A scroll saw is a saw for cutting fine details. The motion it makes is almost like electric handsaw with a tiny strip of metal so it can get into really tight corners. The blade detaches fairly easily, and is so small that the big advantage is being able to cut inside a board, unlike a band saw. Jigsaws have a problem where the jigsaw blade is only secured on one side so it flaps around a lot, and a cut that looks perfect on one side is raggedy on the other; scrollsaws secure the bleade on both sides so there’s less of that nonsense. The blade is thin, so it’ll curve if you push it too hard and stretch over time, but even then, the worst of the curve is in the middle, not on the end.
I took a class with one, liked it enough to get a ryobi for christmas. Used that till it broke, and then saved up and got the big dewalt. I genuinely prefer using it to the bandsaw for any piece of wood under an inch. I’ve been surprised by how useful it is. Sadly, I think the best use case for the tool is dying out as more people can just get something like a glowforge or cnc. Yeah you may start at 5x the cost of a cheap scrollsaw, but for beginners the resulting work is also much more exact.
Thanks for making that comment. I recently thought the exact same thing, started a post but then deleted it, because “the internet” and all.
But the feeling was just about the same: I wanted to start a conversation with people that care about similar things as I do. It’s good to see that it happens.
Regarding scroll saws: I recently found a Proxxon DS230 on a thrift haul. Don’t bother with that model, it sucks. Now I’m in that weird spot where a potential new activity / “fab method” might have been ruined by a shoddy tool.
It’s funny. I have a Proxxon manual mini metal lathe and mill combo which I bought new. And it’s absolutely fantastic (for its price). Proxxon occupies this weird niche in the market where they try to make a suite of entry level tools that professionals would use, but they’re still hobby grade in many ways. Good tools to learn about tools.
Perhaps it is price though. I paid almost $3k for my lathe/mill combo from them, fully kitted out. The DS230 is like $300 when new, which is damned cheap for something not made in China. Could be that you got what you paid for :/
Imagine a jigsaw, except it’s table mounted (so you move the wood, not the saw), and the blade is really, really narrow and held top and bottom. Good for very fine work - like a powered coping saw or fretsaw.
Band saw is well, a band (think belt, like the belts on a car engine) that runs on pulleys, so the saw moves continiously in one direction (downward). Plus the blade is much larger, for cutting large pieces. The blade is 1/2" or more from teeth to spine. It’s not really intended for making curves it can do fairly large radius curves, and removes more wood because the blade is about twice as thick as a coping or scroll saw. A band saw couldn’t produce the piecs in the post, because the saw band is a continuous loop.
A scroll saw is effectively a motorized coping saw, very fine, narrow blade, about 1/8" from teeth to spine, so it can do very short radius cuts. The blade moves up and down like a jig saw, but it’s on a stationary unit - there’s a deck you put your workpiece on and move the work on the deck around the blade.
a band saw the blade is a contiguous loop, in a scroll saw the blade is just 5 inches long (6?). You can thus put the blade through a hole in the work and cut inside parts (if you can weld blades you could do this with a bandsaw). Bandsaws have a blade guard which makes it a bit harder to see where you are cutting. For find work like the above a scroll saw is better than a small blade in the bandsaw. However the bandsaw can do much heavier work (resaw) and so if often a good enough compromise for people who don’t do much fine work.
What’s a scroll saw? I know I can look it up, but it’s more fun to engage in conversation with people that nerd over specific things.
Size of a high coffee table. It’s got a thin blade so can cut very sharp corners. He has it in his bedroom in the retirement apartments.
A scroll saw is a saw for cutting fine details. The motion it makes is almost like electric handsaw with a tiny strip of metal so it can get into really tight corners. The blade detaches fairly easily, and is so small that the big advantage is being able to cut inside a board, unlike a band saw. Jigsaws have a problem where the jigsaw blade is only secured on one side so it flaps around a lot, and a cut that looks perfect on one side is raggedy on the other; scrollsaws secure the bleade on both sides so there’s less of that nonsense. The blade is thin, so it’ll curve if you push it too hard and stretch over time, but even then, the worst of the curve is in the middle, not on the end.
I took a class with one, liked it enough to get a ryobi for christmas. Used that till it broke, and then saved up and got the big dewalt. I genuinely prefer using it to the bandsaw for any piece of wood under an inch. I’ve been surprised by how useful it is. Sadly, I think the best use case for the tool is dying out as more people can just get something like a glowforge or cnc. Yeah you may start at 5x the cost of a cheap scrollsaw, but for beginners the resulting work is also much more exact.
Thanks for making that comment. I recently thought the exact same thing, started a post but then deleted it, because “the internet” and all.
But the feeling was just about the same: I wanted to start a conversation with people that care about similar things as I do. It’s good to see that it happens.
Regarding scroll saws: I recently found a Proxxon DS230 on a thrift haul. Don’t bother with that model, it sucks. Now I’m in that weird spot where a potential new activity / “fab method” might have been ruined by a shoddy tool.
It’s funny. I have a Proxxon manual mini metal lathe and mill combo which I bought new. And it’s absolutely fantastic (for its price). Proxxon occupies this weird niche in the market where they try to make a suite of entry level tools that professionals would use, but they’re still hobby grade in many ways. Good tools to learn about tools.
Perhaps it is price though. I paid almost $3k for my lathe/mill combo from them, fully kitted out. The DS230 is like $300 when new, which is damned cheap for something not made in China. Could be that you got what you paid for :/
Imagine a jigsaw, except it’s table mounted (so you move the wood, not the saw), and the blade is really, really narrow and held top and bottom. Good for very fine work - like a powered coping saw or fretsaw.
How does that compare to a band saw?
Band saw is well, a band (think belt, like the belts on a car engine) that runs on pulleys, so the saw moves continiously in one direction (downward). Plus the blade is much larger, for cutting large pieces. The blade is 1/2" or more from teeth to spine.
It’s not really intended for making curvesit can do fairly large radius curves, and removes more wood because the blade is about twice as thick as a coping or scroll saw. A band saw couldn’t produce the piecs in the post, because the saw band is a continuous loop.A scroll saw is effectively a motorized coping saw, very fine, narrow blade, about 1/8" from teeth to spine, so it can do very short radius cuts. The blade moves up and down like a jig saw, but it’s on a stationary unit - there’s a deck you put your workpiece on and move the work on the deck around the blade.
a band saw the blade is a contiguous loop, in a scroll saw the blade is just 5 inches long (6?). You can thus put the blade through a hole in the work and cut inside parts (if you can weld blades you could do this with a bandsaw). Bandsaws have a blade guard which makes it a bit harder to see where you are cutting. For find work like the above a scroll saw is better than a small blade in the bandsaw. However the bandsaw can do much heavier work (resaw) and so if often a good enough compromise for people who don’t do much fine work.