First off who is Carbatec? Well they are an Australian company that sells woodworking tools, with stores through out Australia as well as store in New Zealand. Not only do they sell some of the harder to find items that the local big box stores like Bunnings and Mitre10 don’t sell, items like Kreg, Incra and even some of the big items like Sawstop, Jet, and Powermactic, but the also have their own branded tools.

Their tools are usually just big named tools rebranded like the Carbatec 21in Scroll Saw.

The “Carbatec 21in Scroll Saw ” is the “Excalibur” scroll saw, as sold here in New Zealand it had to be rebranded due to copyright … but it is the “General International Excalibur” made in the same factory and came with the same paper work etc… So for all intensive purposes it is… Has all the same quirks and benefits the Excalibur the only difference other than the branding is the placement of the fuse box.

So do I like the scroll saw… compared to my old scroll saw it the difference between chalk and cheese as one would expect with the price difference. $250.00NZD for my old Tooline scroll saw to $1300.00NZD for the Carbatec. So you would expect there to be some major differences and upgrades.

Likes compared to my old scroll saw.
Pros…
Pinless Blades
The Carbatec 21in nativity takes pinless blades which means you can do finer fret work with the blades. While the Tooline and many cheaper brands can take the pinless blades using an adaptor this can be very annoying and can take a bit to get use to. Adding to this the way pinned blades work they hook over a slot on both the upper and lower arm blade attachment holder or blade clamp. So when you come to move to another cut the blade can sometimes (actually regularly) fully fall out from the holder and you have to reset the bottom holder as well as the top on every cut.

While not a game changer on the more advanced scroll saws they take the pinless blades natively meaning you tighten the blades in with set screws both top and bottom. So when changing blades of different cuts you only loosen the top screw blade clamp and release the arm… the blade doesn’t fall out from the bottom as it usual does on cheaper models.

Tension
This brings me to my next like and that is the tension setting. In reality you normally only have to set you tension once and once set for the blade you are using, to change cuts and release the tension all you need todo is lift a lever and the tension is released so you can release blade screw and lift arm out of the way. No more continuously unwinding the tension knob and the rewinding the tension knob on every cut change.

No blade insert
One of my favorites things I like about the Carbatec model is there is no plastic blade insert that many of the cheaper brands and models have. These inserts can cause issues especially in smaller finer pieces and cuts, as they are plastic and don’t give the support to the material being cut. Without this support under your material you can easily break smaller and finer pieces which can be annoying and heart breaking. Basically no tools are required to change blade

Vibration
Any tool that is essentially making a blade go up and down at speed is going to vibrate. However the more up market models have this balance out While there is some vibration compared to cheaper models it would be classed as non existent. This can be due to the size and weight of the saw.

Now with all saws including your cheaper models, if you clamp or bolt it down to a dedicated stand or bench then the vibration on all saws is reduced.

Tilt Head
Unlike most scroll saws if you are wanting to do an angled cut you normally tilt the table bed to the desired angle this can make cutting the piece a little awkward. However on Excalibar and the Carbatec model it’s not the table that tilts but rather the the head, assembly and arm etc that tilts leaving the table flat. This can make it easier to cut those angled cuts and parts you want as it gives you better control

The tilt can also be up to 45 degrees both left and right give flexibility and ease of use to get more accurate cuts.

Cons…
Weight
This not a bad thing and this is really only me, because I do not have the room in my workshop to have a permanent place or bench for my saw to be so I have to bring it out and put it away every time I wish to use it. And the weight and size of the saw becomes an issue. But If you have a bench or stand where you can bolt it down permanently then this not an issue.

Cost
This scroll saw is up their in the top tier and quality of scroll saws so the cost is obviously going to increase compared to the cheaper brands.

Cheaper Brands
Many of the cheaper brands are all made from the same generic mold and casting and all have the same issues as discussed above. Many of them you can interchange the parts and it will bolt straight on without and hassle or modification. While not a bad thing, my point is be careful if you just buy another brand or model that is just made from the same mold and casting as what you have. So you are not really upgrading.

Final words
Would I recommend this scroll saw…? most defiantly. If you can afford to upgrade to this… then yes I highly recommend it.