Proxxon jigsaw

[Honest John]

Does anyone on here use or has used a proxxon jigsaw for cutting bowls and hollow forms. I’m thinking of doing some off lathe carving and sculpting to vessels. In the past I have done this with milling burrs but it is not always ideal, especially if the wall thickness is much over 2mm. I have done plenty of vessels at that wall thickness, and less, and it is fine for piercing, but not so good if you want to do any carving. A piercing saw is a possibility but then there may not be much room to use it. I was just wondering if a small fine blade jigsaw that could work from one side so to speak would be the way to go. The only one I’ve ever seen is the Proxxon make, which is fine, I like their stuff (apart from the switch positions) but I can’t find any info of anyone using them for what I want to do. I have a feeling that Margaret Garrard May have once said she uses one for her creations, but I can’t find reference to it. I shall of course ask her at Harrogate next month. I was just wondering if anyone on here uses the jigsaw on turnings?

 

[Paul Hannaby]

I have a small jigsaw I bought from Lidl whch uses the same blades as the Proxxon. It can be used on turnings but it would probably struggle on anything too thick.

 

[Honest John]

I’ve bit the bullet and ordered one from Axy, and it’ll be here tomorrow. It seems our American cousins use them for carving gourds. They are not too dissimilar in shape to the surfaces that I want to cut away, so the Proxxon must work well on curved surfaces. It’s suposed to be good for 12mm in wood which is about as thick as I would want to go anyway, so il see how it goes.

 

[Robbo3]

I have been struggling to remember who uses one & I believe it is David Lowe in the production of one of his signature pieces - a zipped vase.
- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/556687203912344709/

 

[Honest John]

I’ve watched David Lowe make one of his zipped vases when we had him over to our club once. Thank you for reminding me. I’m almost sure though that he used a standard sized jig saw for this as the cut is fairly simple and straight, with lots of access room. I’ve just watched some YouTube vids of people using the Proxxon to cut and sculpture gourds in much the same way as I want to do. The gourds are about 12mm wall thickness, and cut very well, and they achieve tight curves. Time will tell :lol:

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Dave Lowe demonstrated a laced vase at the Wear Valley club in August: my notes say he used a proxxon jigsaw to make the cut. It required almost no clean up, it looks like a good tool for the job.

Photo link here: http://www.wearvalleywoodturners.uk/whats-new-2017.htm

Karl Jacobson (youtube) uses an air powered mini saw to cut into his sculptures, I think they are designed for car body work.

 

[Honest John]

Well it arrived yesterday, not got a turning prepared to try it on yet as I’m in the middle of a segmented build, but I tried it on a 10mm white oak board scrap piece. The cut was very clean and I have no doubt now that this is the correct tool for the job of carving out larger sections of turnings, before resorting to burrs for the detail.