Your Comprehensive Guide to Choose the Best Scroll Saw

:Your Guide to Choose the Best Scroll Saw

Contents

Being a craftsman is an enjoyable profession. But why not make it more enjoyable by using tools that turn the process into a fun and faster process? Although you might enjoy the alone time you spend doing woodwork or metalwork using hand tools, sometimes a quick shortcut is necessary if you’re facing deadlines. So, what tool is better than a scroll saw to accompany you when the client is waiting or when you have 1 day till your friend’s birthday for which you decided to make an artistic craft?

For this purpose, it is worth it to invest in the best scroll saw you can find. But what determines the best scroll saw for each use or goal? Surely, you will find the information you need in the text following.

Best Professional Scroll Saw: Advanced Needs, Advanced Answers

If you’re a professional, you have some advanced needs when it comes to buying tools so that they would fit your high standards of performance. You might already have some things in mind but let’s give you a more comprehensive road map to finding the best scroll saws:

Size and Throat Depth: Big and Deep

The best scroll saw for your professional needs should be large and deep enough (18 inches +) giving you the option of working with bigger workpieces and performing more complex projects.

Speed Control: The Sweetness of Having Options

The more professional your work gets, the more accuracy you’re going to need. So, the best scroll saws for you are the ones that allow you to work with different and precise speeds accommodates to different materials.

Low Vibration: At Ease, Soldier!

This one doesn’t need further explanation. You don’t want to go crazy while working for long hours. So, find a scroll saw with a low vibration.

Efficient Blade Changing Mechanism: Like a Small Assembly Line

blade changing mechanism in the best scroll saw

Remember the deadlines and the stress of the waiting client? Yeah, that’s when you will appreciate a quick blade-changing mechanism.

Addition of a Tilting Table: For Softer Corners

This one helps you make bevel cuts with ease and accuracy. If as a professional, this is an important part of your job, the best scroll saw for you is the one with a tilting table.

Dust Collecting System: So You Don’t Lose track

This system lets you have a clean and dust-free workspace so you can see the track of your saw clearly.

Throat Control: The Ultimate Control

Well, this might just be found in only one of the best scroll saws of all time because not everyone needs it but it allows you, a professional, to apply more controlled force on your material.

Blade Type Compatibility: For a Wider Range of Projects

If your scroll saw has blade-type compatibility, you will be able to work with more materials and get more projects done with a single tool.

Durability: We Want a Long Lifespan

Do we even need to talk about the importance of a sturdy body when it comes to a heavy-duty machine?!

User-Friendly Design

Not that it’s related, but if you professionally create crafts, scrollworks, inlays, intarsia, fretwork, models, … your scroll saw is your best friend. Who wants an unfriendly best friend?!

The best scroll saw is easy to learn and work with.

Quiet Operations: Hush!

Well, because you might enjoy listening to music more than the sound of a heavy machine.

Advanced Features: Don’t settle!

Features like laser guides, digital displays, foot pedals, … are great additions that will provide you with a smoother working session.

Now, given the information you can choose what features are necessary for you. But we want to make it easier on you. That’s why, if you’re a beginner, just skip the first list and focus on this next part.

Best Scroll Saw for Beginners: Start Small

The things you should be on the watch for are basically the same list a professional should consider. But there are some differences. This table pretty much sums it up:

The best scroll saw:

You have a holistic view of the things you should consider whether you’re a beginner or a professional. Now let’s dig a little deeper and see what is important when choosing the best scroll saws for different professions.

Best Scroll Saw for Woodworking: Choose the Top Tool to Create Art

This is one of the primary uses of scroll saws. The job, demands accuracy and detailing. That’s why you should choose your tools carefully.

To choose the best scroll saw for woodworking look out for a couple of things:

Size and throat depth: A large throat (18 and more) is essential for larger and more complex wood pieces.
Table Size: As you might work with heavy and large wood pieces, having a spacious table gives you the freedom to work comfortably.
Precision and Accuracy: Needless to say, making crafts out of wood requires accuracy. So, you should opt for scroll saws with features that support accuracy; like a sturdy worktable, an adjustable hold-down foot, …
Bevel Capacity: Covering a wide range of bevel capacities lets you create various types of bevels.
Speed Control: Variable speed control accommodates different materials and projects.
Vibration: Minimal vibration for smoother and more precise cuts is a must when working with wood.
Blade Changing Mechanism: A quick and easy blade-changing system helps you have a more efficient scroll sawing session.
Table Tilt: A tilting table is necessary if you’re looking to create bevel cuts and angled joints.
Dust Collection: An effective dust collection system gives you the liberty of having a cleaner workspace
Throat Control: In advanced models, this feature allows for adjusting the tension and having better control and accuracy.
Blade Compatibility: Compatibility with different blade types and sizes, enables you to perform different woodworking tasks
Construction: Sturdiness and durability enable you to work easily for longer periods of time
Controls: Easy-to-use features give you more control and make the operation more user-friendly.
Quiet Operation: For a calmer workspace with less distraction, the best scroll saws are the quieter ones.
Advanced Features: Features like laser guides, digital display, foot pedals, …

Best Scroll Saw for Metal: for Your Shiny Buddies

Although it might seem like woodworking is what scroll saws are used for, you can actually use them to create stuff using metals. Making art, jewelry, inlays, models, metal fretwork, metal clock faces, metal ornaments, architectural metalwork, and stained glass framing, … requires detailing tools like a scroll saw. But what should you be looking for?

