Shopsmith Jigsaw vs traditional Bandsaw

[Huckster79]

Hello All!

I'm a newbie here! My wife and I are currently constructing our shop. We both have done lots of construction and remodeling, but I've not done any "wood working" since high school shop, and neither of us have ever had our own "shop". Were using our extra deep 2 stall garage which will no longer house vehicles except to work on on one side, currently wiring it, next is insulate and cover the walls likely with osb so we have a spot to play come winter...

We just acquired a 10ER currently set up as the lathe on auction for $100, but have the jigsaw and table saw units as well. Last winter I acquired a craftsman bandsaw for the shop to be.

How does this shopsmith jigsaw compare to a bandsaw for practical use?

I'm just curious for most woodworking projects could I get rid of the band saw now to save floor space? Or would both be good to have available?

Looks like from some pics I've seen the jigsaw can be used for some pretty tight scroll saw type work?

Really excited we lost the auction for a big shop lathe only to win this baby a day or two later for less and it has more capability! Any other popular attachments I should now hunt?

Thank You much!

[thunderbirdbat]

Welcome to the Forum. Under the Maintenance and Repair section there are a couple of topics you will be interested in reading. The Everything E/ER has a lot of information and the Shopsmith Large Format Drawings has a link labeled "My Google Drive" that has many of the different manuals and drawings that you can download.

[jsburger]

Welcome to the forum.

The jig saw and band saw are really two different tools. For the most part they are not interchangeable. The jig saw as you say is for intricate tight curves in mostly thin stock. The band saw is much more versatile. It can cut much thicker stock. It can resaw wide stock into thinner pieces. It can rip thicker stock that might be too crooked to do on the table saw. It can also cut curves albeit not as tight as a jig saw.

Between the two I would absolutely choose the band saw over the jig saw. However, the jig saw has uses and if I had both (I do) I would keep them both.

[Huckster79]

Welcome to the forum.

The jig saw and band saw are really two different tools. For the most part they are not interchangeable. The jig saw as you say is for intricate tight curves in mostly thin stock. The band saw is much more versatile. It can cut much thicker stock. It can resaw wide stock into thinner pieces. It can rip thicker stock that might be too crooked to do on the table saw. It can also cut curves albeit not as tight as a jig saw.

Between the two I would absolutely choose the band saw over the jig saw. However, the jig saw has uses and if I had both (I do) I would keep them both.

Thank You!

Makes absolute sense. I guess what had me wondering was it looks so beefy I thought it may be tough enough to do the work of a band saw. But I totally get what you’re saying. I got thinking after I posted it too that of course I want to keep it if I need to do some metal work anyway, as I did pick up an old Lincoln spark box for the shop too. Besides like my other hobby of flying old planes there’s a saying- only buy planes-never sell em!

I’m really excited to get it all together, loving this type of work but never have had a space for it, I’m ready to knock the rust off and hone some craftsman skills. Now with a wife that enjoys same and similiar things I think we are going to have lots of fun with a fully outfitted, insulated and heated shop… going to kinda do it right half woodshop and left side metal/auto…. With no plans of ever parking it it besides to maybe work on a vehicle, or restore an old 1950 dodge truck we have.

I’m 43 but kinda feeling like I’m 7 on December 23 with the anticipation of it

Thank you again for the insight!

[chapmanruss]

As John said

Between the two I would absolutely choose the band saw over the jig saw. However, the jig saw has uses and if I had both (I do) I would keep them both.

They both have their uses in the shop. I have Magna/Shopsmith Bandsaws and Jig Saws which I use both. Since you got the Jig Saw with the Model 10ER I am guessing it is one of the Model A-34 Jig Saws meant to mount on top of the Headstock and use the Model 10ER Table. The early version of the A-34 Jointer is shown below on a Model 10ER.

_

early A-34 on 10ER.jpg (78.9 KiB) Viewed 2540 times

.
Hopefully you received Owner's Guides for both the Shopsmith Model 10ER and the Jig Saw. If not, Brenda gave information on how to get to Everett's restored Shopsmith documents he has made available to us. Under 10E & 10ER you will find a restored Owner's Guide for the 10ER. Do know that because of changes made to the Shopsmith Model 10E & 10ER during their production from 1947 trough 1953 there were many changes made to them. If you need the manual for the Jig Saw a PDF of it is below.

_

Jigsaw Model A-34_134-1X.pdf

(1.67 MiB) Downloaded 132 times

.
This Jig Saw Owner's Guide is for the early one that is pictured above. The only differences between the early version and later version of the Model A-34 Jig Saw Is the Lower Frame Assembly, Drive Housing Cover and the number of screws that hold the cover on the lower frame.

The Jig Saw and Scroll Saw are often considered the same or very similar. They both do similar work but have a number of differences. One is the Jig Saw can have its upper frame removed and be used as a saber saw. A unique feature the Scroll Saw cannot do.

I encourage you to read the Owner's Guides and become familiar with these tools and what they can do, how to properly & safely use them and how to service & maintain them. If you have any questions about them please feel free to ask. Adding pictures can help when asking questions. You may have to down-size (reduce pixels) to be able to post picture here. Even phone cameras take pictures with a higher resolution (pixel count) than can be posted.

[Huckster79]

As John said

Between the two I would absolutely choose the band saw over the jig saw. However, the jig saw has uses and if I had both (I do) I would keep them both.

They both have their uses in the shop. I have Magna/Shopsmith Bandsaws and Jig Saws which I use both. Since you got the Jig Saw with the Model 10ER I am guessing it is one of the Model A-34 Jig Saws meant to mount on top of the Headstock and use the Model 10ER Table. The early version of the A-34 Jointer is shown below on a Model 10ER.

_
early A-34 on 10ER.jpg
.
Hopefully you received Owner's Guides for both the Shopsmith Model 10ER and the Jig Saw. If not, Brenda gave information on how to get to Everett's restored Shopsmith documents he has made available to us. Under 10E & 10ER you will find a restored Owner's Guide for the 10ER. Do know that because of changes made to the Shopsmith Model 10E & 10ER during their production from 1947 trough 1953 there were many changes made to them. If you need the manual for the Jig Saw a PDF of it is below.

_
Jigsaw Model A-34_134-1X.pdf
.
This Jig Saw Owner's Guide is for the early one that is pictured above. The only differences between the early version and later version of the Model A-34 Jig Saw Is the Lower Frame Assembly, Drive Housing Cover and the number of screws that hold the cover on the lower frame.

The Jig Saw and Scroll Saw are often considered the same or very similar. They both do similar work but have a number of differences. One is the Jig Saw can have its upper frame removed and be used as a saber saw. A unique feature the Scroll Saw cannot do.

I encourage you to read the Owner's Guides and become familiar with these tools and what they can do, how to properly & safely use them and how to service & maintain them. If you have any questions about them please feel free to ask. Adding pictures can help when asking questions. You may have to down-size (reduce pixels) to be able to post picture here. Even phone cameras take pictures with a higher resolution (pixel count) than can be posted.

Fantastic! Thank you so much for the info and insight! I’ll definitely read up on all that in the manuals. I skimmed the jig saw one, I’ll have to take a deeper dive later.

I love operating vintage equipment of any type… I’ve owned three airplanes a 1947, 1959 and now a 1968, we have a 1950 dodge truck, and my sewing machine I use for projects is 1915 or so model! So this is right up my alley!

I think this shopsmith is really going to add a lot of fun to the shop. My wife who’s as handy as I has t ever used one but is very artistic- I told her she’s going to fall in love with the lathe- she’s excited.

Very nice forum you all have here- so welcoming, kind, and generous with knowledge…