Best fret saw set
Updated: 21 October 2026
You want one box for the corner of skirting you are fitting this weekend, or one kit for a plywood fret, and the amazon.co.uk best-seller list in Fret Saws will not sort that for you. It mixes single saws and sets, and the ranks move. This page on the best fret saw set keeps seven listings, from the SULIVES set at £7.25 to the Eclipse pair at £23.39, using amazon.co.uk prices, star lines and the UK review notes in those files. Peter F. did not run a lab cut. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The full grid is the [fret saw set comparison](/hub/power-saws/fret-saw-set). Best here means a stated job. A deep bow is the wrong prize if all you are doing is scribing MDF.
You want one box for the corner of skirting you are fitting this weekend, or one kit for a plywood fret, and the amazon.co.uk best-seller list in Fret Saws will not sort that for you.
You want one box for the corner of skirting you are fitting this weekend, or one kit for a plywood fret, and the amazon.co.uk best-seller list in Fret Saws will not sort that for you. It mixes single saws and sets, and the ranks move. This page on the best fret saw set keeps seven listings, from the SULIVES set at £7.25 to the Eclipse pair at £23.39, using amazon.co.uk prices, star lines and the UK review notes in those files. Peter F. did not run a lab cut. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The full grid is the fret saw set comparison. Best here means a stated job. A deep bow is the wrong prize if all you are doing is scribing MDF.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Best for | Blades | Frame | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Avit Avit coping saw with 5 blades | Skirting and mouldings | 16 and 20 TPI wood | Shallow coping, 360° | 9.2 | about £13.84 | View offer |
 Eclipse Eclipse ECLSAW2PC fret and piercing saw set | Thin sheet and fine metal | 16 and 32 TPI, no spares | 285 mm bow plus piercing | 9.2 | about £23.39 | View offer | |
| Best value |  Hilka Hilka 7 inch coping saw set | Light woodwork | TPI not stated | 7 inch coping | 8.6 | about £9.32 | View offer |
On this page
Best depends on the cut
Three jobs show up in this category, and they do not share a winner. Scribing skirting, architrave or cornice needs a shallow pin-end coping saw and a wood blade around the mid-teens to about 20 teeth per inch. Cutting a pattern in thin plywood needs a deeper frame, a support under the sheet, and a way to start a hole in the middle. Fine metal, jewellery and small models need a piercing saw with a much finer blade, which will snap if you ask it to cope a board.
Star ratings are the amazon.co.uk listing lines. Avit is 4.4 from 1,612, Eclipse is 4.4 from 38, and Pebaro is 4.3 from 651. Those counts are not a test-house result. A set with one review, the MIPIACE listing at 1.0 from 1, cannot be a pick however many blades the bullets promise. The criteria behind the names sit on the fret saw set buying guide.
BuildWiz and Homebuilding both write about Bahco and Eclipse frames as the saws UK second-fix articles trust. Those shop saws are outside this comparison. We are not folding their prices into these ASINs.
For skirting, a pin-end set with a stated wood TPI
Among these sets, the Avit AV09030 is the one that prints a wood tooth count you can check against MDF. It is £13.84, with two 16 TPI wood blades, one 20 TPI wood blade, a 24 TPI metal blade and a 28 TPI metal blade. Wing adjusters turn the blade through 360°. The frame is about 300 mm long and 154 g. UK review texts describe fine curves, a springy school-style frame, and one job on 18 mm MDF skirting. BuildWiz’s rule of thumb is about 18–20 TPI for MDF, so the 20 TPI blade is the one to fit for that board, and the 16 TPI blade is closer to softwood.
It is the top pick for that moulding job, with a clear limit. One reviewer would not trust it for daily trade use, and another calls the quality poor. A blade arrived fitted upside down in one report, treated there as packing. The power-source row says corded electric, which the bullets do not support. It is a shallow coping saw. If you wanted a 285 mm fret bow, this is the wrong frame. The cope itself is on the coping saw for skirting page.
Hilka at £9.32 is the best value if you want a named brand under £10 and you will count the blades on arrival. The table does not state TPI or a blade count. One UK review found four blades and none fitted, and Hilka replaced that set. Use it for light woodwork, not as the set that tells you the tooth count for painted MDF.
For thin fretwork, a kit with a support
Pebaro WPB705 is the fretsaw kit in this list, at £15.87 with 4.3 from 651 reviews. The UK listing counts 12 items, names a beechwood handle, puts a stand in the included-components field, and lists a drill for pre-drilling the inside of a template. The set weighs 570 g. UK texts describe it on very thin wood, including a thicker piece a larger fretsaw could not angle into, and they call it a complete set for minor fretwork.
The limit is in the same file. One review says the screws will not stay tight, so the frame keeps opening. The UK bullets do not itemise how many blades you get, and they do not state a throat or a TPI. The blade-length field says 3 cm, which you should not treat as the cutting length. The maker’s 2025 catalogue describes a table, a clamp, blades, a spanner and a fretwork drill for item 705P. That is the catalogue, not a promise the amazon.co.uk bullets repeat line by line. Skip Pebaro if you are only scribing skirting.
