Hegner

[Bungalowbill63]

From my experience hegner scrollsaws are overrated, pita to change blades.On large work the top arm dosnt lift high enough (polycut3) Most of the second hand ones don’t have quick release , try pricing upgrade parts from hegner they are far too expensive also £30 for bellows!!
I am sure a new one is a good saw but £1000+ is a big investment

 

[Lons]

I have absolutely no issues with mine and though I agree that it's difficult to justify the cost it might be better if you do some direct comparisons with other brands and models on the market, there are plenty of cheaper scrollsaws for those who want to buy them.
I'm not defending Hegner btw and not a scrollsaw expert so no arguments either way from me, only commenting from my own experience of initially owning a cheap nasty saw and my current Hegner owned for 5 years. Just the small poly 1 v/s btw.

 

[scrimper]

From my experience hegner scrollsaws are overrated, pita to change blades.On large work the top arm dosnt lift high enough (polycut3) Most of the second hand ones don’t have quick release , try pricing upgrade parts from hegner they are far too expensive also £30 for bellows!!
I am sure a new one is a good saw but £1000+ is a big investment

I cannot for the life of me understand how you can say that it is difficult to change blades on a Hegner! It is the easiest thing in the world to do. Perhaps you would care to watch one of my videos where I show just how easy it is to change blades on a Hegner, you can do it in seconds with your eyes closed if you want too. If you find it awkward then you must be doing something wrong.

I do agree with two things that you say however, "The saws are very expensive" which is true but they are 'Rolls Royce' quality and will last a lifetime unlike many of the machines made in the far east. Also you will soon forget how much you paid but will always enjoy using it whereas if you buy a cheap machine you will always regret it.
Spares are as you say horrendously expensive and quite ridiculous in some cases but in fairness the machines rarely go wrong anyway.

 

[danst96]

The school I went to had a couple of Hegners and they were a dream to use in comparison to a cheap Clarke I had at home.

Granted it's a while ago now

 

[eribaMotters]

From my experience hegner scrollsaws are overrated, pita to change blades.On large work the top arm dosnt lift high enough (polycut3) Most of the second hand ones don’t have quick release , try pricing upgrade parts from hegner they are far too expensive also £30 for bellows!!
I am sure a new one is a good saw but £1000+ is a big investment

I bought some bellows on e-bay for £19 and they are a lot better than the originals, from here:-

Business name:Ant J Cox Ltd
First name:Antony
Last name:Cox
Address:4 Welkin Road
Stockport, Bredbury
SK6 2BH
UK
Phone:07958521040
Email:[email protected]

When I taught secondary school Technology in Essex I bought 4 Hegner scroll saws. 25 + years later two were still going strong. Every other make lasted a couple of years at best.

Colin

 

[Bungalowbill63]

I cannot for the life of me understand how you can say that it is difficult to change blades on a Hegner! It is the easiest thing in the world to do. Perhaps you would care to watch one of my videos where I show just how easy it is to change blades on a Hegner, you can do it in seconds with your eyes closed if you want too. If you find it awkward then you must be doing something wrong.

I do agree with two things that you say however, "The saws are very expensive" which is true but they are 'Rolls Royce' quality and will last a lifetime unlike many of the machines made in the far east. Also you will soon forget how much you paid but will always enjoy using it whereas if you buy a cheap machine you will always regret it.
Spares are as you say horrendously expensive and quite ridiculous in some cases but in fairness the machines rarely go wrong anyway.

Do your research before you comment Mr scrimper , I have.
Quick change arms do not fit the polycut 3.
there are several hegner for sale this week, £2-300 with no quick change add another £200 to upgrade!
Btw rolls Royce are made in the uk last time I looked.

 

[danst96]

No need to be narky on this forum, was simply his observation and he clearly as a hegner from his comment.

 

[nealgs]

Spares direct from hegner do seem to be overpriced

I got my 1987 vintage Hegner from ebay for £150 - made my own quick release and replaced the blade tightening bolt for a homemade knurled knob - no cost for these mods other than my time

Blade release is quick and easy. I need to replace the bellows on mine as it has perished but a CV boot from a car should work and will be a lot less than £30

 

[scrimper]

Do your research before you comment Mr scrimper , I have.
Quick change arms do not fit the polycut 3.
there are several hegner for sale this week, £2-300 with no quick change add another £200 to upgrade!
Btw rolls Royce are made in the uk last time I looked.

I would not normally reply to a comment like this but I feel I must correct what you say.

Firstly I did not say that Quick change arms fitted the Polycut (in fact I never mentioned polycut)

Secondly I agreed with you that Hegner machines were expensive, I also stated that spares prices were horrendously expensive.

Thirdly as most people know the term 'Rolls Royce' quality is a well know phrase to describe a well engineered machine,, it has nothing to do with where a product is made and no where in my comment did I suggest otherwise.

You made a blanket statement that changing a blade was in your words "A pain in the A*** which anyone who owns a Hegner knows is nonsense. As I demonstrate in several of my Scrollsaw videos changing a Hegner blade is so easy you can do it with your eyes closed.

(I have been a Hegner owner for 22 years and doing Fretwork for around 60years since I was a young boy )

 

[scrimper]

I bought some bellows on e-bay for £19 and they are a lot better than the originals, from here:-

Business name:Ant J Cox Ltd
First name:Antony
Last name:Cox
Address:4 Welkin Road
Stockport, Bredbury
SK6 2BH
UK
Phone:07958521040
Email:[email protected]

When I taught secondary school Technology in Essex I bought 4 Hegner scroll saws. 25 + years later two were still going strong. Every other make lasted a couple of years at best.

