Jonathan Shockley

Is one inch thick aluminum too much on the dewalt?

Very smart Steve, Thanks!

So I'm new to scroll sawing and I just bought a Hegner, mainly to cut out simple patterns for slingshots that I want to sell (just a few over and over again). The other day, when I was trying out the saw, I cut out a few patterns using a photocopied blueprint (see pic) Unfortunately, the glue was kinda hard to remove. Is this the best way to cut out patterns, or is there any other way?

Thanks for the explanations. I bought it!!! Do you guys have any idea what is the thickest aluminum a scroll saw like this could cut?

Made a mistake. It's actually from 1986! 30 years old! It still says "West germany" on it! A Cold War relic! Thanks a lot for the answers. The question I'd like to know is how is the Hegner Polymax being sold today for 3 grand different from a 1986 Polymax. The main components, as far as I can observe, all look almost exactly the same. I saw this review on Amazon, comparing a lower end Hegner (22'' multimax) with the Dewalt 788: www.amazon.com/HEGNER-Variable-Speed-Scroll-Saw/dp/B000RK1S0E/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt "A great machine. I had tried the Dewalt 788 (two of them, as a matter of fact!), and this one is far superior in every respect. It is important to have a good solid base in order to reduce vibration. Also, if one intends to do fret work, the QuickClamp is highly recommended. The parallel arms reduces the forward and backward movement of the saw blade to a minimum, a solid base reduces vibration and noise to a non-factor, and changing blades is every bit as easy as was it was with the Dewalt. What I really like about this machine is the simplicity of the engineering. Machines with less complicated designs are always better. This is truly a five-star machine." So I am tempted... also because the 5 reviews for the Hegner 18'' are 5 star http://www.amazon.com/Hegner-Variable-Speed-Scroll-Saw/dp/B000ANIQGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1424127469&sr=1-1 And folks who have Hegners from 86-87 have nothing but good things to say http://lumberjocks.com/topics/5153 Advanced Machinery sells the Polymax 3 for about 3 grand and the other lower end models at half to almost a quarter of that. So the guy tells me that this is a "3 thousand dollar saw" And he is including a bunch of extra clamps and blades. I already offered him $400 and he refused.

I'm fairly new to scroll sawing. Someone offered to sell me a Hegner Polymax, which is suppose to be the best out there, but from 1989. They're asking for US$600 and say that it's been in the garage for 20 years, laying unused. We oiled it and I spent a few hours reading the instructions and sawing stuff with it, changing blades etc and it seems to work well. I checked the blade tightening knob, the clamps and knobs to change blades, the tilting table and the air pump and everything seems in working order. There's some rust in the metal part where the pulley/belt is, but other than that the machine looks in good cosmetic condition. Should I go for it?