gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu writes >
> Anyway, I was on the point of buying a saber saw, when I noticed that the
> local hardware store had hacksaw blades for my electric Sears hand-held
> jig saw (jig saw isn't quite the right name--I'm talking about a small saw
> that has a reciprocating blade about 4 inches long, used most often to
> make inaccurate, wandering, ugly cuts in wood).
Uh, they are called sabre saws or saber saws. Except by Black & Decker,
who for some unknown reason insists on calling theirs a "jig saw" when
everybody else seems to agree that a jig saw is a table-mounted device
which holds the blade at each end. Sort of a lower-cost reciprocating
alternative to a proper band saw.
> I bought a handful of fine-tooth (for sheet metal) blades for the Sears
> saw, and have never looked back. This saw is wretched for wood,
Because the reciprocating stroke is not long enough to clear sawdust from
thick wood, so it packs up and impedes progress. In no other saw is blade
selection more important. Thick wood demands very coarse teeth to give
chip space.
> but fine
> for sheet metal. It cuts patches from sheet metal without distorting the
> edges as shears do, cuts curves, never runs out of air, is cheap, fast,
> etc. etc. Many people already have these saws, and this is a way to get
> more use from them.
Yes. I put a sunroof in my Escort with an electric sabre saw. I bought
lots of metal-cutting blades because I expected to have trouble. Nothing
of the sort. Did the whole hole on one blade.
> But wear hearing protectors; vibrating sheet metal is loud.
You bet. Hold the metal as firmly and as close to the cut as possible.
Vibration is not only annoying, but leads to blade breakage. WEAR YOUR
SAFETY GLASSES.
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