After buying a scroll saw for
1) This saw came double-boxed with very strong cardboard, and was bolted down to 1/4 inch piece of plywood.
2) The saw came with a very good manual and several blades.
3) The saw is VERY quiet! You can actually have a coversation with someone without raising your voice.
4) The saw is very well made. I can tell this saw will out live me, and will always work when I go to use it.
5) There is easy access to the top and bottom arms, and changing blades could not be easier - no tools required - very important!
6) The saw takes standard 5" blades available at all hardware stores. I purchased a set of Skill blades.

Don't waste your time with cheaper saws!!!

I have had this saw for about a month now, and I love it. It was great out of the box, nothing was broken or missing. An extra bonus was Wood Craft's shipping. I ordered the saw on Monday, and it was delivered on Thursday. I had spent quite a lot of time researching a new scroll saw. I was also looking at the Dewalt and the Delta. While I could have either of those in the 20 inch for a little less money, I decided to spend the extra money on the Excalibur and I am glad I did. I had pretty much decided on the Excalibur, and while I am not always sure I like the folks at my local Wood Craft store, I asked them if they could compare the Excalibur, which they did not have on the floor, to the Dewalt which they did have on the floor. They did not try to sell me the Dewalt. One of the guys could only say, "They both cut wood". I took that as a good endorsement for the Excalibur. I don't want to knock the Dewalt because I have never used it and I figure that it is a capable saw; however, I am completely happy with my purchase, and If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the exact same way. Extra added bonus.... Excalibur is a cooler name than Delta or Dewalt.

Saw works very well, but the foot pedal was not inclosed.

We know this is a great saw, and we know stuff can happen to the best of us; but then what? The motor just quit on my saw. I called the warranty number expecting to be transferred, put on hold, made to jump through hoops only to be denied or placed in a long line awaiting repair. None of that happened. General International acted in an exemplary manner. I called and was connected to the manager of the American Division immediately. He asked for the details of my problem and had me send a copy of the receipt of purchase. One week later, a new saw arrived at my home. This is what service should be; "Oh, you have a problem, let me get that fixed for you." This is what all companies should strive for. I'm a happy customer!

12/30/2020
I will continue to edit this review and add updates and more pictures as I get it set up and start to use it. The "star" rating may change as I go. For now I'm giving it only two stars because the box arrived in such bad shape. This was a fairly large investment for me and, after reading the previous reviews, I felt I was taking a chance but I thought the tilting head, 21" table, foot switch, included stand and the dust collector fitting for attaching the shop vac were the features that made it worth the risk. This first section describes the packaging and what I found as I unpacked it.

The machine arrived 12/28/2020 within a week of ordering. I think I was lucky this thing arrived in one piece. The packaging was literally falling off it when Fedex delivered it. The plastic strapping was all that was holding it together. Of course, the driver said it was all beat up that way when she got it. I unloaded it from the truck myself. It was laying in there upside down. So far, I have just unpacked it and set it on the bench. I haven't assembled anything yet. Anyway, after cutting the straps, a little pulling on the box and all four sides just fell away. The cardboard was decomposed and brittle. This is evidence that the box had become wet at some point as cardboard tends to become brittle like that after getting wet and then drying out. There was also evidence of water on the bottom of the flimsy board that the unit was attached to inside the bottom of the box. You can see this in one of the pictures. The thing getting wet is not a terrible problem, as long as it all gets dried out thoroughly so, in itself, the moisture evidence doesn't seem to be a problem, but the fact that somewhere along the line the box was soaked is just one indication that there was not very much care taken in the handling.

Inside the box the machine was originally bolted to a thin veneer board by two of the four "feet" of the machine.
The bolts had totally ripped out of the board and the board was cracked and broken due to the rough handling it had gone through. These things are manufactured in China now and they have to endure an ocean voyage in a shipping container and then they are loaded and unloaded several times from trailer to trailer as they make their way through the distribution channels. Having worked on a freight dock myself I know how it goes. The container is "floor loaded", the boxes are then transferred across the dock to a semi trailer using pallets and then floor loaded again. Then they go to another distribution point and another and another, etc. and the process is repeated until it finally makes it's way through the Fedex system (several more loadings and unloadings) and then ends up at my house. At every stop the dock workers lift and drag it by the straps. And they don't care much if the box is upright, upside down, on end, or whatever. They handle it mainly by the straps. The manufacturer was wise enough to include some fairly thick styrofoam blocks around the machine inside the box to pad it on all sides. So, as long as the box managed to barely hang in there, the styrofoam pads saved it. But that box was at the end of it's rope by the time it got to me. So, to begin with, the packaging is insufficient and I think the machine barely made it through the trip. Another indication of how the manufacturer didn't package this thing well enough to protect it properly from the normal rough handling it would receive in shipping is the fact that the head was tilted when it arrived. I'm sure they thought they had it locked down in the vertical position when they put it in the box but they didn't secure it well enough or it received some kind of impact during shipping that caused the head to tilt to about 15 degrees. I noticed that due to the head being tilted the installed blade it comes with was pushed up against the work plate and is slightly bent. I don't know yet if the head is damaged or not or if the blade is still any good because I have only unpacked it so far but I did order a separate blade assortment at the same time so, if the blade is bad I'll have a spare. One other thing that was a little disturbing is the fact that I found a couple of empty plastic bags in the box. The bag with the foot switch and the bag with the little rubber "feet" were there but I'm wondering if there may be missing hardware. The box was beat up enough that little things could've fallen out. We'll see as I work through getting it set up. More soon.
1/16/2022
All set up and working fine.