Joe Fisher

My Feedback: (4)

I have most all the tools I can use but I would like to find a small 1/4" key chuck veriable speed hand drill. The 3/8" drills are just big and clumbsey for what I need building madel airplanes. And I hate keyless chucks.

CafeenMan

Joe - I had a NiCd cordless drill that wouldn't take a charge. Replacement packs are almost as much as a new drill. I plan too have cheapbatterypacks.com build me new packs for it using the highest capacity nickle metals I can get it in with a dangly lead to use a real charger.

In the mean time I needed a drill that day so I walked around Lowes and Home Depot until I found the very smallest drill they had. I don't even know the brand, but it's small, lithium and great for small stuff. It does have a 3/8 keyless chuck though.

if you care that much you can buy a very good after market chuck. Look around a bit and you'll find what you want.

On a side note, my drill press chuck sucked. I couldn't put any bit in less than 3/16 without it wobbling. I would loosen, retighten and usually after 20 or so attempts I could get the bit to turn reasonably true. And I do it the way I was taught - rotate the chuck and tighten a little at each key position.

I finally broke down and spent nearly $200 on a keyless Jacobs chuck made for CNC mills. That chuck has less capacity so I kept the original for my larger bits - mostly Forstner. The Jacobs can take my smallest number bits all the way to #80. It's sweet.

I do a lot of drilling for my fixture system so I had to spend the money but it was well worth it to me.

Then that drill press developed a lot of side-play in the spindle. So I bought a floor press that my expensive chuck wouldn't fit. So I was pricing a similar chuck and it was over $400. I was about to plunk the money down when I noticed something in my search on McMaster-Carr - an adapter. For $18 including overnight shipping I could put the Jacob's chuck I already had on my new drill press. Saved a lot of money. I hadn't even thought about adapters but it works very well. Just a tiny bit of run-out but not enough to cause me any problems.

When I get motivated I'll pull the adapter and see if I can improve it but I really don't need to.

Ron Stahl

My Feedback: (12)

Having the right tool to do a certain job makes it easy and safe. For many years I only had hand tools and built many models. I now have three different dremels with all kinds of attachments, a band, table and scroll saw, lathe, drill press, and disk/belt sander for power tools. Each has its own plus and minuses but I wouldn't try to do by hand or with the wrong one what each does best as a power tool now.

gene6029

For years i only had a scroll saw, and did everthing with it. It beat cutting most of my wood with a hand saw, but barely. I now i have a band saw & wonder how i got by without it. Like most have said, they both have a purpose & i do use both during my builds......Gene

sideoftheroad

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Steve Percifield for this link. What do you think about this scroll saw? Looks just as good as any other that I have seen and today only it is 25% off which makes it $53 before taxes. Only thing I don't see on scroll saws is a rip fence.

http://m.harborfreight.com/16-inch-v...saw-93012.html

acdii

I had bought an expensive Crapsman drill press, the largest they had, and it had so much side play I could not drill a true hole. I could literally move the spindle an 1/8th with my hand when it was extended. I finally convinced Sears to take that POS back and refund my money after 2 repair attempts and bought a Delta. Have had it now for nearly 20 years and it spins true, but I haven't used it for the tiny bits, I usually use a pin vise for those. The smallest I put in was a 1/32 bit and it worked well, no run out.

I am P1$$3d at Delta though, they discontinued the blade sharpener I have and I can no longer get stones for it. Its the one with the big wheel on top that spins slowly and the wide 4" stone on the side that spins fast. I need that stone, the one I have went out of balance. Grrr, and I could use it for some chisels I need a new edge on.

aspeed

Harbour Freight has their belt sander on pretty cheap too, they are pretty useful.

CafeenMan

acdii - My new floor drill press is a Craftsman. Total impulse purchase. I don't know if you've seen my site or not, but I make magnetic fixtures that have a bazillion holes in them. I drill hundreds of thousands of holes every year.

So I had a $1,200 drill press in my shopping cart. Don't even remember what brand any more. I was all set to buy it but drove past Sears one day. I'm never near a Sears and used to love walking through their tool dept. before it became nothing but Chinese junk.

Anyway, their drill press was a couple hundred off so I made the guy go get a drill bit. I shook the heck out of it and the spindle didn't budge. The guy told me that I could return it if I didn't like it. I had his word that they wouldn't pull a fast one and make me send it in for "repair".

Anyway, it has all other problems, but the spindle is fine.

The center pulley up top seized the first time I turned it on. Had to get a big wrench to break it loose. I put lots of oil on it and it's been fine. I was too lazy to disassemble it and drive it back.

The next thing was I broke the return spring. I break those in every drill press I've owned because of the number of holes.

What kills me about it is that it's a cheap wound spring. They charge nearly $13.00 for it and another $12.00 for shipping.

On their site they say, "We have regional warehouses so parts get to you fast!" Uh huh... two weeks to deliver from their "local warehouse". I told them they could fit it in a flat rate USPS box, I'd have it in 2-3 days and shipping would be half the cost.

Anyway, I bought three of them because they don't last long for me. It's not abuse, just a lot of use.

Still I wish I'd not made the impulse purchase and had gotten the high end drill press instead. I'm sure I'll end up buying it eventually anyway.

CafeenMan

sideoftheroad - Pretty much and scroll saw will work. The thing to check is if you can level the table. Some have a tightening mechanism that shifts the table as you tighten which means you spend a lot of time screwing around trying to figure out how far from level you need to be for it to end up being square.

Also, be sure the scroll saw can handle plain end blades. You don't want any saw that can only used pinned ends.

I have an article on my site about scrolls saws. You should read it before buying anything.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/inform...croll_saws.htm

CafeenMan

If you look at the image, you can see a piece that is cut-out and then put back in place. The kerf is just a couple thousandths and no sanding is required. This cut was made with a very fine blade made for making jigsaw puzzles.

