DIYbanter - Jigsaw speeds

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I am trying to cut 40mm thick Maple worktop with an oldish Bosch 450w jigsaw
and new Bosch bimetal 'clean for hardwood' T101BRF blade, but the saw keeps
kicking/jumping off the work, despite my holding it down firmly. I have a
feeling that the speed of the blade affects things, but can't find any
information about it. Can anyone offer advice? Someone has suggested to me
that Festool FSG blades would be better.

Thanks, Sally B

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Is it a straight or curved cut? Straight cut switch to a circular saw
(or router) as the previous poster advises. Curved cut, either make a
template for the router to follow (good method), or borrow/hire/buy a
very good quality jigsaw (not so good method).

Grunff wrote:
Sally B wrote:
I am trying to cut 40mm thick Maple worktop with an oldish Bosch 450w
jigsaw and new Bosch bimetal 'clean for hardwood' T101BRF blade, but
the saw keeps kicking/jumping off the work, despite my holding it down
firmly. I have a feeling that the speed of the blade affects things,
but can't find any information about it. Can anyone offer advice?
Someone has suggested to me that Festool FSG blades would be better.

There is no way to get a decent cut through 40mm worktop with your
jigsaw - sorry :-(

You need either a circular saw or a router. Even a really good jigsaw
would struggle through that.

Agreed. Cut with a hand saw and use a router for show edges afterwards
to plane level.

The message
from "Sally B" sb@(no spam)trefonen.eclipse.co.uk contains these words:

I am trying to cut 40mm thick Maple worktop with an oldish Bosch 450w
jigsaw
and new Bosch bimetal 'clean for hardwood' T101BRF blade, but the saw keeps
kicking/jumping off the work, despite my holding it down firmly.

You'll never manage it properly with a jigsaw. Use a circular saw. Screw
a batten to the reverse side (use short screws!) to give you a super
straight edge.
Once the batten's there you can use a router instead if you have one
meaty enough - but not a jigsaw.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Grunff wrote:
Sally B wrote:
I am trying to cut 40mm thick Maple worktop with an oldish Bosch 450w
jigsaw and new Bosch bimetal 'clean for hardwood' T101BRF blade, but
the saw keeps kicking/jumping off the work, despite my holding it
down firmly. I have a feeling that the speed of the blade affects
things, but can't find any information about it. Can anyone offer
advice? Someone has suggested to me that Festool FSG blades would be
better.

There is no way to get a decent cut through 40mm worktop with your
jigsaw - sorry :-(

You need either a circular saw or a router. Even a really good jigsaw
would struggle through that.

Agreed. Cut with a hand saw and use a router for show edges afterwards
to plane level.

By the look of it the T101BRF is too fine for this job. Your worktop is
probably sticky because of the resin, so you need a blade with a "wider
set". Get one that says coarse/fast on the packet, and use the saw's
medium speed. Go to a pukka toolshop if you can.

Guy King wrote:
The message
from "Sally B" sb@(no spam)trefonen.eclipse.co.uk contains these words:

I am trying to cut 40mm thick Maple worktop with an oldish Bosch 450w
jigsaw
and new Bosch bimetal 'clean for hardwood' T101BRF blade, but the saw keeps
kicking/jumping off the work, despite my holding it down firmly.

You'll never manage it properly with a jigsaw. Use a circular saw. Screw
a batten to the reverse side (use short screws!) to give you a super
straight edge.
Once the batten's there you can use a router instead if you have one
meaty enough - but not a jigsaw.

I imagine this is a cut-out, so it's a lot of faffing about to use
anything other than a jigsaw. I've always cut hardwood w/tops that way
without a problem.

Sally B wrote:

I am trying to cut 40mm thick Maple worktop with an oldish Bosch 450w jigsaw
and new Bosch bimetal 'clean for hardwood' T101BRF blade, but the saw keeps
kicking/jumping off the work, despite my holding it down firmly. I have a
feeling that the speed of the blade affects things, but can't find any
information about it. Can anyone offer advice? Someone has suggested to me
that Festool FSG blades would be better.

Cutting thick worktops is not always easy, but should be possible - I
have done it with a jigsaw many times. You won't get a "perfect" cut,
but it should be acceptable for cutting out holes for sinkes and hobs etc.

However you will need a supply of sharp blades with relatively coarse
teeth - fine ones may clog and give the kickback you are seeing. You
will need to change the blade *often* - don't be surprised if in the
space of one sink cutout you need to use four or five blades. Chipboard
is a very abrasive material to cut and quickly dulls the blade. The
moment that happens it gets much harder to maintain any quality or
progress of cut. If the worktop is melamine faced then cut it from the
underside if possible[1]. This will also reduce chipping of the surface.
If your jigsaw has the option of a pendulum action then turn this on to
its lowest setting. That will help clear the sawdust and prevent the
blade cloging.

[1] if not possible, then cut through masking tape placed along the cut
line to reduce chiping on the surface.

--
Cheers,

John.

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