Make a machine from a jigsaw. Do-it-yourself desktop jigsaw machine. Advantages of tabletop jigsaws

1. Device and principle of operation
2. Assembly instructions
3. How to remake a manual jigsaw
4. Sewing machine machine

Tabletop jigsaw machine - equipment for cutting, sawing out shaped parts from various materials. Its feature is the ability to make cuts while maintaining the integrity of the outer contour of the workpiece. Depending on which saw is installed on the structure, the machine can process natural wood, its derivatives, plastic bases or metal.

The device is indispensable when performing construction and repair work, producing furniture and souvenirs. Equipment is often purchased for domestic purposes. Sometimes it is irrational to buy a factory unit: you can make a jigsaw yourself. The photo shows the design of the tool.

Device and principle of operation

A stationary factory sample includes a work table for a jigsaw, a unit with a cutting element is fixed on it, an electric drive installed under the table top and a crank mechanism. The tension unit is installed at the top or bottom of the machine. Many models of units allow you to cut material at different angles. This is necessary for making bevel cuts. Often, for convenience, markings are applied to the rotating mechanism, stops, and guides. The length of the cut depends on the dimensions of the table; in most models it is 30–40 cm.

The power of an electric jigsaw may be low. For domestic purposes, a 150 W unit is sufficient.

An important element is the crank mechanism. It is responsible for the quality of transmission of engine torque into the translational and reciprocal motion performed by the cutting element in a vertical position.

A standard jigsaw tool is characterized by a vibration frequency of up to 1000 per minute with an amplitude of 3–5 cm. Some samples provide for adjustment of the processing speed of various materials. In most cases, such a tool is equipped with a saw up to 35 cm long, which allows cutting parts up to 10 cm thick.

In order for the cutting element to serve for a long time without breakage or cracks, it is necessary to provide it with optimal tension along its entire length. For this purpose, screw and leaf springs are used. As an additional option, factory machines are equipped with an air pump to remove sawdust from the cutting line. A unit with a drilling unit is useful, but you need to pay extra for each additional unit.

Assembly instructions

A jigsaw is made from a refrigerator compressor or a regular drill. The cutting blade can be set in motion using the motor from the washing machine. Another option is to use hand jigsaws and old sewing machines. The figure shows a design drawing.

How to remake a manual jigsaw

First of all, the table is made. For this, a sheet of thick plywood or metal is used. Through holes are cut out for the cutting blade and fasteners. Through them, the manual unit placed below is fixed to the supporting structure. Next, the jigsaw table is secured to any stable wooden table. Guide rails are added.

If necessary, the machine can be quickly disassembled.

The standard device is equipped with springs that provide the file with the required level of tension. You can’t do without a rocker arm; one of its edges is under spring tension, the second provides attachment to the cutting element of a jigsaw. You can also clamp the blade between two guide rollers.

Before starting work on a homemade jigsaw, be sure to turn off the pendulum stroke.

Sewing machine machine

A jigsaw from a sewing machine contains a saw blade speed regulator provided by a speed switch on the equipment.

For manufacturing, the thread weaving mechanism is removed. In most designs it is placed at the bottom. Unscrew the bolts, knock out the cotter pin, remove the drive shaft leading to the thread weaving unit.

Then the upper protective panel opens, the groove along which the needle moved expands to the width of the file. Jigsaw saws are slightly modified: they are cut according to the size of the longest needle that could be installed on the machine. In order not to make an adapter for fixing the cutting element to the seat, grind off the upper incisors and make the lower part of the blade sharp. A cutter is installed in the needle holder. After this, they begin cutting out the blanks.

Using a tabletop jigsaw you can make furniture, beautiful patterned shelves and much more at home. The mechanism allows you to cut smooth and curved parts from wood, plastic and dense foam materials. In order for a homemade device to fully satisfy the requirements, it is necessary to carefully select a suitable design.

Design and technical characteristics

The device of any model of jigsaw machine necessarily contains:

• saw;
• crank assembly;
• drive unit;
• saw tension device;
• Desktop;
• auxiliary mechanisms.

The material to be processed is placed on the work table. Some models are equipped with a rotating device that changes the inclination of the surface. To make it easier to mark the material with your own hands, graduations are applied to the surface.

The larger the table size, the longer the cut you can make. On average, this figure is 30 - 40 cm.

The drive power for a homemade desktop machine is about 150 W.

The crank assembly converts the rotational motion of the drive into reciprocating motion and transmits it to the saw. On average, the frequency of saw blade vibrations per minute is 800 - 1000. The amplitude of vertical movement is no more than 5 cm. Some models allow you to select the speed of movement depending on the properties of the material.

The file of a manual jigsaw can work with wood and plastic with a thickness of no more than 10 cm, having a length of up to 35 cm. For different types of materials and work, the files vary, their width is 2 - 10 mm.

A manual tension device secures the saw blade for uniform sawing; it consists of screw or leaf springs.

Types of machines

Structurally, all jigsaw devices can be divided:

• with lower support;
• with double support;
• on suspension;
• with degree scale and stops;
• universal.

