Band saw or Scroll saw - difference? What to buy?

It would depend on what your trying to do. The depth of cut on a scroll saw is pretty limiting. Have you tried a thinner blade on your Jet? You should be able to use a 1/4” blade on it. I would suggest tryong a finer blade on your Jet before buying another saw… (unless your planning to do scroll projects)

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Bandsaw’s were primarily designed for resawing as scroll saws are designed for intricate fret work. Bandsaw’s are also known for bandsaw boxes.. I have Grizzly G0555 and I can put an 1/8” blade on it for scroll work but its hard to track and ofcourse there is no speed control. If your stock is less than 2” then its probably best to use the scroll saw especially if yours has a speed control on it and you want to do the fretwork. Leave the bigger projects for the bandsaw. They really are two entirely different machines. If your shopping around for a scroll I do not recommend pin types as they are very limited. Also do not under any circumstance by the Grizzly 20” scroll saw. Worst vibrations and blade drift I have ever seen. Check the reviews before you buy.

-- All donations should be made out to me and in the form of wood or tools ~Chris

I bought my scroll saw first, in my case a mistake (however this afforded me a ready excuse to purchase a band saw)..haha.
As indicated above the intended use will be the determining factor. Good luck!!!

-- Brad,--"The way to eat an eliphant is one bite at a time"

I agree with Wayne – if you are not going to do a lot of fine work – just get a smaller blade for the bandsaw. Here is a link of a post I did on Sawmill Creek – Betsy Yocum Big minnow – little minnow 10-17-2004, 9:35 PM

You can do a lot with a bandsaw – but to do stuff this small you really need a scroll saw. I used to do a lot more scrolling than I do now, but if you get a scroll saw – check the amount of vibration. Each saw is a bit different. I have a Dewalt 20” throat saw and really like it. I was particular though and it took three trips to get a saw that’s vibration was not bad on. I’m not sure if I just got unlucky getting two DeWalts that vibrated or if I was just really picky. However, the DeWalt that is in my shop has very little vibration and I can do some pretty small intricate work with it.

If you get a used saw to try them out – definetly stay away from saws that require a pin blade – pin blades are hard to work with and are almost impossible to do a lot of intricate small inside cuts.

Hope this helps a little.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

I am not sure I know what a pin blade is. What are the other options for blades? The Hitachi I listed above seems to be a pin blade “Accepts pin end of plain end blade types” <laugh> that sure makes me feel dumb.

Maybes a small band saw is the way to go since I want to be able to do some detailed work without having to change the blade on the 18” band saw (primarily used for resawing).

I don’t think I have enough info to buy just yet. Dang that will make my wife happy <laugh>

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

We had a pretty good discussion on this a few days ago. This might help you a bit. Linkage!

Cheers!

Tom

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Good info on the link. I think a small band saw may be what I need. Thanks guys

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..