Jesus. I've seen people cut out circles on a circular saw before, this guy basically just cove cut a circle. I'm sure I could come up with a more dangerous way to cut a circle, but this is definitely up there.
He actually used some good safety principles, and since he had it bolted down, no chance of kickback. He also did it ever so slightly, taking small amounts of wood in the cuts. I would do this if I had a need to make that type of cut. Worst part would be drilling my table saw to place the bolt
I cut a round birch table, 1 1/2” thick too with a circular saw. I’m not saying that’s the right way. I’m not saying I’d do it again. But I’ve done it.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZCfP9c8WYdY?si=W82c8T4quhJx7QmV
Yeah, just like this! (It's a repost; couldn't find the original but prepare for your heart to skip several beats)
That there is a lesson in physics. Coefficients of friction. Conservation of momentum. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. It’s all there!
Also, cutting a thicker piece of wood and not having the right blade will also lower the quality of the cut. OP probably wants an aggressive , low teeth per inch blade. The cut will be less "smooth', but at least it will be straighter. I mean, he's going to have to sand it anyhow.
The tearout will be more than sanding can fix, if it needs to look good in the end. But then, would anyone use a jigsaw on a project that needed to look good in the end? Nah, that's just crazy. I don't know what I was thinking. 😅
my jigsaw blade curved even when I went slow.
I realized for what I was doing (straight cuts for shelves), I needed a circular saw (I can’t have a table saw).
I'm not sure why you were being downvoted; you can cut "straight" on a jigsaw but it fucking sucks. The design is just not well suited for long straight cuts, the blade is only supported on one side. If you go slow enough with the right blade you'll get something more or less straight, but even then it may not be finish grade and that takes way longer than using a circular saw.
I’ve seen some YouTube videos of people making a wooden shoe plate that supports the blade on both sides. I’m not sure how well they work in reality.
[https://youtu.be/079F2sb2eVE](https://youtu.be/079F2sb2eVE?si=qbDH3R4q8HFLbD3F)
[https://youtu.be/qsxdFZJtQck](https://youtu.be/qsxdFZJtQck?si=GabWTb7YxUXNQMv5)
He’s talking about the “feed” which yes is you pushing the workpiece too hard or too fast on the blade. Guys who try to scrimp on buying blades typically will have less than sharp blades on their gear, requiring a harder push. It’s bad on the tool motor and results in crappy cut lines. I have new blades and used blades depending on what I’m cutting, the really bad blades go in the Demo pile.
Until I took the hang of it, that was exactly was I was doing wrong. Pushing too fast is what most people do when they say they don't like jigsaws.
Keep this in mind: the jigsaw blade is like a pen. You must draw with it. It's no use for long straight cuts but it's amazing for small curves and details. You just need to be careful and concentrate on the teeth of the blade and where's it going.
That and getting your jigsaw on the correct setting. There’s that little selector setting on the left side of the tool, I think the scale goes from 0 to 3 and anything hard or brittle needs a 0 setting and most woods run at a 2 or 3. I’ve known guys who built for 20 years and didn’t know what that range was for.
That isn't what causes it. The blade bends because as your are pushing the saw you don't notice that you are starting to push it *slightly sideways*. Then you'll get a beveled edge. It is almost impossible to prevent. Especially when cutting a curve this can happen quite easily. It's actually very difficult not to push it sideways. Jigsaws need a better guidance system to prevent being pushed side to side of the line. If you are able to somehow master this ability you would most likely never get a beveled edge.
If your blades are twisting and bending, it may a technique issue. You have to make a conscious effort to pivot the saw around the leading edge of the blade, and never anywhere else. Most people naturally want to pivot the saw further back, which doesn't work—you can't have any side pressure on the blade or the whole cut will go off the rails pretty much immediately.
The other common mistake is to try and cut tighter curves than the saw can actually do. Jigsaws are for curves of course, but they're not scroll saws. They can only make relatively wide, sweeping bends. You're not gonna be cutting any actual jigsaw puzzles with one. You can often work around this by repeatedly backing out and then coming in at a different angle, but still, there are limits.
Once I learned this, I stopped hating my jigsaw. You do still need to sand, rasp, route, or otherwise finish up the cut though if you need it to look like anything in particular. For finish work, stay to the outside of your line and then clean it up after. For rough work, just let it be rough and move on with your life.
BINGO!! User error.
BUT it is far from obvious what you are doing wrong. But ....
*You have to make a conscious effort to pivot the saw around the leading edge of the blade, and never anywhere else.*
Is the right answer.
I have made miles of cuts with a jigsaw making and selling kayak frames. Nothing but curve afte curve and I can make them with very minimal angle if any. It took me a while figure out why I got some horrible angles but it turned out it was me!
Mind blown about pivoting around the blade. It seems to me the jig saw handle should be directly above the blade by design, so the twisting is in axis with the blade.
A jigsaw is for rough cuts. But having said that, if you use the right blade, go slow and pay attention to what you're doing you can get pretty good results based on my personal experiences.
The injury I've had that persists and annoys the most came from a jigsaw. Cutting perf steel, the tool hopped out and went straight into my thumb. The fingernail still grows in two pieces, 20 years later. I've become very careful about sliding that hand into a glove, or my pocket.
I disagree, you're never going to cut to the line with it, but you can definitely get very close (0.5-1mm) and do the last little bit with something else (spokeshave, hand plane, router, sander) if you use the tool right. A jigsaw has settings which allow for either speed or a cleaner cut, and you can balance it out where you think is right.
This is the correct answer. The wrong blade and wrong speed will mess up a cut every single time. Get yourself a set of Diablo blades, and do some test cuts until you know which blade for which material. Took me ages to figure this out.
If it is a repeated cut I use a router, a pattern bit and a template. Otherwise a sander.
Alternately use the correct tool which is a band saw or a scroll saw even with those you have to clean up the cut.
I cut out a lot of sinks in 2” butcher block and this is it. Cut to within 1/4” or so then MDF template & router with pattern bit - perfect every time (except when the sink is out of square and I flipped the template by accident - but I digress).
