scroll saw vs. baby bandsaw?

[Silvan]

SWMBO is interested in buying me a machine for some reason. I can't figure it out either, but she brought it up.

She has in mind to buy me a scroll saw, I think. That could have side benefits if she herself will play with the thing. She could make lots of little cut-and-paint stuff, and might have a blast. Might, if. She's not much of a tool person, and even though she *could* use it, I wouldn't give better than a 40% chance that she actually *would* use it. My kids might play with it too though, so that's probably another plus in that column.

As far as my own someday list, I keep constantly wishing I had a bandsaw. I don't have *room* for a big one, period, no way, no how, can't happen. I'm already going to have to get *very* inventive to figure out how to shoe horn my JET mini lathe into my shop. So I was looking at the 9" Delta at Lowe's. Not much capacity, but maybe enough capacity for most of the things I have in mind right now that I would do with it. The real question I have is whether I could get $100 worth of use out of it during the time between now and whenever (1-5 years, depending) I build a larger shop.

Is a baby bandsaw better than nothing? How about resawing something like box trays on a scroll saw?

Back to scroll saws for a moment, let's just look at Lowe's. They have a cheap, medium and expensive model. The expensive one is a Dremel. Seems like a nicely made unit, but since I'm the one providing most of the cash SWMBO would use to buy such a thing, I can understand why she winced at the $189 price tag. The $99 variable speed Delta would be less painful, but it looked somewhat crappy. I'm wondering how crappy it is in actual use.

Finally, let's throw routers into the fray. My Crapsman router is all but useless. I have to set the height in my table by propping it up with various bits of scrap until I get somewhere in the neighborhood of where I want to be. It won't even pretend to hold a depth setting anymore. Is there a router worth looking at in the $100 price range? I'm still not a router person, but I do like to put decorative edges on things occasionally, and I do use my router once in a blue moon. Having something more agreeable would not be unwelcome. $100 is too low, right? I figure a good router would cost $250. Is that in the ballpark? I haven't been looking at them.

[Clemson Dave]

Silvan:

I got suckered into the $99 Delta Band saw. It is not worth $0.02 as a band saw. I have read everything about it, adjusted 1,000 times; it will not cut a straight line. If you go very slow, it will rough cut curves ok.

As a scroll saw, it works pretty well. Of course you cannot take the blade off like a scroll saw. It also cannot cut extreme curves like a scroll saw can.

Basically, it does a few things half @ss, but what do you expect for $99?

I am hoping for a Laguna HD16 from Santa. I think it will do a little better than the $99 Delta.

dave

[Phisherman]

[Grandpa]

I've got a Delta scrollsaw and love it. I also have a benchtop (9") Craftsman band saw and love it too. Each has its own attributes so it really depends upon what you want to do, then let that drive which saw you get. My Delta is the 540, the model that basically preceeded the VS one you're probably looking at for around $99. From what reviews I've read on the Delta, most are quite pleased with it for hobby work.

The purists will have cramps > SWMBO is interested in buying me a machine for some reason. I can't figure

[Tom Kohlman]

Scroll saw ability of drilling a hole in the workpiece and dropping the blade through it without having to "compromise" the perimeter is great, plus I think you or the SWMBO would be hard pressed to get hurt. It is essentially a coping saw except the machine does the work. Blades are tiny (maybe 1/8" wide at most) allowing you to cut like an exacto knife would cut through paper. Bandsaw is a slightly different animal, (IMHO probably tough to get hurt there also) but you have to cut through the piece to start cutting. Never tried small width blades on mine and maybe control is the same but scroller has a real edge in the set-up time. Seconds to start cutting vs. minutes on the bandsaw by the time you check tracking, guide alignment, etc.

[Mark Jerde]

I adore my DW621. I got a 2nd 1/4" & 1/2" plunge router for hand use, so the 621 is permanently mounted in my router table.

Some knowledgeable people say plunge routers don't belong in router tables, but my 621 works very nicely for me. My RT is fairly tall and sitting on a folding chair in front of it lets me do everything I need to do.

HF has reconditioned 621's for $150. IMO it's worth saving for vs. buying a $100 POS.

-- Mark

[Mark Jerde]

My cheapie Delta is the only power tool habitually used by everyone in the family. If others in your family have any interest in making sawdust, it could be a good investment.

Unlike the bandsaw, I leave the scroll saw blade under tension. All SWMBO has to do is turn it on and cut. If the blade breaks, that's my problem...

Also, it seems to me a scroll saw is relatively safe. Unlike the bandsaw, I don't think too many people have left fingers laying on the table using a scrollsaw.

-- Mark

[Mark Jerde]

I tried hard to talk myself into getting a 9" bandsaw. I couldn't do it. Then I was able to buy a good used 14" Jet bandsaw with riser already installed, along with Carter guides. The first non-screwing-around cut I made with it was cutting about 1/4" from the 6" side of a 2x6", AKA "resawing." It worked great. I don't think a cheapie $99 could have made the cut I made as a newbie with the 14".

I have a $99 Delta scroll saw. I didn't used to think much of it, but I broke a blade and put a new one on it. A new, sharp blade cuts pretty well. The old, dull blade couldn't really cut a 2"xX, but a new blade doesn't do that badly.

IMO you could be satisfied with a $99 scroll saw for the next 20 years. IMO you could not be happy with a $99 bandsaw.

