On Sep 29, 7:43*am, Winston wrote:
Here, a few months ago, I wondered aloud what would
happen if I clamped my saber saw underneath a work
surface so that I could free up my hands to guide
the workpiece. *This would allow me, for example to
do miter and notch cuts in steel quickly and accurately.

I tried it and found that I couldn't hold the workpiece
down against the face of the surface for some reason.
I jumped to the conclusion that I needed a larger
'orbital' blade clearance setting but even with that
set for maximum 'return clearance' the work still
vibrated uncontrollably. *I wondered what could be the
cause but vectored off to do other chores instead of
engaging in any analysis.

This morning, a commercial on teevee revealed the cause.
Our friends at Rockwell discovered that the
blade was flopping laterally and have included an upper
guide to minimize that. *Apparently it works
well enough, if very slowly, even in wood.

https://www.rockwelltools.com/US/BladeRunner_Saw-P1564.aspx?utm_sourc...

After watching the demos, I'm convinced that this approach
won't work for me because of the swarf that will jam
in the upper blade guide, causing damage to it in short
order.

Still it is cool to see how they addressed the 'floppy
blade' issue.

Now, I wonder how to make a large jigsaw that uses regular
hack saw blades to do many of the things that the Blade-
Runner is shown doing, without tearing up a blade guide
in the process.

--Winston -- Loves his bandsaw but it won't cut steel and
* * * * * * * *decent blades are spendy!

I had plans for a multi-purpose table unit that had interchangeable
plates, used a Skil saw, saber saw, one of those "drill press" jigs
and a router. The idea being that you could set it up and knock it
down in an apartment and do woodworking that way. I only ever built
the Skil saw part of it, used it for years and built a lot of
furniture with it. The saber saw part just didn't seem very useful at
the time and I've got a large DeWalt jig saw now to serve that need.
If I need to go heavier, I've got the 4x6 and the table for it. That
DOES cut steel, if a little slowly. And then there's always the OA
rig with roller skates if I feel the need. That could be used to
follow a template. The sawzall is more useful for construction and
demolition. I inherited a saber saw, I've used it maybe once in 5
years and that was before I got the jigsaw.

Stan