Shopsmith Forums

I have what might be a stupid question. I have recently acquired a SS jigsaw. I already have a Delta scrollsaw, a bench top BS and a SS BS. What would the jigsaw do that the others can't do or not do as easily. In other words, why keep it?

thanks.

Two things come to mind. You can remove the upper arm and mount a saber saw blade in the lower chuck. Gives you ability to do saber-swing of pieces of unlimited size because there's is no upper arm. The second thing you can do is mount files in the lower chuck and file metal. Whether either feature is useful depends on the kind of work you do.

Well, thanks for the reply. It doesn't sound like something i will use. I am not into collecting SPT's so i guess it will go.

I have a stand alone saber saw, a 520 mounted jig saw and a 10ER mounted jig saw and have to say I have not found a use for any of them yet that my band saw couldn't handle. I suspect when I finally get around to doing some jig saw work for Christmas gifts, the saber and jig saws will get more use.

An example of an operation that you can do with a SS jigsaw, but not with any bandsaw, is the round cutout in the top of the vortex cart (for the dust bucket) over at this link.

My circle cutter won't cut a diameter that large, and a bandsaw can't cut a closed interior feature. I suppose that you could do a workpiece that size on a scroll saw, but the SS jigsaw did it much faster than my Brand X scrollsaw would have.

I don't use it often, but it's sometimes handy to have. Like when power-filing tight interior details.