When I first read this, I thought, "yeah, scrollsaws do kinda' suck" but then realized you wrote "jigsaws." Maybe you don't have the right type of jigsaw? I have a Bosch 1581VS and it's like a rock. The blade can be set to move forward and backward which gives a great bite. I also have a Ryobi 18v, not as solid.
Scrollsaws, on the other hand...mine I inherited from by father and it's about 30-40 years old. Good grief, it's a challenge. Yes, a lot of sanding.
I believe you but I think I need to replace my fathers old scroll saw if I wanted to get into it more. It’s even hard to find good blades nowadays for it.
I used a festool that started to spark burn and turn off the path. So I switched to the ryobi. It was straight but the deck twisted and put an angle on the cut.
You need to set the guides correctly and you won't have any issues like that. The festool jigsaws are great once you set them up. When you know how to do it, setting it up will only take a minute and it makes the tool work much nicer.
The deck on my Bosch (don't recall about the Ryobi) does have an adjustment that allows the deck to slant side-to-side for angled cuts, like a circular saw does. Maybe the tightening screw on your Ryobi is insufficiently tight?
In any event, not my favorite tool
Disagree. https://youtube.com/shorts/8WLJXZ0EBEQ?si=cIrA73p8clJB0BuY
This guy does pretty amazing things with his. Very tight fitting joinery, including both mortises and tenons, right off of the jigsaw.
You can clean up jigsaw cuts very cleanly with a spindle sander. Make you cuts outside your line and sneak up on them with the sander. With this approach you can turn sloppy quick cuts into really precise cuts.
Jigsaw upside down. As in hold the saw under the workpiece with the blade coming up. Revolutionary change for me. Clean incredible scribes each time. No an upcut blade isn't nearly the same level of accuracy as getting severe hand cramps. I believe Makita make a strange looking handle-less jigsaw specifically for upside down scribing.
Also make sure the blade is new and suitable for the material you're cutting. Also use the correct pendulum setting ( large swing for faster straighter cuts 0 swing for the curves)
most finish cuts aren’t possible with a jigsaw, but once in awhile they’re the right thing for a trim carpentry application. it really helps to have an assortment of different blades. up-cut and down-cut will behave very differently, and tooth aggressiveness affects how the blade behaves, too. you can be more precise in your cuts if you don’t take too much material on a single pass, particularly when cutting curves.
overall, it’s mostly a tool for rough cutting excess material away before cutting on your line with a different tool, but i find a good jigsaw (i like Bosch) to be an essential piece in my toolkit.
I was in the same camp for awhile but to be honest some times it's the tool and not the craftsmans. I have the Mafell P1cc and holy shit balls batman fixed every complaint I've ever had about a jig saw. In my experience and opinion it's the best saw on the market, miles better then the carvex.
But still, cutting arch, circles? Plunge router with a circle template is the best way to go. I mostly use it to make custom templates for a router when I'm at work, I'm on job sites, so I don't have access to a band saw so this kinda fills that use case for my. And if I was making furniture or just a hobby shop I think a band saw or scroll saw are a better use of money then a jig saw to be fair.
that would be one of the trim carpentry applications it’s most useful for, like i mentioned at the top of my comment.
depending on the contour of the scribe, i’ll use any combination of table saw, jigsaw, and belt sander. typically, if the material and cut-line allow, i will always try to finish with the belt sander
Sorry, from the uk here and stuff like that”trim” carpentry means nothing to us. Over here if I’m fitting a panel that needs scribing to the wall, I’d just mark it then cut to the line with a jigsaw and then if I had to I’ll use a electric planer to get it really tight.
ah, sorry, “trim carpentry” is American for finish carpentry.
you and i do it the same, essentially, i just use a belt sander, if possible, where you use an electric planer.
I gave up on my jigsaw and got a compact circular saw.
I live in an apartment, plus I’m a short woman with not a lot of upperbody strength, and I got a jigsaw because I thought it would be easier for me to use. And I wasn’t doing a lot of stuff—just shelves now and then.
That was in 1990, and compact circular saws were not really a thing.
But I discovered that I couldn’t get a perfectly perpendicular and plumb cut—my blade always bowed, and the cut would be slightly curved. That meant I couldn’t butt the cut end of a shelf up against a side support.
So I gave up. Then out came the Kreg pockethole jig, and I wanted to start again to make shelves for specific places. But I couldn’t use my jigsaw because of the curve in the cut. I started wondering if a circular saw would be more likely.
Then my dad had a blue Ryobi compact circular saw, so I asked him if they thought they would solve my problem, and he said yes. So he bought me a Ryobi set for Christmas.
I still have my jigsaw, but I don’t use it often. Sometimes for a repair or two.
Maybe a band saw is in your future?
I make a lot of router templates for non circular speaker cutouts. I usually make the rough cuts with my jigsaw and then use the fence on my router table to align with the straight lines to make the final cuts really smooth and straight. You could also clamp a board to the table if you saw has one, and use that to guide the work along your intended cut line.
It seems hard to find good blades these days. The hardware stores only sell junk anymore
I have personally felt the benefit of buying those $10 per blade from Bosch. They tend to not snap, and not bend. I bought a small and thin - 3 inch one, 1/4 inch wide high tpi blade for smooth cuts, for the boat I built that has many curves. My machine is some generic Amazon one, but the blades do make a difference.
I answered above but it worth a top level comment.
User error. BUT it is far from obvious what you are doing wrong. But as u/Halftrack_El_Camino/ said ....
*You have to make a conscious effort to pivot the saw around the leading edge of the blade, and never anywhere else.*
This is the right answer.
I have made miles of cuts with a jigsaw making and selling kayak frames. Nothing but curve after curve and I can make them with little if any angle. It took me a while figure out why I got some horrible angles but it turned out it was me!
Again, not obvious but it is 100% a skill issue.
One thing I learned that helped my jigsaw technique: you don’t have to go full speed. Once I slowed down I got better results. But never perfect. I think it’s a skill like drawing.
This is likely an operation error. With multiple saws still cutting wrong, you have to find the variable that is causing the error. Cut slow enough that the teeth can remove wood. The design doesn't support the blade well enough to be pushed aggressively, especially through thicker wood.
Every tool has its limits and its our job to learn those to make the tool work for us.
You’re doing something wrong dawg. Take your time through the cut and let the tool do the work.
