Hegner foot switch

[David P]

I have a Hegner foot-switch currently used on a modern single speed Hegner.

I have just acquired an Axminster AT460SS (Hegner clone) which has a variable speed control.

Would anyone know whether the Hegner foot-switch would be compatible with the Axi AT460SS..........

 

[OCtoolguy]

Why not contact Wolfgang at Hegner. He'd be the person to talk to.

 

[Lorenzl]

In the old days the foot witch was an electrical switch. Quite often these days the foot switch is a pump to activate a pressure switch for safety.

I would say if they both use the method they would work. If electrical there should just be two wires and if pneumatic it will be a plastic tube probably pushed over a barbed fitting.

 

[raythompson102]

Hi, I also have a foot switch for my Hegner which is a variable speed. The foot switch is a genuine Hegner unit. I believe it is just an electrical switch. I also have an Axminster trade 535 scroll saw, however the later machine have an NVR switch which means if you cut the power, then you have to reset it. This tends to negate the use of having a foot switch as every time you take your foot off the switch you still have to press a start button on the scroll saw. The NVR switch is for safety reasons in case of power failure and then restored the machine would switch itself back on.

 

[loftyhermes]

To fit a foot switch to a machine with a NVR switch, you either have to bypass the NVR (you loose the safety feature doing this) or connect the footswitch to the output side before any other controls ie the speed control.

 

[whatknot]

I have never understood why anyone would want a foot switch?

 

[raythompson102]

I’ve tried both with and without and I did find it useful to be able to keep both hands on the piece I was cutting. Also if occasionally a blade breaks you can stop the saw straight away.

 

[AES]

I have never understood why anyone would want a foot switch?

I agree with Ray Thompson 102 above whatnot. I'm sure they won't suit everyone, and I guess they're a bit like, say, electric windows on a car - you miss them if they're not there anymore!

Personally I use the foot switch on my EX 21 all the time, and find it does help a lot - as Ray says, keeping both hands on the job when doing tight turns for example. Especially so once you've got used to using it. But as said, I guess it's a purely personal thing, and if you haven't tried one then I guess you don't miss it.

 

[whatknot]

I would have thought that although a scroll saw is a fairly safe machine you could easily start the machine by mistake while you fingers were not where they should be, such as just changing a blade or removing an offcut etc

I can't think of a time when a foot switch would have been useful, I can only think of the potential safety risk

Once you have switched on the saw, you have both hands free so can't see the advantage

I agree with Ray Thompson 102 above whatnot. I'm sure they won't suit everyone, and I guess they're a bit like, say, electric windows on a car - you miss them if they're not there anymore!

Personally I use the foot switch on my EX 21 all the time, and find it does help a lot - as Ray says, keeping both hands on the job when doing tight turns for example. Especially so once you've got used to using it. But as said, I guess it's a purely personal thing, and if you haven't tried one then I guess you don't miss it.

 

[MikeK]

I have never understood why anyone would want a foot switch?

I was recently looking at buying a Hegner Multicut 2S with variable speed control. The foot pedal is not a switch, but a speed control, similar to a sewing machine foot control.

 

[AES]

I would have thought that although a scroll saw is a fairly safe machine you could easily start the machine by mistake while you fingers were not where they should be, such as just changing a blade or removing an offcut etc

I can't think of a time when a foot switch would have been useful, I can only think of the potential safety risk

Once you have switched on the saw, you have both hands free so can't see the advantage

OK whatknot, "each to his own" as I suggested above.

NOT trying to convince you (or anyone else), but I find that especially when I need to stop cutting momentarily when doing a really sharp turn - 90 degrees or more - it's very convenient to just momentarily lift my foot off the switch while still having both hands on the work piece - and still probably rotating the work piece a little while not actually cutting.

Perhaps I should add that my foot switch is a simple "On/Off" switch, not with any speed control, like it seems the official Hegner unit has.

