This word art Angel pattern comes in two sizes. The small pattern is 6" wide and the large pattern is 8" wide. I cut the small Angel in the photo above from 1/2" thick maple. 3/4" thick wood will work just as well and will probably not tip over as easily.
WEN made the correct upgrades to the WEN 3921, but did they get it right?
Late last year I did a video review of the WEN 3921 scroll saw. The title of the video was, "Is this the best $100 scroll saw?". The video was not meant to be a recommendation for the saw, I was just trying to show how well a $100 scroll saw performed. The saw worked but it had weaknesses.
The biggest weakness of all entry-level scroll saws is the blade clamps. They are typically designed to use pin end scroll saw blades. Pin end blades are not ideal for fretwork. They are too big and they need a large entry hole. Pin end blades are better for cutting rough shapes with large interior cuts and few tight turns.
The WEN 3921 was typical in that it was shipped ready to use pin end blades. They did include an adapter to use plain end blades but it was not a great solution. If you watched the video I did of the 3921 you saw that I pointed out the areas of weakness.
I was happy to hear that the upgraded WEN scroll saw addressed this problem. The machine ships ready for plain end blades. No more adapter needed. The 3921 adapter was difficult to keep on the saw.
The metal wing nuts were replaced with nicer thumbscrews on the top and bottom.
Another issue on the 3921 was the left cover. To get to the bottom clamp easily you needed to remove the cover. This was a potential safety concern and was just a nuisance.
When I saw that WEN had upgraded the saw to the WEN 3922 I ordered one to review. I saw that they had addressed the main issues so I wanted to test them out. I have had the saw in my shop since June and never got around to taking it out of the box. Today I finally got it out and set it up.
My intent was to test the new features and do a video review of the changes. I may still do that but there were problems.
The photo above shows the new clamp system. It has a decent plastic thumbscrew. The clamps for plain end blades are now a permanent feature. You can still use pin end blades as an alternative with the same clamps. The design looked good, but how well did it work.
