What scroll saw should i buy

As you become more skilled and tackle more details and intricate projects, you will appreciate the larger selection of blades available in the pinless format. Speaking of scroll saw blades, the next feature that we will explore is the method used to mount and hold the blade in your absolute best beginner scroll saw. Blade mounts come in two types, tooled and toolless. Convenience would dictate that a toolless blade mount is an obvious choice. However, tooled blade mounts tend to be more secure and to offer better holding than toolless mounts.

Having said that, toolless blade mounts are the way to go. There are some other things to consider. Some saws require more than one tool to do a blade change. Keeping track of several tools to do a blade change can be frustrating. We seem to be spending a lot of time on blades for the best beginner scroll saw, but you must remember that it is the blade doing all the heavy lifting on your saw. Scroll saws break blades, and the blades can quickly dull. You will spend a lot of time changing blades, which require tensioning the blade.

Whatever tension mechanism the absolute best beginning scroll saw has, it should be convenient for you to use. Whether it is a cam, a lever, a knob, or a screw, it should be easy to access and use. The last of the must-haves is a smaller rocker arm assembly. The rocker arm assembly is what drives the blade in the up and down motion.

Some saws have a rocker arm that extends the entire depth of the saw. These full-length rocker arms tend to have a lot of mass, and as they move, the vibrations they cause can become tiresome. Shorter rocker arm assemblies employ a cam-like mechanism that is lighter and has less mass.

Less mass means less vibration as the assembly moves up and down. Less vibration makes for more enjoyable work experience with your scroll saw. Of course, there are many other features you should consider when searching for the perfect scroll saw, including:.

Most of the items on this list are considered nice to have but not mandatory. We want to concentrate on the must-have items to find you the absolute best scroll saws for beginners available on the market. Find out some cool things you can do in this guide here!!! To be upfront, all the saws on our list of absolute best scroll saws for beginners include all the must-have features.

That meant we had to look further down the feature list to find the things that differentiated one saw from the rest. Shop Fox has developed a following among dedicated woodworkers as a solid and dependable brand with good quality control.

Many woodworkers rate Shop Fox in with many of the other top brands of dedicated woodworking equipment manufacturers. This little saw performs like a pro. The features are comparable to all the other saws, but the addition of the foot pedal switch and the rotary tool attachment set this saw apart. If your saw has one on the back, you must move to the back of the saw every time you want to tweak the tension on a blade. A scroll saw is rated by the maximum number of up-and-down blade strokes the tool can complete in a single minute.

That can range from a low of strokes per minute spm to as high as 1, spm. Soft woods. Scroll saws with variable speed adjustments offer the best of both worlds.

Many scroll saws offer tilting tables that allow you to cut material at an angle. This is handy for those times when you want to create a beveled edge. Most saw tables tilt up to 45 degrees, usually to the left, but some tilt in both directions.

Additionally, a newer type of scroll saw offers a head that tilts rather than a table that tilts. As a safety precaution, all scroll saws in the U. Some woodworkers even remove the foot. A bulky one can obscure more of the cutting area. When you look at scroll saws, you may notice a small tube that snakes around to the edge of the blade. Bright lighting is necessary to make the best cuts.

Most scroll saws now offer flexible tube task lighting. Starting the shop vac before making cuts will suck up the dust as you go. A dust collection port helps keep dust out of the air in the woodworking shop and, more importantly, out of a drying wood finish. You know when you need a scroll saw, as well as how to use it — all that is left to buy one.

Hey I'm Russ and I have been a contractor for over 20 years. I know what the cost of having the right tools and materials for the job.

My passion for woodworking and helping others by workshops in my wood shop. I have beginner classes all the way up expert trade classes. Check out my bio for more. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest. Give your scroll saw a dedicated spot in your shop with a stand that elevates your work and gives the saw a sturdy place to sit. This saw features an inch throat depth and variable speeds from to 1, rpm. The cast-iron dual-tilt table has an easy-to-read bevel scale—a nice feature not found on many other scroll saws.

The machine accepts both pinless and pinned blades and requires no tools for blade changes. The scroll saw sits on a sturdy steel stand, saving you space on your workbench. If you enjoy pattern work, shop for a scroll saw with blades that can be inserted in two directions and variable speeds to allow for greater control.

This scroll saw accepts both pinned and pinless blades, allowing you the choice of blade type. Additionally, you can position the blades in a standard or degree position, giving you more flexibility when following scrolling patterns. Overall, the Wen has an impressive feel for its affordable price tag and it has the power and versatility needed to make basic cuts and shapes easily. It might not be the most high-powered or intricate scroll saw on the market, but the WEN wins for its versatile blade placement, variable speed sightings, and suitability as a basic pattern scroll saw.

Throat: 22 inches Max. The Jet K Scroll Saw with Stand is a popular choice for intarsia enthusiasts and serious woodworkers. Unlike many other scroll saws on the market, the Jet K features a tilting arm instead of a tilting table.

This makes it much easier to replace a worn blade with a fresh one that can keep up with the demands of intarsia woodworking. Blade changes are also simplified thanks to improved upper and lower blade holders—the upper mechanism will clamp and tension the blade simultaneously while the lower mechanism allows for tool-free blade changes.

A 5-year warranty protects your investment in this scroll saw. The inch throat lets you easily cut larger pieces of wood, and the machine is robust enough to stand up to even hardwoods like mahogany. The included stand will make life easier as you tackle woodworking projects or your next intarsia creation.

An inch throat provides plenty of clearance for most projects, and a dual-tilt saw table gives you easy cutting angles. The machine is backed by a 7-year warranty, which is one of the best warranty periods for any scroll saw on the market. There are scroll saws with throats as small as 12 inches and as large as 30 inches, but the majority are 16 to 20 inches. There are two basic types of scroll saw blades: pinned and pinless, also called plain.

Some scroll saws only accept one or the other, while other saws accept both types. Pinned blades are held in place by small pins at the end of the blade. The downsides are that there are fewer varieties of pinned blades and they tend to be thicker than pinless blades, so not as well suited to making very delicate cuts. Pinless blades are held in place by small clamps.

Some scroll saws require the use of a small tool to switch out these blades, making them a little less convenient than their pinned counterparts. However, there are many more types and sizes of pinless blades to choose from, and without the bulk of a pin, these blades are better suited to making delicate or complex cuts.

A fairly common range for a variable-speed scroll saw is spm to 1, spm. Many scroll saws have tilting tables, which makes it much easier to cut wood or other materials at an angle, such as cutting bevels. The most common option is a degree tilt to the left, but some saws tilt in both directions, which is very convenient if you do a lot of angled cuts. Unlike most power saws, which typically have large round rotating blades, scroll saws have thin, ribbon-like blades that saw very rapidly in an up-and-down motion.

This is definitely not the tool for making long cuts along thick materials, or even for performing basic cuts, such as crosscuts. Where the scroll saw shines is in performing cuts that are curved, intricate, or entirely contained within the material without extending out to the side.

That makes scroll saws the tool of choice for cutting wood into toys, puzzles, jewelry boxes, and other detailed work. Scroll saws are also excellent for creating pieces for intarsia, which is an artform consisting of wooden pieces cut and fitted together like a mosaic.