Scroll saw recommendations for dealing with abuse?

[michaelknauf@mac.com]

I run a summer camp program for children from 7 to 17 that has between 4 and 6 scroll saws running 6 hours a day for 4 months. The machines I inherited were made by Grizzly, and had been haphazardly maintained, some of them turned into franken-monsters by scavenging parts from one saw to repair others. I spent one nightmare of a summer trying to get the correct parts to do repairs and maintenance before giving up on grizzly.

Then I tried Craftsman, and those machines experienced a mean time between failures of less than 24 hours.

It's not the gentlest of environments, and the kids can be rough on the tools. They get used very heavily for 4 months and then get stored till the next season. We're not cutting anything thicket than 1" and most of it is soft wood (pine) or plywood.

I'm looking for recommendations on scroll saws that are built tough, and are easy to maintain, from a company that has it together when it comes to ordering spare/replacement parts. Anybody have any suggestions? I don't mind spending a little money on a tool that will last in this environment, but I don't need the finest quality.

Thanks for your advice.

(I'm also looking for staff to teach the children for the summers, but I'll make a seperate post about that)

Michael

[workin for wood]

That's a tough question...low on price high on quality. the biggest bang for the buck is probably the Dewalt. Where you at anyhow? I have an old craftsman, piston/belt drive, 16" that I'd give you for free if you were not too far away from Lansing Michigan. This saw is about as simple as it gets, it's 1950 style and it has seen years of use and keeps on running. You can take a sledgehammer to it and it will laugh at you! Maybe if your not around here, someone else may donate an old machine to your cause.

[CanadianScroller]

I know not everyone will agree with me but I have had great satisfaction with my Delta. It is an entry level saw in the $125 range.
It is easy to maintain and the customer service has been great.
At this price you could even afford to have a couple of spares that you could circulate in and out of service while you are maintaining the others.
The quick release blade clamp speeds things up.

I did break a clamp once when I was inexperienced because I had it set too tight. The only other flaw I had with my unit was the air pump. That is only a cheap set of bellows and is easy to replace.

There are Delta service centers all over the country.

Just my opinion.

[lucky788scroller]

Have you checked into the dremel. Its pretty reasonably priced, and I hear their customer service is one of the best. Dale