I know that Artie has developed an interest in scroll sawing and has somewhat perked my interest. I saw this today on craigslist and wondered if anyone is familiar with this band saw maker. A Sukura 21" scroll saw, apparently made in Xenia Ohio. APPARENTLY AN OLDER SAW BUT ADVERTISED AS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. Can anyone shed any light on the quality of this tool ? Owner is asking $275.00. It includes the stand and a couple of extra blade holders and several blades.

The Add indicated that the company is now P S Wood. I went to P S Wood and saw a 21" scroll saw for $799.00 that looked quite similar to the one advertised except for the color

Edited April 4, 20188 yr by It Was Al B

I've heard of the P.S. Wood saws Al, but no experience with them what-so-ever. I have seen them at the Woodworking shows before, but never really took a look.

Your post peaked my interest so I took a look at their site too. 21" 100% Made in the U.S.; has a 5 year Unconditional Warranty...those two things alone.

It does appears P.S. Wood still provides parts for the Sakura best I can tell so you should be good there if needed. I honestly can't say if the price is fair, too high or?? Might be surprised if you offer him $200 once you're there.

Edited April 4, 20188 yr by Grandpadave52

Al, there are too many things to consider so I wound not think of the price till I went and run the saw a while..

Does it run smooth with very little vibration. Does it have quick change blade attachments. Can a person change blades easily. Is there an air blower and its not that hard to rig up a blower. Can it just sit on a table without being bolted down and will it run in one place without going off the table.. Where is the tension lever and does it have numbers where a person could remember the settings or is it just guessing?

    You mentioned Grizzly's price.. I wonder if a person could get them to lower the price if they kept the stand... Having to stand up all day running a scroll saw, I can see where some of the saws are pushed behind everything and forgotten..

 I have never run a PS Wood saw so I can't give advise on it ...I have run a Dewalt 788 for a while and the only other saw I would consider would be the Excaliber 31" model since all the adjustments are the same as the Dewalt and don't know if they are availible anymore.

I have never seen a Sukura or a PS wood scroll saw except in pictures.  Did read a little about both a few minutes ago.  Both show to be 5 speed and both appear (to me at least) that they are belt driven.  So, to change the speed, you need to change the belt position on the pulley's. 

Parts to appear to be available through PS wood.

Would definitely recommend giving a used saw a test drive before the buy.

 

Larry

All of the above is my humble opinion 

I saw that and then it was sold/disappeared? I believe the ad was from Hopkinson. It had been on Craigslist earlier for a couple of days and then was gone. I assumed it had been sold. I haven’t had a chance to surf CL for a couple fof days now, will probably do some tonight/tomorrow.

Al, the ad is back up. It does have pretty good reviews from people who have used one. The table tilts instead of the saw, and you have to turn the machine off to change speeds (belt driven). Last time I checked Grizzly was selling the DeWalt, with foot pedal and stand for $527 delivered to me home. The Excalibur version that Seyco sells is appealing to me, but with the rather neat dust collector, it is about $1040. That’s in the new Jet 22 inch range. So much to think about, so little time to actually cut something. I certainly haven’t seen much on CL I would call a steal/bargain. Some good prices, nothing great. I am liking the Shopsmith scroll saw. I need to rig up a blower for it (when I removed the hold down, I lost the blower, but it didn’t do much when it was there). Very solid machine, easy blade changes, and tensioning. Gotta turn off the machine to change speeds, but it is variable from around 400 spm, to 1400 spm. No dust collection   I am liking it, but I can’t put a foot pedal on it, and it does sit high, because of it having to be attached to the Shopsmith for power. It definitely fills my need, and has gotten me way past the discouragement the Porter-Cable machine filled me with. Time to go to bed   Night.

Artie, rig you up an aquarium pump for a dust blower.  I got a used one several years ago for 1 or 2 dollars.  Worked much better than the original.  Gives a constant stream of air.

Larry

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I'm still not sure whether I want to make the investment into a scroll saw, but with the information you've provided, I will definitely pass an the Sukura.  While Artie indicated it has good reviews, I think the fact that the table tilts instead of the blade tilting would be a definite negative. Seems like there would be much more chance for the piece being cut to wander with the table tilting. Probably 99.9% of cuts would be made at 90 degrees though. 

Artie, I'm wondering about a foot pedal control for your Shopsmith. I purchased a foot pedal for my spindle sander. The pedal is plugged into the outlet and the sander is then plugged into the foot pedal control. Works fine. With the Shopsmith sitting high, you should be able to attach the pedal to an elevated platform, setting at the right height for you.

Al the issue with the Shopsmith is every time you cut power to the unit, you have to push buttons on the screen to start it up again. Kinda. Like putting a foot switch on the tv. The Shopsmith is SO much better than the Porter-Cable, I can live with the reach over, hit on, wait a second hit confirm, and then it starts up, process. I am liking the scrolling, worked at my friends house today in Peabody, they have 6 kids, two in college, so are kinda broke. If I wasn’t doing the wiring for basically free, they probably couldn’t do the addition. They are GOOD friends, would give me a kidney if I needed one. We talked today, they are always trying to give me a little money to say thanks. We agreed they would keep saving a little bit and putting it in an envelope for me when the job is complete. This should give me the ability to buy a DeWalt with a sizable amount left over for niceties LOL,  or an Excalibur/Seyco version, or one of the new Jet models, without taking any finances away from the family budget. I have learned to enjoy the researching/buying process. I’m not sure of your philosophy on used tools, but I have a thought that a good used scroll saw, would be all you need to see if you really like scrolling. Then if it is a YES, you can figure out what you want to have, make it happen, and sell used one for what you paid for it. Kinda what I was thinking about the RBI (which is still for sale). Everything I read about the Sakura said it was a quality unit, but as you know, used tools have to be judged individually.

Artie, have you talked with Ray Seymore of Seyco yet regarding good used machines he may have???  Just wondering.

Fred, I sent him an e-mail just two weeks ago, about the ST-21, and pricing. I didn’t specifically ask about used machines, but it was the type of conversation where if he had any, I think he woulda brought it up. I am expecting to be able to buy the scroll saw I want by summers end. What scroll saw that is, I haven’t narrowed down yet LOL. I was pretty convinced about the Seyco ST-21 (Steve Good seems to recommend it heartily), but Smallpatch is convincing me to  consider the DeWalt again. The new Jet looks like a very good machine, but I’m not finding a lot of feedback from sources I value, on it. I’m liking scrolling enough, that I’m pretty sure (not counting one of life’s many curveballs) it will happen fairly soon. My friends I’m working for on Saturdays have told me they already have $300 in an envelope for me. The garage hasn’t even been framed yet, I’d be real surprised if by the time their addition/remodel is completed, that envelope isn’t in the neighborhood of $1000. (I think the estimate they got for the work was around $7000-$10,000, not including material, so they might even buy me any scroll saw I want, and give me some cash). I’m about to go down to the shop and finish the Missus’s dragonfly. This is a lot of fun.  

18 minutes ago, Artie said:

This is a lot of fun.  

That's what it's ALL about. Around here, if it ain't fun, it don't get done.

1 hour ago, Artie said:

This is a lot of fun.

Good description and frame of mind Artie.

If it wasn't called fun, well then it would be just plain 'ole work.

On 4/8/2018 at 2:38 PM, Gene Howe said:

That's what it's ALL about. Around here, if it ain't fun, it don't get done.

I'll third that one