Still, there must be some second-hand ones in circulation, well I hope so. Anybody know of a place doing international sale of second-hand woodworking power tools, somewhere in Europe? I already checked on eBay, but didn´t find any that where offered nor shipped outside the U.S.

My second chance would be getting a U.S. model, since these are still in production (or was it not manufactured in Canada at the Excalibur factories?). Shipping costs would of course be quite high, but the scroll saw could be run with an electrical converter that I know are sold over here (not cheap either I assume, but I should check it out). Any suggestions on reputable online stores in the States doing international sales?

My last "hope" is getting a Delta P20 instead. Delta is sold over here, but the problem is that they don´t keep too much of a stock of spares and accessories. I have a bad experience with a Delta disc 9"/belt 6"-sander that I purchased, the official importer in Finland wouldn´t order me a miter gage for it although it was an original accessory for the sander. Delta Machinery in the U.S. first told me to contact the European representative in the U.K., they told me to contact Toolbank in the U.K.. Toolbank told me they would maybe order me one, but didn´t and never got in touch with me again, so I ended up trying to contact Delta Machinery in the U.S. again. There I got an order fax number for the head office, placed my order as their representative adviced and, guess what, never got any reply from the head office. So, I contacted their e-mail info again, exchanging e-mail with the same person as earlier on, and was adviced to do the same as last time. I stopped trying there, seemed impossible to order Delta accessories from Delta Machinery or anywhere else. So you see, I´m a bit afraid of getting yet another Delta machine, as I don´t believe they will care to provide accessories and spares even to brand new Delta machines. Apart from this aspect, I would prefer a variable speed parallell-arm scroll saw and the P20 is sort of "almost variable" with its belt drive system. Then there is the working surface that is quite rough and one thing I really don´t like, the working surface can only be fully tilted in one direction and then 15 degrees in the other for some reason. I sometimes work with long pieces that need bevelled scroll cutting in one or the other end of the piece and if this requires more than 15 degrees in a certain direction, holding the piece in a stable manner gets tough. Therefore I´m not that keen on the P20 even if they would give you normal customer support and service. Unfortunately, it seems to be the only readily available parallell arm middle prized scroll saw on the Finnish market. The next step is the 1000 euro (that´s about the same value as dollars) and more class with the Hegner made in Switzerland, these can be ordered over here, but that´s just too much money for me. After all I´m just a hobby user (although I really really would like an Eclips, man they look good both specs- and otherwise!).

Maybe an easier way out would be getting one of those Chinese cheap clone scroll saws after all. It´s just that a friend of mine owns a Rexxon (the usual brand name they use over here) and is not very happy with it. He says it isn´t rigid enough and doesn´t cut smooth, but it was cheap.

Ok, as usual my posts get too long. I guess what I really would love is some suggestions on second-hand power tool shops and just good normal power tools online shops that do international shipping and have a good reputation. Any suggestions, links?

TIA, Ken Finland

Reply to
Ken Mattsson
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I didn't read your whole post, but if the DW is so extraordinary, why didn't it sell? It can't be good enough to be worth all this trouble.

Reply to
Toller

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