But as an additional very much personal comment, my EX 21 has no NVR. I know (think?) it's a UK safety regulation, but I can't see any value whatever in having one. As you suggest, even if treated with only a modicum of respect, a Scroll Saw must be just about the "safest" machine in the shop? And I can't see how even the clumsiest of user could accidentally start the machine while, say, changing a blade. Not when the "actual" On/Off switch is positioned where it is on my machine anyway.

But in one respect you are of course quite right - the potential for me to accidentally plonk my foot on to the foot switch while changing the blade is quite high I suppose. Because in my set up (no NVR remember) the "actual" On/Off switch is bypassed by the foot switch. But it hasn't happened - so far anyway!

BUT, as said "horses for courses" and all that.

 

[Spectric]

Foot switches can be very useful, it frees up both your hands and I find the one on my pillar drill very helpful and has made some jobs a lot easier. Also having a foot control for current on a TIG welder can be essential so I would have thought one on a scroll saw would make things so much easier, both hands to control the workpiece but the ability to stop without moving any hands.

 

[Torx]

They’re made by Bernstein, you can buy them from RS or CPC and wire them up yourself, the Hegner one just has a kettle lead & socket on flying cables if I remember correctly.

 

[raythompson102]

Hegner do now do a foot switch that has speed control as well as on off, rather like a sewing machine foot pedal, however when asked about them I was told that it is not sold separately, but can be ordered with a new machine as an extra.
my foot switch is a Hegner unit but is just an on /off. My Hegner scroll saw also doesn’t have an NVR switch and the foot pedal plugs in between the mains sockets and the main lead to the machine. As mentioned I do find it useful to instantly stop and start the machine when I’m ready with both hands on the workpiece and when a blade breaks. (It doesn’t make me jump quite as much).

 

[Johnwa]

I too have just aquired an axminster trade scrollsaw and I too want to fit a footswitch after using one on my Delta model ( thanks to lofty hermes for his assistance). As has been said by lofty the footswitch needs to be connected after the nvr output and before the rocker switch on the front of the saw, which in itself is a simple thing for an old time sparky. What is bothering me is the speed control unit, does the rocker switch switch the 240 volt supply to the speed control unitr or does it switch a lower voltage from the speed control unit. In other words does the nvr feed the speed control unit or go direct to the switch. According to the wiring diagram (for what its worth) the small rocker switch supplies the speed control unit with 240volts. Ideas anyone?

 

[AES]

@Johnwa: Sorry to say the following will NOT be much help, but food for thought perhaps?

You don't say which Axi Trade scroll saw you have. Is it the "Excalibur"/"Pegas" type (the one where you tilt the head for angled cuts, rather than tilting the table?

If so I have one of those, but WITHOUT the NVR switch (which to me seems a bit of an overkill/not really necessary). If your machine IS the Excalibur tilting head type, and as you're a sparky, how about just disconnecting the NVR switch altogether?? Fitting the foot switch then becomes easy peasy.

I make that TENTATIVE suggestion because I don't know if the ON/OFF switch on the head feeds the speed control unit directly or not, and as you say, the circuit diagram doesn't help (NOT surprising in my case, because as said, my machine doesn't have an NVR switch)!

I don't think disconnecting it would be inherently dangerous, but MAYBE that's illegal in the UK?

Offered FWIW (not much I guess)!

 

[Johnwa]

Pretty much the same thing I was thinking Andy. I think I'll just break the supply from the nvr and put a footswitch in series. The only thing that bothers me is whether or not the speed control unit needs a constant supply. I think I'll suck it and see, could be expensive !
Cheers.
John

 

[AES]

Pretty much the same thing I was thinking Andy. I think I'll just break the supply from the nvr and put a footswitch in series. The only thing that bothers me is whether or not the speed control unit needs a constant supply. I think I'll suck it and see, could be expensive !
Cheers.
John

OK mate, good luck. I don't know how much those speed controls are, but based on other spares for the "excal" machine, it'll be cheaper by miles than Hegner!