How to use an electric jigsaw for wood

Markup

Marking is an important detail, because you need to avoid chips on the front side of the part. Please note that chips are often formed on the side of the sheet towards the person working. Most often this applies to Chipboard and Fiberboard sheets. Based on this, the markings must be applied on the back side, and the canvas must be placed with the front side away from you.

For an accurate cut, you need to mark without allowances, and guide the saw near the mowing line of the marking. For the convenience of work, the workpiece must be secured using a bench clamp or sawing table.

Additional accessories

The jigsaw with an electric drive is a hand tool, however, if necessary, it can be secured using a stop bar and a parallel stop.

Sometimes you need to saw off a part covered with a layer of paint or varnish, and I really don’t want to scratch it. For this case, a plastic shoe or self-adhesive felt is provided.

In addition to files, rasp and grinding attachments can be installed on the tool. Thanks to the first, the corners are rounded, and with the help of the second they clean the finished product.

Some models provide for the use of a pendulum mechanism, due to which the sawing process is accelerated. This function is good for making rough cuts, as the quality and accuracy of the cut line is reduced. When working with plastic and metal, the use of the pendulum mechanism is unacceptable.

When working with a jigsaw, a lot of fine dust is formed, which harms the respiratory system. You can get rid of it by connecting a construction vacuum cleaner to the nozzle of the device, which will suck in all the dust generated during the operation of an electric jigsaw.

If the purchase of two tools is not affordable, a jigsaw with the function of blowing the working area will be enough for work.

How to use a jigsaw correctly

Every man, being a real owner, should not only have repair tools in his arsenal, but also be able to apply them in practice. It will be about one of the modern tools, namely the jigsaw. Let’s figure out what kind of device it is and how to work with it.

Device device

The electric jigsaw is designed for cutting various sheet materials. Depending on the purpose, jigsaws are:

• professional;
• semi-professional:
• household.

The differences lie in the technical characteristics and functionality of the tools.

How to Use a Jigsaw. for Beginners

Before you learn how to use a jigsaw, you need to familiarize yourself with its device. The tool consists of:

• Aluminum body.
• Electric motor. A powerful tool will be able to cut thicker and stronger material.
• Gearbox covers.
• Pendulum stroke control buttons. The pendulum mechanism allows you to make an accurate cut of materials with a low density (soft woods, plywood, foam).
• Covers and brackets for safe work.
• Support roller for sawing.
• Chip blowing regulator.
• Regulator of the number of strokes of the saw, on which the speed of its movement depends.
• Slab tilt adjuster. It allows you to cut wood at an angle of 15, 30, 45 and 90 degrees.
• Laser guide. Allows you to adhere to the drawn mowing line for cutting.
• Keyless chuck, which acts as a saw.
• Battery, thanks to which you can cut with a jigsaw for some time without being connected to the mains.

Choosing saws for a jigsaw

Saws are purchased separately and are selected depending on the material of the cutting blade and whether you need a straight or curly cut. The packaging indicates the purpose of the saws, what material they are made of, as well as the direction and size of the teeth.

• wood, plywood;
• drywall;
• metal;
• aluminum;
• Styrofoam;
• glass;
• ceramics;
• rubber;
• skin;
• carpets.

One or another type of saw is selected depending on what you need to saw off.

Consider the types of jigsaw saws and determine what each of them can do.

• With a wide canvas. Designed for cutting saw blades along a straight mowing line. With a saw like this, you don’t have to put in a lot of effort, just make some direction adjustments. For a more accurate cutting line, you need to turn on the “Soft start” function, in which the motor gradually picks up speed.
• Narrow saw. Needed for cutting material along a curved mowing line. To cut with maximum precision, use a tilting tool. The head turn radius depends on the selected jigsaw model.
• With coarse teeth. Their purpose is to cut quickly, while the quality is poor.
• Saws with fine teeth and a thin blade can cut the most complex shapes.

The quality of the jigsaw depends on the method of fastening the file. When processing thick sheets with a high material density, it is necessary to use equipment with a rigid mount.