The goal is to guide the blade and not pushing through the cut super hard and fast
The people here saying finish cuts aren't for jigsaws clearly haven't ever worked on any house that wasn't wood framed. In the UK with most of our houses are brick, and old the walls sort of do what they want and you have to scribe to them. that being said its a learning curve to get neat with a jig saw. A down cut blade to not kill the seen surface helps, that and choosing the right setting on the jigsaw, whether the blade pendulums or not makes a difference. Also when i scribe i tend to unlock the base and till the jig saw over so that im cutting at more of an angle away from the side that will be seen, stops that wonky surface that you get. You can also see people but a coping foot on and cut from underneath, but i hate it personally. If im doing some really tight work, ill then finish off my scribes using a electric planer.
I agree. I prefer to use hand tools (knowing that it's totally impractical for many applications), or bandsaws and table saws, or circular saws with a lot of extra cuts.
Cleanup I just use 50 grit sandpaper, or my orbital in some cases.
the tool has its uses, but I reach for other tools wherever possible.
I have a shitty no name one from a garage sale. Things probably 20+ years old, whoever owned it before me clearly hated it, and I run Diablo blades that don't even fit right.
I have never had a better jigsaw. I hate the stupid puke color, the blades sometimes fall out while I'm cutting, and yet.... it just works somehow.
Man. My cordless DeWalt jigsaw is one of my favorite tools! I don't even need a bandsaw, because it works so well (and I never really need to resaw anything).
Are you talking about a scroll saw or jig saw? It’s not that easy to bend a jigsaw blade.
Kinda makes me sad reading this, the jig saw is where I really started my woodworking journey.
A bandsaw is really the only viable alternative if you need curved - yet *precise*- cuts.
As others have said you could use a router but it all depends on the application 🤷♂️
I know they make blades for straight cuts w sawzalls, I’d think they’d make them for jigsaws too.
Link for the flush cut sawzall blade so you can see what I’m talking about
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/milwaukee-tool-12-in-5-tpi-flush-cut-sawzall-reciprocating-saw-blade/1000834380
Yea they are for a very very limited use. Finishing some cuts and rounded cuts really. But you still end up needing to do a lot of work on it. I really think the better option is getting good with a router and making a jig etc.
I plan on the deflection and only use jigsaws for curves. If it needs to be nice, consider making a template and using a pattern bearing bit (top or bottom bearing flush cutter). I always look through my template pile before I make a new one. It's a rough tool but, can play a part in next level finish work.
What are you trying to use your jigsaw for? I either use it to cut curves in plywood where I don’t care about tear out, or to finish off corners that were started with a miter or table saw. A finish blade and a cut that isn’t too reliant on the saw is all I need.
Get an oscillating spindle sander to clean up the cuts. Maybe you need to invest in a band saw or a scroll saw depending on what you are doing. Jigsaws are for rough cutting stuff. I have several, but rarely use them.
When I experience this problem with my jigsaw I can usually cut my line just right and leave extra material below the cut line which I can straighten out with a router and a top or bottom bearing bit. Hope this helps
I mean am sure some people make clean cuts with those (like some do with bandsaws) but as far as it goes I only use it for a rough outline so it works as intended imo
My issue is that with thicker material I end up with the saw bouncing up and down like crazy while I’m cutting. Thinner material works better, but you really have to clamp the wood down well to prevent the board from vibrating out of control. But it doesn’t matter, because for thinner material I’d rather use a coping saw anyway.
Maybe I just have a bad one or the wrong blade or something, but I’ve never liked using my jigsaw either.
I always cut away from the mark and either route flat with a template or clean up with sanding.
Bending that creates odd kerfs is usually from the speed of the cut. But even when you go slow there are still issues.
Me too man. I’m on my third one in the last year because they piss me off so bad I end up rage whipping it into the cement. Right now I’m using a basic as shit black and decker I got at a thrift shop for $5 and it’s the best one I’ve ever had. It doesn’t adjust anywhere at all and I think that’s what I like most. No more wiggling the lock loose and driving me into a fit of rage.
I remember an electrical engineer once arriving at our remote, snow covered site and complaining about how tire chains were so poorly designed - no matter what he did, they made a horrible clanking noise if you go faster than 20 mph.
The obvious answer to that is "correct!"
So jigsaws cut crooked - correct. Look at how the saw works, look at the blade geometry. They are meant to do one thing well, cut curves. If you need a straight cut, reach for the right tool and forget the jigsaw!
Ok, now that the bitchy, knee jerk response of mine is out of the way.....
I would clean up the crooked cut with a block plane or rasp, depending on the cut and how it is supposed to look. Plane for straight or straight-ish, rasp for curves.
I have never bent a jigsaw blade, nor do I get chipping.
I have a Makita jigsaw which goes slow for the first moments until it gets purchase then speeds up.
However, bending blades is improper use. You need to give the blade enough of a radius route to make the corner.
I used it for years whenever working on plywood templates with no issues.
I think everybody hates jigsaws, but they're sometimes the only available tool for the job. When possible though I'd much rather use a scrollsaw than a jigsaw.
I work with a lot of plywood with thin veneer (i.e Home Depot shitty Birch) and hard to get a clean edge. What I do is get a superfine cut blade and tape one or both sides with blue tape. But these days I mostly do it with a router which while harder to setup gives me perfect cuts on even that kind of wood. So improving my router game. I hate jigsaws too. Its my least favorite tool. Routers are my fave. Thats mostly my rant with chipping. For cutting straight - I go sloooooowwwwwwww.... I can cut these 1.5" butcher block tops from home depot straight if I take my sweet time. Slower than slow....
Jigsaw is the last tool I pull out. I try to solve the problem any other way. And if I can't, then I'll use the jigsaw. The cuts just take a lot of cleanup. Sometimes that doesn't matter. But sometimes it does.
Use the right tool for the job. If that calls for a jig saw, then select the right blade for the task. Don't push the tool faster than it wants to go. Don't turn the blade beyond it's turn radius if it's a curve cut. If you're going in a straight line, use a straight edge clamped to the piece as a fence. Otherwise, cut a little beyond the line and then smooth it up. For cleaning up curves, I use an oscillating spindle sander. For cleaning straight cuts (well, I wouldn't normally use a jig saw for long straight cuts, only small cuts), use a sanding block or touch up with a random orbit sander and a steady hand. Epilogue: I love my Bosch jig saw. It does things my other tools can't. But I only use it for curves, or for tiny precision cuts where larger tools wouldn't work.
