marks@milano.UUCP (03/11/86)
A few years ago I saw a demo of a Hegner scroll saw which left me impressed but unmoved. Since then enough potential uses have appeared in the back of my mind that I feel movement (i.e., purchase) to be imminent. The "defining" feature of the Hegner is its parallogram arm/blade configuration which keeps the blade in constant tension and in constant perpendicularity to the work. The result is that very intricate interior and exterior smooth- sided cuts can be made in wood up to 2" thick. INTRICATE INTERIOR CUTS IN 1.5" WOOD are of particular interest to me. There are a number of other saws available which claim the parallelogram, and, of course, the cut quality. On the surface (i.e., from brochures and feature lists) they are better buys than the Hegner. I am particularly drawn to the Canadian- built Excaliburs. The only comparative review I have seen is in the Jul. 84 "Fine Woodworking": Hegner vs. Excalibur 24. The reviewer mentioned that on thick cuts the Excalibur blade (but NOT the Hegner's) bowed outward, preventing removal of the center cutaway. This bowing would rule out the Excalibur for me, and naturally raises the same question with regard to the other Hegner competition. It's not clear to me why it should happen - a parallelogram's a parallelogram, isn't it? Perhaps the reviewer had a bad setup, or perhaps Excalibur 24 has since been debugged, or perhaps the newer (and less expensive) Excalibur II does a better job. I would appreciate hearing of any firsthand experience, not necessarily limited to Hegner and Excalibur. (An aside: the Hegner brochure emphasizes the complex THINGS that can be made; the brochures for the American-made saws emphasize the MONEY that can be made selling the things; the Canadian brochure simply lists features.) -- +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Peter Marks, MCC, 9430 Research Blvd., Austin TX 78759 | | (512)834-3349 marks@mcc.arpa | | {ihnp4,seismo,harvard,gatech,pyramid}!ut-sally!im4u!milano!marks | +------------------------------------------------------------------+