Working with blunt saws can lead to tool breakage due to the increased load on the jigsaw motor. And also the quality of the cut will decrease.

How to prepare the instrument

It will be useful for beginners in this business to learn how to work with a jigsaw correctly, but first we will talk about preparing the tool for use:

• The first step is to carefully study the instructions for use of the electrical appliance.
• Visually assess the appearance of the device for damage: cracks, chips, cable integrity.
• Choose a saw in accordance with the quality of the material with which you have to work.
• Select the appropriate mode. Here are some examples: to work with soft tree species, it is necessary to set the maximum speed and apply a pendulum mechanism. If you need to cut a sheet of chipboard, then leave the high speed of the cutting blade, but the pendulum mechanism will be superfluous here because it will contribute to the appearance of chips.

To avoid injury, you must adhere to safety precautions when working with a jigsaw: wear protective glasses and gloves.

Jigsaw tips

To find out how to properly saw with an electric jigsaw, our tips will help:

• Stronger is not better. This concerns the force of pressure on the device during operation. This style of sawing will break the tool. The correct use of the jigsaw is to firmly fix the device in the hand and direct the saw in the right direction.
• Vibration occurs when processing thin metal sheets. To eliminate it, you need to reduce the speed of the saw and put a sheet of plywood under the metal. When cutting such material, there is a large load on the jigsaw motor, so you should periodically turn off the device to cool the motor.
• For high-quality and accurate cutting, you need to fix the workpiece.
• To avoid chipping on the bottom or top side, for example of laminated particle board, the saw must be selected correctly or the board must be turned on the correct side. But if there is a need to get a cut without chips on both sides, then on top of the chipboard you need to put a small piece of the same board and start sawing. The chip will remain on the additional material, and the desired plate will be with a clean cut.
• To prevent chips from appearing, you can resort to this trick: glue adhesive tape according to the marking.
• When sawing brittle material such as plastic, we recommend installing a saw with medium teeth, turning off the pendulum mechanism and setting the saw speed to the lowest.
• In the event that it is necessary to cut out a part with a closed contour, and it is impossible to start sawing from the edge, then a hole is drilled in a convenient place, an electric jigsaw is inserted into it and work continues.
• To cut plexiglass or non-ferrous metals, the saw must be treated with machine oil.

We hope that our tips will help you, and if you have additional questions about how to use an electric jigsaw correctly, you can always watch the training video.

As it turned out, the jigsaw is an indispensable tool in everyday life that even a beginner can handle. And with the right approach and work experience, you can not only make straight cuts, but also cut out various curly details for decoration.

How to cut ceramic tiles with a jigsaw

Ceramic tiles are one of the most difficult building materials, as they combine hardness and fragility. It is necessary to work with it with a special blade, which allows you to get an even cut without chips.

Cut ceramic tiles with a jigsaw only evenly. Edging and curly cutting will not give a good result, as the tile will begin to break.

You need to cut the tiles with a jigsaw very carefully. This is done in one smooth movement. Stops should not be allowed. The pendulum movement of the canvas is turned off.

Jigsaw device

The next short introduction is designed to answer the question “What is a jigsaw” and “How does it work”. Since this is only a superficial analysis of the tool, we will not dive into the technical depths, but only touch on the external functionality. We assure you that the information provided will fully clarify the general understanding of the concept of the device and form a clear picture of the principle of its operation.

How to Use a Jigsaw

First of all, you should pay attention to the shape of the jigsaws. They can be stapled or straight with a mushroom-shaped handle. The first option is the most common and very convenient, but for the sake of fairness it should be said that working with a mushroom handle can be quite comfortable (especially in a figured cut).

Regardless of the shape of the handle, each jigsaw has a start button and its lock (for working without holding). Also, any device of this type has a sole that can be stamped or cast (on more expensive models). For miter cuts, the sole can be tilted using a wrench or a lever mounted on professional devices. Saw blades, making an average of 50 strokes per second, are installed in a special clamp, which can be a shoe, screw or quick-clamping.

Most modern models are equipped with a pendulum function (to speed up cutting), the regulator of which is located on the left side of the body, next to the file. If you consider the jigsaw device in more detail, you will notice that some models may be equipped with a backlight, dust collector, laser pointer and other useful devices. We talked about these and other functions in detail in a separate article.

How to use a Jigsaw. Basics

For more sophisticated users who understand the structure of a power tool, the following jigsaw diagram was laid out. The parsed model of a domestic manufacturer clearly demonstrates all the components of the “filling” of most standard devices.

General repair rules

Now we turn to the part on how to use and repair a jigsaw.

Repairing any problem begins with disassembling the tool. It is not at all difficult to do this, because the case is easily divided into 2 parts and all mechanisms are in the public domain. First, the dirt is always removed and the lubricant is changed, and after that the actual repair process itself begins.

How to work correctly with a jigsaw on wood?

For each of these types, you can use various techniques and methods, and now let’s see about some of them (the most common).

Sawing with a jigsaw is due to the reciprocating saw, but this action also causes a strong vibration of the material. This is especially true on thin sheet materials such as fibreboard and plywood. And therefore, in order to obtain a high-quality cut and convenience when cutting, the workpiece should be installed so that the cut passes between two anchor points. To do this, you can adapt either a beam of the required height (to avoid hitting the file on the surface), or you can adapt two “goats” for this. In this case, it is necessary that the workpiece be well fixed.

To do this, you can use clamps, if there are no such available, you can press the workpiece with your hand (not always convenient, but quite tolerable). We sort of decided on the location, let’s go directly to the sawing itself.

Additional tips for choosing saws

The quality of the saw blades should be even better than the quality of the jigsaw itself, because it is the blunt teeth that easily bend in different directions that can ruin the work of even the most experienced craftsman.

In addition, it makes sense to choose different saws for different types of sawing:

• For straight cuts, wide blades are suitable, which are more stable and, accordingly, provide an even line in the end.
• The more important the cleanliness of the cut itself, the thinner the teeth on the blade are selected.
• If it is necessary to achieve a perfectly clean mowing line of the cut, absolutely without a single chip, choose a blade that has a reverse tooth stroke.
• When you need a quick and rough cut, large saws are used with wide-set cutters.
• Blades without setting are quite productive and convenient for working with thick workpieces.
• If productivity and quality of sawing are equally important, then saws with teeth installed with a displaced pitch will help (the step is large at the bottom, and as it approaches the front of the part it gradually becomes smaller).

Woodworking

Despite its solid functionality, the electric jigsaw is most often used for working with wood and its derivatives. The use of this device is always justified: starting from a rough cut of tens of meters of chipboard or timber, and ending with delicate processing of laminate or plywood.

There is nothing tricky in how to work with a jigsaw: you press the start button and start processing the selected material. The most important thing is to carry out the work cleanly, evenly and as needed, without chips. To work with a jigsaw on wood to argue, it is enough to know a few simple rules.

Speed. When working with wood, the maximum number of revolutions is permissible. If you need a smoother cut, without chips, the speed is reduced. The optimal speed mode is set depending on the material being processed. If excess chips form on the surface, it is better to lower the speed or change the saw blade.

Files. For rough cuts and thick wood, a coarse-toothed file with an average pitch of 4 mm is suitable. delicate straight cuts are best done with a finer-toothed blade and better re-sharpened. For curly cutting, it is better to use a thin file with large teeth.

Saw cut without chips. When an electric jigsaw is used to work with wood and its derivatives, the cutting line is almost always accompanied by hard-hitting chips that spoil the overall appearance of the product. This defect is especially noticeable and undesirable on decorative and facing materials. Fortunately, there is a very simple and effective solution to this problem, called the “Splinter Liner”.

This compact plexiglass fixture fits into the sole of some jigsaw models, and prevents the saw blade from pulling out pieces of material during operation. It should be noted that this method provides a clean cut only with saws, whose teeth are directed upwards. Unfortunately, not every manufacturer produces such earbuds, and they are not universal.

If for your jigsaw model, such an improvement is not provided, you can make it yourself from a piece of plywood or plexiglass. The video below “how to work with a jigsaw on wood without chips” clearly demonstrates the process of making such an improvised insert.