Best Scroll Saw Blades in 2022 – Top Picks & Reviews

If you’re quite a scroll saw user, you know that there are many types of scroll saw blades and but for a newbie, every blade looks similar. 

The thing is every scroll saw blade has a different purpose based on its type, quality, No of tooth count, thickness, or width. You will only know how a blade performs after using it not before that. 

So the question is How do you pick the best scroll saw blade for you?

After the reviews, I will also share how to choose the scroll saw blade for anything. So, Stay tuned.

Keep Reading…

It’s not always easy to pick the one blade online just based on the seller’s description. There are many blades that are multi-purpose (used to cut many things other than just wood) and then some are only for wood.

And if you are someone who spends a lot of time creating patterns on a scroll saw, you may say Olson produces good scroll saw blade.

Even if for you Olson makes the best blades but you have to keep in mind the project details because you need to choose the blade based on that.

So, all things aside, we are sharing the best scroll saw blades of 2022 for whatever purpose you want to use it for like: cutting hardwood, metal (Steel, Aluminum), Plywood, Flexiglass or even to use in other tools like Jigsaw or bandsaw.

4 Best Scroll Saw Blades 2022 – Reviews

---

1. Olson PG49802 Scroll Saw Blade Set (18 Pieces)

Every blade in this set is 5 inches pinless. Olson PG49802 is a precision ground tooth blades set. One the best thing about them is they are razor-sharp reverse teeth that provide an ultra smooth finish on the close or straight radius. 

Unlike other blades, PGT (precision ground tooth) blades provide you straight, smoother, accurate and aster cutting. You won’t see any burning of material or I’ll say it minimize the burning and provide clean edges with sand-free splinterless finish.

If you want to use them for hardwood they will come as best as they have a double tooth which is good for cutting hardwoods

There are 3 blade sets of 6 each included: 12/8, 10.⅝, 9/6 rev TPI with them you can cut 3/16”, ¼”, ½” or thicker materials respectively.

They are made of carbon steel which means they have up to 3 to 4 times of cutting life. Being heavy-duty and commercial grade blades, it is recommended by scroll experts for any woodworking or DIY project.

If you have a scroll saw on which use pinned or plain end blades, then you need to sand both ends of the blade with and wipe it with alcohol to provide it some grip for your saw to hold it.

“You can use its Pin end alternative of 3 sets here OLSON SAW FR49501, if you don’t wanna mess like above.”

Overall, these are good scroll saw blades that can cut nearly anything but we suggest you not to use for non-ferrous metals. 

2. Flying Dutchman Spiral Five Variety Scroll Saw Blades

Flying Dutchman blades are made in Germany from hardened steel alloy which are 5 inches long. These are pinless blades like Olson so you have to sand the both ends to make it rigid to fit in your scroll saw.

As these are spiral so they have the quality to make bevel cut letters etc. Means you can make bevel cuts with them as Spiral blades can saw in all directions hence they have the 360-degree cutting capability. You don’t have to turn the workpiece for 0 degrees radio scroll/fret work. If you have seen some numbers or letter scroll patterns, they are made with these spiral scroll saw blades.

This blade set has 5 sets with 12 blades in each set. These are milled blades means they are sharped enough before you receive them which provides you clear and accurate cuts. If you don’t know spiral blades with teeth down on both sides and twisted provides smoother cut than regular spiral blades.

This Flying Dutchman Variety Pack includes one dozen of each of the following blade sizes: #3/0, #2/0, #1, #3, and #5. You can make 360-degree cuts by moving the piece around the blade.

3. SKIL 80182 Plain End Scroll Saw Blade – Value for Money

This SKIL 80182 scroll saw blade set is made with premium grade steel which keeps it rust-resistant and provides longer life. There are 3 sets of 12 blades each in different sizes. Means you can use these 36 blades for a long time for a different type of tasks. 

The blade set includes 12 blades with 28 teeth per inch, 12 with 11.5 teeth per inch, and 12 with 9.5 teeth per inch. For the price, these blades will provide full value for money. 

These plain end blades are hardened hence can be used for high-speed cutting and intricate cuts. Due to the positive cutting angle and widely spaced teeth, you can also use them for cutting horn, wood or similar materials. As per SKIL, these are recommended for woods, plastics, and non-ferrous metals and fits most major brands of scroll saws.

They are made from high-quality steel so you can expect them to last longer but unfortunately as stated by some users they don’t last long. So you need to choose from our top 2 picks.

4. Delta 40-521 Precision Ground Sharp Scroll Saw Blades

The Delta 40-519 Scroll Saw Blades set includes 12 blades with specs 062 wide x .024 thick x 9.5 TPI. You can use them for straight line cutting, nothing more. The good thing is they cut much faster and straight then SKIL80182 with fewer efforts without any material burning.

They also come under in the best blade type category like Olson PG49802 which is Precision Ground. The dual-direction teeth on this set allow you to cut smoothly on upstroke and downstroke on the scroll saw. 

They are plan ended blades so works with only Delta 40-519. You can use them for metal cutting and also they may break while using on harder woods and MDF as well.

If you haven’t found the perfect scroll saw for these blades, Check out our top 5 Scroll saw picks.

