Power Tool: The Jigsaw

One of the first power tools I ever bought was a Skil 4225 Jigsaw also known as a saber saw or bayonet saw. I bought it back in 1995 when I was only starting to enjoy doing simple carpentry around the house. Before the jigsaw, all I could do were straight cuts with the hand saw. Curving cuts had to be done by seasoned carpenters who don't even use a jigsaw. They would either carve the curve or bend lumber by cutting successive slits along the length of the wood.

With a jig saw, round and curved cuts become as easy as pressing a button. The one I had in particular even had a lock to keep the tool cutting even without a sustaining trigger hold. So focus can be directed towards the cut. I've done quite a number of projects with that jigsaw before it bit the dust. Maybe it's because of age that the plastic housing started to show minute cracks a couple of years back. Those minute cracks eventually grew into larger ones until the housing's integrity finally failed.

So I was back to using a tapered saw for curved cuts after the jigsaw broke into a hundred pieces. Which was always harder because it's manually done. Not only am I focused on the turns, but also with the eating action of the hand saw's teeth. It was also tiring considering the hand saw I have also needed to be sharpened, and sharpening the saw blades is a service that's professionally done. I set aside any work planned that involves cutting arbitrary curves, like stenciled designs or other custom shapes, on wood wood, metal, or other material until I could get my hands on another jigsaw

Fortunately, I found one within my budget and bought it as an early Christmas gift for myself... a Black & Decker JS500. Right off, I noticed the housing material feels and looks a lot tougher than my first jigsaw, so this may last even longer than the Skil. It sports a few features more modern jigsaws have like a built-in holder for extra blades (the Skill also had this but it rattled a lot), a quick release mechanism, a vacuum adaptor in case I wanted to connect it to one, and it came with its own carrying case. The motor on this feels more powerful yet quieter at the same time. Maybe because it's just new. But the best thing about it is I won't be having difficulty doing curves on wood again.