Craftsman 16" Scroll Saw Help

[MartinPens]

I have found a craftsman 16" scroll saw in craiglist in my area for $55. It's in good condition on a stand. Is Craftsman worth the $55?

Appreciate any feedback. Would like to get it today if possible but unsure of Craftsman quality.

 

[hewunch]

The only Scroll saws worth having are... Variable speed and use only pinless blades.

 

[hilltopper46]

I have a craftsman 16-inch scroll saw. here is what I have run into as I have tried to use it for pen-making and non-penmaking projects;

Mine has pinned blades -you can buy better blades that are non-pinned. You can also buy adapters to put on your craftsman scroll saw that accept non-pinned blades, but now it has cost you more than $55.

Mine does not have a blower tube on it to blow the sawdust from off the line in front of the blade. You can do that with your breath, but then you can't wear a dust mask.

You can rig up a blower tube on it with an aquarium pump and some tubing, but now you will have spent more than $55, again.

So, I personally think $55 is a little high, but if it takes plain (non-pinned) blades and has a functioning blower tube on it, it might be about right.

 

[MartinPens]

excellent info. Thanks.

 

[PaulDoug]

If it is the same as the one I use to have, and it may not be, I'd give $20 for it if I was desperate. I gave mine away.

 

[PenMan1]

I bought a new Ryobi scroll saw for $99. It will use the pinned or unpinned blades without an adaptor.

The Ryobi works fine for what I use it for, which is making scrolled "waves" for metal segments, cutting 10 inch pen tubes to custom lengths, making small wooden toys etc.

I have done some (very little) scroll saw work with this saw, and it is almost impossible to do "real" scroll saw work with it.

Having owned the Craftsman and the Ryobi, the Ryobi is a better saw than the new Craftsman in that the new Craftsman can only use pinless blades with an adapter. With the blade adapter, the Craftsman is very cumbersome to remove the blade (which is a prerequisite for actual scroll saw work. The pinned blades will not fit through the tiny holes necessary in scroll saw work).
I won't even get into the importance of left and right tilting tables, cast iron tops,etc.

The older Craftsman scroll saw (18 inch) was, in fact, made by Ryobi and was the same saw as the Ryobi 18 which will use pinless blades.

If you plan to do serious scroll saw work, you need a pinnless ONLY saw. The Dewalt is pretty much the MINIMUM saw that will work adequately. The Dewalts are about $500 new or $250 used (I see them on Craigs List and Ebay frequently).

I hope this helps.

 

[PenMan1]

If the stand is worth $30, then the price is ok. I wouldn't pay more than $25 for the Craftsman 16 inch scroll saw.

 

[MartinPens]

Well that pretty much decides it for me. I'm going to pass on this one and keep looking for one with the above mentioned features. I would like to do scroll saw work including segmenting cuts and scroll saw boxes and maybe even some ornamental work to put on the sides of boxes.

Thanks everyone. This forum is great!

 

[workinforwood]

I vote no on the used craftsman 16 inch for $55. In my opinion it wasn't worth that much brand new.