Jim Finn

I have a chance to buy one of these , like new, for $50 I have scroll saws but I thought to get this for our club use. Is this a decent saw?

Question and answers forum is one that I like and I always go there first.

I cut off 4 inches and bolted the piece I cut off to the side of the leg and then screwed the foot to my wooden floor. No change in vibration at all. To decide how much to cut off I sat in my chair and, because I wanted to have the saw at chest height, I cut off the 4 inches. Depends on how high your chair is and how close to you want the saw table to your eyes. I do not have it tilted at all. It sets level. I use this saw for doing inlays and need to have the saw close to my eyes. I have had it this way for over 4 years now. A different saw I have much lower, at the same level as my chair seat. This second saw I use for making toys and spend hours at it and this is most comfortable for me. The hegner is much higher and using it for long periods while seated is a strain on my shoulders but is fine for inlays. Also, I can still use the higher, Hegner saw while standing.

In order to make my Hegner Polymax 3 usable while seated, I cut off a few inches from the legs of the stand. Works well for me.

I have a hawk and a Hegner. Lots of adjustment issues with the hawk and none with the Hegner. Hegner is the only saw I know of that states that it is made for 8 hours a day, everyday use. The Polymax 3 is the one I have and use it to do all my inlays. I also have a 15" Jet that was made decades ago that I use to make toys. Both of these saws have induction motors and are single speed. The Hegner, however, is belt driven and can be slowed down by moving the belt to different sizes on the pully. I leave it on slow to do the inlays. I have used the Hegner every day, for hours usually, since I bought it new in 2008. No problems or repairs. (I do not do fretwork)

Thank you for the kind words. I think the reason I could do inlay well, at the start, is because I was VERY adept at following the line when cutting out toys. The very first inlay I tried was good enough to sell. (Attached is a photo of that inlay). Maybe the reason your angle changes while cutting is too loose blade tension or any sideways pressure as you cut. These were my early on problems.

I do a TON of inlays. (I did 30 this past week) Pretty good quality, lots of quantity. (It all sells though). To make it easier, and a lot more like fun, try adjusting your cutting angle to a looser fit. If you use a thicker underside wood than the background wood, and a looser fit, you can push the inlay wood up about as far as it will go and glue in place leaving the back closer to flush than the front. This closes the kerf gap, and you can sand the front flat in a stationary belt sander. Backside also. Learning how to fill in any gap after doing inlay is important. I use a mixture of white glue and sanding dust and force it into any gap with a credit card. Then sand flush. If you are having trouble with cutting straight, with little wandering off the line, cut slower and have your blade so tight it is almost ready to break. Here is one of my inlays I did for a friend.

The yellow glue I do use (Not for inlay work) is "Titebond 2" and is water resistant. White glue is not. Both are stronger than the wood, true.

When the entry holes show up in my inlay, this is what I do: Sand, off the problem on the edge of both the inlay and the background wood, before applying glue and assembling. After gluing in place, I then fill in that area and all that appears is a slightly wider gap at the edge of the inlay. I fill this slight gap with a mixture of white glue and sanding dust. (Any saw dust is way to coarse) I apply the mixture of glue and sanding dust by using a plastic credit card as a squeegee, let dry just ten minutes, and sand flush. I make the glue sanding dust mixture about the consistency of Mayonnaise. This process may be required more than once because the glue sometimes shrinks a bit. If yellow glue is used the filler becomes too dark in color. White glue, like the kids use in school, works best.

I used to sell Ca glue and Accelerator when I worked in a hobby shop. Accelerator is not necessary. Just blow on it and the moisture from your breath will accelerate it just as well.

I do inlay with my scroll saw and sit at my saw for hours at a time every day. I tried using shop vac for dust removal running all te time, and it worked well but I killed three shop vacs doing that. Two used and one new. Killed them all. Seems they are not designed to run for hours at a time.

I use Olsen Precision Ground blades to cut out 3/4" toys because they outlast any other blade I have tried. I use Pegas and FD blades when doing my inlay though.

I lowered my 2008 Hegner stand by cutting four inches off the legs. I can now sit as I do inlay on this saw. I had to bolt it to the concrete floor to control the vibration.

I have used spray equipment, including an air brush, spraying lacquer. Years ago, I tried the rattle can like the one that is shown in the original post. I can get them for less than $4 but I expect that price to go up nowadays. I am spraying many, many small items and find this to be the best way for me.