Aldi scroll saw

[Drifter]

Ciao to all, I am an absolute beginner at scrolling, just purchased the aldi saw and looked on YouTube about how to assemble correctly. I have tried a simple aeroplane outline cut but did not find it as easy as I first imagine........ It was hard to cut straight lines and even harder to follow a tight curve. I noticed that the blade does not seem to be perpendicular, I would say angled by about 2/3mm, also I am not sure about the tensioning of it. I was cutting 8nn ply. Any advise would be greatly appreciated as I have a grandson waiting for dinosaurs. Thanks in advance, Gino

 

[andymc007]

I purchased the same saw the other week. Until I bought some blades to replace the supplied blades I had similar problems that you described.

It was like night and day.

Also check that the table is square to the blade as I found that the markings on the table indicator were off a good bit. A small square will tell you.

The pinless blade adapters proved to be useless and after one popped out and smacked me in the head I binned them.

I have managed to make some dinosaur toys for my little one with it

However be warned. It’s so much fun you may want to upgrade quickly. I just bought a Hegner.

By the way I know very little about the craft so I’m sure better advice will be along soon.

 

[Drifter]

Many thanks for the prompt reply. I will check the table first thing in the morning. You are right, I am sure it is going to be real fun. I adore woodwork. I am a picture framer, apart from the hundreds of moulding in stock sometimes to suit an occasion I make my own. What tension should the blade be and how can one measure the tension? I am the kind of person that what I do I have to do well, so, you are right, an upgrade to the top machine is necessary. Is there an optimum blade to use with most woods? Many thanks, Gino

 

[novocaine]

1. table set, cut about 5mm in to a bit of 20mm wood, stop the saw, remove the block and swing it round to the back of the blade. try to put the block on the blade from the back, does it go on? if the answer is no, the table isn't square, adjust and repeat till it slides on.
2. blades, pegus and olson are the choice of most folks on here, I like the former. the choice of blade geometry (number of teeth basically) depends on the thickness of wood and to an extent type of wood. I find I end up with a no. 5 a lot. chart available here
https://www.olsonsaw.net/shop/scroll-sa ... lades-5in/
or here
https://www.workshopheaven.com/pegas-su ... lades.html
3. the pinless blade adapters aren't to bad on the aldi saw but can be made to work better with a bit of thought to retention and replacing the screws that clamp the blade. that isn't to say they are the best and I can see where Andy is coming from.
4. blade tension, a low C when plucked, basically as tight as she will suffer without snapping, you get a feel for it.
5. straight lines, nope, it's a scroll saw, it doesn't do straight lines without lots of input. they will do it with effort. have a search for a practice pattern, there are plenty out there, run through it a few times and you'll be away for the price of a few sheets of ply.

good luck, the Aldi saw is a schepach, not the best in the world but quite capable with the right blade and some practice. you will see it sold under 20 or so different names including record, einhill and sip.

 

[Drifter]

Many thanks, I had to adjust the table to be square to the blade....... Seems to be working. I have tighten the blade as tight as it would go without braking the lever. I have ordered some spiral blades also a selection of pinned and pinless. Is there an optimum blade speed to suit wood or vary according to thickness. Can't wait to cut some basic projects. I am a picture framer and printer, the photo jigsaw puzzle would sell well. Thanks again, Gino

 

[whatknot]

Practice mate ;-)

The more you do the better you will become

I hear you have ordered some spirals, do yourself a favour and put them to one side until you are a wee bit more proficient, they are a pain

Good quality pinned blades will make all the difference, when you find you can do most of what you want to do with them then try pinless

And only then after yet more practice with pinless blades, try the spirals

Then find they are a pain and go back to pinless ;-)

I don't know what blades you have ordered but would recommend Pegas

 

[Drifter]

Thanks,
I ordered the spirals because I was under the impression it would be easier on tight curves.
I am practising like mad...………..lets hope soon I will be proficient, cant wait to make a complex .job with it. I had to adjust the table in der to be square to the blade. thanks again

 

[AES]

FWIW, I agree with whatknot. In THEORY, spiral blades should make cutting curves much easier - in THEORY that is! I tried them and found that for me anyway, theory and practice just didn't match up. And there is at least one experienced member here who calls them the work of the devil! OTOH I've seen some great stuff on Youtube, etc, by people who produce superb work and who use spiral blades all the time.

