How to find the right jigsaw blade
A saw blade that matches the material is a guarantee for the best cutting results with the pendulum action jigsaw. But how do you find the best jigsaw blade for your project? We provide tips for selecting a jigsaw blade suitable for the material.
Material and tooth shapes for jigsaw blades
The task of a jigsaw blade is to cut material. In order for the saw blade to perform this task well, it must be harder than the material to be cut. The four most important blade materials for jigsaw blades are
- HCS / carbon steel: ideal for sawing soft wood, softer plastics or fibreboard made from wood
- HSS / fully hardened high-speed steel: for cutting harder materials such as metal, aluminium and non-ferrous metal
- BIM / bi-metal (combination of HCS and HSS): ideal for working in hardwood, hard plastics and metals
- TC / carbide: for professional cutting of glass fibre reinforced plastic, cement fibre boards and plasterboard
Compared to hand-held circular saws, there is a much wider range of different saw blades for pendulum action jigsaws. Almost every manufacturer offers its own range of saw blades under its own name and with its own designations. This can be very confusing. However, you can basically categorise jigsaw blades according to tooth shape and tooth spacing. The closer the tooth spacing, the smaller and finer the saw blade and the more teeth there are. Conversely, there are fewer teeth and these are then larger.
Jigsaw blades for wood
Saw blades for woodworking are available in standard lengths of 75, 105 and 145 mm. This also enables very thick materials to be processed. However, you should not expect the cutting edge of very thick workpieces to be truly perpendicular to the workpiece surface, as the longer saw blade will most likely bend. Jigsaw blades for wood are primarily selected according to the planned cutting direction: Longitudinal, cross or curved cuts.
Longitudinal cuts in solid wood: Cuts in the direction of the grain produce long-fibre chips, which in turn require larger distances between the saw teeth.
Rule of thumb: The thicker the material, the fewer teeth per millimetre the saw blade should have.
The greater distance creates a larger chip space. The chips can be ejected more easily. This increases the cutting speed and reduces the force required to feed the machines.
Disadvantage: the quality of the cut edges can be poorer.
Our recommendations for straight longitudinal wood cuts:
MAFELL W2 and Festool S 75/4/5 for fast cuts
MAFELL W3 and Festool S 105/4/5 for thicker materials
Cross cuts in solid woodand cuts in wood-based panels: The tooth shape and the number of teeth are decisive for clean, smooth cutting edges. To achieve the smoothest possible cutting surfaces and tear-free cutting edges, we recommend very high quality saw blades with ground and set teeth. There are saw blades with teeth of different lengths and tooth lengths that shorten towards the head. Similar to the Japanese Ryoba handsaw, the finer teeth that emerge first during the sawing motion produce a better cutting edge.
Our recommendations for clean cross-cuts:
MAFELL W+P2 and Festool S 75/2.8/5 Wood Straight Cut
Curved cuts: Saw blades for narrow curves are significantly narrower than those for straight cuts. The narrower the saw blade, the easier it is to bend. This is why such curved blades are usually somewhat shorter. They are therefore more suitable for thin materials.
Our recommendations for curved cuts:
Saw blades for metal
These saw blades differ considerably from those for woodworking. They have very short teeth. A type of set can therefore only be achieved by a wave shape of the saw blade body, as is also used for hacksaws for metal. When cutting metal, set the speed of your jigsaw to medium and switch off the pendulum action.
Our recommendations for metal:
Jigsaw blades for plastics
These jigsaw blades usually have a neutral tooth position and relatively short, even teeth. The pendulum action must be switched off when working on plastics. The motor speed is set to around half maximum to minimise frictional heat and prevent the plastic from melting.
Our recommendations for plastics:
MAFELL W+P2 for soft plastics and acrylics
Festool HS 75/3 BI/5 Plastics Solid Material for solid plastic parts
MAFELL E+F2 for GRP
Saw blades for laminate and melamine resin-bonded panels
To process these very hard materials, there are carbide saw blades that have a significantly longer service life than standard blades. They are usually also suitable for fibre cement, gypsum fibre boards and Resopal. When cutting these materials, set the speed to medium and switch off the pendulum action.
Our recommendations for laminate:
