Best Scroll Saws 2026: 8 Scroll Saws for Beginners and Advanced Woodworkers

A band saw can rip and resaw all day, but ask it to turn a tight corner mid-cut and it just tears the pattern apart.

Fretwork, portrait cutting, and intarsia all need something else entirely, a scroll saw that can pivot inside a cut without losing the line.

We tested eight scroll saws across beginner and advanced use, checking blade tension consistency, vibration at speed, and how cleanly each one turned a tight interior corner.

The DEWALT DW788 20-Inch Variable Speed Scroll Saw topped the field at $499. Its parallel-link arm design cuts vibration dramatically compared to the rigid-arm saws in this lineup, which matters most on long, detailed fretwork passes where a shaky table ruins the line.es down to matching throat capacity and vibration control to the detail level of your projects. Beginners often start with something compact and affordable like the Dremel MS20-01 Moto-Saw ($79) or the SKIL 16-inch model ($149), both of which keep costs low while a new woodworker learns blade tension and feed rate. More advanced cutters upgrade to the DEWALT DW788 ($499) or the JET JWSS-18B ($449) for longer stroke lengths and less vibration on extended sessions, while the Excalibur EX-21 ($899) with its 21-inch throat is built for the largest fretwork patterns. The Rikon 10-600VS ($269) adds a built-in lamp that's genuinely useful for following fine pattern lines. Cutting performance, variable speed range, vibration control, and blade change convenience are compared across all eight saws below.

What Makes a Scroll Saw Different from Other Woodworking Saws

Scroll saws use a thin, reciprocating blade that moves up and down through a workpiece. The blade is suspended between two arms (upper and lower), and the table has a hole in the center through which the blade passes. Because the blade is thin and the cut is vertical rather than horizontal, scroll saws can cut extremely tight curves and interior cutouts that no other saw can match.

Interior cuts (fretwork, portrait cutouts) require drilling a small hole, threading the blade through, and re-attaching the blade before cutting. This is unique to scroll saws.

What scroll saws do well:

• Tight curves and spirals in wood up to about 2 inches thick
• Interior cutouts for ornaments, clocks, and fretwork
• Intarsia (cutting and fitting different wood species together)
• Portrait cutting from patterns
• Cutting thin veneer and inlay materials

What they do not do:

• Straight rip cuts (use a table saw or bandsaw)
• Resawing or cutting thick stock (use a bandsaw)
• Fast crosscutting (use a miter saw)

Throat Depth: What It Means

The throat depth of a scroll saw is the distance from the blade to the back of the arm. A 16-inch throat means you can work on a piece up to 16 inches wide from the edge to the cut. A 20-inch throat allows 20-inch-wide pieces.

For most hobbyists, 16 inches is sufficient. Larger portrait work, large clocks, and wide fretwork panels may require 20 inches or more.

Variable Speed: Why It Matters

Different materials require different speeds:

• Softwood and thin plywood: higher speeds (1,200-1,750 SPM) work well
• Hardwood: medium speeds (800-1,200 SPM) for better control
• Acrylic and plastics: low speeds (400-600 SPM) to prevent melting
• Veneer and thin material: low speeds to prevent tearout

A scroll saw without variable speed locks you into one compromise speed that is not ideal for any particular material. Variable speed is worth the price difference.

Pin-End vs Pinless Blades

Pin-end blades: have a small cross pin at each end that hooks into the blade clamp. Easy to change, but the pin limits the minimum radius cut you can make. Cannot thread through a small interior hole for fretwork.

Pinless blades: plain ends that fit into a universal blade clamp. Allow smaller holes for interior fretwork starts. Required for fine fretwork work.

Most serious scroll saw work uses pinless blades. Choose a saw that accepts both types for maximum flexibility.

Blades and Patterns Worth Adding

A scroll saw is only as good as the blade in it, and a fresh, correctly chosen blade produces dramatically better results than a dull stock blade:

Skip-tooth assortment: an assortment such as the Olson FR49400 skip-tooth pack covers multiple TPI options in one purchase, so you can match blade to material without ordering single blades one at a time. Skip-tooth geometry removes material faster with less heat and burning than a dull stock blade.

Spiral blades: for extremely tight inside curves in fretwork and pierced work, a spiral blade like the Olson SP46300 cuts in any direction without rotating the workpiece, at the cost of a rougher cut surface that needs more sanding.

Pattern books: a graded pattern collection, such as the Scroll Saw Pattern Book by Patrick Spielman, gives beginners full-size patterns that transfer directly to the wood, removing the scaling and design work that otherwise slows down a first project.