[Shop-talk] WOW, I never thought I'd say this about Harbor Freight!

[Karl Vacek]

My semi-old (early 1970's) sabre saw (from Black & Decker's first days of 
cheapness - they made only pro-type stuff before that) has a bearing just 
above the shoe to guide the blade, thus giving it a little more support than 
a Sawzall.  But you're right - it's a dagger-type blade held at one end 
only.  A jig saw holds both ends of the blade in parallel-moving jaws, for 
instance a Dremel jig saw.  Or does Dremel call them scroll saws now ?  Mine 
is from 1956 and says jig saw on it.

In any event, a jigsaw is a bench tool with a table the stock rides on, it's 
not a hand-held portable tool.  I always thought that a scroll saw had more 
rigid upper and lower supports, long beams riding on bearings that kept the 
blade moving quite vertically and accurately with only a bit of 
reciprocating action, whereas a jig saw (at least the Dremels) had short 
leaf-type spring beams to support the blade, and allowed lots more flex, not 
for any purpose but just because of the simpler, cheaper design.

To further complicate this, I also have a Dremel Moto-Saw, which basically 
an electric coping saw that uses the regular Dremel jigsaw blades  .It's 
from the late 1940's I think - my Dad had it as long as I can remember. 
It's clearly an older vintage than my 1956 Dremel jig saw.

Karl




>>  Wasn't a scroll saw originally a more refined, professional
>> version of a
>> jig
>>  saw that had additional control over the direction of the blade or
>> something
>>  like that ??  Like those big old Delta scroll saws I used to see ??
>
> I was told that a scroll saw supports the blade from both ends (allowing 
> use
> of very thin blades for turning sharp corners), while a jig saw only
> supports the blade from one end (requiring a thicker blade).   A sabre saw
> is more like a Sawz-all, but also only supports one end like a jig saw.