I remember when I was a kid and would go
trick-or-treating my favorite house at
our neighborhood was the one that would
give away the fun size packages of
microjig maker of the gripper work
safer.work smarter the jigsaw the one
saw to rule them all sort of my table
saw probably gets used more than any
tool in my shop but it has one big
limitation it can't cut curves not
counting CMC's lasers and other
specialty equipment there are basically
three power tools available for making
curved cuts in wood a scroll saw is
great for cutting tight intricate curves
in thin material and is most commonly
used for decorative objects a bandsaw is
probably the most common tool for
cutting curves in a woodworking shop but
it's expensive it takes up space and it
has its limitations a jig saw can handle
almost all of the curved cuts you'll
want to make and more it's versatile it
takes up no space and it's affordable in
fact after decades of woodworking I find
myself using my jig saw more and my fan
saw less it's that handy let me start by
trying to clear up some confusion in its
name in the past a jig saw is often
called a saber saw today a reciprocating
saw is sometimes called a saber saw but
most likely it's called a sawzall which
is just a brand name kind of like how
people call circular saws of skill saws
and what we call a scroll saw today used
to be referred to as a jig saw a jig saw
uses a small blade and it cuts with an
up-and-down motion the thin size of the
blades makes it easy to cut pretty tight
radiuses and it's handy for cutting
holes something a bandsaw can't do its
biggest limitation is that you can't cut
really thick lumber usually this isn't
much of an issue because I rarely cut
anything especially curves in anything
thicker than a 2x4 the saw rests against
your workpiece on this base or shoe and
most jig saws will let you tilt that
base to make beveled cuts but I don't
think I've ever used that feature most
saws also have variable speeds this is
useful for preventing burning as it
in general you can use a fast speed for
pine and other soft woods and a slower
speed to reduce burning on hardwoods to
adjust the speed there's usually a dial
+ squeezing the trigger produces
variable speeds online i usually just
keep the dial set to its fastest speed
and use the trigger for adjusting the
speed as i'm cutting a lot of jig saws
have an adjustment for orbital action
cutting when that switched on the blade
pivots forward and backward in addition
to going up and down this makes for an
aggressive cut and really speeds up the
cutting on large pieces the drawback is
that it produces a more ragged cut I
rarely use the orbital cutting feature
maybe occasionally for rough
construction projects if you've never
owned a jig saw and are looking to buy
your first one I'll narrow your first
decision for you only buy a jigsaw that
uses T shank blades check on this before
you leave the store in general there are
two types of blade shanks that hold the
blade to the saw the first kind and the
most common is the use shank these might
require a hex wrench or some other kind
of tool to install them into the saw I
used to have a saw like this and it was
a pain to use and sometimes the blades
would fall out of the saw while I was
making a cut it's just not worth the
hassle the second type are the t shank
blades like these you don't need a
special tool to attach them they quick
change to your saw in a second and they
stay very secure the teeth on jigsaw
blades can point upward or downward the
blade produces a smoother cut on the
side of the wood that it's cutting
toward
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I actually prefer the reverse blades the
ones that cut on the downstroke because
usually I draw my cutting lines on the
good side of the board but most blades
sold are the ones that cut on the
upstroke I have no idea why blades are
also sold in teeth per inch the fewer
the teeth per inch the faster but
rougher the cut a 10 TPI blade is good
for most woodworking applications this
narrow blade is 20 TPI and it's great
for cutting really tight curves there
are two things to consider when using a
jigsaw first understand that the blade
is unsupported on one end this is
usually only a problem if you take
curves too fast on thicker boards the
blade can flex causing the edge of your
board not to be square with the face the
other thing to keep in mind is the
length of your blade and make sure that
it's at least an inch or so longer than
the thickness of the wood you need to
cut it's also worth mentioning that a
jig saw is really one of the safest
power tools you can use since the
cutting blade is beneath the wood and
away from your fingers I usually support
my workpiece just by holding it against
my workbench and making the cut as close
to the edge of the workbench as I can
sometimes the blade runs into the
workbench but that's okay
unlike other saws to start my cut with a
jig saw personally I like to press the
blade up against the wood before turning
it on I find that it just grabs better
that way if the saw is already running
and I press it into the wood it tends to
slide around trying to find the cut line
be conscious of keeping the base of the
saw pressed against the board it's real
easy to lift it up without realizing it
causing your edges to not be square slow
down your feed rate for tighter curves
if the curve is too tight for the blade
to turn I kind of like to carve with the
blade you can even sweep the saw blade
side-to-side and kind of nibble away at
the wood a jigsaw is a must-have tool
for cutting holes or other inside shapes
something you can't do with a bandsaw
just drill a hole drop your blade into
it and start cutting
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if you need to cut a square hole drill
holes in two corners and connect them
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it's also great for cutting handles
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those are just a few of the things you
can do with a jigsaw one of the most
underappreciated overlooked tools for
making things hey if you have any tips
for using a jigsaw leave them down in
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basics video hey I hope you enjoyed this
week's video and found it useful check
out my entire basics series by watching
this playlist there's a lot of great
information there to get you started
thank you so much for watching everybody
I'll see you next week