Jigsaw

How it works

A motor drives a plunger that moves the blade up and down. Bosch’s manual describes a stroke length of 1 inch on its JS572 series, a reciprocating blade holder, a footplate that rests on the work, and a double roller guide that keeps blade deflection to a minimum.

The blade is a narrow strip with teeth on one edge. Bosch fits blades with a T-shaped shank that locks into the blade clamp without tools when a lever is pulled, and the manual says that the saw does not accept U-shank blades. Bosch says a narrow or scroll blade is best for tight curves.

Most jigsaws offer a blade orbit selector, a chip blower, variable speed and a footplate that tilts for bevel cuts up to 45 degrees in either direction. Bosch’s manual rates four orbit settings, from 0 for hard materials such as metals to III for soft materials when fast cutting matters more than a clean cut.

Anatomy

Footplate (shoe): Rests on the work; tilts for bevels and carries an optional overshoe and anti-splinter insert.
Blade and blade clamp: T-shank blade held in a tool-less clamp released by a blade change lever.
Roller guide: A double roller behind the blade that limits deflection.
Blade orbit selector lever: Sets the amount of orbital action, 0 to III on Bosch’s JS572 series.
Chip blower lever: Directs air over the cutting line; switched off for metals and with dust extraction.
Variable speed dial and trigger: Presets the stroke rate.
Handle: Shaped as a top handle or as a barrel grip, depending on the model.

Variants

Corded jigsaw: DEWALT lists a corded variable-speed jig saw alongside its cordless models.
Barrel-grip jigsaw: The body is gripped as a barrel; DEWALT lists a cordless barrel-grip model.
Cordless jigsaw: Battery-powered; DEWALT lists several.
Stationary jig saw (historical): A machine with a reciprocating blade strained between two slides, driven by a crank and flywheel; the sense in which the term is used in nineteenth-century catalogs.

Specifications

Stroke length · in: 1Bosch JS572E and JS572EB.
Maximum capacity in wood · in: 3-1/2Bosch JS572E; the same saw lists 13/16 inch aluminum and 5/16 inch mild steel.
Bevel range of footplate · degrees: 45 left and rightBosch JS572 series.
Maximum blade length for plunge cutting · in: 3-1/8Bosch’s limit for plunge cutting without a starting hole.

Made to

UL 62841-2-11
IEC 62841-2-11

Safety and care

Safety

Bosch’s manual says to keep hands away from the cutting area and not to reach under the material, because the proximity of the blade to the hand is hidden from sight.
Keep hands from between the gear housing and the blade holder, where the reciprocating holder can pinch the fingers.
Do not use dull or damaged blades; a bent blade can break easily or cause kickback.
Turn the tool on and let the blade come to full speed before starting the cut; the tool can chatter, and kickback is possible, if the blade speed is too slow at the start.
Secure the material with clamps or another practical means. Never hold it in the hand or across the legs.
The blade ejects forcefully when the change lever is released; direct it away from yourself and bystanders.

Care

Bosch says to clean the blade holder regularly: remove the blade, tap the footplate lightly on a level surface, and spray penetrating oil onto the holder.
Keep ventilation openings and switch levers free of foreign matter, and do not clean them with pointed objects.
Bosch recommends that carbon brushes be examined every two to six months, and that tools with gears be regreased with a special gear lubricant at every brush change.

Tips

Set the orbit by the material
Bosch gives setting 0 for metals and thin sheet metal, I for soft materials where clean cutting or delicate scrolling matters, II for harder woods or particle board, and III for soft materials when fast cutting matters more than a clean cut. It calls the chart a guideline and says to make test cuts in scrap first.1
Reverse-tooth blades need orbit 0 and downward pressure
Bosch says a reverse-tooth blade, such as its T101BR, requires the orbital setting to be 0 and downward pressure on the top of the saw.1
Match the blade to the curve
The manual states that the saw’s ability to follow curves, give smooth finishes or cut quickly depends on the blade, and that a narrow or scroll blade is best for tight curves.1
Plunge into soft material without a starting hole
Bosch describes tilting the saw forward so that the toe of the footplate rests on the work with the blade clear, running the saw at top speed, and lowering the blade gradually. The blade for plunge cutting should be no longer than 3-1/8 inches and the footplate must be at 0 degrees.1
Cut circles with a thick blade, orbit 0, wedges and a slow feed
For circle cutting the manual says to place small wedges in the cut so that the inner circle does not spread near the end, to use a thick blade where possible, to set orbit to 0, and to cut slowly so that the blade stays straight.1
Use the anti-splinter insert only with ground-side blades and a flat footplate
The insert minimizes splintering of the top surface and works only with blades that have ground sides; it cannot be used when the footplate is tilted. For metals the manual says to switch off the chip blower and apply coolant alongside the cutting line.1

