# Rockwell Blade Runner - Review



## The_Architect_23 (May 6, 2013)

Picked Up A New Rockwell Blade Runner Today While Grabbing A Few Things At Lowe's.
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I Have Seen This Tool At Rockler, And At Lowe's Before, Even Had A Giggle With My Lady Regarding The Fact Its An Inverted Jigsaw! Something Today Struck Me, And I Decided I Need To Stop Looking And Give It A Try. Whats The Worst That Could Happen? I Can Always Return It.

Got Home, Unpacked The Box And Was Instantly Disappointed By An Ugly Rust Spot On The Table. "Stainless Steel" Must Be Any Shiny Metal In China Terms. It Will Not Buff Off, Or Come Clean. Not A Real Deal Breaker But Would Have Been Nice To Have Some Lube On The Table.

I Followed The Instructions And Assembled The Guide. First Thing I Noticed Is The Lack Of Adjustment In The Roller Guides. There Is At Least 1/4'' On Each Side Of The Blade. The Arm Itself Claims To Be Adjustable To "Center" The Blade In The Gap. Good Luck, 30 Minutes Later It Falls Back To The Same Default Spot Each Time. Slightly Off To One Side. Ill Stop Being A Perfectionist For The Remainder Of My Testing. 

I Set In A 2/4 Scrap Piece Of Silver Maple, And Chose The " Smooth Wood " Blade Which Was Included With A Few Others. I Dropped The Head, And Lowered The Foot Onto The Wood. Assuming This Would Be Like A Scroll Saw On Steroids I Braced For Jumping As I Turned It On. I Set Blade Speed At 6 ( As Per The Manual ) Then Slowly Fed The Piece Into The Blade With The Miter Gauge. Instantly The Motor Bogged And Grabbed The Wood Producing Quite A Bit Of Vibration. This I Didnt Like, I Stopped The Machine And Removed The Wood.

5/5/13 I Came Out Into The Shop This Afternoon And Attempted To Cut A Piece Of Soft Pine From The Big Box. I Chose A Finer Tooth Blade, And Upped The Speed. [attachment=24440]
I Rip Cut This Section And For The Most Part, Adding More Pressure To The Foot Eliminated The Grab, However Was Difficult To Feed The Stock. Claims OF The Blade Walking With The Grain, I Did Not Experience.

I Watched A Few More Sections On The How To Video And Couldn't Shake The Fact... Well Ill Let You Decide. This Is You're Informational Coach.
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At This Point I See No Use For Me To Keep This Sucker, Anything It Can Do WELL, I Can Do On The Bandsaw Or Scrollsaw. Things Its Unique For, Like Cutting Metals I Attempted Next.

[attachment=24442]
3/8 Rod - Alu
Cut Slow As You Can Imagine, But It Did Finish The Cut.

[attachment=24443]
0.62'' Alu - Sheet
Good Luck, Tired 2 Blades On Same Cross Cut. The Motor Doesn't Have Enough Power.

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Last But No Least, DuPont Corian. 
Pink = 0.5''
White = 0.60''
Both Cut Well, However Rip Cutting The 4 X 4 Tiles Into .5 X .5 Will Not Work Because The Fence Interferes With The Foot. I Also Had Issues With Being Able To Hold The Stock Safely Between The Fence And Head.

Overall Rating: 3 Out Of 5 Star
If You Have A Strong Arm, And Are Cutting MDF This Is The Saw For You. Its A Great Idea, But Sorely Executed. For Any Wood Worker This Is A Waste Of Time, But For Those Contractors And Weekend Warriors With No / Limited Tools, It Has Its Place. Just Dont Expect A Gold Star On You're Project.

Whats The Fate Of The Blade Runner In My Shop?
I Was Hoping To Be Proven Wrong By All The Reviews. Diamond In The Rough Perhaps? I Was Wrong. Its Going Back Today... I Don't Have a Use For This Type Of Tool, I Think I Could Stack More Wood Worthwhile In The Space It Would Occupy :rotflmao3:


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## barry richardson (May 6, 2013)

Thanks for posting! When I first saw these, I was excited cause they seemed like a good idea, but most of the feedback I've heard has been unfavorable, like yours. kinda glad I didn't rush out and buy one.


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## phinds (May 6, 2013)

There was a huge long review/discussion of this thing over on WoodWorkingTalk quite a while back --- it did not come off well.


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## The_Architect_23 (May 6, 2013)

* Final


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