Some advice please....

[NewWood80]

Hi folks, I'm after some advice. I've just been to my local timber yard and picked up some 20mm thick oak, I was hoping to try and cut a pattern out of it and the turn it into a jigsaw. Now being over confident I jumped straight into it and cut my first three pieces only to discover that they only fit together one way and I wanted a nice free sliding fit both ways so my blade has been cutting at an angle. My table is square, I'm using a no.9 UR flying Dutchmen blade, my saw is at top speed. Is it just too much pressure I'm putting into it that's causing the issue. It seems to need a fair bit of pressure to get moving.

Any help would be great fully received.

James

 

[Gill]

My table is square

It's not :wink: .

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi James. I had the same problems you are experiencing whern I first started makin jisaws from 18mm hardwood. At first I thiught my table was out of square but what it boiled down to was that I was puttin to much pressure pushing the wood. Cut at the speed the saw is comfortable with, you get to know after a while that it is cutting just riht. I tend to go slower when going round the locking pieces. I have found good tension is essential and like you I tend to cut at full speed although I use a number 7 FD-UR blade for mine.

 

[StevieB]

Cut a circle - look at both ends and measure. If one is smaller than the other then either your table is not square or you are pushing the cut. The latter tends to chew the zero clearance insert on the table after a while, which a non-square table will not do.

Steve

 

[Gary Morris]

+1 to both Chippy Geoff & Steve. If you have used a square to check the blade squareness; as a novice only, I would have thought your table would be square, which would indicate one or more of the points mentioned above being the culprit. I know from personal experience that I tend to push the work piece to the right which I think bows the blade and gives me a tapered angle. This along with not enough blade tensioning enlarged the problem. Most posts I've read encourage people to let the blade do the cutting and gently feed the work piece. Also I think I'm a bit of a tight wad as I use blades that have become blunt. Oh and I'm going to give the table a wax job to make things slide easier. (a wax devoid of silicon so as I don't taint the wood)

hope all goes well
Gary

 

[boysie39]

Gary , be careful ,I mentioned to Clair that I was going to give the saw a wax job ,I have been getting some strange looks ever since . :roll: :lol: :lol:

 

[Mike M]

Hi James,
The easiest way to see if the blade is square to the table is to take a piece of wood, about 20mm thick.
Cut about 1 mm into the wood. Take it in and try to fit it in the back of the blade.
If it fits, the blade is square to the table.
The problem might be that you are pushing too hard into the blade and the blade starts cutting with a bevel.
Let the blade do the cutting, they say.
FD Mike

 

[NewWood80]

Thanks guys for all your responses. I have checked my table for squareness again both with a square and by cutting slightly into the wood as you said mike. I'm sure now it's me pushing too hard and probably side ways. I will spend the weekend practicing and will let you know how I get on.

Thanks all

 

[ChrisR]

Assuming the table is 100% square as previously mentioned in the other posts, try using a skip tooth blade, you will find these clear the cutting dust better than a normal tooth blade, giving a slightly faster cut, especially when cutting thicker stock.

Also use a reasonable thickness blade, I know for a “jigsaw” you want to obtain as narrow a cut as possible, but the smaller blades will wander when cutting thicker stock, even when under high tension, to the extent of a high blade breakage rate.

Take care.

Chris R.
I. El. (Eng). (Rtd).