Best blade for scroll cut with a Trion jigsaw?

[minimal]

As it says: I need to cut a square corner in 3/4" ply into a rounded one with 3/4" radius (with the blade canted at 15 degrees, BTW), with a minimum of passes.

All my Trion blades are too wide (from the toothed side to the back side) to make such a a sharp cut. Does anyone have a recommendation for a blade that can cut such a sharp corner?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Holzhacker]

Don't really understand this question. Are you trying to do a sink cut out? If so, it's easy enough. On tight cuts I usually use a blade up to the radius, then as necessary cut away some of the sacrificial side so the blade doesn't bind as I cut the radius. Other times I will switch to the narrow fine tooth blade to cut the radius after coming up to it with a regular blade. Hope that helps.

 

[mwhafner]

Bosch blades are pretty hard to beat.  Try something like the 101AO or T101AOF.  Lowe's usually carries a decent selection.

 

[minimal]

Sorry for making it more complicated than it needed to be. Basically, I've got a piece of 3/4" ply, and want to cut the corner off: but it's a pretty tight radius I want to put on it, and I've only cut straights with the jigsaw before. Basically I need to be able to cut a circle 1.5" in diameter, and that seems tight to me with the blades I have.

I'll try the thinnest Bosch blade I can find. Thanks for he help, and for the other ideas, both of you.

 

[mattfc]

Sorry for making it more complicated than it needed to be. Basically, I've got a piece of 3/4" ply, and want to cut the corner off: but it's a pretty tight radius I want to put on it, and I've only cut straights with the jigsaw before. Basically I need to be able to cut a circle 1.5" in diameter, and that seems tight to me with the blades I have.

I would be temped to use a hole saw to cut a 1.5" disc, and then use a router with a template (bearing) guide bit (e.g. screw the disc to the corner, and then follow it with the guide bit for 90 deg)

 

[minimal]

Good idea re: the template. In my first message I tried to say that there has to be a 15-degree "bevel" to the cut, hence the use of the jigsaw. But thta's a good idea if this comes up in the future...

Thanks all!

 

[James Watriss]

Is the 1.5" at the edge of the wood, or the edge of the bevel?

If the edge of the wood has to be a 1.5" radius, I think if it had to be done with the jigsaw, I'd still drill it first, and then work at it with the saw. But in the end, I think I'd either make the cut, and bevel with a router, or make the beveled cut rough, and finish up with files and such.

Fes and Bosch make some tasty jigsaws, and blades to match, but I think the best result will still come from an accurate cut first, and beveling second. Cutting a beveled radius with a jigsaw is certainly in the realm of possibility, but it means following the line, AND having the saw accurately oriented 100% of the time. A 90 degree cut with the blade at a slight angle will still be 90 degrees. A beveled cut with the saw oriented even slightly off-kilter will make a hell of a mess. Short of cutting, stopping, screwing the base to the wood, cutting the radius, and continuing from there, I think that you're asking for trouble. And all of that is assuming that the blade will remain perfectly straight in the material, and that grain or ply orientation won't cause it to veer off course, while the top and bottom of the blades are cutting at different radii.

 

[tbellemare]

minimal:

The best scrolling blades I know of from Festool are the S 75/4 and the S 50/1.4. They both come in 5-packs.

The S 75/4 also comes in a 25-pack.

Tom