What are the Different Types of Scroll Saw Blades?

There are mainly two types of scroll saw blades: pin-end and plain-end. Most scroll saws use plain-end blades where their end is plain rather than spiral or pinned while the pin-end requires a larger blade entry hole for cuts.

Buying Guide

By now you must have known that what kind of blades you should look for. If you are still unclear about choosing the best scroll saw blade, this buying guide will help you. 

Before we even start, here are the things you need to keep in mind: Blade material, Blade size, Tooth Configuration, Plain end or Pin end.

Blade Material:

The blades which are made from hardened steel with a stone wheel like one we mention as our top pick Olson PG49802, these ground blades which have precision ground tooth provides straight, fast, and accurate cuts and eliminates the burning of material.

The other benefit of the blades made from this material is they last longer, 3 to 4 times of standard blades. If you are doing the scroll work where minimal sanding and chip-free edges matter, you must use them.

If you use a blade which is made from soft steel and then tempered with heat, are milled blades such as Flying Dutchman we mentioned at No. 2. They are similar to band saw blade. Even though they are mich similar to Ground blades (PGT) above but due to the manufacturing process it will affect their straight cutting process. As compared to Olson, they have only 1-1/2 thousandths of an inch difference which no one can really notice.

Teeth Count:

The number of teeth your blade has per inch, tells you how good and accurate cut it will make.

Blades that have more teeth per inch (such as 14 TPI) but smaller tooth style and less thick then it is best for cutting softwood with fast and accurate cuts without any burning. Sometimes we need to work tight curved scroll saw projects where these blades with high TPI works best. Even though these blades are much thinner as their thickness is somewhere around 0.010 to 0.015” hence more fragile. You can’t cut the hardest materials with these blades.

If you want a coarser cut you need to have less TPI such as 3 to 5 which is good to cut hardwood. Since these blades much thicker with thickness around 0.017 to 0.040”, you can make faster cuts on any kind of material due to more width and kerf. These blades are best for rough cuts where you need large curves as they won’t break easily due to few teeth per inch (TPI).

Tooth Configuration:

Every manufacturer has a different way of describing teeth per inch as blades come in different sizes and tooth configurations. The teeth per inch, TPI method is a bit challenging for users to decide which blade to buy.

A. Regular Tooth Blade: They have teeth in zigzag form as you can see from the image. All the teeth are at equal distance from each other. Like where one tooth end and other starts. They are used most commonly. If you want to cut faster and in a straight line they are your best bet. 

If you want to make a tight radius cut, use blade with a lower number of teeth for best performance. For more general purpose cut, use blade with higher teeth count. 

B. Skip-tooth blades: They are the second most common after regular configuration. Unlike regular blades, they have space between one tooth to second to last. They have space left between where one tooth end and others starts to clear sawdust. That’s why they provide smooth finish and good chip clearance. Depends on the blade size you use, you can cut cold-rolled steel, copper, brass, aluminum sheet and bronze.

C. Double-tooth blades: They are similar to Skip tooth except in them there is a flat space after back to back two teeth. Due to this configuration, it can’t cut faster but provide smooth and clean edges for wood and plastic. Also, it will provide efficient chip removal due to blade design. 

D. Reverse-tooth blades: They are a mix of skip style or double-tooth configuration. Due to the skip style and reverse teeth, this blade removes any tear-out you have on the material and provides a smooth splinter-free finish in bottom cut than other blades. If you use a blade with more TPI for softwood, you will get finer cuts and to make rougher cuts on hardwood, use blade with less TPI. You can use these blades for application in line art, extreme radius cutting, delicate fretwork, close radius, multi-layers and thick wood, heavy-duty for hardwood. 

E. Two-way cut blades:  Similar to reverse tooth, with space with between two teeth together pointing downward and one tooth pointing upward. They cut much slower than any other blade but with a smoother finish. 

F. Crown-tooth blades: They have the most unique configuration like crown shape. One tooth pointing upward and one down, allowing you to cut both up and down strokes. With two way cutting, you will get smooth, splinterless finish, and clean edges. To get the best out of them, you need to tension them properly otherwise it will weaken their performance. 

G. Spiral blades: They come in two forms – flat end spiral and only spiral blades. 

As you can see from the name, Flat end spiral blades are the same as regular spiral blades but with a flat end which makes it easier for installation and retention. They come in 2 sizes with thickness 0.035” and 0.041” and used for medium finish of hard and softwood at medium speed. They only cut in one direction due to the flat end. 

On the other hand, a regular spiral is twisted like a spiral and can cut in 360 degree direction front, back, and side to side. They are the best option for zero radius and fretwork without even turning the workpiece to bevel cut letters and numbers.

Conclusion:

By now you must have known that why Olson PG49802 is named has the best scroll saw blade. Because it is made from the material which gives you straight and clear cuts. Moreover, it comes under Precision Ground Tooth (PGT) which is the best blade used by many scroll saw experts and recommended by them.

On the other hand, we have the SKIL 80182 blade set which has 36 blades in total and provides you value for money. Even though it is not as durable and long-lasting as Olson but still you can use them for high speed and intricate cuts.

More saw blade:

• Which miter saw blade is our favorite?