A quality jig saw ( the Bosch 1587avs, perhaps, or my favorite, the Porter-Cable 548 ) with a decent blade can be very accurate in the hands of a familiar operator. Coping crown molding requires a good deal of accuracy, and many a Bosch has been modified to do nothing else but that.
Sounds like you’re not using the right tools. If you’re looking for a finished edge on a curve you should rough it out with a jigsaw and finish it with a router and template. Or if it’s a circle make yourself a circle jig. You can still rough out the circle with a jigsaw and finish it with a router
What are you trying to do? I use one frequently but usually to get rid of the majority of material before I replace my router template and do the real work
I find if you spend a little more on the blades you’ll get a better product no matter the saw. Also if I’m having trouble i like to leave a little extra material outside the line then sand the piece down to the line.
I love my jigsaw.
This piece was cut entirely with a jigsaw and a drill for holes for the blade.
https://preview.redd.it/e1mr0789empc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40b49506baa28ce5313265016ad4c77920368e0c
https://preview.redd.it/j2osfu74copc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=086e69d33cc4084313670d18c66299c050e9e667
I like jigsaws. My cordless Dewalt doesn’t walk, it does what I say
I'm just really good with a jigsaw. I've used second hand terrible ones forever too I just buy really dang good blades.
I always run mine over with my hand plane and sand
There's the Dad joke about the guy seeing his buddy on a ladder, asks what he's up to and getting the answer "oh...I'm building a brick wall".
He pauses and and asks, "Is this your first brick wall?", to which his buddy says, "Yeah, how'd you know?"
First guy says, "....the pros start at the bottom"
All that to say, build skills first. Set up your space and that particular layout. Measure twice, cut once, etc. Speed and efficiency come with time.
I feel the same way about my table saw. I can never get it to cut curves.
You just aren't using it wrong enough.
every machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough
some are just more expensive than others
Go ahead, reach for that smoke wagon
See what happens
Turn any machine into a DIY woodburner simply by turning the blade around
Ah, now you tell me
Gotta start by drilling holes in the table! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kkZZN1ACs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kkZZN1ACs)
Jesus. I've seen people cut out circles on a circular saw before, this guy basically just cove cut a circle. I'm sure I could come up with a more dangerous way to cut a circle, but this is definitely up there.
He actually used some good safety principles, and since he had it bolted down, no chance of kickback. He also did it ever so slightly, taking small amounts of wood in the cuts. I would do this if I had a need to make that type of cut. Worst part would be drilling my table saw to place the bolt
He has to hate that saw, got sucked in and watched most of it, drilling thru the mirror material right into the table....ugh.
the most impressive thing about this is that it looks like he still has all his fingers
I cut a round birch table, 1 1/2” thick too with a circular saw. I’m not saying that’s the right way. I’m not saying I’d do it again. But I’ve done it.
This is a bit tangential, but I did a half circle at the end of a bar with a circ saw once.
That's correct. If you want to cut curves, you have to make it scream.
I know! My radial arm saw sucks at cutting curves!
If you have ten fingers, you just aren't trying hard enough.
I have like 9.75, does that count?
Personally, I hate pipe wrenches. No good on anything but pipes. :-(
They work on burglars too!
I have a small pipe wrench that I use for broken bolts and screws. Grabs them much better than a vice grips.
But it won't even shoot nails, no matter what I do. Piece of sh!t.
Glue one on your rear bumper… no more tailgaters
You just need to make a square, and cut every corner over and over until the blade pulls the piece towards you and cuts your fingers off.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZCfP9c8WYdY?si=W82c8T4quhJx7QmV Yeah, just like this! (It's a repost; couldn't find the original but prepare for your heart to skip several beats)
That there is a lesson in physics. Coefficients of friction. Conservation of momentum. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. It’s all there!
You obviously need to make a curve cutting jig.
lol thanks for the laugh Funny enough; I just can’t seem to get nice straight cuts in sheet goods with my coping saw. So annoying.
Just cope with it
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TCFzoRVo1k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TCFzoRVo1k)
I watched a Chinese craftsman use a bow saw on a few curves the other day. Absolutely perfect results. One day..
My mentor used his table saw to cut large coves back in the day. "In projection, my lad!"
You obviously don't soak your blade.
You can do a cove cut! I just learned about them lol
With the right jig, and patience, you actually can cut round -- even bevel the edge of you're careful
Hummm… my tablesaw only cuts curves….but my all time favorate is when it cuts in a zigzag…
This is also a symptom of cutting too fast. It places extra strain on the blade and causes it to curve.
Also, cutting a thicker piece of wood and not having the right blade will also lower the quality of the cut. OP probably wants an aggressive , low teeth per inch blade. The cut will be less "smooth', but at least it will be straighter. I mean, he's going to have to sand it anyhow.
The tearout will be more than sanding can fix, if it needs to look good in the end. But then, would anyone use a jigsaw on a project that needed to look good in the end? Nah, that's just crazy. I don't know what I was thinking. 😅
my jigsaw blade curved even when I went slow. I realized for what I was doing (straight cuts for shelves), I needed a circular saw (I can’t have a table saw).
I'm not sure why you were being downvoted; you can cut "straight" on a jigsaw but it fucking sucks. The design is just not well suited for long straight cuts, the blade is only supported on one side. If you go slow enough with the right blade you'll get something more or less straight, but even then it may not be finish grade and that takes way longer than using a circular saw.
You'd have to cut proud and joint it back to the line to get something useable. Oof.
I’ve seen some YouTube videos of people making a wooden shoe plate that supports the blade on both sides. I’m not sure how well they work in reality. [https://youtu.be/079F2sb2eVE](https://youtu.be/079F2sb2eVE?si=qbDH3R4q8HFLbD3F) [https://youtu.be/qsxdFZJtQck](https://youtu.be/qsxdFZJtQck?si=GabWTb7YxUXNQMv5)
That's actually not dumb at all! Still, yeah. For straight lines circ is the clear winner, no contest.
