Scroll saw wouldn't be my first option for slicing scales out of blocks.
A bandsaw is the obvious choice. However, depending on what you're cutting, small is not the direction I would prefer to go.
I started with a Lowe's 9" Skilsaw bandsaw....absolutely worthless for cutting blocks into scales on the woods I was using. The rip fence is a joke, the saw is underpowered, and the blade is not wide (not thick, wide) enough. Then I tried the same type saw at Home Depot in a Ryobi...same thing.
These small bandsaws are not good....and I don't mean on a nit-picking level. They're garbage....they shake like a leaf in a storm.
I then tried the 10" bandsaw at Sears.....it was much better and would be the smallest I would recommend for what you seem to want to do with it. It had barely enough power to cut even scales and the rip fence was barely adequate....however, with some patience it could probably work.
However, it is still not a very good saw.
What I learned through the whole "Buying a bandsaw" process was that a bandsaw seems to be a machine that really needs some serious weight to prevent shaking and enough power to use a 3/4" wide blade in order to cut nice, even scales in the woods we typically use for handles. The woods are hard and dense and need a fairly heavy duty saw. The 14" saws from the like's of Grizzly/Shop Fox, Jet, Powermatic, etc. are where I really recommend people start. However, that's a large investment I know....so the little 10" Craftsman was the best I found in the small range.
Hope that helps.
