Scroll saw or Band saw?????????????

Hello, I'm farely new to 'carving in the round' and i was interested in buying either a band saw or a scroll saw, but i dont know which one to get. What i really need is a machine that will cut away the excess wood from the block I would be starting with. I also thought about one of those RotoZip's you used to see on the infommercials, know you can get them at Lowe's and such. Any suggestions would help me, thanks

[AlArchie]

I'd go with the bandsaw, and if you can afford it, get a floor model, with at least a 12' throat, and six inch rise. You can use heavy blades for roughing out and 1/8' blades for scroll type work. You can do some fine work with a bandsaw, but will be hard pressed to do heavy removal with a scroll saw.

Al

[Kenny_S]

Each one has their own applications. I use both the band saw and scroll saw, depending on how big the piece is. A bandsaw is a little clumsy to use in cutting out small pieces like ones use for pins or magnets . A rotozip for carving. Never thought of using one. I have used it in the house and around the shop, but not for carving.

let's see I have a Rotozip and its good for a lot of things, but not cutting out roughouts! I also have a scrollsaw and a bandsaw but if I were to advise you I would suggest getting the Grizzly 14' bandsaw. It comes with a stand and has the automatic tension release and I believe the price is $300.00 and something, not sure there...that is an excellent price and the tension release is a big help and it is a good saw from what I hear....there! My .02 worth!

Sorry, this thing won't let me amend my post!! I forgot that the Grizzly also comes with theT-Square and the Fence....I had to buy mine separate for my Ridgid!

Thanks for the good suggestions guys, Let me just clarify the throat of the band saw is the gap between blade and the back of the saw, and the rise is the gap between the top of the blade and the table right?

right! but you can also get a riser block for most if not all 14' saws to increase the height you can cut..

Band saw - the bigger the better. No matter how big you get, sometime or another your gonna wish it was bigger.

[KimHoJo]

Funny that this question was posted... I logged on tonight to ask the same question.

I was leaning more towards a scroll saw, but I also want to use it for basswood roughouts. The largest carving I've done was 12' x 6' x 3' and I don't anticipate doing anything larger than this. How limited would I been in using a scroll saw for this? Could it handle wood in these dimensions? And if so, what features should I look for in this equipment?

You'll only be able to do 2 inch stock under that scroll saw. If you do bigger items than that, spend the bucks and buy the bandsaw. I started with a scroll saw for the first couple of years of cutting my own and have moved up to the bandsaw and love what I can do with it and the ability to do larger items.

The Capn