Abstract: A fish scaler comprising a housing having a longitudinal axis, an electric motor mounted in the housing, a shaft in the housing driven by the motor, a blade holder pivotally mounted in and projecting from the housing and a scaling blade mounted on said blade holder, a transmission in the housing and connecting the motor shaft and the blade holder for changing rotary motion of the motor shaft into a generally circular motion of the scaling blade, the generally circular motion of the scaling blade having a generally smooth component along the longitudinal axis and an abrupt component transverse to the longitudinal axis, thereby imparting an improved scaling action to the scaling blade.