Scroll Saw Reviews: Which is the Best Scroll Saw in the UK?

One of the lesser-known power saws available to the DIY-er is the scroll saw. The scroll saw is a tabletop machine that does its cutting via the use of a very fine blade allowing for very small, very high precision cuts. This can be in different materials including wood, plastic and metal. As the blade is so fine, the scroll saw tends to cut very cleanly, meaning that the sanding down of the cut surface of the workpiece is usually unnecessary. Scroll saws are also useful for making internal cuts. That's because they can be set up beforehand to position their blades for an internal cut. Scroll saw blades can be detached, threaded through a workpiece pilot hole, and re-attached again before starting the cut from the most ideal location.

Scroll saws tend to be used by people interested in ornamental design in wood, also known as fretwork, where very precise cutting is needed. However, the scroll saw is also useful to the regular DIY-er when a small or highly precise cut is called for.

In this review of scroll saws, we first look at the different components of this power tool type and the features to look out for when choosing one for the home workshop. Following this, we look at some of the popular scroll saws that are available to DIY-ers in the UK.

What to look for in a scroll saw

As with all power tools, there are a number of different makes and models of scroll saw from which to choose from, each one exhibiting its own features and functionalities. So what are the critical elements to look out for when buying a scroll saw today? Let's take a look…

Throat depth

Probably one of the most important differentiating factors of a scroll saw is its throat depth. Similar to pillar drills or drill presses, the throat depth on a scroll saw is the distance from the blade to the rear vertical support of the upper blade cutting arm (see picture below). As with pillar drills, the greater the throat depth of the scroll saw, the greater the versatility of the machine as wider workpieces can be accommodated more easily on its work table. On most consumer machines, this can range from about 400 mm to 760 mm.

Compatible blade types

Another critical differentiating component of scroll saws is the type of blades they are compatible with and the mechanism through which the blades are attached to the machine. There are two main types of blades:

Pinned blades have integral pins at their ends which serve as the anchor points for the blade in the oscillating arms of the scroll saw. Because of the need to incorporate these pins into their structure, pinned blades have to be larger than their unpinned brethren, which in turn makes the pinned blade less able to make very tight turns in a workpiece.  In addition, because of the bulkier nature of the pinned end, this can make it difficult or even impossible to thread a pinned blade through smaller pilot holes when doing internal cutting.

On the other hand, pin-less blades can be ultra-fine, allowing for very detailed cutting and turning within the workpiece. In addition, threading the blade through a small pilot hole is usually not a problem for an unpinned blade, although the mechanism of blade-holding on the scroll saw can determine how easy it is to set up the blade in this way.  

Quick-release blade tensioner

Scroll saw blades need to operate under a certain level of tension for them to cut properly and avoid breakage. Lower-end scroll saws will have a cruder mechanism for tensioning the blade. In the case of pinned blades, this usually involves attachment of the blade to the scroll saw before tensioning the blade to the correct level using a dedicated tensioning control. For unpinned blades, an extra step of attaching tool holders to the blade (often requiring a hex key tool) is also often required before placing the blade in the scroll saw and tensioning as before.

Higher-end scroll saws, on the other hand, will often do away with the need for the upper tool holder and instead have a mechanism to clamp this end of the blade directly. This clamping mechanism is usually operated by a quick-release lever that also simultaneously tensions the blade. This quick-release mechanism can make for quicker blade changes compared to machines that use the more traditional way of putting tension on the blade. Since blade changes on a scroll saw can be quite a frequent process, this is an important parameter to consider when choosing a scroll saw.

Variable speed

Most scroll saws can oscillate their blades within a range of speeds. This allows the scroll saw cutting action to be adjusted to optimise for the type of material being cut. For instance, when cutting metal, the ultra-fine blades of the scroll saw tend to heat up quickly, especially at high speed, so running the scroll saw at slower cutting speeds can extend their lifespan. Most consumer scroll saws operate in the range of approximately 300 - 1500 strokes per minute.

The maximum thickness of the material being cut

When operating, the upper scroll saw cutting arm is situated a certain distance above the cutting table. This means that scroll saws have a maximum thickness of material that can fit between the oscillating blade arm and the work surface. However, most consumer scroll saws in the consumer space conform to a standard maximum thickness of about 50 mm of wood, so the decision on this specification is mostly already made for you.

Blade cutting arm type

Scrolls saws are quite dynamic machines, and the oscillating arms on the scroll saw tend to generate a lot of vibration, especially at higher oscillation speeds. Excessive vibration can be quite annoying for the operator, but also work accuracy on the scroll saw can be negatively impacted by the unwanted movement. In general, the shorter the oscillating arm, the less vibration transferred to the body of the machine.  This, in turn, means a more stable cutting surface from which to make more accurate cuts.

Worktable size

The work table dimensions on a scroll saw is another parameter one should take into account when looking to buy a machine. That is because getting a scroll saw with too small a work table can mean that larger workpieces will not be sufficiently supported. This can lead to inadvertent tipping of the workpiece during cutting which increases the risk of blade bending and breakage. So taking a few moments to consider the largest size of stock you will be working with is often a worthwhile enterprise before buying the scroll saw.

The mechanism for bevelled or angled cuts

Many scroll saws incorporate the ability to angle their blades relative to the workpiece to produce angled or bevelled cuts. There are generally two mechanisms through which scrolls saws achieve this. Lower-end machines will tilt the work surface of the scroll saw while keeping the blade fixed in the default upright position, while higher-end machines will move the cutting arms instead while keeping the work table on the machine flat. Keeping the work table horizontal is the better option here as the workpiece is less likely to slip to one side while cutting it. This usually increases the accuracy of the scrolling and generally just makes it more comfortable for the operator to work on.

Power

Unlike other power tools, choosing a scroll saw based on its power level is less important. Although higher power machines should mean cutting harder materials faster without slowing down, scroll saw blades are relatively fragile and will likely break before a machine stalls from lack of power. As a result, the power of a machine is a less critical parameter when choosing a scroll saw.