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Hi, can anyone recommend a good jigsaw in the £120 bracket. It'll be used for cutting various thicknesses of pine plank only, no hardwood. Thanks.
 
Hi DB

I can't suggest a particular jigsaw to buy but I'd like to draw your attention to the problems I've had with a Bosch. It has a peculiar blade fitting system that involves you lifting a catch, rotating it counter clock-wise three times, inserting the blade at 90 degrees, closing the latch, twisting the blade through a further 90 degrees, rotating the catch twice clok-wise, sacrificing a goat at dawn and dancing naked widdershins around a rowan tree. Or something like that.

Then you try to use the saw and find the blade wanders off course before disconsolately dropping out of the machine.

So, to summarise, before you buy, it's probably a good idea to make sure you check out the blade changing system.

Yours

Gill
 
Sorry GillD, I have to disagree strongly with that comment.

In the Trade in the UK and most other parts of the world for that matter Bosch have been the #1 brand of jigsaws, without exception. In the old days you used to have to stick a screw driver down a hole in the head of the jigsaw to release the blade and this was simple but could you find the right screw driver when you were in a hurry.

The SDS system Gill that you have on your Bosch is far better, I must admit with my first GST2000, I found the method a bit off putting. but when you realise that I was the one in error and not the tool it gets better. When you turn the plastic head backwards as you explained you are not giving it enough turns (read the manual) you should turn it until you hear the ratchet click in and then a bit further until it lines up with the rest position allowing at least a couple of clicks. You will never have the blade wonder of and drop out if you follow that method. If you do then return it, you have one of the very rare Bosch Jigsaws that ever go wrong.

On some of the cheaper Bosch models there is a quick release system but I can't say I like it much.

I have three bosch jigsaws one going back 20 years and they are excellent without exception and they used to get some real heavy workloads.

So I would only recommend the Bosch GST2000 I know there are some other contenders on the market now but Bosch still hold the jigsaw crown.

That doesn't mean we can't be friends does it Gill :lol:
 
Sacrificing a goat at dawn and dancing naked widdershins around a rowan tree sounds like fun but I doubt I'll have time for such enjoyment ;) Thanks for the warning about Bosch and it's blade fitting ritual, it does sound like a lot to go through just to fit a blade although I do use other Bosch woodwooking machinery without trouble.
 
Drillbit,

At the risk of hacking everyone off here. I'm now on my 2nd Bosch jigsaw!
The first one was low cost but had the screwdriver blade release thing which was a pain in the backside. The second one which I am now using is the same model but revised with the quick release blade fitting. Unlike Stevezm I find this no problem. Both jigsaws have served well and I use them quite a lot, although mostly on light stuff. Sawing say 1" pine would be dead easy. This weekend I sawed the ends off a 38mm laminated worktop and that was just about ok.

So, what I'm really saying is firstly Bosch are fine and that just cos you spend out on a cheap Bosch jigsaw doesnt mean its going to be rubbish!
For the price you want to pay, you should have pick of the bunch.

Oh, and dont forget the old saying "bad workmen always blame their tools"!!!!!

Regards
 
Sorry! I may have been missunderstood. I think the Quick release blade is a great idea and I don't find it a problem. A couple of mates have this system and one of them makes a point of showing me how quick he can change the blade. But even after seeing that I bought the GST2000 I like the body shape, it's more true to the old Bosch and if you use the jigsaw a hell of a lot which I did at one time, it'd the best grip and I thinks slightly sturdier body.

The GST100 has the quick release and to be honest there is little difference in the price, 10 pounds, but it has the Black n Decker shape body and unless you really use the jigsaw a lot you may not appreciate the barrel grip. Don't ask me to explain that one, anyone that has or had the old, true barrel grip, bosch will know what I mean.

Anyway what I was addressing is that the SDS system is quick to change and very effecient and the blade does not come lose.
 
Hi folks

Steve - I'm not going to fall out over your disagreement with me so long as you put up a cogent argument. Which you have 8) . I was just pointing out that I had a lot of trouble with the blade (yes, I did read the manual. Repeatedly... :( ) and that I thought it would be a sensible precaution to check that any prospective purchase was user friendly.

Incidentally, GWW magazine ran a test on a few jigsaws a couple of months ago and found that all 3 tested came out well, with Milwaukee being the top rated. Myself, I wasn't happy with the test but I won't go into that here!

Matstro - Should I be offended by your comments about bad workmen blaming their tools :wink: ?

