The Craftsman 16" Scroll Saw Review - The Go-To for Serious Hobbyists

Let’s take a close look at this terrific Craftsman 16″ Variable Speed Scroll Saw . When it comes to cutting difficult curves and joints, a scroll saw can be one of the most important tools you have. A scroll saw can help you complete tasks much more quickly and with a greater degree of accuracy. Without one, you may not be able to complete intricate jobs at all.

But how do you choose the best one? There are a lot of choices out there, and it can be difficult to know which one is the best. Luckily, we have been able to find one of the top contenders and this is a full review of that scroll saw so that you can see if it is everything you want in this type of tool.

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Table of Contents

Why this is a Great Tool

This is a great saw for a lot of reasons, but one of the main ones is the fact that it comes from Craftsman. Craftsman is one of the most respected and popular names for professional tools currently on the market. However, this saw also has other things going for it that make it superior to other scroll saws on the market. For example, this scroll saw is packed with features, but it is also priced cheaply for consumers. There is a great balance of a consumer-friendly price and all of the features that you could want from a scroll saw.

Specifically, some of the features that make this saw one of the best picks include the parallel-arm system that has fewer components than competitors, reducing vibration and making the saw easier to handle. The worktable features cast-iron construction and 45 degrees of tilt to provide you with as much flexibility as you need for the job you’re doing. Simply put, this is a powerful and versatile saw that will make it easier to get intricate cutting done on a near-professional level.

Let’s take an in-depth look at all of the useful things that Craftsman has thought of to give you the perfect scroll saw and the one that is been the most useful to me out of several scroll saws that I have owned.

In-Depth Review

The Craftsman 16” scroll saw is pretty amazing for the affordable price that Craftsman is offering it at. You can complete any woodworking project, large or small, thanks to the flexibility that this offers. That starts with the worktable that we were just discussing, but it continues with variable speed settings that allow you to make multiple adjustments within a 400 to 1600 strokes per minute range. You’ll be able to cut through plastic, soft metals and this saw cuts wood like a knife through butter.

This is also an extremely powerful saw; with voltage of 120 and 1.6 amps. The throat depth is 16 inches and it will work with any standard 5″ pin and plain-end (pinless) blade. In addition, you can direct the debris so it doesn’t blow in your face and there is a dust extraction port that connects directly to your shop vac to get rid of the debris inside. It comes with a couple of different blades as well as a blade wrench, plus there is storage on the saw itself to hold any additional blades that you buy. You can cut up to two inches deep when cutting at 90 degrees and one inch deep when cutting at 45 degrees.

Advantages

Extremely flexible
Gives you the ability to do finer detail cuts and have much more finesse with your blade than with most of the other scroll saws out there.
Does most intricate work easily; You will notice a major difference if you often make intricate cuts
This is a compact and portable saw, but it is also very solidly built and durable
Craftsman covers it with an excellent warranty.

Drawbacks

Changing the blade is a little bit of a pain. The design could be a lot better when it comes to how you take the blade off and put the new one on
This is a Craftsman consumer model. You can do a whole lot with this saw – much more than you would expect for the price – but this is not a commercial scroll saw

Recommendation

So, should you get this scroll saw? Unless you are buying it for serious hobby work the answer is yes. Even if you only do commercial work once in a while you should still get this saw. I was able to completely every project so far with this saw, even really intricate work that I didn’t expect this saw to be able to keep up with.

I’m not saying that this saw will do everything. There are probably a lot of limitations if you have higher standards for your woodworking than I do. Someone that spends 40 hours a week cutting wood patterns and need a little more intricacy than this provides, there are a couple of other Craftsman models that can do better. But for nearly everyone else, this is the perfect scroll saw.

Where to Find the Craftsman 16” Variable Speed Scroll Saw

You can find the Craftsman scroll saw lots of different places. If you go to Sears, you may be able to find on the shelf and if not then you can definitely find it online. You can also get it on Amazon, or on most of the major online tool retailers. If you go to this saw’s page on the Craftsman website, there is actually a tool that you can use to find out which stores near you are most likely to have this saw in stock.

Comparison with Similar Models

You can compare this with lots of different similar models and find that it comes out ahead in almost every case. One of the closest contenders is the WEN 3920 which has the same stroke speed. I have to admit, the LED light is a really nice feature and the blades on this saw are easier to change. Plus WEN 3920 is cheaper than the Craftsman. Both are pretty close contenders. But if you need more professional grade scroll saw, get the Excalibur or the DeWALT DW788.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is that there are is a lot of competition out there for the perfect scroll saw, and I’m no stranger to tool brands or even to scroll saws specifically. I’ve owned a few myself, and this is by far the best scroll saw for small projects. I have not found a woodworking project that I was not able to complete with this Craftsman scroll saw. It is not a heavy duty machine but you still get the job done. Your mileage may vary of course, but if you want a scroll saw that isn’t going to take a big bite out of your pocketbook, but still does everything you could want, then I highly recommend this one over all of the competitors out there.