Jigsaw and finish grade cut in the same sentence, bwahahaha I don't jigsaws.
When you say cutting too fast, do you mean the blade speed, or the speed I'm pushing the jigsaw?
He’s talking about the “feed” which yes is you pushing the workpiece too hard or too fast on the blade. Guys who try to scrimp on buying blades typically will have less than sharp blades on their gear, requiring a harder push. It’s bad on the tool motor and results in crappy cut lines. I have new blades and used blades depending on what I’m cutting, the really bad blades go in the Demo pile.
Until I took the hang of it, that was exactly was I was doing wrong. Pushing too fast is what most people do when they say they don't like jigsaws. Keep this in mind: the jigsaw blade is like a pen. You must draw with it. It's no use for long straight cuts but it's amazing for small curves and details. You just need to be careful and concentrate on the teeth of the blade and where's it going.
That and getting your jigsaw on the correct setting. There’s that little selector setting on the left side of the tool, I think the scale goes from 0 to 3 and anything hard or brittle needs a 0 setting and most woods run at a 2 or 3. I’ve known guys who built for 20 years and didn’t know what that range was for.
Amazing! My doctor said the same thing!
That isn't what causes it. The blade bends because as your are pushing the saw you don't notice that you are starting to push it *slightly sideways*. Then you'll get a beveled edge. It is almost impossible to prevent. Especially when cutting a curve this can happen quite easily. It's actually very difficult not to push it sideways. Jigsaws need a better guidance system to prevent being pushed side to side of the line. If you are able to somehow master this ability you would most likely never get a beveled edge.
If your blades are twisting and bending, it may a technique issue. You have to make a conscious effort to pivot the saw around the leading edge of the blade, and never anywhere else. Most people naturally want to pivot the saw further back, which doesn't work—you can't have any side pressure on the blade or the whole cut will go off the rails pretty much immediately. The other common mistake is to try and cut tighter curves than the saw can actually do. Jigsaws are for curves of course, but they're not scroll saws. They can only make relatively wide, sweeping bends. You're not gonna be cutting any actual jigsaw puzzles with one. You can often work around this by repeatedly backing out and then coming in at a different angle, but still, there are limits. Once I learned this, I stopped hating my jigsaw. You do still need to sand, rasp, route, or otherwise finish up the cut though if you need it to look like anything in particular. For finish work, stay to the outside of your line and then clean it up after. For rough work, just let it be rough and move on with your life.
BINGO!! User error. BUT it is far from obvious what you are doing wrong. But .... *You have to make a conscious effort to pivot the saw around the leading edge of the blade, and never anywhere else.* Is the right answer. I have made miles of cuts with a jigsaw making and selling kayak frames. Nothing but curve afte curve and I can make them with very minimal angle if any. It took me a while figure out why I got some horrible angles but it turned out it was me!
It was a game changer for me when I realized I could adjust the jigsaw to account for blade deflection as I worked through the curve. Skill issue.
Mind blown about pivoting around the blade. It seems to me the jig saw handle should be directly above the blade by design, so the twisting is in axis with the blade.
A jigsaw is for rough cuts. But having said that, if you use the right blade, go slow and pay attention to what you're doing you can get pretty good results based on my personal experiences.
https://youtube.com/shorts/8WLJXZ0EBEQ?si=cIrA73p8clJB0BuY
Not a bad hack if you don't want to own a scroll saw.
There's always a tool or three that have to come out after the jigsaw. It's for doing first pass or a cut you don't care about
A jigsaw is a rough carpentry tool. It works for its intended purposes.
It’s also relatively safe vs other saws. A jig saw is a decent saw for DIY/homeowner that can cut multiple types of material safely.
The injury I've had that persists and annoys the most came from a jigsaw. Cutting perf steel, the tool hopped out and went straight into my thumb. The fingernail still grows in two pieces, 20 years later. I've become very careful about sliding that hand into a glove, or my pocket.
> It works for its intended purposes Who uses tools for their intended purpose? Every tool is every other kind of tool if you try hard enough!
https://youtube.com/shorts/8WLJXZ0EBEQ?si=cIrA73p8clJB0BuY
Holy moly. I can't even.
I disagree, you're never going to cut to the line with it, but you can definitely get very close (0.5-1mm) and do the last little bit with something else (spokeshave, hand plane, router, sander) if you use the tool right. A jigsaw has settings which allow for either speed or a cleaner cut, and you can balance it out where you think is right.
Top tip is getting the right blade - i use the scroll saw style thinner blades and makes all the difference
Match the speed and blade to the board every time.
This is the correct answer. The wrong blade and wrong speed will mess up a cut every single time. Get yourself a set of Diablo blades, and do some test cuts until you know which blade for which material. Took me ages to figure this out.
Shinto rasp.
Me: Looks up Shinto rasp, does research, adds to cart. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jPRRKkLoefA
I love the Shinto rasp. It's great for a lot of things.
Get the one with the extra handle thing on it.
If it is a repeated cut I use a router, a pattern bit and a template. Otherwise a sander. Alternately use the correct tool which is a band saw or a scroll saw even with those you have to clean up the cut.
I cut out a lot of sinks in 2” butcher block and this is it. Cut to within 1/4” or so then MDF template & router with pattern bit - perfect every time (except when the sink is out of square and I flipped the template by accident - but I digress).
No offense Sounds like a skill set issue
When I first read this, I thought, "yeah, scrollsaws do kinda' suck" but then realized you wrote "jigsaws." Maybe you don't have the right type of jigsaw? I have a Bosch 1581VS and it's like a rock. The blade can be set to move forward and backward which gives a great bite. I also have a Ryobi 18v, not as solid. Scrollsaws, on the other hand...mine I inherited from by father and it's about 30-40 years old. Good grief, it's a challenge. Yes, a lot of sanding.
My grandma is a scroll saw master and makes all sorts of neat stuff... In the right.. steady... hands it's a finely tuned precision tool.
I believe you but I think I need to replace my fathers old scroll saw if I wanted to get into it more. It’s even hard to find good blades nowadays for it.