Yours

Gill
 
As an experienced Joiner I have used numerous Jigsaws over the years and to be honest I can't really fault the Bosch machines.At the minute I have a 240 volt Bosch GST 85 PB used almost daily for over two years. I also have a 110 volt Bosch GST 100 BCE with the more modern ' lever ' action blade change system and also a new Makita 4340CT model with the quick blade change system. I am happy with the Makita but prefer the Bosch as I find it keeps a straighter line through worktops. I paid £119 for the Makita and around £130-£140 each for the Bosch.I have also borrowed a DeWalt for a few weeks but found it tended to blow the dust into my line of sight too much. My advice is buy the best Bosch you can afford with the new blade change system. Hope this helps.
 
GillD,

Only if you are a sensitive person!

I cant use my brand new Stanley 90 Bull Nose plane (which I might imagine you are all sick of hearing about by now!)

Whilst I think its useless and I should get a refund, I'm quite prepared
to accept that its all my fault. However, because I'm not a bad workman, if someone said to me "bad workman only blame their tools" I'd laugh, shrugg my shoulders happy in the knowlege that they cant possibly be referring to me!!!

Sorry if I offended you? I must get used to using these smellie things.

To be serious, obviously some tools are, for some obscure reason, not produced for the end user in mind and if this is the case its hardly surprising that we all have probs using the damn things!!

Regards
 
Hi Matstro

Somehow, I didn't think that I should be feeling uptight and indignant 8) ! My tools rarely seem to inflict as much damage to my woodworking reputation as this computer keyboard: it seems to take a perverse delight in distorting my clearly thought out, concise and honed arguments into mis-spelt and grammatically incorrect tripe. Honest! It's the pooter, not the operator :roll: :) !

I'd never seen the connection between a jigsaw and a bull-nosed plane until I read your last post, though. It just goes to show...

Yours

Gill
 
yOU sEE gILL tHATS yOUR pROBLEM aLWAYS bLAME THE kEYBOARD, wHEN iT'S cLEARLY nOT iT'S fAULT :lol:

sTEVE
 
Thank you Steve - it had to happen :D :D :D !

Now, I don't want to appear anti-jigsaw coz I think that they can be very useful pieces of kit. It's just that last night I cut a piece of skirting board to a profile using a coping saw. Is anyone old enough to remember these manual versions of the jigsaw? Cheap, lightweight, precise, very tight turning circle and no electric power cable to get tangled up. Admittedly, they're not much use in the middle of large panels but that's another story. Often you can make a cut with one of these in the time it takes you to set up a jigsaw.

Yours

Gill
 
Gill,

Well I'm with you on the Bosch, so there! Your description made me laugh in recognition. And before you ask chaps, it was the top of the range one at the time. Dunno what the assortment of letters and numbers for the model name are though, 'cos I haven't used it for years. Yes, the SDS whatsit does work, but it's a helluva palaver (and it's not a girlie thing, 'cos Pa Jester has trouble with it too :p ). Theoretically it has quite a good cutting depth, but in practice the blade wanders like a regular at closing time.

Drillbit, I think you really need to check them out in person, if you can, and see how they feel to you, look into the blade changing etc Obviously one w'worker's trusted companion is another's hated enemy. :wink:

Cheers, Jester

P.S. I always have trouble with coping saws too, Gill. :?
 
Girlie thing? Jester what do you mean

You may be getting close to the mark though, please don't berate me to much here ladies but how do you throw a ball? Guys too if you throw like a spitting Cobra then maybe you hold a jigsaw like a bowling ball with a briefcase handle

I am rather proud of my jigsaw skills :? (hitherto unearned smugness)and to be honest for a long time it was my favourite tool. No power tool is easier to prepare for use, just pick it up plug it in and go. I rarely waver from the line curved or otherwise, if you master the tool it is really easy and quick to use.

Heres a tip, I have converted a whole bunch of girls n guys who have worked with me over the years to this method.

Nine out of ten cuts should be done from underneath the wood rather than on top as most people use it, this make it easier to guide and all you see is the blade and the line, NO dust. I think this is probably one of the best jigsaw tips you will ever learn. It's also why the barrel grip is still favourite with heavy users. Another top tip would be to always use good blades and the right blade for the cut although the T144D is a good all rounder

I have to say again, I have never had a blade drop out of the saw, ever. I have had a few break bit then thats par for the course. You probably need good spatial skills to use it accurately but I think this goes for almost all tools.
 
Thanks for all your replies and advice and information about naked goat rituals :D

I'll take the advice and try before I buy just so I'm aware of what lies ahead as far as blade changing etc.

Cheers.
 
Just to round this one off.

For a period of about 4 or 5 years, up to 3 years ago(if you understand that!) the only mechanised saw I had was said jigsaw! No bandsaw, no table saw, no circular saw. Just a lowly jigsaw which I used for cutting wood to length, shapes(bracket feet etc with the fine blade) cutting 3/4" mahogany board down the middle, etc etc.

Very, very versatile tool and dead portable as well!

Things have changed a bit now thank god! but I still remember the total reliance on the jigsaw!
 

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