Nowadays those of us who do fret or scroll work use a electrically powered, motorised saw, but these did not come in general use until 1975, when the Hegner fretsaw arrived on the scene. The Hegner saw was invented and patented in Germany by Helmut Abel in 1974. Note: Hobbies did 'dabble' with basic motorised saws from the early 1930's. However, until then, most fret-working was carried out with either a hand-frame or a Treadle machine. Power machines are covered on other pages under the saws menu.
Please note, there were many different makes of treadle saws available from 1890 onwards, mostly of American origin. This site is about the British fretwork scene, and focuses on the machines sold by Hobbies and the Handicrafts companies.