While I can definitely see the usefulness of a bandsaw, they just aren't going to make these cut-outs and if you want your plane to be light there will be a lot of cut-outs. You can just drill holes I guess but you won't get rid of as much wood that way.

CafeenMan

Last thing. Not only did I buy a band saw but I also bought the floor model drill press. I didn't have enough floor for both.

So my scroll saw is now mounted on the bench and the stand is disassembled and stored. The bench mounting got rid of A LOT of vibration from the saw. I would have done it sooner if I'd realized that was going to happen.

Steve Percifield

My Feedback: (14)

neither scroll saws nor band saws have rip fences. They are not designed for straight cuts. You need a table saw for straight cuts. I have not seen that HF saw. It has good reviews, and is probably just fine for model work.

sideoftheroad

My Feedback: (2)

I was just at HF and didn't buy it. I did like that it looked like you can change the direction of the blade but I am not so sure about the throat plate. It is flimsy plastic piece. Not sure if a metal one could be fabricated or not. Also a couple people pointed out that the table is stamped metal. Not sure if that makes a difference or not vs cast iron. I expect I would use it for light duty like balsa and bass, but I would hate to spend even $50 and it just not hold up and later find out I could have spent say $75 for something that would hold up. I am still in the area and on the fence about getting it as you pointed out for my usage may work just fine.

dadragon

I find its best to pay a few dollars ( not hundreds) more and a tool that will hold up for awhile I get most of my stuff from lowes or H D they have a moderate price range.have had no problems with their low dollar machines,scroll,band saw and drill press the cheapest stuff they had has lasted 9 years with no mechanical failers ,just a thought.

LJE4357

My Feedback: (74)

I built a 24" X 48", 60 Watt Laser for $1500. It cuts any wood I need to cut. I sold all my other saws except my micro table saw. But I still have full size cabnet table saw, and band saws.

CafeenMan

An insert is a good idea though. It means you aren't stuck with whatever hole they give you in the table. I made a replacement for the one that came with my saw and sanded it flush with the table.

I'm not a fan of cast iron. All my cast iron tools rust just sitting there and I wax them before and after use (which is also a PITA). I'd rather have aluminum plate.

Steve Percifield

My Feedback: (14)

you have to be satisfied with your purchase

Jim Branaum

My Feedback: (3)

I don't know about scroll saws, but you can build your own rip fence for a band saw. It takes a couple of flat 90 degree angle brackets, a 1/4-20 bolt with 2 nuts and a 1x2. Install one with counter sunk screws with a leg pointing down and the other on the bolt with nuts on both side at the other end of the 1x2. Use those to make the grabber part, square it up and cut!

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Both, I have a scroll saw in my shop and used it for years for all my plans building. Now I belong to a wood workers club and have about every tool you can think of so it just depends on what I'm cutting. The band saw is nice but I don't have the room for one in my small shop and I do a lot of inside cutting.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Band saws do have rip fences. Mine does, and many I see advertised do. To claim a band saw is not designed to make a straight cut is sheer ignorance. But believe what you will!

joebob

My Feedback: (14)

Before you decide on a scroll saw, make sure you get one with toolless blade changing If you need to cut a lot of inside holes and have to hunt down a wrench every time you have to move to a new hole you'll be pulling your hair out in no time. I spent more than I could have, but ended up with a Porter Cable from Lowes. $169 at the time with it's own stand, work light and blower, Blade changing is not as easy as some of the higher end machines, but at least I can remove and replace it without any tools.

blvdbuzzard

I used a dremel scroll saw / sander for many many year. Then bought a 28 inch monster scroll saw. It lasted about 18 months with the use I put it through. Was looking for a GOOD saw to replace it. I found a Hegner 18 inch model. Dang nice saw. comes with quick change blade holders, smooth as a sewing machine, has been run hard for 10 years now. I got it for a great deal after a wood working show. I paid $800.00 for it.

http://www.advmachinery.com/p-1-mult...croll-saw.aspx

It goes through 3/4 inch oak as well as the dremel does 1/8 balsa. You can get 100's of different blades. fine cut, ultra fine cut. If you are cutting tiny pieces, just tape a business card over the blade hole.

I had a Delta 3 wheel band saw for a long time. It cut miles of wood. I got real good at silver soldering the blades together until I figured out I had to run the blades as loose as I could while still tracking. After that I got a lot of life out of the blades. I then ran into a free Craftsman 10" band saw. It just needed new rubber on the wheels. I have run miles of material through that saw.

Scroll saw, band saw, miter saw, chop saw, table saw, radial arm saw, jig saw, each has its own best uses. For scroll saws, any one that uses the pined end blades will not have the selection of blades to choose from.

I have built more planes with just an exacto knife and sanding block then I care to think about. Yet there is now way I am giving up my power tools.

As with any tool purchase, it is a trade off. You can get the industrial one or the hobby one.

I used a Dewalt one for a while and it was a good saw. This and the Hegner are well beyond most budgets for hobby use.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_366919-70-DW...saw&facetInfo=

Here are few more to look at.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/W1713

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0536

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0735




Buzz.

acdii

I just started using my bandsaw in the past couple weeks after it sat in the barn for 10 years. Man does it cut through this small wood fast. Much quicker then the scroll saw ever could. Starting to get my groove back too with much straighter lines and curves. Been working on my TF corsair, and had to make doublers for the CJ retracts out of 1/8th ply. Needed very little sanding and that was just for fitment. Also got the first servo hatch done, 3/32 ply sandwiched to 1/16th ply, both cut on the bandsaw with a 3/8th blade.

dadragon

I use spiral blades for inside work,you dont have to keep turnin the part around,up over and back done

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Great thread guys, thanks