For fine metal as well as wood, two frames
Eclipse ECLSAW2PC is £23.39 and 4.4 from 38 reviews. You get a fret saw with a stated 285 mm bow and a 16 TPI blade, plus a piercing saw with a 32 TPI blade, both on steel frames with wooden handles and wing-nut clamps. A UK reviewer measured about 28 cm of throat on the fret saw and about 8 cm on the piercing saw. Other texts praise the fine blade for toy making and a cut in wood around a pipe.
This is the dearest set here, and the price is not buying you a tougher coping saw. There is no spare pack. Photos in the criticism include a 2x4 the fine blades will not cut. One review calls the set too flimsy and says there is no way to tension the blade. The piercing saw is not a small saw for skirting. If you will cut thin sheet and thin metal in the same month, and you will buy matching spares, the pair is the listing that contains both frames. The fret saw vs coping saw page is where to settle that before the basket.
Sets to skip for a first careful job
SULIVES is £7.25 with 3.8 from 53 reviews and five blades on a frame of about 30 × 12 cm. Two UK reviews say the blade-locking end was missing and the blade keeps coming out. A low price does not repair a lock that is not in the bag. XMDROU is £7.59 with 4.2 from only 15 reviews. One buyer used it on skirting and liked the spares. Others call the blades blunt and the frame twisty, and one says there is no tension screw despite a knob in the bullets.
MIPIACE is £10.99 with eight blades at 4, 6, 8 and 10 TPI and a single UK review at 1.0 that would not recommend the purchase, without naming a part. Those teeth are coarse for MDF if you follow the 18–20 TPI guide band. None of these three is a bargain version of the Avit. If the frame cannot hold tension, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the route for a set that is not as described.
Common questions
Which set is the one for skirting?
For MDF or softwood skirting among these listings, the Avit set is the one that states 16 and 20 TPI wood blades, at £13.84 with 4.4 from 1,612 reviews. A UK text mentions 18 mm MDF skirting. Skip it if you need a deep fret frame or a saw for daily trade. Hilka is cheaper and does not print a TPI. The piercing blade in the Eclipse box is the wrong tooth count and the wrong frame for this joint.
Which set is for fretwork in thin ply?
Pebaro WPB705, at £15.87, is the kit that lists a stand and a drill for interior holes, with 4.3 from 651 reviews. UK texts talk about very thin wood and minor fretwork. The screws that will not stay tight are a real complaint in one review, and the UK page does not state throat or TPI. Eclipse’s 285 mm bow is the other deep frame if you also want a piercing saw and you accept that spares are extra.
Is the dearest set the best?
Only when you need both of its saws. Eclipse at £23.39 is a 285 mm fret saw and a 32 TPI piercing saw, not a better coping saw than the Avit. There is no spare pack, the review file is 38 rather than 1,612, and photos of thick timber oversell the blades. Pay that if thin metal and a deep bow are both on your bench. Otherwise you are buying reach you will not use.
Why not the set with the most reviews?
The largest file is the Avit, and that is why it is the top pick for mouldings. Review count does not make it a fretsaw. Pebaro’s 651 reviews describe thin fretwork, which is a different job, and they include screws that open. A high count also does not hide a missing spec. Hilka has 143 reviews and still does not state TPI. Read the job in the text, then the number.
Can I use the piercing saw on skirting?
No. The Eclipse piercing saw is the fine frame, about 8 cm deep in one UK measurement, with a 32 TPI blade. It is for thin metal and delicate work. Skirting needs a shallow pin-end coping saw and a wood blade nearer 16–20 TPI. Forcing the piercing blade through 18 mm MDF is how fine blades snap. The photos that show a 2x4 are not a specification.
Which cheap set should I avoid if the frame must hold tension?
Leave SULIVES if you cannot confirm the lock is in the bag. Two UK reviews say it was missing and the blade comes out, at £7.25. Treat XMDROU’s tension knob as unconfirmed: one review says there is no tension screw, against the bullets, in a file of 15 reviews. MIPIACE has one review and coarse teeth. A frame that will not tension is not a saving.
Do star ratings include a lab test?
No. The figures on this page are amazon.co.uk listing lines for these ASINs, read with the UK review texts in our files. We did not measure throat, snap rate or dust. BuildWiz tooth bands are that guide’s rule of thumb. No British Standard number appears on these listings. A higher star line is more evidence, not a certificate.
Related pages
Sources
HSE, GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk, BuildWiz, Homebuilding and Wonkee Donkee. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these seven ASINs. Shelf date 20 October 2026.
- HSE wood dust (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE cutting and sanding wood (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BuildWiz coping saw (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Homebuilding: what is a coping saw (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Wonkee Donkee: coping, fret and piercing saws (retrieved 20 October 2026)