Hi folks,

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in curved
shapes. The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will not be up to
the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more suitable beastie.

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've found
that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to create a slope
in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me and my questionable
technique?) .

I'm hoping to find one that will eat up the 2" thickness *and* help me to
keep things straight/curved (you know what I mean).

Any recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks
Neil

Yesterday I was cutting 100mm thick softwood with my Bosch GST135.
Many people also recommend the Makita pro models.

On 2008-03-29 10:01:58 +0000, "Neil Ross" said:

Hi folks,

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in curved
shapes. The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will not be up to
the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more suitable beastie.

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've found
that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to create a slope
in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me and my questionable
technique?) .

I'm hoping to find one that will eat up the 2" thickness *and* help me to
keep things straight/curved (you know what I mean).

Any recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks
Neil

If you want to do this with a jig saw then the three manufacturers to
look at are Festool, Bosch (blue GST series) and Makita.

If you are going to do this job regularly, then depening on dimensions,
a bandsaw could be a better alternative, especially with thicker
material.

Neil Ross wrote:

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in curved
shapes. The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will not be up to
the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more suitable beastie.

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've found
that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to create a slope
in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me and my questionable
technique?) .

Probably not your technique...

I'm hoping to find one that will eat up the 2" thickness *and* help me to
keep things straight/curved (you know what I mean).

Any recommendations from personal experience?


I have one similar to:

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/...ws&product=641

It will cross cut an 8x2" in about 2 seconds with pendulum action on its
middle setting! Cuts straight and smooth.

As Andy said though, if you are doing lots of it, a bandsaw may be more
appropriate.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 29 Mar, 10:01, "Neil Ross" wrote:
Hi folks,

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in curved
shapes. *The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will not be up to
the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more suitable beastie.

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've found
that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to create a slope
in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me and my questionable
technique?) .

I'm hoping to find one that will eat up the 2" thickness *and* help me to
keep things straight/curved (you know what I mean).

Any recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks
Neil

dom, Andy and John,
Many thanks for the recommendations. Yes, I agree a band saw would be
the
best tool but some of this stuff is fairly hefty to wriggle through a
band
saw and also I would hope to be using it in future on site - I'm
confident a good jigsaw will fit the bill and be more useful to me in
future. It's high time I ditched the one I already have so no it's
time to upgrade. Having read up
as much as possible on the various models I'm leaning towards the
Bosch
GST135 BCE. It does seem to be a good tool and most likely to be the
one
for me.

Again many thanks for the advice,
Neil

On 2008-03-29 14:01:03 +0000, Neil-R said:

On 29 Mar, 10:01, "Neil Ross" wrote:
Hi folks,

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in curved
shapes. *The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will not be up t
o
the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more suitable beastie.

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've found
that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to create a slop
e
in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me and my questionable
technique?) .

I'm hoping to find one that will eat up the 2" thickness *and* help me to
keep things straight/curved (you know what I mean).

Any recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks
Neil

dom, Andy and John,
Many thanks for the recommendations. Yes, I agree a band saw would be
the
best tool but some of this stuff is fairly hefty to wriggle through a
band
saw and also I would hope to be using it in future on site - I'm
confident a good jigsaw will fit the bill and be more useful to me in
future. It's high time I ditched the one I already have so no it's
time to upgrade. Having read up
as much as possible on the various models I'm leaning towards the
Bosch
GST135 BCE. It does seem to be a good tool and most likely to be the
one
for me.

Again many thanks for the advice,
Neil

OK. Well if it's site work, forget bandsaw, way too heavy.

If you currently have a "DIY grade" jigsaw (whatever that is) then you
will be pleasantly surprised with what the GST and others can do in
terms of controllability and accuracy.

Even so, any jigsaw does have its limits, so depending on the finish
you are seeking, you may still need to cut on the waste side and do a
final sanding. Choice for that obviously depends on scale and
application.

Neil Ross wrote:
Hi folks,

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in
curved shapes. The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will
not be up to the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more
suitable beastie.

Makita 4350

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've
found that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to
create a slope in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me
and my questionable technique?) .

My makita cuts 38mm worktop or a 6x2 like it isn't there, pretty much square
cut.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

wrote:
Yesterday I was cutting 100mm thick softwood with my Bosch GST135.
Many people also recommend the Makita pro models.

I've tried notching fence posts with my Makita & long blades. OK across the
grain, wobbly along the grain. Which way were you cutting & what blade?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:01:03 -0700, Neil-R wrote:

On 29 Mar, 10:01, "Neil Ross" wrote:
Hi folks,

I'm going to be cutting quite a lot of heavy softwood (redwood) in
curved shapes. Â*The problem I anticipate is my 'budget' jigsaw will not
be up to the task, so I'm looking for recommendations for a more
suitable beastie.

The thickest I'll be cutting will be 2" (50mm) but in the past I've
found that the budget range find this fairly difficult and tend to
create a slope in the cross section of the cut (or is that just me and
my questionable technique?) .

I'm hoping to find one that will eat up the 2" thickness *and* help me
to keep things straight/curved (you know what I mean).

Any recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks
Neil

dom, Andy and John,
Many thanks for the recommendations. Yes, I agree a band saw would be
the
best tool but some of this stuff is fairly hefty to wriggle through a
band
saw and also I would hope to be using it in future on site - I'm
confident a good jigsaw will fit the bill and be more useful to me in
future. It's high time I ditched the one I already have so no it's time
to upgrade. Having read up
as much as possible on the various models I'm leaning towards the Bosch
GST135 BCE. It does seem to be a good tool and most likely to be the
one
for me.

Again many thanks for the advice,
Neil

It's worth searching fr a supplier (even ebay shops) as I got mine for
under £100 whereas most were offering for £120-£130


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html