How should i work jigsaw

Electric jigsaw (jigsaw) is designed to facilitate the work on the performance of straight or curvilinear cuts in the sheet material. The strength and hardness of the workpiece do not matter.

Scheme of the jigsaw device.

With proper selection of the cutting blade, the jigsaw can handle not only plastic or wood, but also steel or aluminum sheets. But, in order to cut the sheet was carried out qualitatively, and the tool did not work for wear, the master first of all should study the rules of operation of the jigsaw.

Selection of the cutting blade

Before starting work, you need to choose the most suitable type of cutting blade. Its parameters depend not only on the material of the workpiece, but also on whether it is cut straight or figured and how accurate and accurate it should be:

Types of saws for jigsaw.

1. If cutting is supposed to be carried out in a straight-line layout, you should choose a wide blade. With such a snap-in, the tool will follow the given direction almost independently.
2. To make cuts along curvilinear paths, narrow blades must be installed. To simplify work with particularly winding markings, manufacturers offer models of jigsaws with a swivel head. It is equipped with a handle, with which the working part of the cutting blade can be directed in any direction, while turning the tool itself is not necessary. The maneuverability of the swivel head depends on the specific model of the tool, in the most “advanced” versions it can make a full turn.
3. If the priority is given to the speed of the operation, while its quality can be neglected, the electric jigsaw should be equipped with a blade with large teeth. For jewelry work, on the contrary, a thin canvas with fine teeth will be preferable.

The selection of the cutting tool, depending on the material of the workpiece, is not particularly difficult, since the manufacturer always indicates exactly which file is intended for which work. Each of them has its own characteristics due to the properties of the target material. For example, a cloth for cutting wood can be recognized by relatively large teeth with an increased angle of attack and a large stride. For cutting metals use a snap with a smaller profile, made of high strength steel grade HSS (or similar).

The quality of the jigsaw affects the method of fastening the canvas. When processing sheets of solid material or with a large thickness, it is preferable to rigid fastening, which allows you to perform sawing more confidently.

Marking on the workpiece

Scheme homemade jigsaw.

The easiest way to apply the markup on the sheet without taking into account the allowance on the cut, and the jigsaw blade during cutting out should not be along the marking line, but near it.

The important question is: which side of the workpiece to apply the markup? Since the working stroke of the cutting blade corresponds to movement in the direction of the tool, chips are most often formed on the side of the sheet that faces the operator. The laminated coating of chipboard or fibreboard is subject to a particular degree of this “disease”.

Thus, to perform a better cut, it is better to turn the sheet blank face down. In this case, the markup, respectively, should be applied on the "wrong" surface.

If the marking on the sheet forms a closed loop and it is impossible to get close to it from the edge, a hole should be drilled in some place into which the jigsaw blade can be inserted.

For quality work, the workpiece after marking should be fixed with a clamp on a workbench or sawing table.

The latter is better adapted to work with an electric jigsaw, since the devices present on it make it possible to firmly secure both the workpiece and the electric tool.

Fixed jigsaw is carried out in the event that you want to make a neat and accurate cut on a complex curved pattern, as well as with a large thickness or strength of the workpiece when you need to use a powerful heavy tool. Reliably screwing the jigsaw to the sawing table, the operator moves the sheet of the workpiece, feeding it onto the cutting blade.

Tool Recommendations

Drawing of a thermoelectric jigsaw.

If cutting of durable materials (for example, steel) or sheets with a large thickness has to be carried out continuously, it is better to purchase a desktop model of an electric jigsaw. Such devices belong to the segment of professional equipment. They have high power drive and a number of functions that simplify the work of the master and provide him with a wide range of options. As an example, you can take the function of a smooth start, automatic correction of cutting power depending on the amount of resistance to the movement of the blade in the working area or laser illumination.

To speed up the sawing process in modern models of electric jigsaws, a special mechanism called pendulum is provided. Including the pendulum mechanism, the operator increases the speed of movement of the cutting tool, which allows to reduce the force applied to the tool. But working with the pendulum mechanism reduces the accuracy and quality of cutting, so it is used only at large tolerances, when the cut can be done quite roughly. In addition, the pendulum mechanism is incompatible with some materials. For example, acceleration when working with metal blanks causes overheating of the web and its rapid wear. When working with plastic, on the contrary, the workpiece itself can be melted in the zone of the web. Most often, the pendulum mechanism is used when working with softwood, chipboard and foam. The jigsaw device allows not only to enable or disable the pendulum mechanism, but also to smoothly change the intensity of its operation.

When selecting the cutting speed, resonance should be avoided, that is, the coincidence of the frequencies of the reciprocating movements of the web and oscillations of the material. The resonance results in strong vibrations. The situation can be remedied by slowing down or speeding up (if possible) cutting.

If the workpiece is a thin sheet of metal, a sheet of plywood is laid under it and both sheets are cut together.

Precautionary measures

Circuit cut circle with an electric jigsaw.

Work with an electric jigsaw should be carefully controlling the force of pressing the blade to the material being processed. It should not be excessive, otherwise the engine and parts working for wear will fail very quickly. Also, do not “torment” the tool by cutting the workpiece with a dull cloth, even if it is made of soft and pliable material. Use only sharp blades, it will significantly extend the life of your jigsaw.

Cutting sheet materials using an electric jigsaw is accompanied by the formation of a large amount of fine dust. On the street or in the workshop it is not so terrible, but at home the dust is very undesirable because it can cause health problems or malfunctions in the operation of household appliances. To avoid such troubles will help connect an electric jigsaw while working to a construction vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner should be just building. A conventional household vacuum cleaner for such volumes and dust fractions is not designed. If it is connected to a jigsaw, it will quickly fail.

Working as an electric jigsaw with a vacuum cleaner is convenient. If its purchase is not included in your plans, you can at least ensure the removal of dust and chips from the work area so that it does not cover the markup. To do this, use the model with the function of blowing the cutting zone.