Dewalt 788 Scroll Saw

Conductor562 · July 4, 2018

A year or so ago I had about $600 to burn on tools and really had no pressing needs. I debated a metal cutting bandsaw, but ultimately decided on a decent quality scroll saw.

In the days of CNC, scroll saws are fundamentally obsolete, but I had a lot of fun as a kid playing with dad’s old Craftsman scroll, and I do enough crafty shit to make some use of it, so I said what the hell.

After a bit of research, I decided that the Dewalt 788 was the best bang for the buck in my price range. It’s made in Canada by Somerville who also makes the high end Excalibur saws, was well regarded by the surprisingly robust scroll saw community, had a broad set of accessories available, and hey, it’s yellow and matches most of my other big saws.

I spent a little extra to set it up right. I added the light kit, a lift (the arm will not stay in the raised position on it’s own), and aftermarket blade tightening knobs. I ordered a few dozen Flying Dutchman blades, and made a blade rack to keep everything tidy. Still on the fence about the foot pedal, but we’ll see.

The saw sat virtually unused for awhile. Just didn’t have time to fool with a new skill, but I recently got around to it. I’ve been mostly practicing with hand drawn patterns and such and haven’t gained enough confidence in my skills to take on a meaningful project yet, but let me tell you something, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

The unexpected side effect of having this saw has been me having to get in line to use it. Both of my 9 year old boys drive me crazy about using it. They’ll spend hours drawing things and cutting them out. They’ve been exposed to tools their whole life, but this is by far the most interested they’ve ever been. Both are proficient enough after a couple weeks to use it safely with very limited supervision.

It’s really an unexpectedly enjoyable hobby. Takes very little wood, there’s thousands of patterns freely available, consumables are cheap, mess is minimal, and even a 4th grader can pick it up quick.

I’m finally going to take on my first actual project when we get back from the beech, but even after setting unused for awhile I will say I’m glad I made the investment. Anything that gets kids off the PlayStation and into the shop on their own accord is money well spent as far as I’m concerned. If you haven’t tried scrolling, it’s definitely something to consider.

Bremon · July 4, 2018

That’s awesome conductor. I have fond memories of my grandma making many crafts with her scroll saw. I’ve eyed this Dewalt up a few times. Your anecdote makes me want it more lol, maybe it would get my nose out of some books and eyes off the PlayStation as well!

Conductor562 · July 5, 2018

11 hours ago, Bremon said:

That’s awesome conductor. I have fond memories of my grandma making many crafts with her scroll saw. I’ve eyed this Dewalt up a few times. Your anecdote makes me want it more lol, maybe it would get my nose out of some books and eyes off the PlayStation as well!

It’s pretty cool man. Now I look back at all of the stuff I’ve cut out with jig saws and band saws where this would have yielded so much better results.

Delta makes a scroll comparable to the 788 that runs in the $450 range.There was one on eBay NIB for $200 earlier today, but somebody done snagged it. Another saw I considered was the Porter Cable PCB375SS. It’s a similar, more entry level saw and can be had for a hair over $200 with a light, stand, and free shipping.

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