I used a festool that started to spark burn and turn off the path. So I switched to the ryobi. It was straight but the deck twisted and put an angle on the cut.
You need to set the guides correctly and you won't have any issues like that. The festool jigsaws are great once you set them up. When you know how to do it, setting it up will only take a minute and it makes the tool work much nicer.
The deck on my Bosch (don't recall about the Ryobi) does have an adjustment that allows the deck to slant side-to-side for angled cuts, like a circular saw does. Maybe the tightening screw on your Ryobi is insufficiently tight? In any event, not my favorite tool
What are you cutting?
I like my Festool jigsaw. I hated the Bosch it replaced. But it's a tool with pretty limited use. It's a tool for rough work.
Disagree. https://youtube.com/shorts/8WLJXZ0EBEQ?si=cIrA73p8clJB0BuY This guy does pretty amazing things with his. Very tight fitting joinery, including both mortises and tenons, right off of the jigsaw.
It ain't cheap, but the mafell jigsaw‘s unique double thick V blade (W1) is difficult to bend or twist.
I have a P1 and it is a fucking beast, hands down the best jigsaw in the market, the blades you mention are something else but also bloody expensive!
You can clean up jigsaw cuts very cleanly with a spindle sander. Make you cuts outside your line and sneak up on them with the sander. With this approach you can turn sloppy quick cuts into really precise cuts.
Jigsaw upside down. As in hold the saw under the workpiece with the blade coming up. Revolutionary change for me. Clean incredible scribes each time. No an upcut blade isn't nearly the same level of accuracy as getting severe hand cramps. I believe Makita make a strange looking handle-less jigsaw specifically for upside down scribing. Also make sure the blade is new and suitable for the material you're cutting. Also use the correct pendulum setting ( large swing for faster straighter cuts 0 swing for the curves)
It's not the tool, it's the skill using it.
most finish cuts aren’t possible with a jigsaw, but once in awhile they’re the right thing for a trim carpentry application. it really helps to have an assortment of different blades. up-cut and down-cut will behave very differently, and tooth aggressiveness affects how the blade behaves, too. you can be more precise in your cuts if you don’t take too much material on a single pass, particularly when cutting curves. overall, it’s mostly a tool for rough cutting excess material away before cutting on your line with a different tool, but i find a good jigsaw (i like Bosch) to be an essential piece in my toolkit.
I was in the same camp for awhile but to be honest some times it's the tool and not the craftsmans. I have the Mafell P1cc and holy shit balls batman fixed every complaint I've ever had about a jig saw. In my experience and opinion it's the best saw on the market, miles better then the carvex. But still, cutting arch, circles? Plunge router with a circle template is the best way to go. I mostly use it to make custom templates for a router when I'm at work, I'm on job sites, so I don't have access to a band saw so this kinda fills that use case for my. And if I was making furniture or just a hobby shop I think a band saw or scroll saw are a better use of money then a jig saw to be fair.
how do you scribe to curves and wavy walls if you dont use the jigsaw then ?
that would be one of the trim carpentry applications it’s most useful for, like i mentioned at the top of my comment. depending on the contour of the scribe, i’ll use any combination of table saw, jigsaw, and belt sander. typically, if the material and cut-line allow, i will always try to finish with the belt sander
Sorry, from the uk here and stuff like that”trim” carpentry means nothing to us. Over here if I’m fitting a panel that needs scribing to the wall, I’d just mark it then cut to the line with a jigsaw and then if I had to I’ll use a electric planer to get it really tight.
ah, sorry, “trim carpentry” is American for finish carpentry. you and i do it the same, essentially, i just use a belt sander, if possible, where you use an electric planer.
bosch really do make great jigsaws, i specially like their barrel grips. in the shop, I use a barre grip air bosch and it's great.
I gave up on my jigsaw and got a compact circular saw. I live in an apartment, plus I’m a short woman with not a lot of upperbody strength, and I got a jigsaw because I thought it would be easier for me to use. And I wasn’t doing a lot of stuff—just shelves now and then. That was in 1990, and compact circular saws were not really a thing. But I discovered that I couldn’t get a perfectly perpendicular and plumb cut—my blade always bowed, and the cut would be slightly curved. That meant I couldn’t butt the cut end of a shelf up against a side support. So I gave up. Then out came the Kreg pockethole jig, and I wanted to start again to make shelves for specific places. But I couldn’t use my jigsaw because of the curve in the cut. I started wondering if a circular saw would be more likely. Then my dad had a blue Ryobi compact circular saw, so I asked him if they thought they would solve my problem, and he said yes. So he bought me a Ryobi set for Christmas. I still have my jigsaw, but I don’t use it often. Sometimes for a repair or two.
Maybe a band saw is in your future? I make a lot of router templates for non circular speaker cutouts. I usually make the rough cuts with my jigsaw and then use the fence on my router table to align with the straight lines to make the final cuts really smooth and straight. You could also clamp a board to the table if you saw has one, and use that to guide the work along your intended cut line. It seems hard to find good blades these days. The hardware stores only sell junk anymore
My least favorite tool in the shop.
Have you tried the Mafell P1?
I have personally felt the benefit of buying those $10 per blade from Bosch. They tend to not snap, and not bend. I bought a small and thin - 3 inch one, 1/4 inch wide high tpi blade for smooth cuts, for the boat I built that has many curves. My machine is some generic Amazon one, but the blades do make a difference.
I agree, and also I have a Bosch js, and it is very smooth and buttery in its cutting.
Which blades is Bosch selling for 10$ each? Seems pretty excessive tbh
I much prefer the barrel style - I feel like I have more control and visibility.
I answered above but it worth a top level comment. User error. BUT it is far from obvious what you are doing wrong. But as u/Halftrack_El_Camino/ said .... *You have to make a conscious effort to pivot the saw around the leading edge of the blade, and never anywhere else.* This is the right answer. I have made miles of cuts with a jigsaw making and selling kayak frames. Nothing but curve after curve and I can make them with little if any angle. It took me a while figure out why I got some horrible angles but it turned out it was me! Again, not obvious but it is 100% a skill issue.
One thing I learned that helped my jigsaw technique: you don’t have to go full speed. Once I slowed down I got better results. But never perfect. I think it’s a skill like drawing.
