Asked to take part in a craft fair at short notice, I today received a decoflex scroll saw, bought new on the net, and which turned out to have been damaged in three ways before being packed for shipment! QC or what! Table adjustment screw thread stripped, alloy table with a crack and electrical connector junction dislodged. It also had crummy looking blade holders, although these were in good condition, although to my mind very insubstantial. As I was looking forward to starting today, I quickly arranged a refund and pickup, and went out looking for a machine I could inspect before buying, and carry home to the bench. The only one which had any real appeal and looked halfway decent for under 2 hundred quid was the SIP 16 inch variable speed job. However, it has turned out to be a joy to use, with little vibration, easy to work blade clamps ( once you have a good look at them ) and for a hundred quid, a substantial build quality. Of course it is not a Hegner, but is actually much more effective, easier to use and much more accurate than the Meddings industrial machine that I used to use professionally as a fine model maker for museums. I rather like the quick release system, although I can see myself replacing the plastic over centre lever with a better engineered home made job. All in all it is a quiet, efficient machine which I will be giving a lot of welly to over the next couple of weeks. Will it stand up to the job? I think it will, I do not abuse machinery, so hopefully it will earn its keep quickly. SIP good cheap machines? I will let you know!!
Day 2,
Have been using this SIP machine all day with no problems so far, once set up correctly it cuts square and evenly with little change in the blade speed or motion, even in thick sections. I have been mass producing items by cutting 6 layers of 6.5 mm marine ply tacked together, and apart from the expected dulling of the blades ( which I have resharpened from time to time using a specially adapted diamond file ) the job is proceeding very well. I am now into around 6 hours of almost continuous use with no change to the characteristics of the machine. However, before starting again tomorrow I will vacuum out the lower arm area and lightly lubricate the bearings of the blade holder with a little graphite grease. It is my experience that fine wood dust will dry out bearings at an alarming rate, and if left to accumulate to mush will decrease the life of the bearings substantially. Only gripe is the poor plastic table insert, which I have temporarily changed for one made from perspex with just a small blade hole and which is now level with the table. The original was a few thou too low, but more than enough to be a nuisance. Before starting again tomorrow I will fabricate a steel insert, did not have the material to hand today, so PX was best I could do ~ works fine though. Machine is quiet with little vibration, clamped to a portable work bench with some rubber underlay as a mat, I have been using it in our extension along side my wife using her computer, with no complaints!! Cannot for the life of me see why there is a Lazer fitted to this machine, what next, an MP3 player, ice cream dispenser, coffee maker?
All in all a good day, and produced lots of components to a good standard with no pain or frustration. Blade holders work fine too, but will try them with some fine jewelers piercing saw blades tomorrow to cut mother O'pearl and silver, hopefully also without problems.
Day 2,
Have been using this SIP machine all day with no problems so far, once set up correctly it cuts square and evenly with little change in the blade speed or motion, even in thick sections. I have been mass producing items by cutting 6 layers of 6.5 mm marine ply tacked together, and apart from the expected dulling of the blades ( which I have resharpened from time to time using a specially adapted diamond file ) the job is proceeding very well. I am now into around 6 hours of almost continuous use with no change to the characteristics of the machine. However, before starting again tomorrow I will vacuum out the lower arm area and lightly lubricate the bearings of the blade holder with a little graphite grease. It is my experience that fine wood dust will dry out bearings at an alarming rate, and if left to accumulate to mush will decrease the life of the bearings substantially. Only gripe is the poor plastic table insert, which I have temporarily changed for one made from perspex with just a small blade hole and which is now level with the table. The original was a few thou too low, but more than enough to be a nuisance. Before starting again tomorrow I will fabricate a steel insert, did not have the material to hand today, so PX was best I could do ~ works fine though. Machine is quiet with little vibration, clamped to a portable work bench with some rubber underlay as a mat, I have been using it in our extension along side my wife using her computer, with no complaints!! Cannot for the life of me see why there is a Lazer fitted to this machine, what next, an MP3 player, ice cream dispenser, coffee maker?
All in all a good day, and produced lots of components to a good standard with no pain or frustration. Blade holders work fine too, but will try them with some fine jewelers piercing saw blades tomorrow to cut mother O'pearl and silver, hopefully also without problems.
