Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay first of all, I run a small woodworking business call J Whaley Woodcrafts that specializes in small furniture and artwork made of wood. So I know a thing or two about scroll saws but unfortunately I cannot afford the Excalibur that I dream of. With that said I've learned on a craftsman scroll saw as with all other Craftsman tools that have all been upgraded to Makita. Unfortunately the Makita scroll saw is not available to us here in the United States. So I had to choose another scroll saw for the business. With that said If you're looking at scroll saws on Amazon you may notice that every single one of them is the exact same design. From the Harbor Freight to the Wen to the shop Fox to every other scroll saw for under $150. The fact is they are all made in the exact same Factory in China and just have a different sticker slapped on them and then you pay for the sticker that you want when the scroll saw is not worth more than $75. Now if you look at the Porter-Cable scroll saw it looks absolutely nothing like the rest of them. That's because it's built in a different Factory in China made by Stanley Black & Decker. Stanley has truly upgraded their game in the past few years. The Stanley Tools you ca buy at Walmart or Amazon far surpass the tried-and-true Craftsman tools your grandfather would buy at Sears. Now I can go into the CEO of Sears and my personal thoughts on the company but that's a whole other novel in itself. Now that I have digressed let me explain why this is a 3 star unit that can be turned into a 5 star unit. The power is there, it's actually a very good scroll saw. Here's the issue, the table which is made of cast aluminum is extremely rough and will bind your project. What I have done or I should say what I learned to do by a master artisan, is you need to sand it smooth the table with 400 grit sandpaper and a palm sander of your choice. Once you have sanded smooth the table, you need to cover it with a couple coats of Carnauba wax. Once that is done it is super smooth and your project will Glide over the surface. As far as the scroll saw being Square there are no issues whatsoever. You do have to finagle the stand a little bit when you were putting it together to make sure the saw is level but not to the point where it's really an issue. As far as noise goes, let's be honest, all scroll saws other than the Dremel moto-saw are quiet. This one is no exception it runs very quiet. Now if you talk about smooth operations that's a different story. Most of your scroll saws with a cast iron table are pretty smooth. And even though this one has a cast aluminum table there's a lot of meat to it, and it was just as much as the cast iron table scroll saw. So in that respect this is actually a very smooth running tool. My workshop is not set up on concrete, it is set up on a raised deck. Even though it is set up on the raised deck this scroll saw past the nickel test. There have been some reviews that say this will not take smaller plain blades or circular blades. I do not know what they are talking about as that is the type of blades I use and I had no issues. Is the blade change is easy is an Excalibur, well let's be serious, of course not. However putting the pin in blades are very simple and putting the plain blades are as well simple ( you pop out the little plastic insert and in just te scroll saw to 45 degrees and bingo very simple). If you cannot afford $600 for a DeWalt scroll saw which is the exact same one is the $430 Delta, once again you're paying for the pretty yellow paint and DeWalt sticker, this Porter-Cable scroll saw is the way to go. If you have a Lowe's in your area you can pick it up for $200 but if not here on Amazon $250 is extremely reasonable because it saves you gas money if you gotta drive more than say 75 miles to a Lowe's. I've included a few pictures with my review to show you the before and after of the Polish table and the first piece of wood that I use the scroll saw on. Remember all tools are a learning curve whether you're a master or a beginner. In conclusion, for 200 to $250 this scroll saw is the best on the market and you cannot go wrong...