PS 420 Included Blades

[dawatson833]

I purchased the PS 420 carvex jigsaw.  Two blades are included.  On the package are various symbols for type of material, cuts, etc.
Some of the symbols I'm not sure about.  Could not find anything on their website.  Where can I find a chart that explains the symbols.

 

[Coen]

Festool NL has this nice 4-page document.https://www.festool.nl/-/media/tts/...decoupeerzaagbladen-salessheet-2019-nl-nl.pdf
I have it printed on one A4 at 50% scaling and both-sides printed.

In the jigsaw section of the main catalog there is also an abundance of symbol + explanatory text.

I see the US catalog jigsawblade section is slightly different.

Do you mean the symbols that relate to the toothshape and material of the blade, or the workpiece-material icons?

 

[dawatson833]

I've attached an image of the package. Don't see these images in the document.

 

[Coen]

Hmm, I couldn't find the section with the icons in the USA catalog, but it's there in the NL catalog.

From left to right, top to bottom;

Toothspacing (1 tooth every 4mm)
highcarbon steel staggered teeth for fast cut
suited for solid wood
suited for chipboard and untreated plywood
suited for soft plastics and PVC
suited to cut corners

Toothspacing (1 tooth every 4mm)
highcarbon steel staggered teeth for fast cut
suited for solid wood
suited for plastified chipboard, furniture panels with veneer
suited for straight cut (with the guiderail)
suited to cut corners

The FSG is thé guiderail blade because the teeth are so much wider than the body of the blade. Meaning that it is less likely for the cut to wander sideways, something very likely to happen when cutting with the guiderail and a jigsaw.

 

[dawatson833]

Thanks.  Not sure why the blade wanders more when using the guide rail.  Just purchased it so i'll try it out.

 

[Coen]

Thanks.  Not sure why the blade wanders more when using the guide rail.  Just purchased it so i'll try it out.

When you use a blade that has the teeth not (much) wider than the body of the blade, the body steers the teeth. Once the blade wanders off the sligthest... it can't cut to the side and the body will continue to steer it in the wrong way. The blades with the wider teeth can so will auto-correct more. If cutting with the rail, you often don't notice the cut going wrong until it's already too late because you don't notice the side-way force because the rail takes that all. That is also why Festool says to not cut more than about 20mm with the rail + jigsaw. And also why they recommend the FSG blades for guide-rail cutting, because they have these wide teeth.

 

[FestitaMakool]

On the rear of the package of the two included blades there is a chart. I guess as other manufacturers do, they often print nearly the whole range on their packages.

Speaking of, this image below is for the small Sortiment package you can buy.
I just used the S75/2,5 on 18mm birch plywood - Wow! What a finish, so smooth it could have come from a sharp planer. And it was easy to cut straight- as mentioned above, this blade does not have the teeth angled outward, but are within the blade body.
Speaking of Carvex making square cuts.. my cuts today where impeccable. (And that is with a PSBC)
See below:
[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

 

[Coen]

Hehe, I recently bought the same assortment, but I got 10 of the S75/2,8 instead of 5 each of S75/2,8 and S75/2,5 in it  [blink]

 

[FestitaMakool]

Haha, give it some time and you’ll be a straight cutter no one has seen before  [big grin]
Honestly, earlier I haven’t paid too much attention to jig saw blades, other than picking a curve blade for curves. I know many use the one that’s in the saw, until it’s dull or breaks, even pro’s.
I do mind now, there’s a huge difference between the blades and the tasks their made for.