HEGNER Unimax Fret Saw

[James]

Hello fellow woodworkers,
BIG Question??? I found in one of the "Scroller" catalogs this beauty. The Hegner Unimax Fretsaw. This looks like it would be the prime machine in my workshop. It has a blade that attaches below the table and thats it. Perfect for Fret work. This machine could cut time by 1/2 if not better when doing fretwork. I presently have a Scrollsaw made by Makita, Great saw and has most defenately paid for it's self over and over but to not have to disconect the blade for fret would be awsom. If interested you can go to www.advmachinery.com/scr. When I will be buying this machine as soon as I can. The book I have states $50.00 off reg. price of $499.00. They do have lay-away but no Credit line.
If there is anyone out there who already have one, please let me know your opinion. Thank you and hope you all have a good woodworking time. James <><
:rolleyes:

[Dave]

I do not own a Unisaw, but I have seen them demonstrated at some shows.
They do have an advantage in as much as you are not limited by throat size, and they do a real good job of cutting as far as I can tell. I tried one out and was satisfied with the performance.
On the down side, you are limited in the amount of thickness you can cut. It will not cut through anything thicker than 1/2" according to the factory rep I talked to.
Is it worth the money? That all depends on how you intend to use it. For me, and this is just my opinion, since it will not cut anything thicker than 1/2" stock, I think the price is much too high for what it does. But other than the thickness limitation, it is a good machine.
Hegner has a good reputation, and they make a fine scroll saw from all I have seen and heard, so quality would not be an issue, only the limits of the saw.
Again, just my opinion.
Dave

[James]

Thanks Dave for your reply,
1/2" thick cut is really not to bad for what I would use it for. I make clocks, storage containers, file cabinets, etc... But I want to get into Fret work. I have some really nice patterns I want to use but would take so long to do on my scroll saw. Well, we'll see if maybe they will make longer blades for it in the future???? It looks like a heck of a nice machine to use. Thanks again for getting back to me. <>< James