jigsaw blade not 90-degrees to shoe

[Tyler Davis]

I have a reconditioned Bosch 1590EVSK - pretty decent little jigsaw for basic breakdown of stock and rough cutting some curves. Tonight I was using it to finish-cut some plywood sheets that are too big for my tablesaw. Problem is I can't get the blade to cut 90-degrees to the shoe, or whatever you want to call it. I measured it after a cut and it was anywhere from 80-85 degrees at different parts of a 4' long cut. When I lock the red lever, the show still has some play in it. How do I set it up @ 90 degrees from the blade, and keep it in place?
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_wxKiTvol-tY/StQIpMjODLI/AAAAAAAAAFM/s6y0vf3OYN4/s640/IMG_0874.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_wxKiTvol-tY/StQJG_SgKqI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/xMz7iCsk-to/s640/IMG_0873.jpg
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QLCQYwqMPKH4cj-GitzLaA?feat=directlink

[Paul Atkins]

Have you tried another blade? Is the blade tight? is there a way to tighten the lever?

[Tom Veatch]

One thing I've learned to be careful about using a jigsaw - not saying this is the problem here, 'though it could be a contributor - is to not put any side load on the saw while cutting. Even with the blade perfectly square with the sole, a push on the saw that isn't nearly perfectly in line with the cut will cause the cut to bevel somewhat.

[glenn bradley]

Page 10 of your owner's manual shows the tension wheel and footplate lock lever as well as how to align the shoe.

http://mdm.boschwebservices.com/MDMCache/English%20%5BUS%5D/t10/0000000/r00064v-1.pdf

[Joe Scharle]

Is that blade bent? Or does my bad eyesight show it that way!

[John Thompson]

Your eyesight appears to be about the same as mine Joe.. it looks to be slightly canted coming out of the retainer housing which will magnify angle of cut the further down the blade you go toward the blade tip.

[Tyler Davis]

thanks guys

I have tightened the tensioning wheel and it seems to have firmed up the shoe

The blade is being bent by the fact that the guides aren't perfectly centered under the chuck. I see some allen screws to release the guides but there isn't any room to move them- is it possible the guides are bending the blade when the "precision button" is depressed?

while I have you here, what blades are you using?

[Dave Sweeney]

I like the Bosch Progressor T234 or T308B blades for straight cuts and medium to larger radius cuts.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

"basic breakdown of stock and rough cutting some curves"

Those are your words and I think fairly describes a jigsaw. I have used one a good bit but always where an exact cut is not needed. Especially in curves the blade tends to cut a bevel (at least for the blades I've used). I either sand the jigsaw cut or cut proud of the mark and use a router.

[Lee Schierer]

I like the Bosch Progressor T234 or T308B blades for straight cuts and medium to larger radius cuts.

I was just going to suggest those blades as well. The cut they give is remarkable. Don't use the saw's oscillation feature and you can get a cut as smooth as any TS blade.

[John Thompson]

I finished a project yesterday I will post latter today in WW Projects that has 4 rectangular holes 18" long.. 1/2" wide between two square holes. I intended to cut 1 mm proud of the line and go to a pattern bit with my router to smooth and insure a straight line. I use the Bosch T308B Extra Clean blades in the old style Bosch barrel grip JS.

This was true 1" QSWO and the pattern bit wasn't necessary. The lines were dead straight and the only cleaning necessary was a couple of passes with 120 grit wrapped around a 3/8" x 3/8" piece of stock. Then 180 grit and the job was done. Three things attributed to a dead straight cut with no burn.. the Bosch barrel grip.. the Bosch T308B and the proper setting of II and at speed 5 while allowing the saw to set the pace and not forcing it.

Can't say enough about T 308B's.... better than cornbread and black-eyed peas. :D

[Joe Scharle]

"while allowing the saw to set the pace and not forcing it."

So many of my problems cured themselves after I finally learned this lesson!

[glenn bradley]

I just happened to have a T101b in the saw the other day and wanted to lop off a section of 6/4 walnut. The resulting cut was so smooth and shiney, I almost posted a pic of it. I use Progressors and some others. All seem to work well at their designed task.

I generally use the 1591 for quick cuts, pattern roughouts and so forth. It is certainly a completely different tool than my old cheap-o jigsaw. The effort to go from roughout to finished edge is so minimal. I set the speed very slow and use it for fairly precision work in thick hardwoods. You can really just creep along as it has more than enough power to move through 8/4 in a controlled manner. In agressive mode it pretty much flies through thinner stock. Not at all like the bucking bronco I used to use ;-)

[Tyler Davis]

OK, I got the sole tightened up, and as close to 90 degrees as I can get it. I chucked a T308B Xtra Clean blade in there. The task at hand is cutting a full-size plywood sheet to final dimensions. So I built these large squares as you see in the photo. I clamp the guides and squares so they are parallel to each other.

The cut starts Ok, for about 3', then the blade starts to wander. The saw body can't wander, since it is clamped between two parallel guides. But the blade decides it wants to bend. hard. To the point that it throws sparks grinding against the jigsaw guide and blues the blade and scorches the wood. This thing is drifting to the point of snapping if I went any further. So I try to approach it the cut from the other direction. No luck - blade starts to bend again. I finally gave up the jigsaw and used a spiral router bit, which made a perfect straight 90-degree cut. I never thought it would be so difficult to make a straight cut with a jigsaw.

What am I doing wrong? There is no grain to follow in a 3/4" piece of plywood. I am not influencing the saw's direction besides pushing lightly straight forward. I have it set to no oscillation, and speed #4 with precision button enabled.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_wxKiTvol-tY/SuPiGRGimQI/AAAAAAAAAFw/T2WckMFQgUM/s512/IMG_0883.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wxKiTvol-tY/SuPiGmnjBiI/AAAAAAAAAF0/kVgWg7fd0wg/s640/IMG_0884.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_wxKiTvol-tY/SuPiG91rxqI/AAAAAAAAAF4/RIZS1n_gCRE/s512/IMG_0885.jpg

[Paul Atkins]

Maybe the blade in not parallel with the sides of the shoe. I would then want to drift off to one side. If one side of the blade is duller than the other the same would happen.

[Tyler Davis]

The blade can't be dull - this is the first cut I have used it for, straight out of the package. Not sure what you mean by "blade not parallel to sides"?

[Tyler Davis]

anyone else have a guess as to why I can't cut a straight line with this jigsaw?

[john bateman]

Is it possible that as you get most of the way through the cut, the plywood pieces start to bend or shift and pinch the blade? That would overheat and dull the blade.

[Paul Atkins]

What I meant about the sides and blade being parallel is shown in the photo. If the blade (yellow) is not perfectly aligned with the shoe sides (blue) it will want to go in the path of least resistance (pink). It doesn't have to be off much. Try cutting freehand on a straight line on a scrap and see if the thing wants to go off to one side. It's like driving with the front wheels out of alignment.

[Tyler Davis]

I will try to support the pieces better - it is possible that they are binding near the end of the cut, however that wouldn't explain the drift issue.

Paul - thanks for the explanation. If the blade is slightly out-of-parallel, is there anything I can do to correct it? Or can the jigsaw only be used for curve-cutting in that case? It seems like it would be very easy for that alignment to be machined slightly off-center....

[Paul Atkins]

Yeah, it seems like it would be easy to get it a slight bit off. I've had the same problem in the past with different saws, but I don't remember if I ever solved it besides cutting by eye. I suppose you could grind or shim the shoe or make sub base from 1/4" baltic birch and fine tune it. Now that's a lot of help, huh?