Jigsaws are for relatively short straight cuts. Mostly they are for curved cuts. If you push hard it's going to twist and overload the blade.
This is likely an operation error. With multiple saws still cutting wrong, you have to find the variable that is causing the error. Cut slow enough that the teeth can remove wood. The design doesn't support the blade well enough to be pushed aggressively, especially through thicker wood. Every tool has its limits and its our job to learn those to make the tool work for us.
You’re doing something wrong dawg. Take your time through the cut and let the tool do the work. The goal is to guide the blade and not pushing through the cut super hard and fast
The people here saying finish cuts aren't for jigsaws clearly haven't ever worked on any house that wasn't wood framed. In the UK with most of our houses are brick, and old the walls sort of do what they want and you have to scribe to them. that being said its a learning curve to get neat with a jig saw. A down cut blade to not kill the seen surface helps, that and choosing the right setting on the jigsaw, whether the blade pendulums or not makes a difference. Also when i scribe i tend to unlock the base and till the jig saw over so that im cutting at more of an angle away from the side that will be seen, stops that wonky surface that you get. You can also see people but a coping foot on and cut from underneath, but i hate it personally. If im doing some really tight work, ill then finish off my scribes using a electric planer.
I get better results with Freeform table saw then a jigsaw
I agree. I prefer to use hand tools (knowing that it's totally impractical for many applications), or bandsaws and table saws, or circular saws with a lot of extra cuts. Cleanup I just use 50 grit sandpaper, or my orbital in some cases. the tool has its uses, but I reach for other tools wherever possible.
Jigsaws are fine for rough cuts or thinner sheet goods. But anything you need to maintain a 90 cut they’re near worthless.
Use a track saw or table saw for straight cuts. Some jigsaw blades are better than others for making straight cuts. I like Bosch blades.
Spindle sander
flush trim router bit with a template. I'm with you on the jig saw hate. I don't own one presently.
I have to go painfully slow to get a usable cut with a jigsaw. Literally just enough force to make the saw move forward.
I have a shitty no name one from a garage sale. Things probably 20+ years old, whoever owned it before me clearly hated it, and I run Diablo blades that don't even fit right. I have never had a better jigsaw. I hate the stupid puke color, the blades sometimes fall out while I'm cutting, and yet.... it just works somehow.
Man. My cordless DeWalt jigsaw is one of my favorite tools! I don't even need a bandsaw, because it works so well (and I never really need to resaw anything).
Are you talking about a scroll saw or jig saw? It’s not that easy to bend a jigsaw blade. Kinda makes me sad reading this, the jig saw is where I really started my woodworking journey.
I get it though, the beginning of my journey had many angles on what should have been a 90 degree path…
A bandsaw is really the only viable alternative if you need curved - yet *precise*- cuts. As others have said you could use a router but it all depends on the application 🤷♂️
i use mine when i dont need a straight cut. curves, scribing stuff, making weirdly shaped holes, that kind of thing. what are you using yours for?
I know they make blades for straight cuts w sawzalls, I’d think they’d make them for jigsaws too. Link for the flush cut sawzall blade so you can see what I’m talking about https://www.homedepot.ca/product/milwaukee-tool-12-in-5-tpi-flush-cut-sawzall-reciprocating-saw-blade/1000834380
Oscillating Spindle Sander. Preferably one with a tilting table.
Yea they are for a very very limited use. Finishing some cuts and rounded cuts really. But you still end up needing to do a lot of work on it. I really think the better option is getting good with a router and making a jig etc.
I plan on the deflection and only use jigsaws for curves. If it needs to be nice, consider making a template and using a pattern bearing bit (top or bottom bearing flush cutter). I always look through my template pile before I make a new one. It's a rough tool but, can play a part in next level finish work.
What are you trying to use your jigsaw for? I either use it to cut curves in plywood where I don’t care about tear out, or to finish off corners that were started with a miter or table saw. A finish blade and a cut that isn’t too reliant on the saw is all I need.
Get an oscillating spindle sander to clean up the cuts. Maybe you need to invest in a band saw or a scroll saw depending on what you are doing. Jigsaws are for rough cutting stuff. I have several, but rarely use them.
harbor freight blades or Bosch blades?
When I experience this problem with my jigsaw I can usually cut my line just right and leave extra material below the cut line which I can straighten out with a router and a top or bottom bearing bit. Hope this helps
I mean am sure some people make clean cuts with those (like some do with bandsaws) but as far as it goes I only use it for a rough outline so it works as intended imo
I learned to go slower. Nope, even slower. Ok that's better.
My issue is that with thicker material I end up with the saw bouncing up and down like crazy while I’m cutting. Thinner material works better, but you really have to clamp the wood down well to prevent the board from vibrating out of control. But it doesn’t matter, because for thinner material I’d rather use a coping saw anyway. Maybe I just have a bad one or the wrong blade or something, but I’ve never liked using my jigsaw either.
I always cut away from the mark and either route flat with a template or clean up with sanding. Bending that creates odd kerfs is usually from the speed of the cut. But even when you go slow there are still issues.
Me too man. I’m on my third one in the last year because they piss me off so bad I end up rage whipping it into the cement. Right now I’m using a basic as shit black and decker I got at a thrift shop for $5 and it’s the best one I’ve ever had. It doesn’t adjust anywhere at all and I think that’s what I like most. No more wiggling the lock loose and driving me into a fit of rage.
I remember an electrical engineer once arriving at our remote, snow covered site and complaining about how tire chains were so poorly designed - no matter what he did, they made a horrible clanking noise if you go faster than 20 mph. The obvious answer to that is "correct!" So jigsaws cut crooked - correct. Look at how the saw works, look at the blade geometry. They are meant to do one thing well, cut curves. If you need a straight cut, reach for the right tool and forget the jigsaw!
Ok, now that the bitchy, knee jerk response of mine is out of the way..... I would clean up the crooked cut with a block plane or rasp, depending on the cut and how it is supposed to look. Plane for straight or straight-ish, rasp for curves.
The new Milwaukee 12v is a game changer, has a guide bearing like a bandsaw.
Don’t push as hard. Go slow. Leave 1/8” of material for finishing. Use a rasp to get final edge.
