Autoscroll Jigsaw?
Bill Baltz
My cousin Baldy has a Craftsman scrolling jigsaw that says "Autoscroll"
on it. In an e-mail he asked me what's auto about it and I didn't have a
clue. Do you?
Thanks, Bill
bridger
my dad has one of these. the blade (along with the part which would be
the quill if it was a drill press) can be rotated independantly of the
body of the tool. this can be useful in close quarters work. the design
precludes orbital action, which imho is more useful. the sears saws take
"universal" blades, which have a hole in the shank to provide a
convenient breaking point. the only redeeming feature is that these saws
can be picked up for little $ at flea markets and pawn shops, so if you
think that being able to rotate the blade in a corner is a must-have
feature it won't break the bank to have both it and a *real* saw...
BB
--
to reply remove "nospam" from my address...
Chris Hubner
One other "feature" I found in one that I eventually tossed was that the
blade didn't lock exactly straight ahead - it was angled slightly to one
side. This meant that you had to hold the saw on an angle to cut
straight. Of course a _real_ woodworker can easily compensate for
little challenges like that, but I could never figure out why anyone
would want to...
Chris
Gary Hunt
Chris Hubner wrote:
>
> One other "feature" I found in one that I eventually tossed was that the
> blade didn't lock exactly straight ahead - it was angled slightly to one
> side. This meant that you had to hold the saw on an angle to cut
> straight. Of course a _real_ woodworker can easily compensate for
> little challenges like that, but I could never figure out why anyone
> would want to...
No, it ain't exactly a precision piece of woodworking equipment, but
after owning one for 20 years or so, I can tell you that it does have
its uses. Just used mine last month to make a countertop cutout (in
an existing installed countertop) that had to go within 3/4" of the
backsplash. You break a lot of blades with that swiveling mechanism
(and also due to the fact that there can't be a rear support for the
blade like in most saws), but with the side-cutting adapter, you can
actually mount the blade outside the base. The features that make it
so imprecise are what make it possible to do wierd things with it,
like mount the blade backwards and swivel the arm so the blade is at
the very front of the saw. (Of course you sorta have to keep your
eye on where the blade is when you use it that way.)
Chris Hubner
There's no arguing with success, but faced with the possibility of
damaging the countertop with the stub of a broken blade, I'd retreat to
the safety and reduced efficiency of a handsaw. Just call me chicken I
guess... :)
Chris