-- Mark

[--Shiva--]

I have a baby band saw... BUY THE SCROLL SAW... if I need to resaw, use the table saw with a thin blade, does a far better job...

--Shiva--

[Silvan]

OK, that's pretty well unanimous then. Maybe a router, maybe a scroll saw, but leave that bandsaw alone.

Is everyone in good agreement that the $99 Delta would probably keep me happy for a long time?

I'll start thinking about routers then, and give SWMBO a choice. She'll probably buy me the scroll saw, and I'll bet my son will love it. He likes to cut things with my jigsaw, but has trouble controlling it.

Thanks everybody!

[RogerN]

An area Lowes store has the older version of the Delta Scroll saw (ss200) on sale for $59. I bought one and am very happy with it so far, most of the scroll sawing I have done before has been on my dads Hegners.

[Silvan]

This is the belt drive giving way to VS transition again, right? They did have one for $59, but I pretty much skipped over it, having gotten bitten so many times by buying the cheapest one on the shelf.

I'll go look again. If it's the same saw, I probably don't really care about VS. None of my other stuff is VS either.

[Bruce]

I have this one and it needs a light and a rigid but adjustable air puffer. The one on there is useless, you can't ever get it aimed at the right place.

[--Shiva--]

VS in the scroll saw is VERY handy... I am cutting some 1" soft maple, and on high speed it burns, but slow it down about half... and it doesnt

--Shiva--

[RogerN]

This scroll saw is being replaced by the VS one. I looked up pricing on this model on froogle.com and plenty of places were selling it for $119. I was thinking about buying one of those speed controls that they sell for routers and see if it works for the scroll saw as well as other shop equipment. It's a heavy little saw, lot's of iron, comes with a small blade that I tried out on 1" pine without braking the blade.

[Joe "Woody" Woodpecker]

I bought my scroll saw at a tool repair center. Seems they weren't able ti fix it and sold the owner a new saw. It has a 1/8 hp direct drive TEFC motor and it works great once you know something about motors. When I got it home I plugged it in and turned it on. The motor started to spin but stopped. I gave it a nudge and ir ran fine, but the next time I turned it on, the problem started all over again' So, while it was off, I slowly rotated the motor shaft and found that in one spot it dragged. When I looked close, the fan was rubbing the motor case. I pried it away and it has worked fine ever since.

Last year I bought my BS. ZIt is a Delta 10" saw which I really enjoy. At first I had the usual problem with the blade wandering and thought I'd have to come up with a better cool block when T ran across the Carter guides. I was told these guides use a low tension blade like the Olsen Pro. I bought a couple blades when I bought the guides and went home to put them on. When I put the blade on, I just squeezed the pulley down til the blade popped over it and spun it with my hand to make sure it was on. Then I adjusted the guide accordingly and tried it. It cuts as easy as a scroll saw, but the only thing you can't do is cut the inside of a hole. I have used my BS to resaw the thickness of

3/4" PB to half that size. Perfect cuts. PS, My Delta BS comes with a work light and a 7" cutting under the blade, unlike the 12" which has 6" under the blade and the 14" which has 6" under the blade unless you get the expensive riser block.

scroll saw vs. baby bandsaw? Group: rec.woodworking Date: Fri, Nov 21, 2003, 7:06pm (MST+2) From: [e-mail] (Silvan)

SWMBO is interested in buying me a machine for some reason. I can't figure it out either, but she brought it up.

She has in mind to buy me a scroll saw, I think. That could have side benefits if she herself will play with the thing. She could make lots of little cut-and-paint stuff, and might have a blast. Might, if. She's not much of a tool person, and even though she *could* use it, I wouldn't give better than a 40% chance that she actually *would* use it. My kids might play with it too though, so that's probably another plus in that column.

As far as my own someday list, I keep constantly wishing I had a bandsaw. I don't have *room* for a big one, period, no way, no how, can't happen. I'm already going to have to get *very* inventive to figure out how to shoe horn my JET mini lathe into my shop. So I was looking at the 9" Delta at Lowe's. Not much capacity, but maybe enough capacity for most of the things I have in mind right now that I would do with it. The real question I have is whether I could get $100 worth of use out of it during the time between now and whenever (1-5 years, depending) I build a larger shop. Is a baby bandsaw better than nothing? How about resawing something like box trays on a scroll saw?

Back to scroll saws for a moment, let's just look at Lowe's. They have a cheap, medium and expensive model. The expensive one is a Dremel. Seems like a nicely made unit, but since I'm the one providing most of the cash SWMBO would use to buy such a thing, I can understand why she winced at the $189 price tag. The $99 variable speed Delta would be less painful, but it looked somewhat crappy. I'm wondering how crappy it is in actual use. Finally, let's throw routers into the fray. My Crapsman router is all but useless. I have to set the height in my table by propping it up with various bits of scrap until I get somewhere in the neighborhood of where I want to be. It won't even pretend to hold a depth setting anymore. Is there a router worth looking at in the $100 price range? I'm still not a router person, but I do like to put decorative edges on things occasionally, and I do use my router once in a blue moon. Having something more agreeable would not be unwelcome. $100 is too low, right? I figure a good router would cost $250. Is that in the ballpark? I haven't been looking at them.

[Bruce]

I've cut 1" maple and walnut with no problems at all. It will definitely cut.