AES
Established Member
Following now updated to correct the missing part about the blade clamps in the "UKW Dec 18 Mods.pdf" file. It's now called "UKW Dec 18 Mods-1.pdf" below.
I shall be discussing the above advert in more detail later, as part of the updates I've made on my own machine recently.
But first, after slowly coming to the realisation that there are MUCH better scroll saws than my old Dremel Moto Saw (and my subsequent cheapo Einhell - that really was pretty awful!), all aided and abetted by a lot of reading here, my lovely lady bought me a General International Excalibur Exc 21 CE for my 70th birthday. At that time the somewhat cheaper Axminster Tools own label version was not available, see also below.
That was back in May 2014 and I wrote a complete "report" on the whole choosing and buying process then. Here's a link if anyone's interested, together with links to a subsequent thread about fitting an ON/OFF foot switch and another about the thin transparent self-adhesive plastic shelf sheet that I fitted to protect the table from scratches:
post972276.html?hilit=Biting the bullet#p972276 (Ex 21)
post976580.html?hilit=Excalibur 21 table protection#p976580 (table protector)
post977730.html?hilit=foot switch#p977730 (foot switch.)
Note though that unlike the Axminster "own label" versions available today, my machine does NOT have the No Volt Release (NVR) switch. I believe an NVR will make some difference to the "simple plug in" methods I use to fit my own foot switch.
Although I haven't used my machine as much as I would have liked, and although I've often used it for all sorts of "general wood and metal work", rather than much "traditional" scroll saw stuff, I haven't regretted my choice of Excalibur against the Hegner for one moment. On the contrary, IMO this machine is an absolute gem.
However, for those who spend as much time "fiddling" with tools as they do actually making stuff (I'm probably "guilty as charged m'lud"), there are always "improvements" to be made! Like the ad shown above?
Before I get to that though, there seems to be some misconceptions about what these tilting head scroll saws are actually called, who made them, and where they come from, so I've been doing a bit of research. Below, there's a link to a separate .pdf file with some detail and history about Excalibur saws and their development.
But if you're interested only in the updates to my own machine you can now skip direct to the 2nd .pdf file attached to this post - just click on the required link ("UKW Dec 18 Mods.pdf") and the document will appear on a separate screen:
View attachment UKW Dec 18 Mods-1.pdf
For those who are interested in a bit of Excalibur background and history though, just click on the 1st .pdf file link below:
View attachment UKW Dec 18 Some Background.pdf
I hope all the above will be of some interest - who knows, it may even be of help to some!
I shall be discussing the above advert in more detail later, as part of the updates I've made on my own machine recently.
But first, after slowly coming to the realisation that there are MUCH better scroll saws than my old Dremel Moto Saw (and my subsequent cheapo Einhell - that really was pretty awful!), all aided and abetted by a lot of reading here, my lovely lady bought me a General International Excalibur Exc 21 CE for my 70th birthday. At that time the somewhat cheaper Axminster Tools own label version was not available, see also below.
That was back in May 2014 and I wrote a complete "report" on the whole choosing and buying process then. Here's a link if anyone's interested, together with links to a subsequent thread about fitting an ON/OFF foot switch and another about the thin transparent self-adhesive plastic shelf sheet that I fitted to protect the table from scratches:
post972276.html?hilit=Biting the bullet#p972276 (Ex 21)
post976580.html?hilit=Excalibur 21 table protection#p976580 (table protector)
post977730.html?hilit=foot switch#p977730 (foot switch.)
Note though that unlike the Axminster "own label" versions available today, my machine does NOT have the No Volt Release (NVR) switch. I believe an NVR will make some difference to the "simple plug in" methods I use to fit my own foot switch.
Although I haven't used my machine as much as I would have liked, and although I've often used it for all sorts of "general wood and metal work", rather than much "traditional" scroll saw stuff, I haven't regretted my choice of Excalibur against the Hegner for one moment. On the contrary, IMO this machine is an absolute gem.
However, for those who spend as much time "fiddling" with tools as they do actually making stuff (I'm probably "guilty as charged m'lud"), there are always "improvements" to be made! Like the ad shown above?
Before I get to that though, there seems to be some misconceptions about what these tilting head scroll saws are actually called, who made them, and where they come from, so I've been doing a bit of research. Below, there's a link to a separate .pdf file with some detail and history about Excalibur saws and their development.
But if you're interested only in the updates to my own machine you can now skip direct to the 2nd .pdf file attached to this post - just click on the required link ("UKW Dec 18 Mods.pdf") and the document will appear on a separate screen:
View attachment UKW Dec 18 Mods-1.pdf
For those who are interested in a bit of Excalibur background and history though, just click on the 1st .pdf file link below:
View attachment UKW Dec 18 Some Background.pdf
I hope all the above will be of some interest - who knows, it may even be of help to some!
