Scroll Saws, how useful for model railroaders?

[beiland]

I was cleaning out and reorganizing a storage shed I have out back, and I ran into this Dremel saw, that I term a scroll saw,..and in fact that is what Dremel calls it.

It appears to be new. I have forgotten where I picked it up?

My question is how useful are these saws for model railroaders??

 

[wvg_ca]

not very, a small band saw is more useful ... i had both but used the scrollsaw very little of the time ..

 

[Rico]

I use a jigsaw way more than anything, I had a scroll saw but never even plugged it in gave it to a friend.

 

[beiland]

I think it is going to be too big to be really that useful in my train room. That's part of the reason I asked.

 

[747flier]

Depending on the type of blade attaching, pin or clamp, there is a huge selection of blades for a large variety of fine cutting. The biggest advantage of a scroll over a band saw is one can make interior cuts such as window and door openings and whatnot. Quite useful if you are a scratch builder.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Mine was very useful when I was building doll houses for people and doing the trim and flooring.

Used it quite a bit on On3 scratch building cars and buildings.

 

[TLOC]

I have that exact saw. Something I got after my FIL passed. He used to make tulips on sticks for the garden. Over the years he made hundreds. He loved it but for my model railroading purposes, no. Not very useful.

Tried to sell it on the Facebook local market places and saw many other brands plus the Dremel one I had for sale. Nothing higher then $75.00 a couple years ago. I use it just to cut 1/4”- 3/4” softwoods for extra support for building HO structures. It’s noisy but pretty accurate

 

[dave1905]

Bandsaw is more useful. I have one and have never used it for model railroad purposes.

 

[Mixed Freight]

I bought a Dremel scroll saw 20 years or so ago, after wanting one for a long time. It didn't take me much time at all to realize it was basically useless for my needs. After that, about the only productive thing I used it for was a paint shaker.

 

[CGW121]

You will find it useful the minute you give it away!

 

[beiland]

I sold it to a nice gentleman who makes 3-D wood signs and name plates for folks that visit a flea market near him

 

[747flier]

the Dremel is sort of a marginal scroll saw, more of a jig saw. I had one and it was useful for sawing aluminum, plywood, etc. the most sophisticated saw I had was a Hegner which with a wide blade selection could do amazing precision work. Blades are the thing and the pin type blades are more limited in selection.
maybe if one was only doing certain types of work with limited budget and space your style might dictate other choices.

 

[Larry Creel]

I got a free Dremel Jig Saw about 10 yrs ago & used it very little. I went to a yard sale 1 weekend & the seller had a Craftsman Bandsaw on a stand for $75.00 w/15 new Blades. I bought that & that was 1 of the best things I ever did. I used it to cut Wood, Plastic, Lexan & other stuff for many years. I had to give it away when I moved up here & as soon as my Trainroom is finished I have to equip it again w/a bandsaw & many other tools.
I did keep all my small tools for working on engines, etc.

 

[747flier]

The best scroll saws have a parallelogram movement of the arms which allows a vertical motion of the blade. Somewhat less perfect is a "C" shaped arm which causes the blade to rock back and forth a little as it moves up and down. This is of some importance in precise tight turns.

Also quite useful is a speed control. Plastics or Lexan can melt if the blade is too fast. Use of a lubricant such as vaseline hell this a bit.