I find that the jigsaw is not the best for exact cuts. I use it mainly to get close to the line and then come up with other means to get to the line.
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I find that the jigsaw is not the best for exact cuts. I use it mainly to get close to the line and then come up with other means to get to the line.
I have two Makita jigsaws.
One was bought in 1990. Variable speed but otherwise nothing fancy. Sort of does the job but does not get pulled out of the box often. It is corded so may not see the light of day again.
The second one was bought in 2017, cordless 18v. Has the SDS blade and also job light and oscillating blade option. What a great tool it is. Often gets pulled out for the smallest job.
I have also used a couple at work. One is fairly old and does not even have variable speed, the other a fairly high in the range Bosch. Even though both are corded it is like chalk and cheese in user friendliness. Using the Bosch encouraged me to buy the cordless Makita and I have no regrets.
Using the right blade for the job and having it sharp makes a difference to the cut as well.
As used here, “great” and “poor” are subjective statements. They reflect the expectations of the user, and user experience must be factored in. I do not expect that much from a jigsaw since the very nature of its construction is limiting - a thin blade which is supported at one end only. Add to this that it is mainly used by those who do not own a more appropriate machine, such as a bandsaw.
One can get ‘decent” results, mainly reasonably square walls and just a little chipping (I have not seen a case where there is none), but this is as much to do with technique, such as the speed of entry and the blade chosen, as well as the material being cut. As with a bandsaw, a dull blade forces one to push harder, which cause the blade to deflect, and the teeth to load up and wander.
My old Makita, mentioned earlier, cuts square when I concentrate. It lacks some of the features of modern jigsaws, such as a light, and the blades are not only getting difficult to obtain, but are a pain to insert. It is noisy (but this may be bearings). The only reason I have not replaced it is that it performs as well as I expect from a jigsaw, and it does not get used much. I accept it is a tool for rougher work.
I think that some may be unrealistic about the quality of finish they seek from theirs. It would be helpful to qualify comments when reviwing a machine.
Regards from Perth
Derek
As mentioned earlier, I have two jigsaws so I am comparing two units asked to do the same job.
The first one is a 40 something year old Ryobi (when Ryobi made quality). It’s a single speed with no back blade support roller. It had a crude blade holder using a ring with a Philips head screw at the front and side. It would follow a line accurately and cut 19mm ply at right angles. Great jigsaw but the blades became impossible to buy.
The second one is a Makita, now about 3 years old, bought from Bunnings. It has speed control and a roller to support the back of the blade. The base can also be slide back and forth. I use quality Bosch blades ( I have tried others) as they are readily available at my local store.
No matter how hard you try to follow a line, it wants to wander off no matter what the thickness of material. It will cut 17-19mm ply at any angle other than 90 degrees. It’s a POS.
In desperation the other day, after trying the Makita, I pulled out the old Ryobi, fitted one of my last remaining blades, and it performed the cut in 18mm ply flawlessly.
So there you are Derek - a comparison of two jigsaws being used to do what I consider to be a realistic task.
Good Morning Lappa
You are really stretching the bounds of credibility here. But you have me intrigued. Either:
- You have a very different definition of "flawless", or
- You have the only jigsaw in the world that cuts "flawlessly", or
- (Probably) I have missed something critical.
Fair Winds
Graeme
Fair enough. Probably stretching the truth a little:D But after struggling with the Makita it did appear to be flawless - but within the confines of what a jigsaw can achieve.
BTW - the word flawless, in some instances, can be applied to an object that is within specified tolerances.
Derek makes a good point in the way we value and assess our jigsaws. Unless they are subjected to consistent test conditions our opinion is very narrow and distinctly subjective. This is my 20 year old Bosch jigsaw I mentioned previously:
Attachment 463446
I bought it for a specific purpose and that was to cut table tops from slabs. Typically the slabs were Ironbark, Grey Gum and Spotted Gum and were normally a minimum of 50mm thick. The machine is 650W and within reason I thought it was about the best jigsaw I could buy at the time. Today I am led to believe there are several other machines that would easily surpass this old Bosch.
I have to say it was not up to the task: Not even close, but on reflection it was a big ask.
Years later, when GMC folded and Grays Online were selling off the machinery I bought a large batch of jigsaw blades. Now these were by no means prime quality blades, but it did bring home the reality that there are horses for courses such as as fine, coarse, crosscutting, tight curves and ripping varieties. The pic on the left shows the metal blades while on the right are those for wood and plastics.
Attachment 463447Attachment 463448
More recently I bought some Festool blades from Elan Jacobs and these proved to be very good.
Nowadays I use the jigsaw primarily for cutting out hand saw blanks to the rough handle shape before trimming off with a router using a pattern following bit. In material that is no more than 24mm thick the jigsaw does a good job even with the very hard woods I persist in using, but it is noticeable when the blade has to encounter a change of grain direction.
Regards
Paul
Mafell is for those who know that Festool is just too far down market. That jigsaw is about $800 in Germany, without the tracks.
Graeme
I think Mafell is the brand I had in mind when I said there are better versions today. From a quick search of the net I think you would have to allow A$900 to include shipping and allow for another 10% GST. Here in Oz it seems to be about $1300. Not for the budget minded woodworker and a little different to the OPs economy Ryobi.
Regards
Paul
Are you sure about this, Aldav? Her is a quote from some German promotional literature:
".....Founded in 1899, MAFELL's sole production facility today is in Oberndorf on Neckar, near Stuttgart, Germany. Here they produce ""quality made in Germany"", with up to 85% of components made by themselves, and their own tool design and construction operation......"
With EU consumer law they would be sailing close to the wind if much stuff was made in Turkey.
Cheers
Graeme
Mafell made in Turkey? Not as far as I'm aware. None of my recent purchases are anyway. Both cordless saws (crosscutter & plunge saws) & corded jiggy are of (as far as I'm aware and as documented on the machines' type-plates) Teutonic provenance.
Granted, Mafell's smallest 10.8v cordless drill - as is Metabo's equivalent on which the drill is based - is of east asian manufacture. But as far as I'm aware, it's the sole tool marketed under the Mafell name that isn't German sourced. All their "Cordless Alliance" (18v) tools are of indigenous manufacture, as are all their corded tools.
As far as price is concerned, there are occasional bargains to be had. My latest purchase, a new P1 cc jiggy actually cost me a mere $272.17 inclusive of freight! Needless to say, I'm rather chuffed with the purchase price, but perhaps more importantly the performance of the tool. It's simply a "better mousetrap", made so by basically ignoring the traditional blade guidance principles adopted by just about each & every alternative jigsaw manufacturer.
It cuts, straighter, faster and generally with much less effort than the other 5 jiggies I've owned in the past: Elu, Bosch, Festool & 2 Metabos. Nevertheless, I think I'd actually prefer the Metabos for cutting in steel plate (<10mm). Either of the Metabos (135 & 140) just seem to be more robust in heavy steelwork.
The worst jiggy I've ever owned was the Festool (PS300 Trion), which could barely cut straight in substrates as soft as melamine chipboard, not to mention its propensity for prematurely overheating and destroying blades. My late 70's Elu was in many ways a superior tool (extraction excepted) to the rubbish Festool!
For all those Doubting Thomases out there that don't believe Mafell can be inexpensive here's the link to the P1 cc:
Mafell Prazisionsstichsage P1 cc MaxiMAX im MAFELL-MAX | 917103 | eBay