Subject: Good jig saws?????

From: [email-masked] (Mark Stamp)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 21:43:47 -0500

Can anyone suggest a good jig saw? I was considering
the Dewalt DW321k (about $168, mail order). Any suggestions
in this price range would be most welcome. Thanks.

Mark Stamp

-- 
I am not a donkey and I don't have a field. --- Max Weber

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From: Dave Druckerman <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 02:29:15 -0800

> in this price range would be most welcome. Thanks.

Mark,

Do a search through Dejanews and I think that you'll find the top choice
(with some exceptions, of course) is the Bosch.  Most of the debate is
about barrel vs. D handle grip style.  Matter of personal preference,
IMHO.  

Dave Druckerman - happy owner of a Bosch D handle

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From: [email-masked] (Bob D.)
Date: 28 Mar 1997 13:15:10 -0500

In article <[email-masked]>,

>From  what I've observed:
 
1.) Everyone who has bought the Bosch 158X series jigsaws has been
    fairly well satisfied (with rare exceptions) with the purchase.
 
2.) The Bosch 158X series jigsaws can usually be found with similar
    or better pricing to the DeWalt (though now that the Xmas specials
    are over for the year, maybe not) via mail order, anyway (and 
    usually a package deal involving Bosch blades and a metal case
    can be had for a marginal increase in price).
 
3.) A few folks who bought the new DeWalt jigsaw have reported (in
    rec.ww) returning them and getting the Bosch instead and being
    happier (for whatever reasons) with the Bosch. One person, if I
    recall correctly, mentioned not being happy with ease with which
    blade deflection happens on the DeWalt, stated or implied that
    the blade support wasn't as good on the DeWalt, and was happier
    with the Bosch they bought after returning the DeWalt.
 
Given that most everyone who has the Bosch 158X has been happy with the
jigsaw and usually can't think of any way it could be radically
improved, it would seem to be the way to go IMHO. If nothing else,
there is a far greater base of good experience over a much longer
period of time with the Bosch than the others (i.e. we know the unit
has been durable for the vast majority of owners who have bothered to
post). So, all other things being fairly equal (I wouldn't make price
difference much of a factor unless it is >15 - 20%), I'd probably go
for the Bosch 1584VS (barrel handle) or Bosch 1587VS (top handle).  The
"dustless" models (with vacuum hookup) are the 1584DVS and the
1587DVS.

Based on the few rec.ww reports on the DeWalt, it would seem that the
few folks who have owned both define the Bosch as the better unit.
 
Personal perspective: I have a 1584VS and it seems to do everything I
need from a jigsaw (used it a while back to remove a stubborn PVC
coupling from a toilet tank -- used it last to cut some 1 3/4" thick
red oak).

$168 should allow you to mail order a Bosch 1584VS or a 1587VS from a
mail order house like "International Tool Corporation" or "Woodworkers
Supply" with a case and some blades (they usually have a bundle deal of
some sort going). In fact, the ITC ad on P. 113 of the March/April
"Fine Woodworking", The 1584VSW or the 1587VSW, your choice, which
includes the jigsaw, case, and 10 blades is $159 (US dollars). ITC
usually ships for free on orders over $50, as I recall.

[This post composed 70% or more from recycled bits of previous postings]
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From: Jay Sultan <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 20:41:41 -0500

> in this price range would be most welcome. Thanks.

I shopped for a while.  IMnotsoHO, the only choice is the Bosch 1587VS.

There is a lot I like about this (I had a Craftsman that really stank)
but I was convinced when I saw a rep at the trade show turn on the saw,
swing it down onto a sheet of 3/8 plywood (without a hole started) and
watched the saw lance straight through the wood and start cutting.

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From: L Maleszewski <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 1997 00:52:28 -0500

BOSCH! Suggest 1587 or 1584, depending if you prefer top or barrel grip,
respectively.  Price is in the neighborhood of the DeWalt.  You won't be
disappointed.
Larry

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From: [email-masked] (Tom Gauldin)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 19:17:25 GMT

L Maleszewski <[email-masked]> wrote:

Something that is seldom discussed about the Bosch jigsaws is that they take a
proprietay blade.  Where most jigsaws have a blade that fits upward into the
shaft and is held in place with a fore-aft and side-side allen screw, the
Bosch blade is inserted at right angles to the shaft and then rotated 90
degrees into position.  A screw is then tightened down through a hole in the
top of the jigsaw to set the blade in place.

Having both a "conventional" and a Bosch jigsaw, I can compare the two as I
work in the shop.  IMHO, the Bosch wins "hands down" on both the quality of
its proprietary blades and on the ease of changing them.  The true test is
whether I grab the Bosch or the Skil when I have to cut a curved line- as when
cutting the arm on a Jake's Chair.  I suspect that the Bosch gets 85% of the
use in my shop and I REALLY appreciate the thicker and thus less flexible
blades.  

Tom
Tom Gauldin           Here's to the land of the longleaf pine,
Raleigh NC             The Summerland,where the sun doth shine.
fax 919-676-1404   Where the weak grow strong,and the strong grow great,
                               Here's to Downhome,the Old North State.

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From: "George Geddes" <[email-masked]>
Date: 31 Mar 1997 04:28:38 GMT

Add my name to the list of happy Bosch jigsaw owners, If care is taken, it
will do the work most people would do with a band saw, in material up to
2", if they had one.

Jay Sultan <[email-masked]> wrote in article <[email-masked]>...
> Mark Stamp wrote:
> > 
> > Can anyone suggest a good jig saw?