How do I use a jigsaw?
Blade choice, speed and support — the three things that turn a jigsaw from a tool that wanders into one that cuts where you want.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Read
- 3 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Match the blade to the material, clamp the work so it cannot vibrate, set the base flat and let the saw cut at its own pace. Most bad jigsaw cuts come from pushing too hard, an unsupported workpiece, or a blunt blade.
A jigsaw is the most forgiving power saw to own and the easiest to get poor results from. It will cut curves, holes and rough lengths in almost anything, but it wanders badly if the blade, the support or the speed is wrong.
Safety
Step by step
- Choose the blade for the material.Blades are labelled by material: wood, metal, laminate, ceramic. Coarse teeth cut fast and rough; fine teeth cut slow and clean. Using a wood blade on metal blunts it in seconds.
- Fit the blade properly.Most modern saws take T-shank blades in a tool-free clamp. Push it fully home until it clicks and tug it to check. A blade that is not seated will fly out under load.
- Understand which face tears.The blade cuts on the upstroke, so the tear-out is on the top face. Cut with the good side down. For a visible top face, use a downcut blade or run masking tape along the line.
- Clamp and support the workpiece.Vibration is the enemy. The piece must be clamped, and the offcut supported so it does not snap off and tear the last of the cut. Two trestles and a sacrificial board underneath solves most of this.
- Set the orbital action to suit the job.Orbital action swings the blade forwards on the cutting stroke. High settings cut fast and rough in wood; turn it off completely for metal, laminate and any cut you want clean or curved.
- Start with the base flat and the blade clear.Rest the front of the base on the work with the blade not touching, start the saw, then feed it into the line. Starting with the blade against the wood makes it kick.
- Let the saw set the pace.Guide it and apply only light forward pressure. Pushing hard bends the blade, which is exactly why cuts come out square on top and sloped underneath.
- Cut curves in stages.A tight curve needs relief cuts from the waste side up to the line first, so the offcut falls away in pieces rather than binding the blade.
- Start an internal hole with a drilled entry.Drill a hole inside the waste area large enough for the blade, drop the blade in and cut out to the line. Plunge cutting freehand is possible but unnecessary and hard to control.
- Cut a shade outside the line and finish by hand.Leave a millimetre or two and take it back with a plane, file or sanding block. Trying to hit the line exactly with the saw is what makes people force it.
Tips
- Blades are cheap and blunt ones are the cause of most burning, wandering and slow cuts. Change them far more often than feels necessary.
- A straight cut is much easier with a batten clamped as a fence for the base to run against.
- If the cut is sloping, check the base is square to the blade — most saws have an adjustment, and they drift out of true.
Common mistakes
- Forcing the saw along the line — The blade flexes sideways under pressure, so the cut ends up out of square and the blade can snap.
- Cutting the good face upwards — The blade cuts on the upstroke, so the splintering happens on the top surface. Cutting good-side-down puts the tear-out where it will not be seen.
Questions people ask
Why does my jigsaw cut at an angle?
Usually pushing too hard, which flexes the blade sideways, or a blunt blade following the grain. Check the base is square to the blade too — it drifts out of adjustment.
How do I stop a jigsaw splintering the wood?
Cut with the good face down, since the blade cuts upwards. Use a fine-tooth or downcut blade, turn the orbital action off, and run masking tape along the cut line.