How To Use A Jigsaw | Tips & Tricks

Aug 24, 2023

How To Use A Jigsaw | Tips & Tricks

Learn how to use a jigsaw, how it works, and some jigsaw tips and tricks!

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About this video:
I’ve had a rocky relationship with the old jigsaw from the 1980s-1990s that my dad gave me about 15 years ago. It vibrates horribly and uses u-shank blades. I didn’t realize how bad it was, and how useful a jigsaw could be, until I bought a more modern jigsaw.

Content

0.06 -> the jigsaw - today we're going to talk about what it does and how to use it

9.86 -> the jigsaw and I have a very rocky past but that's mainly due to this guy right here

14.48 -> my dad gave me this probably 15 years ago and I think he probably had it 15

19.08 -> years before that the biggest problem is that it vibrates really bad and it takes

23.91 -> you shank blades which we'll talk about a little later about a year ago I was

27.09 -> working on a project and I needed a jigsaw so I bought this one and once I

31.679 -> used this for the first time I knew it was gonna have a permanent place in my

34.92 -> shop let's go over the parts of the jigsaw all jigsaw is gonna be a little

42.899 -> bit different but they all have the same basic parts this jigsaw has an overhand

47.43 -> handle with the power switch on the bottom of the handle and it's got a lock

51.09 -> so you can lock the power switch on and then the speed control also is on the

55.53 -> power switch it has orbital selections which let you cut a little more

59.73 -> aggressively so zero is the blade goes straight up and down and as you move

63.87 -> this selector up it will do more aggressive oval type movements so as it

68.939 -> comes up and down it pushes it forward just a little bit depending on what you

72.81 -> select here the Sig saw has a quick release clamp for the blades and we'll

76.83 -> talk about this a little later but this takes T shank blades and that's really

81.99 -> what you want to look for when you buy a jigsaw to make it that easy to load and

86.909 -> unload your blade this bottom plate is called the shoe and on this jigsaw you

90.96 -> can turn this around and use the end that's considered anti splinters so this

95.82 -> part here supports the wood fibers as you cut and it's supposed to cut down on

100.38 -> chipping and splintering but you can only use it with certain type of blades

108.38 -> the jigsaw is probably best known for cutting curves but it's got several

112.74 -> other uses one is the crosscut and if you've got a speed square or some other

116.52 -> kind of straight edge they'll give you a really nice straight cut the shoe on

120.87 -> most jig saws will actually tilt to allow you to cut bevels it can also make

126.66 -> a pocket cut otherwise known as a plunge cut by elting it up in the front of its

131.16 -> shoe getting the blade up to speed and then slowly lowering it down until the

135.96 -> blade is all the way through the wood

140.45 -> you would do this if you needed to cut out a hole in wood which is also a very

144.81 -> handy use for the jig saw aside from the pocket cut you can drill holes big

149.88 -> enough for the blade and get started that way jigsaw blades can be extremely

159.42 -> confusing so let's start with the different shanks that you'll find

162.75 -> there's primarily two kinds this is a tee shank it fits up into a quick

167.07 -> release clamp and most jigsaw is made today are made to fit a tee shank and

171.33 -> these are much more convenient to unload and load and much more secure than the

175.95 -> use shank you shank have au at the top they fit into the holder and they're

180.75 -> tightened down with a screw so they're not as secure there's a little bit more

184.02 -> time to load and unload them there's a few ways that we describe jigsaw blades

188.31 -> and one of those is TPI or teeth per inch so if I measure an inch on this

194.13 -> blade and count one two three four five six that's sixty p.i or six teeth per

200.61 -> inch if you'll notice on this blade it is pretty aggressive at sixty P I here

205.02 -> at the end but if you look up here more towards the top of the blade it looks

208.86 -> like there's a few more teeth per inch and it's actually nine TPI and the

213.3 -> reason for that is because this blade and all blades cut the direction of the

218.25 -> teeth so you notice these teeth are slanted upward so as this blade moves up

222.42 -> and down in the jigsaw when it comes down it's all it's doing is rubbing on

227.52 -> the back of the teeth and that's not the cutting side so it cuts when it comes

232.29 -> back up and it's cutting up from the bottom to the top and so as this comes

237.72 -> up these top teeth are going to score the wood before the more aggressive part

243.37 -> and that way there will be less tear out once these more aggressive teeth get

248.23 -> there the initial part of that wood is already scored and separated the teeth

252.88 -> on a jigsaw blade can also be set to alternate so if you see this tooth here

257.049 -> goes off to the left then right then left right and they alternate all the

261.01 -> way up that's a faster cut but it's also rougher with more tear out until you get

265.6 -> to the top here and these teeth are set straight so straight teeth and more of

271.12 -> them score the would have less tear out it's a slower cut but it's a lot cleaner

276.19 -> but you can also buy a reverse blade where the teeth are facing down and all

281.11 -> that means is like we talked about before instead of this blade cutting on

284.71 -> the upstroke this blades gonna cut on the downstroke the way you use the