Colin

That is very useful information Colin, Thank you. (my bellows is nearing end of life)

 

[Bungalowbill63]

So to sum things, up a standard hegner with no quick clamp or quick release is a good machine for internal cuts and would your advice be to buy one?
If not what are the best alternatives, not Chinese!

 

[Lons]

So to sum things, up a standard hegner with no quick clamp or quick release is a good machine for internal cuts and would your advice be to buy one?
If not what are the best alternatives, not Chinese!

Hegner PolyCut / Polymax 3 Scroll Saw and Victorian Gingerbread Bracket - Bing video

At least as good as anything else on the market imo and the guy in the above video seems to have no issues changing blades, the top blade release on his is quick enough to thread the blade through for an internal cut. There are a hell of a lot of Hegner machines out there so they must be doing something right. If you're looking to buy s/h then you'll have to wait to find something suitable and look also at the Axminster, DeWalt, Jet, Excalliber etc makes. Your choice dependant on your needs and budget.
Anyone with a modicum of metalworking skills and some lateral thinking could modify their machine to make life easier, the mechanisms aren't exactly state of the art or rocket science.

I tried top edit my earlier post but was too to say mine is a Multicut 1 v/s so I have the quick release function, perfectly happy with it and though I could have bought something else for half the price there are no regrets as the first one I had was a cheapie and I gave it away as it was rubbish.

 

[loftyhermes]

So to sum things, up a standard hegner with no quick clamp or quick release is a good machine for internal cuts and would your advice be to buy one?
If not what are the best alternatives, not Chinese!

If you're wanting to do a lot of internal cuts then I think that a second hand Delta with the Quickset blade clamps offer the fastest and easiest blade changing. NazNomad did a speed test a once (4 years ago)

 

[AES]

Do your research before you comment Mr scrimper , I have.
Quick change arms do not fit the polycut 3.
there are several hegner for sale this week, £2-300 with no quick change add another £200 to upgrade!
Btw rolls Royce are made in the uk last time I looked.

FWI Bungalow, when I saw your reply to scrimper (yesterday) I thought you were being unnecessarily snarky! I was surprised to see such a post, especially in the Scrolling Scroll Saw section.

First off scrimper has been here a LOT longer than you have, and although that in itself doesn't say much, I've also been here a lot longer than you. During that time I have NEVER noticed scrimper replying to anyone with the sort of impolite and grumpy tone you used (above).

Not only that, but if you read scrimper's reply to your original post, you WILL see that scrimper did NOT raise or infer any of the points you're so grumpily complaining about.

Generally speaking, this whole Forum is populated by very friendly, knowledgeable people who will often bend over backwards to help others. Only a very small number denigrate into the sort of nasty posting as typified by your own - above.

May I respectfully suggest that you do NOT join that small minority and that in future you moderate your tone - especially if you want help and advice from others.

And BTW, as it seems you want to be unnecessarily pedantic, please note that Rolls-Royce is ALWAYS written with 2 x capital Rs, and ALWAYS with a hyphen.

 

[Bungalowbill63]

FWI Bungalow, when I saw your reply to scrimper (yesterday) I thought you were being unnecessarily snarky! I was surprised to see such a post, especially in the Scrolling Scroll Saw section.

First off scrimper has been here a LOT longer than you have, and although that in itself doesn't say much, I've also been here a lot longer than you. During that time I have NEVER noticed scrimper replying to anyone with the sort of impolite and grumpy tone you used (above).

Not only that, but if you read scrimper's reply to your original post, you WILL see that scrimper did NOT raise or infer any of the points you're so grumpily complaining about.

Generally speaking, this whole Forum is populated by very friendly, knowledgeable people who will often bend over backwards to help others. Only a very small number denigrate into the sort of nasty posting as typified by your own - above.

May I respectfully suggest that you do NOT join that small minority and that in future you moderate your tone - especially if you want help and advice from others.

And BTW, as it seems you want to be unnecessarily pedantic, please note that Rolls-Royce is ALWAYS written with 2 x capital Rs, and ALWAYS with a hyphen.

 

[Bungalowbill63]

I first joined This forum in 2011.
I have also used scrollsaws to make precision tooling throughout a 50 year working life
Just my opinion guys

 

[AES]

OK Bungalow - I joined in 2011, and according to the joined date beside your posting "icon thingy", you joined in 2019. But that's largely beside the point I was making.

Don't you agree that the tone of your post I was referring to was, at the least, both downright rude and unjustified?

We're all entitled to our own opinion (and if it matters at all, I too regard Hegner machines as being old-fashioned/overtaken by machines such as Excalibur, and over-priced - especially their spares) but as the Germans say so "neatly", in expressing your opinion (translation) "its the tone that makes the music"!

Just a personal comment really, and entirely my own opinion, but as said, I was both surprised and disappointed to see scrimper being addressed that way.

And BTW, apart from watching his YouTube vids and reading his posts here, I don't know the bloke at all, never met him, etc, etc.

 

[Bungalowbill63]

So to quote “ you must be doing it wrong”
I’m mot entitled to reply to that !
I bet you would say plenty if that were said to you ?

 

[AES]

"Entitled to reply"? Yes, of course. But as I said before "the tone makes the music".