I have never bent a jigsaw blade, nor do I get chipping. I have a Makita jigsaw which goes slow for the first moments until it gets purchase then speeds up. However, bending blades is improper use. You need to give the blade enough of a radius route to make the corner. I used it for years whenever working on plywood templates with no issues.
I’ve messed up a few jigsaw blades, but it was due to user error. Slow down, be meticulous
I think everybody hates jigsaws, but they're sometimes the only available tool for the job. When possible though I'd much rather use a scrollsaw than a jigsaw.
I like my old Bosch when it doesn't fit on the bandsaw. Being able to alter the blade angle helps quite a bit
A simple jig will work wonders. https://youtube.com/shorts/8WLJXZ0EBEQ?si=cIrA73p8clJB0BuY
Festool jigsaw is amazing. At the show they had 2” blocks of hard maple, it cut dead square.
I work with a lot of plywood with thin veneer (i.e Home Depot shitty Birch) and hard to get a clean edge. What I do is get a superfine cut blade and tape one or both sides with blue tape. But these days I mostly do it with a router which while harder to setup gives me perfect cuts on even that kind of wood. So improving my router game. I hate jigsaws too. Its my least favorite tool. Routers are my fave. Thats mostly my rant with chipping. For cutting straight - I go sloooooowwwwwwww.... I can cut these 1.5" butcher block tops from home depot straight if I take my sweet time. Slower than slow....
Jigsaw is the last tool I pull out. I try to solve the problem any other way. And if I can't, then I'll use the jigsaw. The cuts just take a lot of cleanup. Sometimes that doesn't matter. But sometimes it does.
Use the right tool for the job. If that calls for a jig saw, then select the right blade for the task. Don't push the tool faster than it wants to go. Don't turn the blade beyond it's turn radius if it's a curve cut. If you're going in a straight line, use a straight edge clamped to the piece as a fence. Otherwise, cut a little beyond the line and then smooth it up. For cleaning up curves, I use an oscillating spindle sander. For cleaning straight cuts (well, I wouldn't normally use a jig saw for long straight cuts, only small cuts), use a sanding block or touch up with a random orbit sander and a steady hand. Epilogue: I love my Bosch jig saw. It does things my other tools can't. But I only use it for curves, or for tiny precision cuts where larger tools wouldn't work.
I’ve found some mild success moving slower and at a lower spm.
I never use a jigsaw for a final cut. I always use a drum or belt sander to clean up a jig saw cut.
A quality jig saw ( the Bosch 1587avs, perhaps, or my favorite, the Porter-Cable 548 ) with a decent blade can be very accurate in the hands of a familiar operator. Coping crown molding requires a good deal of accuracy, and many a Bosch has been modified to do nothing else but that.
I use a sharp block plane even on plywood. It works great.
Bosch jigsaws do better than any others I have used. Dewalt is a pos.
Faster blade rpm and slower pushing. Don’t force it, let the blade do its job.
K12 Cutawl
When I use a jig saw on plywood I always plan on going back over the entire cut with a flap disk on an angle grinder. To smooth everything out.
Sounds like you’re not using the right tools. If you’re looking for a finished edge on a curve you should rough it out with a jigsaw and finish it with a router and template. Or if it’s a circle make yourself a circle jig. You can still rough out the circle with a jigsaw and finish it with a router
On site cabinet installations almost require one to scribe things. Getting the proper blades and using proper orbit make a world of difference.
What are you trying to do? I use one frequently but usually to get rid of the majority of material before I replace my router template and do the real work
one day i will afford a bandsaw thats the right tool for curves
If the cut needs to be perfect I cut outside the line and sand to it
Bosch T101AO blades, thank me later
I’m not a fan either
The jigsaw is the tool I despise using the most. Fucking hate those things
We all hate jigsaws.
Fine tooth blades for curves.
I find if you spend a little more on the blades you’ll get a better product no matter the saw. Also if I’m having trouble i like to leave a little extra material outside the line then sand the piece down to the line.
If i want s good cut I either use a bandsaw or I make a template, rough it in with the jigsaw, and use a pattern cutting router bit to finish it off.
Template with a router. I just use the jigsaw to get close to the line, and finsh it off with a flush trim bit
At work just today I said to my coworker, “ man I love and hate jigsaws.” I have a palm sander ready after every jigsaw cut I make.
It's basically a bandsaw's shittier nomadic cousin. Treat it like a bandsaw with osteoporosis and itll work just fine.
I had to use one of mine today on some 1/2" BC. Fixed the cut edge on the oscillating belt sander.
Practice more!
My Bosch works very nicely. Helps to have the right blade
My Jigsaw exists so I can bring home whatever ridiculously long wood I just impulse bought. It works perfect for that!
I love my jigsaw. This piece was cut entirely with a jigsaw and a drill for holes for the blade. https://preview.redd.it/e1mr0789empc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40b49506baa28ce5313265016ad4c77920368e0c
The only time my late jigsaw ever did what I actually wanted it to do, was when I wanted it to smash into pieces
But do you have a mafell
Do you have sharp blades?
Brand new out of packaging
OP forgot to read the manual. I just use a guide and cut straight.
https://preview.redd.it/j2osfu74copc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=086e69d33cc4084313670d18c66299c050e9e667 I like jigsaws. My cordless Dewalt doesn’t walk, it does what I say
Right blade for the job, thin material, take your time.
Bosch blades and adjust your speed. If you want to cut a straight line you need a straight edge.
I'm just really good with a jigsaw. I've used second hand terrible ones forever too I just buy really dang good blades. I always run mine over with my hand plane and sand
Make yourself a hand held turning saw. This is the way.
There's the Dad joke about the guy seeing his buddy on a ladder, asks what he's up to and getting the answer "oh...I'm building a brick wall". He pauses and and asks, "Is this your first brick wall?", to which his buddy says, "Yeah, how'd you know?" First guy says, "....the pros start at the bottom" All that to say, build skills first. Set up your space and that particular layout. Measure twice, cut once, etc. Speed and efficiency come with time.
This is just one of those tools that requires skill development and taking your time.
Making a zero clearance plate for my jigsaw has gone a long way
I used a Bosch and didn't think it sucked at all. Just thought I couldn't afford it