Jigsaw walkin

[Marc Prudhomme]

hello,
I have never used a jigsaw with a straight edge guide before but I thought it would work the same as a circular saw.The problem I am having is that the saw wants to walk toward the fence.I am not sure why this is happening,the shoe base is square to the blade and the blade is new.I tried a couple of test pieces and got the same results.All I am cutting is 1/4 hardboard for templates.
Any advice?
Marc.
P.S. The jig saw is a brand new Freud with no mar plastic shoe

[Wayne Cannon]

I'm pretty much a neophyte when it comes to a jigsaw. However, my experience is that it has the same kind of "drift" as a bandsaw -- one side of the blade being slightly sharper or having slightly more set than the other, etc.

Mark a straight line on a narrow piece of material the length of your jigsaw table. Follow the line cutting about halfway down the length of the material -- you will notice that you have to feed at a slight angle to stay on the line. Stop cutting and without moving the material, clamp the material in place -- at that angle that allowed you to follow the line. Mark a pencil line down the table along your piece of material. If you clamp your fence parallel to that line, it should cut straight. It will be different with every blade, so it's not quite as practical with a jigsaw as it can be with a bandsaw.

Someone with more experience can chime in with a more qualified response.

[glenn bradley]

I have found the guides unreliable enough that I just set the saw for a very low speed and follow the line freehand. I stay just fat of the line and do the final shaping with a sanding block. I use 1/4" MDF which sands fairly easy. Tempered hardboard may not work well with this method.

If the reason for using hardboard is for longer life, it might make sense to make a template for making the template. Make your template to shape using an easily shaped material and then use that as a guide for a router and pattern bit to make your hardboard "keeper".