Rockwell Bladerunner X2

[K.O.M.]

Only have been using it for about a month since finishing up work on our studio, but this thing is great for the kind of stuff we make.

It's essentially a jigsaw mounted to a table, and readily accepts standard t-shank jigsaw blades.

So far, beyond doing laminate floor and trim work, I have cut

-16 g stainless sheet (burned through a blade after two, 12" long cuts
-14 g aluminum sheet
-3/8" acrylic
-1/4" lexan
-1" metal conduit
-pvc pipe
-various aluminum angle stock

Want to try:

Delrin rod and sheet
Thicker lexan sheet

If you don't have any bench cutting tools and are looking for a bandsaw, scroll saw, table saw, or mitre saw, this will do the job of all those tools for light duty non-production work. I will post crawler related parts I've cut with this thing as I get to them. Just thought I'd share.

[K.O.M.]

Hello all, I got quite few PMs asking about how I like this saw, and though I'm in the process of making a few parts to show, I'll answer the questions here rather than reply to each PM one at a time.

1. Why get this instead of a bandsaw or scroll saw?

It is not a replacement for a bandsaw or scroll saw, but at the price point, $99 shipped to your house, you will not find a better saw that can cut wood, plastic, and metal.

If you already have a bandsaw or scroll saw that you are happy with, then this really will not do anything that you already are doing with the above saws.

2. What is the accuracy of the cut?

If you watch the company video of them using this with the fence and/or miter guide, then prepare to be disappointed. This is still just a jigsaw at the core, and since only the bottom part of the blade is supported, the blade will flex/wander if you are using a fixed guide.

This also true regarding entry level sub $300 bandsaws in general--there is always blade drift, and the only way to get rid of it is to tension the blades enough. This is not always possible as the inexpensive bandsaws don't necessary have enough rigidity, that if you can manage to get the tension up, the upper/lower housing flexes just enough that you can't keep the blade centered.

The first thing I did was put aside the miter gauge and fence and do all the cuts free-hand.

3. But you have to free-hand all the cuts, then why not just get a cheap bandsaw?

As a previous cheap bench-top bandsaw owner, the consistency of any machine you get for less than $500 is lacking. Most bandsaws in the same price point as the Bladerunner have several issues:

-upper and lower housings are not true--can compensate with with wheel alignment knob, but then throw away your mitre gauge and fence as the blade will now always be at a certain angle relative to your table
-upper and lower wheels are not in-line--see above
-insufficient tensioning of blade--can replace hardware/longer rod/bolt, but then again, you add to much tension and the housing flexes
-only one speed--blade speed is probably fine for wood and some plastics, but you will burn up your bandsaw blades with repeated cuts on even just 1/8" aluminum sheet

So in regards to the Bladrunner X2, it only has one speed, and you will have to do all the cuts free-hand, but it uses inexpensive t-shank jigsaw blades, that you can just replace them easily, I usually go through 1 Bosch HSS metal blade to make a total of 24" worth of cuts on 16 gauge stainless steel sheet.

For more intricate work that you would do on a scroll saw, just get a narrower jigsaw blade, which IMHO, can take more punishment than the even thinner specialized blades that a scroll saw requires.

For anyone expecting table saw accuracy when using the fence and miter gauge, you will be disappointed. But if you understand what this machine can do, then it really is a versatile tool.

[C*H*U*D]

How tight of an inside corner can you cut compared to a scroll saw? I realize this depends on the blade you are using, but I was curious to know what you found out.

I've used my girlfriends jewelers saw before and really liked how tight of a pattern you could cut with it, so I was thinking scroll saw but now you have me wondering.

[K.O.M.]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

How tight of an inside corner can you cut compared to a scroll saw? I realize this depends on the blade you are using, but I was curious to know what you found out.

I've used my girlfriends jewelers saw before and really liked how tight of a pattern you could cut with it, so I was thinking scroll saw but now you have me wondering.

I don't have photos, but the tightest I've cut so far is about the radius of a dime. I actually used a dime to mock up the radius of the cut since I needed to make a door handle bash plate and installed before it rained.

I think you'll be limited by the jigsaw blade to be honest, plus it started to chatter like a mofo.

[K.O.M.]

First crawler related sample cut.




Trying to get ahead of when my daughter gets tired of this Jeep, so I can cram a mini/micro chassis underneath it when I "inherit" this toy.

This was fairly easy, 1/8" thick tinted Lexan. Straight and accurate enough to just need very minor sanding.

[K.O.M.]

Using 16 gauge aluminum sheet this time around, I decided to fab up some sliders/electronics mount for my neglected SCX10. Relatively simple cuts again, just wanted to show what's possible with this machine. Left the edges unfinished and it was pretty close to dead on straight. Same with the radius cuts.

Drill bit was my last of this size, and it was pretty shot and walked all over the place even with centerpunched dimples. didn't want to leave this unfinished. Close enough, not the fault of the saw.