History

Earliest documented

1872 (stationary jig saw in a catalog); 1947 (portable jigsaw in production)

Boston (stationary); Solothurn, Switzerland (portable, Scintilla AG)

Gear’s 1872 catalog illustrates a jig or gate saw with a four-foot gate, and an improved jig saw with two levers, a connecting rod and a pitman to a crank pin on a balance wheel, which takes saws from 10 to 16 inches long and cuts stock 7 inches thick. AskToolTalk, in an article first published in Tech Directions in 1997, says the modern portable jigsaw was developed at the Swiss firm Scintilla AG, whose employee replaced the needle on his wife’s sewing machine with a saw blade, and that the unit was sold in the United States as the Lesto from 1947 to 1964.1 2

The word came first, for a machine. In the catalogs and handbooks of the 1870s a jig saw is a stationary machine with a narrow blade strained between two slides and driven by a crank, and a foot-powered form for small shops. Gear’s 1872 catalog describes one with a four-foot gate that would run without shaking the floor. John Richards wrote in 1873 that the band saw and duplicating machines had driven most of them out of use and that his reader would do better with a spring-strained fret saw for inside work.

The portable tool carries the old name for the old task, cutting curves and openings, but it is a different design. According to a 1997 article, the portable jigsaw began when an employee of the Swiss firm Scintilla AG replaced the needle on his wife’s sewing machine with a saw blade to cut delicate shapes in wood; Scintilla, a magneto maker, then sold the tool as the Lesto from 1947. The account gives no patent number, no inventor’s name and no date of the sewing-machine experiment, and this archive has not found any of these.

Refinements of the cut came from the blade and its motion. Bosch, according to the same article, added adjustable pendulum action in 1966 and tool-less T-shank blade changing in 1989. Bosch’s current manual shows how these appear in use: an orbit selector with four settings, a blade lever that ejects the blade, and the statement that the saw does not accept U-shank blades. Skil staff claim a scrolling jigsaw with orbital action in 1997. The claims of both companies are accounts by the companies and have not been tested.

Richards’s 1873 handbook shows what the stationary machine demanded: a site over a girder or on masonry or piles set three to four feet into the earth, a counterbalance equal to three-fourths of the weight of the reciprocating parts, and operators with what he called a peculiar faculty for following lines. This archive offers no ranking of jigsaws because no independent test data has been located.

Timeline

1872
Gear’s catalog lists foot-powered jig saws and the Non-Shaking Balanced Jig Saw, with two levers, a connecting rod and a crank pin on a balance wheel, that strains a saw 10 to 16 inches long between slides.1
1873
John Richards writes that the band saw and duplicating machines have driven most jig saws out of use, and that for ordinary work a spring-strained fret saw to cut inside openings is all that is needed.1
1947
The portable jigsaw is sold under the name Lesto, Latin for easy to handle, because Scintilla and Bosch names were blacklisted by the Allied powers for supplying wartime magnetos to Germany. It is sold in the United States as the Lesto until 1964, according to AskToolTalk.1
1954
Bosch gains a majority share of Scintilla AG, and has sold about 20 million jigsaws since, according to the 1997 article.1
1966
Bosch introduces adjustable pendulum action.1
1989
Bosch introduces its Clic tool-less blade change using a specially designed T-shank blade.1
1997
Skil staff say the company introduced a scrolling jigsaw with orbital action in 1997.1

Gaps in the record (6)

No patent has been located for Scintilla’s jigsaw, and the year and the inventor’s name are known only from a 1997 article drawing on Bosch’s account. The popular date of 1946 for the sewing-machine experiment could not be traced to a source that was read.
The earliest portable electric reciprocating blade saw, and any precedent for Scintilla’s design by other firms, is not established.
The sense and date of the term “jig saw” for the portable tool are not sourced; the oldest uses found are of stationary machines.
The origin of the name jig is not sourced (the Etymology Online page refused access).
No independent test data has been located, so buying is null.
The standard slugs are guesses.