So in other words, you pays yer money and takes yer choice! It's finally up to you.

BUT again, I think whatnot's quite right. Get some more practice in with "normal" blades, both pinned and unpinned (pinless are generally better and certainly easier for inside cuts). Get a practice pattern (most consist of straight lines, sharp and open angles, plus curves, tight and shallow - there are plenty available on the net - just Google).

Once you've got the hang of that, by all means have a go at spiral blades, but be warned, the technique IS different. After a bit of practice with "normal" blades, you'll get used to the fact that they all cut in 1 direction only - obvious! BUT spiral blades cut in ALL directions - obvious again! But what that means is that whereas with all normal blades you can "relax" the cut (as you turn a sharp corner for example) with spiral blades there's NO point/angle at which the blade won't cut, so there's no "relax! point"!

And also FWIW, I too like Pegas blades.

HTH

 

[Drifter]

Thanks again for the much appreciated advise. The blades I have ordered are Pegas......... By lucky chance. Everything you said makes sense especially the lack of control with spiral blades. When you cut a tight curved, how much can you twist the blade before it breaks? Is it just a, case of following the lines by rotating the wood? How often do blade snap? Ciao, Gino

 

[ScaredyCat]

What are they like? I was under the impression that at this cheaper end of the market all scroll saws (regardless of who 'makes' them ) were not very good at all. If I can grab one at this price and it's Ok for things like those Christmas reindeer etc then I'll be happy enough for the moment. I'd also like to know how messy and how noisey they are.

.

 

[whatknot]

You will find at the start that blades break quite often, its just inexperience, I still get the odd break but generally wear out the blade before it does

As I said earlier, its all down to practice

The more you do the better you get at it

If you have ordered pinned Pegas blades amongst those you have ordered you will immediately see the difference between them and the bog standard variety sold in multiple outlets of DIY type stores etc

With practice you will find you can spin a piece on the blade making a nice sharp angle but there are some ways to do that without turning at the end of the cut, there are lots of you tube videos out there which I would recommend you watch a lot of, you will pick a lot up from those who have been at it for years

Thanks again for the much appreciated advise. The blades I have ordered are Pegas......... By lucky chance. Everything you said makes sense especially the lack of control with spiral blades. When you cut a tight curved, how much can you twist the blade before it breaks? Is it just a, case of following the lines by rotating the wood? How often do blade snap? Ciao, Gino

 

[AES]

I don't know the Aldi one myself (I had an Einhell, not the current model) but as above, I think they're all much of a muchness - some say they come from the same factory in China, with only cosmetic differences.

Let's be clear, they all cut! The problem I had with mine, and others seem to have had similar problems, is that during manufacturing, the 2 arms, which are cast "monkey metal" can warp. That means that as you sit/stand at the saw, the blade is not vertical, but is cocked off to one side a bit - and possibly also, cocked off sideways forwards or rearwards in the vertical plane. Being cast, IMO it's not possible to straighten the arms.

However, as it's Aldi in this case, if you do get one of these (they're not all the same) then there's the 3 year money back/exchange guarantee. So that's pretty safe.

But they all (Aldi and all the rest it seems) also suffer from poor blade retaining systems and poor tensioning systems, plus the blower system isn't very good, and they often have no variable speed, so using them regularly is a PITA. DAMHIKT!

BUT if you just want to use one now and then, perhaps just to turn out some one-off Christmas ornaments, and then leave the machine idle for the rest of the year, then again IMO, they're worth a punt. Fitted with decent blades (e.g. Pegas, Niqua, Olsson, etc,) they WILL do the job, and plenty of people have made good stuff with such machines. It's a different story if you get addicted though, and end up wanting to use them every day. Then I suggest you'll soon get pretty fed up with their shortcomings. Just like I did.

BTW, I didn't scrap my Einhell. My wife has a girlfriend who wanted to try scrolling, so after she'd had a go in my shop and liked it, I refurbished the Einhell as well as I could, and passed it on to her where it's still in use now and then.

In other words, they DO cut, and the Aldi 3 years guarantee makes it less risky than my Einhell turned out to be.

Your choice. But as also already said, there seems to be a gap in the market - either one of these up to 150 quid efforts, or something MUCH better, but MUCH more expensive - OR second hand of course.

