Some may think of scroll saws and band saws as two different types of saws intended to do the same thing. They’re both stationary saws capable of cutting curves in material with a narrow kerf but that's about as far as their similarity goes. Besides that, the two tools are quite different, both in purpose and in function.
and saws are able to be used for much heavier work than scroll saws are. One of their prime uses is for re-sawing boards which is something no other saw can do correctly. Some band saws are big enough that they are used as sawmill, something you could never think of doing with a scroll saw.
The scroll saw is designed for detail work and it excels at that. There is no other power saw that can make the fine cuts that scroll saws can, especially for marquetry, inlay, and lacework in wood.
Some people use their scroll saw for general woodworking, such as making scrollwork or gingerbread trim for bookshelves. Others use them for making what are essentially wood pictures, whether these are done as cutouts (lacework) or marquetry (inlaid wood pictures). These two branches of woodworking are specialized enough that their practitioners typically focus on those areas to the exclusion of other types of woodworking.
The more detailed a work you are going to do on your scroll saw, the better a saw you need. If you’re only cutting scrolling shelf supports once in a while, you can get by with a discount scroll saw with no problem. However, if you’re planning on using your scroll saw for the more artistic scrolling, then you want to be sure to buy a high dollar one.
It is important to mount the scroll saws properly, whether to a workbench or on a stand. The saw tends to create a lot of vibration which will cause it to walk across the surface of a workbench. It’s very hard to control when that’s happening which could cause some serious errors.
The grain of some woods may cause the blade to turn and follow the grain line, rather than your intended cut line. Woodworkers who do marquetry have a lot of problem with this as they use jeweler's blades in their scroll saw. To eliminate this twisting, it helps to make a special hardened steel insert for the table, which has a slot in it only as wide as the blade.
Just looking at them, one could easily think that all scroll saws are basically the same, but they aren’t. The main difference between them is the type of drive that they use.
Scroll saws vary widely in price and quality. While they all do the same job, they don’t all do it to the same degree of perfection.
How good a scroll saw you need depends a lot on the type of work you are planning on using it for:
Types of Scroll Saws
Parallel Arm Saws
Ideal for delicate or intricate work, such as the profile picture cutting that is so prevalent amongst scrollers. The blade stays more perpendicular to the workpiece, with considerably less undercut. This is also the type of saw to use for marquetry (wood veneer inlays).
C-arm Saws
These are less expensive and have a slight front to back oscillation in their cut stroke. While this is not much of a problem when the saw is used for cutting scrolled shelf brackets, it can be a problem for fine detail work.
Eclipse Scroll Saws
While I included it in the C-arm saw list, it really isn't a C-arm saw; nor is it a parallel arm saw. The Eclipse uses a belt, rather than any sort of arm. This allows true vertical cutting, without any forward or backwards movement. That means that the Eclipse is the best saw for detailed cutting, as it virtually eliminate splintering of the wood, as well as blade breakage.
Blade breakage is a real problem with scroll saws. Between heating from the friction of cutting and binding in tight cuts, blades are easily broken. The longer the blade stroke, the less likely the blade is to break, simply because the friction will be spread over a larger area, reducing heat.
Features to Look For in a Scroll Saw
Blowers and Dust Collection Ports
Like with most power tools, dust is a real problem when cutting with scroll saws. However, the problem is multiplied by the need to for extremely accurate cuts. For this reason, scroll saws come with built-in blowers to keep the cut line cleaned of sawdust. They also have dust collection ports so you can hook up a shop-vac or dust collection system to them. This is highly recommended, so your cuts aren’t messed up by sawdust.
Work Lights
Some scroll saws come with flexible work lights to help with visibility. This is a great help as most overhead lights get shadowed by the woodworker’s head or body. Some people mount a flexible arm magnifying glass by their scroll saw, to help them see their workpiece better which is especially useful for intricate detail work.
Ease of Blade Change
Besides cutting in such a way as to avoid any undercut or splintering, another important thing to look for on a scroll saw is the ability to change blades quickly and easily. Much scroll saw work is done on internal cuts where the blade has to be put through a hole in the workpiece in order to begin the cut. A saw without a quick release for the blade tension will drive you nuts if you do a lot of this particular work.
The Table
The table is also necessary to ensure the workpiece is held perpendicular to the blade. Low cost saws may have stamped steel tables which will have a bit of a bow in them which will affect the quality of the cut. The best tables are cast-iron which is then ground to make it flat across the entire table.