# Operating a Jig Saw in A table



## Mack. (Feb 20, 2010)

Hello to everyone My name is Mack and I live in New York. Glad to be a part of this communtiy. 

A band saw is on my "tools to get list" but for now I have to make do with what I have, and what i have is an old aluminum Skil Jigsaw that works well, but I was wondering how It would perform in a small table that I have thats designed to hold a router, jigsaw or sabre saw. I have 2 questions:

1. Is It safe to operate a jigsaw in a table?

2. Should the blades teeth face up or down once in the table, or the direction of the teeth doesn't matter?

Thanks in advance for any response.


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

Hey Mack,

Your idea would work but I see 3 problems that you're going to have difficulty with. First, the duty cycle of the motor won't be rated for continuous duty, so you're going to overheat it fairly quickly. Hand power tool motors generally aren't designed to be left running for very long, which is why those drill press gizmos for your electric hand drill are for the most part crap. Second problem will be mounting the blade so it cuts on the down stroke. To be honest I have never looked for one, but I'm not sure they make saber saw blades that cut on the up stroke (which will be the down stroke when you invert the saw in the table). Finally, most jigsaw blades I've seen are too wide and thick for any kind of scroll saw work. You'll be able to cut a radius but you won't be able to do anything very intricate.

I think you'll be less than satisfied with the performance after you build your table. Proper scroll saws come up on Craigslist pretty frequently for not much coin. I'd offer that this would be a better option.


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## Mack. (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks for your help John. Actually I already have a table that I brought a few years back.

A scroll saw is something I considered in the past. You're right about there being a lot of scroll saws on craislist. 

Will a scroll saw cut 1-3/4" stock? 

I am trying to cut a lot of curves, so I will forget about using a jigsaw in the table.

Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate your help.

Mack.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

1 3/4 stock, are you building guitars?


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## Mack. (Feb 20, 2010)

Colt W. Knight said:


> 1 3/4 stock, are you building guitars?


Hi Colt,

Yes I am. I think I recall seeing your post's on one of the guitar forums. 
I've decided to ask for some time on someone else's band saw.

Mack.


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

Mack,

I've been pondering your original question and my response for a couple of days now so I went out to the garage and looked at my jig saw, specifically the blades. I'm afraid I steered you wrong in my second point above. Saber saw blades cut on the up stroke normally to keep the wood tight against the foot, soooooo, when the saw is mounted upside down in a table the blades ARE going to cut in the right direction, pulling the wood against the table. Duh, I'm an idiot!!:blink: I still think if you keep the saw running for any extended period of time you're going to overheat it and the radius of the arc you're cutting will be limited by the thickness of the blade, but it might be fun to give it a try. How you mount the foot plate to the underside of the table might get interesting depending on how your saw is configured. Just keep an eye on your fingers and keep the contraption out of sight of OSHA. Personally, I'd use my buddies band saw.

John (who gets confused easily)


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## Mack. (Feb 20, 2010)

Hi John.
You where just trying to help and it's appreciated. Actually i think you were right. when i went shopping for blades for the jigsaw the other day I saw blades that had teeth that were facing up and some that were facing down. I didn't know which ones to get, but decided on the ones facing up. I was going to use a friends band saw but decided today to just ruff cut the wood with the jigsaw holding It in my hand. I was just trying to get close before flush trimming with the router. It Worked out just fine, but I'm still planing on getting a 10" band saw in the very near future. Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Mack


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