HTH

P.S. Breaking blades? Yes, it happens, and it's a big shock (noise, not danger) when it does. OTOH, decent blades are remarkably tough and with a bit of practice will soon show you want not to do - and blades are pretty cheap. Practice is the answer.

 

[whatknot]

A great many of the lower end saws are made in the same factories and are largely the same with a few minor differences

The Aldi saw is variable speed, can take pinned or pinless blades (but easier to use with pinned)

I know the previous Aldi saws were actually a Scheppach re-badged as Workzone, and as far as I can see still are

Screwfix sell the Scheppach SD 1600V for £130 which appears to have the same spec as the Workzone at £70

The lower end saws will do a job of work and great fun can be had with them, but rather like anything in life, cars, computers, etc etc, the better quality machines are easier and more enjoyable to use, they tend to have less vibration and are quieter, blade changing on the better quality machines is also far easier

I started out on a cheapie machine and used it virtually every day with no great issues, but it could only take pinned blades and I wanted to branch out to pinless, I tried in vain to convert it to pinless but realised anything spent on it to convert it was a waste of money

Get a cheapie and try it out, we are all different and enjoy different things, scroll sawing may not be for you but at a small outlay (comparatively) you can try it out and see how you get on with, just keep in mind what I said about the better quality machines, if you like it you can always move on up

They are not so messy as other woodworking machines but do produce sawdust, so adding a dust extractor is wise, I used an old vacuum cleaner at first, a bit noisy but did the job

What are they like? I was under the impression that at this cheaper end of the market all scroll saws (regardless of who 'makes' them ) were not very good at all. If I can grab one at this price and it's Ok for things like those Christmas reindeer etc then I'll be happy enough for the moment. I'd also like to know how messy and how noisey they are.

.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Thanks, I've ordered the aldi one to have a play...

I purchased the same saw the other week. Until I bought some blades to replace the supplied blades I had similar problems that you described.

Which blades did you get and from where ?


.

 

[AES]

Pegas blades are available from Axminster Tools. Also Hobbies in Norfolk stock blades (I believe they are Niqua blades, plus also a cheaper/lower quality blade I THINK ) and Hegner sell "their own" blades (which I believe - not sure - are also Niqua).

All have web sites and all do mail order - just Google.

HTH

 

[ScaredyCat]

Yes, I was more asking which ones in particular because I presumed blades for different machines would be different lengths etc.

Axminster have this set ( https://www.axminster.co.uk/pegas-36-wo ... ack-102117 ), but it says 130mm, but the Aldi saw says 134mm approx. Also the terminology they use means nothing to me.

.

 

[whatknot]

Ignore the blade length re 134 or 130mm they all take standard blades

I would recommend watching a few you tube videos on blade difference and selection, part one and two of this one are very informative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=06Kf9h2CXJ0

 

[whatknot]

PS meaning all standard blades (which are 5" or about 130mm) fit all machines, it just depends upon the type, ie pinned, pinless or spiral, they are all the same length

The only machine I am aware of that takes a different size is the Dremel Motosaw which is not really a scroll saw as such but its sold as one, blades for those are shorter and rather expensive with less choice

 

[SamS]

I too am a complete beginner and have been learning as I go with the Aldi scroll saw. I love it but now want to give the toy shapes smooth and rounded edges.
My research says I need a router but firstly they look huge and require 2 hands to operate (and my shapes are toys -
dinosaurs and boats for peg people which are obviously very small) so would I need a table router? I'm hoping there's an alternative for a complete beginner like myself who is clueless on terminology? Apologies, I know this isn't useful for your original post but it kind of progressed from it...
And I will be looking into replacing the blades with the recommended ones from this thread too

 

[whatknot]

When you say "smooth and rounded" ? how rounded ?

If you use good quality scroll saw blades, sanding will be kept to a minimum, I usually only have to touch up with a fine file or nail file (emery board)

If you mean a rounded edge, you can achieve that with sanding

There are various types of router, the standard variety usually have two handles and require two hands to operate

There are also palm routers which are smaller, lighter and can be operated with one hand

In both cases you need to secure the piece firmly to a workbench as a minimum

A router is a fairly mean tool to use, great care must be taken, not only for your projects but more so your eyes & fingers, where with a scroll saw you almost have to set out to hurt yourself, a router takes no prisoners

To get a decent round over on smaller projects you do really need a router table IMHO

Although far from a perfect round over, you can get a reasonable result using a dremel then sanding