A lot of the considerations are the same as the best scroll saw for woodworking.

Motor Power: As metalworking requires more force, a robust motor is required
Size and throat depth: Large throat of at least 16 inches
Speed Control: Variable speed control to accommodate different types and thicknesses of metal
Coolant System: A built-in cooling system is necessary for avoiding overheating and helping with having a longer blade lifespan
Durability: As metalworking can strain your scroll saw, choosing one that can withstand this type of operation is a must.
Safety Features: Features like blade guards and emergency stop switches are what give you the assurance of being safe while working.
Noise Level: The quieter your scroll saw, the calmer your working session.

Best Scroll Saw for Crafting: Let Your Inner Artist Roam Easily

If you’re a DIYer or professional craftsman, you definitely long for precision. So, that’s the most important part of the game for you to keep your eyes on. The best scroll saw for you must have compatible, fine, and small blades that can be used in delicate work. Having a dust blower is a really useful addition when you’re doing detailed work so that your vision is not compromised.

Best Scroll Saw for Marquetry

To choose the best scroll saws for marquetry you have to consider one with a moderate throat depth of around 16 inches or more. This way your movements will not be restricted and you can freely work on your marquetry designs.

Alongside the throat depth, you should look out for:

Variable Speed Control
Low Vibration
Blade Compatibility
Blade Changing Mechanism
Table tilt
Dust Blower
Sturdy Construction
User-friendly Control
Lower Noise
Advanced Options

Best 16 Scroll Saw

Well, for this one the throat depth is already determined. But as for the rest of the specifications of the best scroll saw with a 16-inch throat, consider the list we provided you in the previous sections.

Best Heavy-Duty Scroll Saw

The most important thing to consider when looking for a heavy-duty scroll saw is the motor power. The best scroll saw for heavy-duty tasks should have a motor with 1.5 to 2.5 horsepower or more. This will make sure your scroll saw will cut through thick and dense material like butter!

The throat depth for heavy-duty jobs should be 20 inches or more so that you can maneuver larger workpieces.

As per usual, the rest of the specifications we’ve mentioned should be compatible with heavy-duty tasks accordingly.

Best Compact Scroll Saw

You might have a tiny workspace, or small projects overall, or you might just need to take your tools somewhere. This is where compact-sized tools will be your buddy! But being small isn’t the only thing that matters when choosing the best scroll saw.

Note that compact ones naturally have smaller throats, around 12 inches. Also, their motor power ranges somewhere between 1.10 to 1.3 horsepower. The other things we’ve mentioned before can also apply to compact-sized scroll saws.

Dremel MS20-01 Moto-Saw Variable Speed Compact Scroll Saw Kit is a good choice if you like things small.

Now that we’ve learned about different types of the best scroll saws and how to recognize one, it’s time to talk money.

Best Scroll Saw for the Money

Let’s face it: in many scenarios, budget matters kind of the most. Sometimes, you just care about the budget and sometimes you’re looking for something that has it all. Either way, stay assured that we have answers for you.

Finding the best-value scroll saw that has a balance between price and quality can be a tough job. But we have a solution for you.

In Ronix we offer you tools with a balance between quality, features, performance, and price. Although it might be difficult to find reasonable-priced options that have not sacrificed the quality or better said, are worth the money you spend on them, Ronix comes to the rescue. We guide you to receive one of the best-value scroll saws.

Best Budget Scroll Saw

If your priority is merely focused on finding the least expensive option on the market that’s still functional, you still have choices. In this case, think about buying the WEN 3920 16-inch Variable Speed Scroll Saw to get yourself a deal. This tool offers you relatively good quality features for its price and is considered one of the best-value scroll saws.

Best Scroll Saw Overall

Overall, as you witnessed yourself, there’s not one best scroll saw we can prescribe for everyone. Firstly, you need to sort out your priorities according to your needs; whether you’re a beginner or a professional, different types of scroll saws are going to satisfy your requirements. Whether you’re working with wood or metal, different settings in a scroll saw will answer your needs. So, you can use this holistic article to find yourself the best scroll saw and get your tasks done the best way possible.

Buying Guide for the Best Scroll Saw

Finally, it’s time to sum up everything we talked about up until now so you can find the best scroll saw with ease. Keep these criteria in mind when you’re researching to buy a scroll saw: