# cheap as chips



## Walney Col (18 Sep 2014)

Performance Power 85W Scroll Saw £47 from B&Q
http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/bench-tools/Performance-Power-85W-Scroll-Saw-10957552
The most common complaint in the reviews is that you can't get blades for em. Does anyone know what size blades it uses or if there's owt special about them?

Col.


----------



## bodgerbaz (18 Sep 2014)

It would 'appear' to take standard 5" pinned blades. Which should be able to be picked up fairly easily. The saw looks OK for outside cuts but no good for fretwork unless you are cutting out large areas so the pinned blades will fit through the hole.

For £47 it ain't gonna be a smooth high quality saw and some reports I found said it needed to be bolted down to stop the vibration . . . . but it should get the thumbs up from the 'orange' haters as it comes in a rather fetching white . . . . or is that grey?

As long as anyone interested bears in mind that you get what you pay for it should be a handy saw for limited cutting out work.


----------



## stevebuk (18 Sep 2014)

after reading the reviews of it, most of the folks that bought it took it back the same day..


----------



## Walney Col (18 Sep 2014)

stevebuk":2jjcwaf1 said:


> after reading the reviews of it, most of the folks that bought it took it back the same day..


2 out of 7 isn't most, steve.


----------



## Claymore (18 Sep 2014)

..........


----------



## martinka (18 Sep 2014)

Walney Col":20qys844 said:


> stevebuk":20qys844 said:
> 
> 
> > after reading the reviews of it, most of the folks that bought it took it back the same day..
> ...



Ahem!



Walney Col":20qys844 said:


> The most common complaint in the reviews is that you can't get blades for em.



That'd be 2 out of 7 then. :mrgreen: Disregarding the fact that it's not even true.

edit: That sounds like I was saying Col wasn't telling the truth. Oops, that's not what I meant. Sorry, Col!


----------



## Walney Col (18 Sep 2014)

I also don't see it only taking pinned blades as much of a problem given the number of folk on here who've replaced the stock blade holders on every other machine you can think of, orange ones included.


----------



## stevebuk (18 Sep 2014)

Walney Col":9n94j6fa said:


> stevebuk":9n94j6fa said:
> 
> 
> > after reading the reviews of it, most of the folks that bought it took it back the same day..
> ...



whilst that is true enough, i wonder how many of the folks still own it as they cant get blades to fit..


----------



## Walney Col (18 Sep 2014)

Of course they can get blades to fit.

My take on it is that the ones who complained about not being able to get blades are completely new to scrolling and don't know where to look or what to ask for and are probably of the opinion that if B&Q don't stock them they obviously doesn't exist.


----------



## Claymore (18 Sep 2014)

........


----------



## nadnerb (19 Sep 2014)

this a chinese generic saw that comes rebranded by parkside/power craft and 101 other names. When I started scrolling I used one from Parkside/Lidl and thanks to this forum I found that Axminster sell clamps that you can use for plain blades. It worked ok, lets face it , for under 50 quid you can't expect miracles. I now have a Hegner and its like comparing a Ferrari to a bicycle with a puncture, but for anyone wanting to give scrolling a try on a budget, I would say chance one of these
Regards
Brendan


----------



## Scrollerman (19 Sep 2014)

Cheap priced entry saws are the most prolific saws around for anyone wanting to get into scroll sawing.
We shouldn't/can't ignore this fact but embrace it as it gives us the chance to get more members here which is surely what this forum is all about ?
Let's get new members onboard with their cheap entry saws and then guide and help them to maybe buy a better saw based on their requirements and not biased opinions !
I feel this is a much better approach than completely dismissing their choice in the first place with a possibility of them not even bothering by becoming despondent !

Encouragement not despondency =D>


----------

