Sabre saw vs Jigsaw Blade Wander

[Tetsuaiga]

I was wondering if anyone has some experience of this for breaking up say 2" thick hardwood boards.

I've used my jigsaw but the blade wander if terrible, I do have a good blade in it too. Anything over an inch just seemd too much for it.

Do you think i'd have better luck if i tried a sabre saw? Handsaw gives better results than the jigsaw but of course not great if you plan on doing quite a lot of work.

I suppose ideally i'd use a mitre saw but don't have one and not sure how safe those are on unplaned timber that's quite cupped.

Thanks

 

[Mark A]

Most jigsaws would struggle to make straight clean cuts in two-inch-thick hardwood. Although a reciprocating saw can comfortably accommodate the thickness you would be lucky if the resulting cut was any better than what you currently achieve with your wobbly jigsaw.

What I'd use is a circular saw. Nothing too fancy or expensive - I'd go for either a secondhand "trade-rated" saw such as a Makita or Hitachi; or if I wanted new I'd set my search criteria for cheapest first and buy a level or two up from the bottom.

 

[sunnybob]

Table saw for smooth finish wide cuts, or bandsaw for long cuts.
Dont waste your money on a jigsaw for that kind of work.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wouldn't buy a jigsaw for that but I wonder what people are doing wrong if a jigsaw can't saw 2" straight, certainly crosscutting. A sabre saw would be worse.

 

[CHJ]

I was wondering if anyone has some experience of this for breaking up say 2" thick hardwood boards.
....

By Hardwood are you referring to Oak, Beech, Redwood or the like?

Are you just cross cutting up rough boards, I.E old boards from waggons or the like into shorter lengths for ease of storage or handling?

If so then a would say a mains powered Sabre Saw would be fine if a little slow as long as you are not too critical on dimensioning.

Mine gets used as a safer alternative to the chainsaw for many jobs around the plot up to the limit of the blade length on green trees, partially dried logs etc. and has this year been used to reduce a couple of very ancient sheds incorporating 6X3" timbers, some of which were better than the average softwood for toughness into manageable dimensions in very short order for a neighbour.

 

[paulm]

What jigsaw and what blade are you using, what setting on the jigsaw ?

They aren't precision tools of course, but cross cutting 2" thick hardwood reasonably well should be possible with the right set up and speed of cut.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Unfortunatly I don't own a table saw, some of the boards are around 40cm wide so not sure if you could fit them on a table saw easily/safely.

Species I'm using are the softer hardwoods cherry sycamore but see myself using harder things in future.

My jigsaw is festool carvex with a bosh blade for deep cuts. The blade I'm using has overheated a few times but still seems sharp to me, suppose I should try a fresh one in case.

I suppose till I find a good option ill work with the handsaw.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.saxtonblades.co.uk/ are good for blades. It's overheated a few times? It should have been thrown away the first time. If you can see tiny flat shiney bits on the tips of the teeth, it's blunting already. I keep mine when in that condition for one off jobs where I KNOW I'm likely to to hit dirt or nails and ruin a blade anyway.

 

[paulm]

Yes, first thing to try really, new blade, suitable for the material and thickness, and don't force the speed of the cut.....

 

[Beau]

My jigsaw is festool carvex with a bosh blade for deep cuts. The blade I'm using has overheated a few times but still seems sharp to me, suppose I should try a fresh one in case.

I suppose till I find a good option ill work with the handsaw.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious but are you using the orbital action? My ancient Bosch jigsaw will still happily knock hardwood boards down to length. Think these are the blades I use Bosch T144DF

 

[Doug71]

You say your blades are over heating and your jigsaw is a Festool Carvex. Have you got the blade guides set correctly, many of the blade overheating problems are caused by the guides being set too tightly.

See link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2sdZOlVMOg

Doug

 

[Mark A]

I got the wrong end of the stick when I posted last night (my fault for still being up at an ungodly hour). I assumed you were using a cheap and nasty jigsaw to rip boards, which would have explained the rough cut, so I suggested a basic circular saw as an inexpensive solution. Your £300 Festool certainly should be able to rip and crosscut 2" and leave a acceptably square edge.

Try a new blade and see if there's any improvement. The Bosch Precision T144DP blades are thicker than most, which helps to keep the saw from wandering. I think the Progressor blades are rubbish as they're too flexible.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Guess I probably should tried a new blade first now. It feels very sharp to the touch but maybe that's not really the right thing to go by.

I've always had trouble setting the blade guide on mine, I don't really understand why it's a V shape. The instructions are to tighten till just touching then counterclockwise 1/4 or 3/4 turn I've heard.

Does anyone think it's better to use a fence or freehand a drawn line? I've been using a fence.

Setting pendulum action to zero is probably best too I guess?


I'll post back with results when I've changed blade and made sure guides aren't too tight.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I always found fences more trouble than they are worth as they make it difficult if not impossible to correct any drift.

 

[Doug71]

Draw a line and cut freehand, fences don't work.

Pendulum/orbital action on full.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

On full for the most stable 90 degree cut? I always thought the opposite as the pendulum means it leaves the guide area, perhaps not though as I don't fully know how it's designed.

Well not much hard in giving a go, I'll try without the fence too =)

 

[Doug71]

The blade is getting hot because it is stuck within the guide area, it needs to get out of there and get some fresh air to stop it overheating, that is what the pendulum action will allow it to do.

 

[Beau]

Yes definitely use the orbital/pendulum action for straight cuts. Only ease it back or off for tight curves oh and down cut blades Made that mistake once and only once. With a new blade the tracking should be good enough to use against a fence at least for shallower cuts but once the blade is slightly worn you can suffer problems with drift so then just freehand is better. Maybe not all jigsaws can cut straight line against a fence but my old Bosch one certainly can. The orbital/pendulum action also helps you to cut a straight line IME

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

If you are cross cutting, just use a hardpoint handsaw FFS! Sorry to be blunt, but heavens, jigsaws are for curves, crosscutting 2 inch thick stuff is easy. You can get 2 Spear and Jackson hardpoint saws from B and Q for a tenner. They'll outlast 10 quids worth of jigsaw blades, crosscut straighter, and are actually more efficient to do the job. I know I'm sounding a bit like Jacob, but heck, the right tool for the job and all! :lol:

Mike.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

You are right I suppose, as long as you get your work piece well positioned its not difficult. Some of us can be lazy at times though =P