Maybe I am the only one who uses one of these dinosaurs.  It does not do to bad of  a job if you weigh it down with a couple hundred pounds on the lower foot rest.   Is there anywhere I can find an evaluation on this saw compared to others?  Its way better than the 59 dollar special I started with, but I have never used another, except the one my dad had when I was growing up.  That was in the 60's, and it looked pretty old then. 

Randy

Hey Randy,

 

I have, and love my ShopSmith Mark V but I don't have the scrollsaw attachment...when I was looking to buy one I read several reviews across the 'net that led me to believe I'd be better of buying something else.  Ended up with an Excalibur and it works GREAT, I just use the ShopSmith to do most everything else!

 

Hope this helps!

 

Lee aka KiltedGunn

Yesterday I bought a used RBI Hawk.  I am a happy scroller now!

Randy

Hey, Randy, it depends on what you want & how much you want to spend. if you decide on another scrollsaw. I only spent $450 for my DeWalt & love it. Added a foot switch & that really makes it nice. I know the Excal. is nice, but, didn't want to spend that much. Hope you work something out & enjoy cut'n.

        Larry

Randy,

You made a GREAT choice in an RBI Hawk, used or not.  You will be vey happy with it I know.  Happy scrolling.

 

Fred

 

I also found the RBI I bought on Craigslist for 400.  It came with 5 extra blade holders, the blade holder holder, and a mag light.  I have done a couple of projects on it already, and the first thing I noticed was how smooth the cut is.  The Shopsmith I was using has an agressive forward cut action.  On the down stroke it angles a bit forward, kinda like a jig saw on the agresive setting for a cut.  So stopping where you wanted was sometimes hard to do.  And when you spun your piece, it would make a cut into the area where you did not want it to, looking much like a drill hole in the middle of a long cut.  I did learn to compensate for these things, but the RBI has a straight up and down movement, making stopping a piece of cake.

I like flying wiith the Hawk's.

 

Randy,

 Your description of the cutting action of your Shopsmith's scrollsaw would also describe the action on the DeWalt... and I would guess the nearly identical Excalibur, too.  It is a function of the short distance from the pivot points to the blade holders.  In comparison, your Hawk has a very long radius and therefore a more vertical ie. less aggressive cutting stroke... so you made a good move.

 

 I don't see many DeWalt or Excalibur people admit to that aspect of their scrollsaws, but many get emotionally attached and go into denial...

 

Spence

DeWalt user