My first scroll saw was a Hegner, Multimax, 22", which I used for a couple of years and was very satisfied before I got the opportunity to try a Hegner, 20" Polymax, for a couple of weeks. It?s Hegner?s Commercial Grade scroll saw and is used in shops where they run 12 hours a day every day and comes with a manufacturer?s seven-year warranty.
After using it, along with my 22? SS for a couple of weeks, I was convinced it was a much better saw and made the trade. The Polymax was eight years old when I acquired it, but looked like it had never been used. I?ve had it sixteen years and have made over 300 Intarsias with it and have never had to replace any parts, until last Monday I noticed the rubber bellows for the dust blower had started coming apart. I gave up the variable speed motor and the quick-change blade changing mechanism I had on the 22? saw for a heavy duty, smooth cutting, quiet machine. (It cuts Oak with the ease my 22? cut Pine)
The Polymax?s mainframe parts are all cast Iron. And, the saw weighs 104 pounds, which deadens almost all vibration. It has two stroke settings, which gives it a total of eight speeds. The long stroke is best for nearly all scroll work and the short stroke provides increased sawing control and smoothness when cutting thin and light materials, such as wood veneer or single layer sheet metal.
I got it for almost nothing in trade for my 22? model and I?ve made enough from it to pay for it many times over and think it?s the best saw on the market. However, that said, I can?t say a new one is worth three times the cost of any other top quality scroll saw.
