Jigsaw blade suggestion

[Cary Lane]

Just looking for suggestions on jigsaw blades to use on MDF. I've read that some people have had difficulty in cutting MDF w/ jigsaws. I don't know if that was from too heavy a cut due to material thickness (3/4" +) or perhaps using the orbital setting.

I will be cutting templates from 1/2" MDF and plan to do final smoothing up to the line on OSS. You can't suggest Festool blades as my two jigsaws aren't t-shank type. I have an old barrel-grip Milwaukee and a Makita top handle model. Anyone have a .pdf of a chart with blade suggestions based on material? Or a website to reference?

Thanks -

Cary

[Dave Sweeney]

Bosch T234X or Bosch T308B

[Curt Harms]

Dave's suggestions are good ones. I don't know if the Bosch T308B's are available in universal end, or just the T shank. Lowes should have some Bosch blades with universal shanks.

HTH

Curt

Edit: I was in Lowes today and thought to check (uncharacteristic:o) Our Lowes had a very good selection of Bosch blades with universal ends, including U234X.

[Bill White]

Bosch. Experiment on a scrap for just the right flavor of blade and orbit.
Bill

[Mike Heidrick]

Cary, its 1/2" MDF (sawdust and resin) - do not make it a bigger deal than it is. Get some decent sharp blades and start cutting. Many people like bosch. Dave's suggestions are T-shank and the T308B does not come in U shank. You will not have trouble with any decent blade. Turn orbital off. Get off the MDF jigsaw spreadsheets :confused: and get in the shop :) Have fun.

[glenn bradley]

Never gave it much thought. I cut templates from MDF using a 1591 and T101B. No problems. Same blade for many, many templates. I would just look for an equivalent in your shank type.

[Floyd Mah]

I have a different suggestion. I've been cutting MDF on a metal-cutting bandsaw and the metal cutting blade seems to crunch nicely through the MDF. Try a medium tooth metal cutting blade. After all, the MDF isn't really wood but a composite with the toughest component being the glue.