dumb question...from the new kid

[intuitiveart]

So...what's the difference between a scroll saw and a jig saw?

thanks,

Joanna

[marc rosen]

[Chrisgiraffe]

Hi, there are two main differences. A scroll saw is stationary. You sit at it and move the work around the blade. A jig saw is portable (hand held). You move the saw around the cut.

A jig saw uses wide blades- great for cutting a long sheet of plywood in two. A scroll saw uses a very thin blade- great for intricate detail work. Most 'jig saw' puzzles are made using scroll saws because they can cut two pieces of wood closely enough, without leaving the wide gap a jig saw might.

Also, I saw another post of yours asking about brands. If I were to buy everything from one brand alone, accepting that some manufacturers do make certain items better than others, I'd go with Delta. The more you pay the better quality you get but, on average, Delta offers better value on every tool they sell, their customer service is fantastic, their tools are easy to get parts for and easy to locate (Lowes and on-line sources). I read other posts in that group and they're true. Bosch, Makita, DeWalt- all great makes, but most don't have the variety of equipment Delta does. My experience is with Delta (Table Saw, Drill Press), Craftsman (everything), DeWalt (Biscuit Joiner), Ryobi (planer), Bosch (hand planer), Black and Decker (palm sander, Random Orbit Sander), Skil (drill). Of these Craftsman was always the worse quality. Everything I bought from Sears had some problem (accuracy, durability, value, lack of features, etc.) and I've rid my shop of all of it. Just my two cents.

[J. Clarke]

Scroll saw

Jig saw

[Andrew Barss]

intuitiveart wrote: : So...what's the difference between a scroll saw and a jig saw?

See the other replies in this thread for the current usage. One thing to add is that these terms have changed meaning in the last fifteen years or so.

Now:

scroll saw = stationary, has flat table to hold work, blade moves up and down, blade is often wirelike, cuts very thin kerf and very tight curves.

Jigsaw = portable, has flat blade, cuts curves but not tight ones.

Previously:

jigsaw = what is now called a scroll saw

sabre saw = what is now called a jigsaw

Why the terminology changed I've never figured out.

-- Andy Barss

[Max]

"intuitiveart" wrote

Scroll saw:

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[bent]

I though a scroll saw might allude to a swivel knob on the top of a jigsaw so that you can try to coerce a tighter turn around a pattern without having to rely on reorienting the entire saw.

[Don Dando]

Here's my cut on the subject.. In the beginning when He was creating Heaven & Earth He also created a stationary power tool with a work surface and a blade that went up and down like a sewing machine needle and named it a Jig Saw. People made Jig Saw Puzzles with them. The work was brought to the tool.

Much, much later a portable tool came along with a blade that went up and down also, but only had a small base to rest the tool on the work and it was called a saber saw. The tool was brought to the work. Then along came the much heavier duty saw that sometimes is named a zip saw and it is basically a rough in tool and is very heavy duty, it's blade goes in and out the end of the tool, and all was well until a manufacturer decided to call their zip saw a saber saw and all the definitions were messed up at that point. The original quality jig saws from Delta and a few others were always referred to as Jig Saws. Then a few new manufacturers got in the Jig Saw business and needed a name to distinguish their quality tool from those that already existed so then came up with the Scroll Saw name, and rightly so because it produces scroll work. (Even though they can also make Jig Saw puzzles!)

Until some one messes it all up again here is what I now understand:

A stationary saws is known as Scroll Saws Portable saws with blades that run perpendicular to the base known as a Jig Saw. Zip Saw, Saber Saw, Tiger Saw and a few other manufactures own names for their heavy duty rough in tool where the blade is in the same horizontal plane as the body and handle of the saw are.

Ah... I've always wanted to get that off my chest ! If no manufactures mess it all up again we can now "singing out of the hymnal" so to speak!

Don Dando

[bent]

only reason I point this out is b/c of the orbital action option. Never thought of that.

I had a scroll knob on a craftsman. You could lock it at 90 degrees and cut sideways, or freewheel round and round. Too bad it wasn't self-propelled. With the exception of the obvious tight quarters advantage it didn't really help me out, but it could.

[Leon]

Today, the jigsaw is hand held and the scroll saw is a bench top tool. In the 60's and a bit later the "today's scroll saw" was a jig saw and "today's jig saw" was a saber saw. Clear? ;~)

[intuitiveart]

GREAT!!! Thanks -- very helpful.

Joanna

[J T]

Tue, Dec 5, 2006, 6:51pm (EST-3) [e-mail] (intuitiveart) doth query: So...what's the difference between a scroll saw and a jig saw?

Depends. On what part of the country you're in. Or, who you ask, and how old they are, where they grew up, and their background. And, probably several more things.

When I was growing up, the stationary tool called a scroll saw now, I only heard called a jig saw. I've heard the powered, hand-held, sabre saws called jig saws. The hand-held, hand-powered, coping saws, I've also heard called jig saws; in fact I've heard them called scrolls aws too, and fret saws. Like I said, depends.

Now, I only use: Scroll saw, sabre saw, and coping saw.

JOAT I am, therefore I think.