288.88 -> jigsaw is a little bit different between this blade and this blade if you think

292.81 -> about it as you're cutting on the upstroke with this blade the wood is

296.77 -> going to resist that cut and so it's going to push as this moves up to cut

300.94 -> the wood is going to try to resist and push it back down so as it pushes it

305.53 -> back down it brings the shoe and the entire jigsaw back down with it which

310.54 -> results in keeping it on the piece that you're cutting with a reverse blade

315.28 -> you're cutting on the down stroke so the wood is resisting the teeth as you push

321.07 -> down and wants to push it back up and so the tendency is for the entire jigsaw

326.2 -> and the shoe to lift up off of the piece you're cutting so you have to be aware

330.91 -> of that and keep the jigsaw pressed firmly against the workpiece at all

334.66 -> times there's all kinds of jigsaw blades out there and they're usually pretty

338.32 -> clearly labeled what they're used for you can get them for metal you can get

341.89 -> them for PVC plastic this is a scrolling blade which is really good for curves

346.45 -> you'll notice how narrow it is and it's got a pretty high TPI a general wood

351.28 -> cutting blade this is a very very coarse blade which is just for cross-cutting

356.26 -> two-by-fours out on a construction site and something that you don't care what

359.86 -> it looks like and you don't care if it has a lot of tear out

366.06 -> all this information means nothing to you if you can't apply it to your own

370.75 -> woodworking so let's do a couple of practical examples I'm going to put the

375.669 -> really rough jigsaw blade in here and make a cut

387.96 -> you see really that wasn't a bad cut it's very clean on the bottom where the

392.639 -> blade was entering into the cut and even at the top with a coarse blade like this

397.11 -> it still was not bad tear out now I've got that combination blade we looked at

402.27 -> there was a cleaner cut at the top and more aggressive at the bottom so

413.699 -> immediately you can you can see that that was a much rougher cut still clean

418.68 -> on the bottom but that it went a lot faster than that other blade it's now

423.84 -> I've loaded up the blade that's kind of a general-purpose blade but it's more

427.26 -> fine-toothed than the last one it should be a cleaner cut

433.729 -> so really about the same as the last one all of these are really clean on the

438.63 -> bottom and you can see how rough they can be on the top so now I've loaded up

444.21 -> the reverse blade and you'll see how the top will be cleaner than the bottom

458.65 -> now let's try these blades with some walnut which is a much harder wood

470.289 -> you see the hardwood cuts a lot better than the light wood and this 2x4 the

476 -> fibers in this they have a lot of give before the blade actually cuts them and

480.44 -> that results in a lot of this tear out in hardwood the fibers don't have near

484.37 -> the give and as long as the blade is sharp enough it just cuts cleanly right

488.33 -> through them I've loaded up just the standard blade

491.09 -> and I'm going to cut this curve now loaded up this scrolling blade and we'll

504.65 -> see how much better it does it was a slower cut much cleaner and I had a lot

514.339 -> more control if you notice along this edge it's much closer to 90 degrees

519.14 -> straight up and down and then 90 with this edge as opposed to the last blade

524.029 -> where I had quite a bit of deflection here you can see that's kind of bevel

527.839 -> it's kind of angled that way and that happens because the blade is not

531.98 -> supportive down here so if you try to feed it through too fast or you're using

536.27 -> the wrong blade for the workpiece and you could get deflection like that and

539.72 -> it would cause it to cut a bevel I've got the aggressive blade loaded back up

543.47 -> I'm gonna make a cut with just straight up and down no orbital action and then

547.88 -> we're gonna go all the way up to three and see how much that helps

567.37 -> much faster of a cut much more aggressive but it looks terrible now on

572.42 -> the bottom interestingly it's still a nice clean cut but the tear out on the

576.44 -> sides and on the bottom is horrible most manufacturers will tell you to get the

587.66 -> blade up to full speed before pushing it in to cut the wood the problem with that

591.68 -> is the jigsaw really wants to wander it's hard to accurately hit your line

596.57 -> doing this way because most saws have an analogue switch and you can just barely

600.83 -> press it down and the blade will slowly move up and down what I like to do if

604.97 -> I'm trying to make a really accurate cut is to start up next to the wood and

609.38 -> slowly bring the blade up and down to start a curve and then back it off a

613.97 -> little bit get the blade up to full speed and then make the cut if I need a

618.8 -> really clean cut on the top and bottom of a workpiece and I'm using a blade

622.94 -> where the teeth are facing up I know that the bottoms gonna be clean anyway

626.089 -> I'll clamp a sacrificial board to the top that gives the fibres enough support

630.68 -> that it prevents tear out if you know anymore jigsaw tips and tricks put them

635.39 -> down in the comments if you're new to woodworking or you want to get started

638.6 -> look down in the description I've got a free download you might find helpful if

642.649 -> you'd like to see more woodworking videos like these consider subscribing

645.85 -> thanks for watching and we'll see you next time

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7YKJGOJBZo