The all-rounder

An inexpensive universal saw is intended to fill the gap between electric foxtails and jigsaws. Does she have what it takes?, or is too much promised to the buyer?

The manufacturer describes the Scorpion as a completely new saw, which combines two functions in one machine. It is intended to serve as an electric hand saw and as a curve saw. For this purpose, the machine is equipped with a large saw blade from 20 cm length equipped. This allows the machine to be used like a fox's tail for sawing in wood and plastic. However, the large saw blade is more stable than most electric foxtail saw blades, allowing for a clean cut. The manufacturer recommends "the same forwards" when sawing with the Scorpion- and reverse movements like a traditional handsaw", to “achieve a faster and cleaner cut”. However, the hand movement is not used for the actual sawing process, but should transport the sawdust out of the cutting line more easily. After all, the machine only works with you 1 cm Hub, but very high number of strokes.
The Scorpion works most efficiently with low pressure. The sawing performance is decent. Even 10 cm thick beams are quickly sawn through. However, if you press too hard, only worsens the sawing progress and, despite the soft grip, feels very high vibrations. In addition to the large wood saw blade, Black supplies & Decker has a saw blade for metal and a so-called bow saw blade for curved cuts in wood and wood-based materials.

The saw blades can be changed without tools. After pressing a button, the saw blade can be swiveled by 90° and easily removed. With the small bow saw blade, the machine becomes a kind of jigsaw for curved cuts. However, if you expect the cutting quality of a jigsaw here, will be disappointed. On the one hand, the guidance of the saw blade in the holder is not particularly precise, on the other hand, the handle, which is now very high, makes it difficult to guide the machine safely. The foldable plastic shoe is also too wobbly, to guarantee a secure support on the workpiece.

We missed a connection for dust extraction. The electronics, on the other hand, seem to be rather superfluous. The accelerator switch is difficult to dose and in the lower speed range the switch-on lock that always jumps in prevents a light sawing with a low number of strokes. For maximum cutting performance, we always needed the maximum speed anyway. All saw blades have a fine, very sharp teeth, however, are not equipped with carbide teeth. Because the Scorpion has a special saw blade holder, only these special saw blades can also be used. With prices from 11,55 to 15,75 However, they are relatively expensive per piece. Additionally, that during our test the local OBI hardware store only listed the bow saw blade. The other two saw blades were only available by special order.