Which saw to buy?

[Avi]

Hi, I am very new to the scroll saw world and just joined this forum. I am a full time wood flooring contractor and decided to take my marquetry skills to the next level. I will mainly use the saw to cut hardwoods about 3/6" thick. I don't have any knowledge of the quality of different saws other than magazine reviews. I thought maybe some of you hands on experts could share your knowledge. A friend of mine has the Dewalt and I just saw the Excalibur on Amazon. I certainly won't go for the cheap ones. What do you think would be a good choice for the long run?

Thank you in advance.

Avi

[wood-n-things]

I have both mentioned. Given quality control on Dewalts lately I'd go for the ex21 myself. I love mine.

[Fretnot]

I would go for the Excalibur as well. I have one and very pleased with it. You will have peace of mind knowing you will have one of the finest saws in the world that will produce excellent results coupled with blades from Mikes workshop you wont go wrong.

[Bill Wilson]

Welcome to the forum Avi. The DeWalt 788 was probably the best value and most popular and user friendly saw available for a long time. I have one and bought it several years ago based on all the positive reviews it received then. I've been happy with mine, but the past few years there have been a number of complaints registered on this forum and others regarding some quality problems with the saw as well as the lack of customer service generally available from factory service centers. These chronic problems and DeWalt's apparent unwillingness to do anything about them, have soured me on the 788.

The Excalibur has gotten pretty good reviews, with only few complaints that mostly seem to be related to set-up. Customer service from Seyco, the most recommended vendor, has been reported to be pretty good as well. I know if I were buying a new saw today, I would lean toward the Excalibur for these reasons and the fact that it shares DNA with the DeWalt, so a lot of the user friendly features that I've grown accustomed to are part of the Ex as well. It would be an easy transition for me. At present, my saw is working fine (knock on wood) and I'm in no hurry to upgrade, but the Ex would be my first choice.

All that said, there are other fine saws out there. I don't have any first hand experience with them, so I cannot comment on them, but there are a lot of satisfied RBI Hawk and Hegner users out there, so these brands should considered also.