Any jig saw owners use a parallel guide?

[John McClanahan]

I've been thinking about getting a JA1003 parallel cutting guide for my Bosch 1591EVS jig saw. I've read a few reviews and they either say its a great item or its useless junk.

Do any of you jig saw users use a parallel guide, and do any Bosch jig saw owners have/use this guide? If so, what do you think of it?

Thanks,
John

[John McClanahan]

Guess I didn't click enough times for the attachment.

[Peter Quinn]

I had one of those on my first jig saw as a little kid. I used it all the time. Thats probably the last time I used one. For straight cuts I use a circular saw pretty much exclusively, even if that means plunging. Don't tell the safety police. I use my jig saw (a bosch) for curves mainly, or cuts that are not critical and don't need to be precisely straight. i can't say the guide is useless junk, but I can say I have never even though of buying one

[Mac McQuinn]

John,
I think the trick to using one of these successfully is a long "shoe" to ride on your edge. I know a guy who builds Skin-On-Frame kayaks and uses a Small circular saw with parallel guide and he attached a 8" long 1/4" thick wood "shoe" to it to follow the edge. I'm amazed how straight his strips are. Just practice I guess.....;)

Mac

[Chuck Tringo]

I Rip freehand slightly to the waste side of a scribe line with a Bosch 1590 then clean it up with a hand plane....jointer or jack depending on how long the piece is. I do have a Dewalt tracksaw that I will be selling as soon as I get home as I have come to loath tools that require hearing protection and blow dust everywhere as I slide down the slippery slope of hand tools, but still plan to keep a few power tools for some tasks such as this....

[Marty Paulus]

I am not sure the jig saw is the proper tool to use to cut straight lines. I would be more inclined to grab a circular saw with a similar guide.

[John McClanahan]

I'm planning to order the dust extraction kit for my saw. The guide is the only other thing that I could possibly use that wouldn't add to the shipping.

John

[Greg Hines, MD]

I use that kind of guide for using a circular saw but never for a jigsaw. I do use a clamped guide and I have templates for easily setting the offset for my jigsaw, circular saw, and router made of tempered hardboard.

Doc

[Frank Drew]

A jig saw wouldn't be my first (or second, or third...) choice for ripping, unless I somehow found myself on a job somewhere with no other tools, but this guide can also serve as a circle cutting jig, sort of -- it's a sourced-out aftermarket item apparently not made to the same level of quality as the saw itself.