The most common are models with a lower support. Their frame is divided into two halves: lower and upper. The cutting and cleaning module is located at the top. At the bottom there is a control module, an electric motor, a transmission mechanism and a switch. Allows you to process sheets of material of any size.

Models with double support differ in that there is an additional rail on the upper half of the bed. Such devices are good for creating oversized parts. They are easier to install than the previous option. Both models allow you to process material no thicker than 8 cm. The machine comes with a work table with angle and height adjustment.

Suspended machines are not equipped with a monolithic frame; they are very mobile. During processing, it is the cutting module that moves, not the material. The working module is usually attached to the ceiling with your own hands, so the size of the material is unlimited. The cutting tool is moved by hand independently of the bed, creating very complex patterns.

Machines with a degree scale and stops are good for precise work according to drawings. The design allows you to avoid errors. Universal jigsaw machines can perform several operations associated with cutting: drilling, polishing, grinding.

Making a machine yourself

Drawing of a homemade tabletop jigsaw: 1 - rocking insert (2 pcs.), 2 - earring (2 pcs), 3 - table, 4.6 - screws, 5 - rod, 7 - eccentric, 8 - base, 9 - axes of earrings, 10 - upper rocker arm, 11 - rocker arm axis, 12 - wing, 13 - tension screw cross member (2 pcs), 14 - tension screw, 15 - rocker stand, 16 - lower rocker arm, 17 - box, 18 - double-ribbed pulley, 19 - intermediate shaft, 20 — stand bushing, 21 — table plate, 22 — bearing with cover (2 pcs.), 23 — electric motor pulley.

In the drawing of a tabletop machine made by yourself, the number of components must be kept to a minimum, these are: a rocking chair with a fixed saw, a bed and an electric motor. You can take a motor from an old electric machine.

Owners of a manual jigsaw are luckier. You can make a stand from a sheet of plywood and attach a jigsaw to it. To attach the jigsaw with your own hands, you will have to make holes in the base of the tool. The simplest model is ready.

Now about the more complex and functional ones. The frame is made by hand from 12 mm plywood, thick plastic or textolite. It consists of a base, a box for housing the engine and mechanisms, and a work table. On the other side we place a rocking chair with an eccentric. They are connected to each other by a metal plate with bushing bearings. The entire structure is secured with screws. To mount the intermediate shaft, prepare a pair of bearings. A double-strand metal pulley is placed on the shaft as tightly as possible, and the screw connection is secured. You can make an eccentric in the same way.

To change the amplitude of movement of the rocker, four round through holes with threads are made on the eccentric flange, located at different distances from the axis. By changing the installation location of the screw, the range of movement of the rocking chair is adjusted. It consists of a pair of wooden rocker arms hinged to a stand. The rear ends of the rocker arms contain through cuts; tension screws are inserted into them. A file is attached to the ends at the front and is movable due to metal hinges. Before fastening, the file is inserted into the groove of the working surface of the table.

The mechanism for attaching the file is very important. When making a homemade device with your own hands, you should pay special attention to it. The inserted rocker plates bear constant loads when moving, so they are rigidly fixed and tightened with Grover screws and washers. The fastening earrings should not be strongly compressed by the screws, allowing the hinge axis of the plate to move.

Many people have known the fun of cutting with a jigsaw since childhood. The technology is simple. But despite the apparent ease and simplicity of the work, you can get very beautiful lace from wood or plastic. This is a very slow process that requires persistence and patience. To make work easier, jigsaw machines were developed. They are functionally divided into two groups: with manual and electric drive.

Jigsaw device with muscle drive

A homemade machine is easy to make. You can find many drawings of this plywood product. Using a jigsaw, your own hands and improvised tools, a simple but functional device can be assembled in a short time.

The scope of application of jigsaws is extensive. They are used for cutting figured products from a variety of materials. Machines are also necessary for cutting lumber. In this case, the outer contour of the workpiece remains intact. If you use various files, a homemade jigsaw will perfectly process natural wood, plywood, chipboard, plastic, metal, in particular aluminum.

Examples of do-it-yourself drawings of a jigsaw machine, which operates using muscle power, were repeatedly cited in various Soviet-era magazines.

Files for such a jigsaw machine are produced in the form of a flat blade.

Main parts of the machine:

• Bed (A).
• A work table with a slot for a saw (B).
• A large drive pulley that acts as a flywheel (D).
• Small drive pulley. The drive is combined with a crank mechanism (D).
• Levers (B).
• A pedal that spins the flywheel through the crank assembly (E).
• Saw tension unit (G).

The master, constantly pressing the pedal with his foot, spins the flywheel. Through the belt, the movement of the flywheel is transmitted to the second pulley. Which, in turn, causes the crank mechanism with the saw blade to move.

If the flywheel is correctly balanced, without distortions and with a uniform, correctly selected mass, then the file achieves good smooth running. A similar machine for sawing plywood allows you to quickly produce many simple, similar products. The time and effort required for sawing is significantly reduced.

With this machine design, the size of the initial workpiece is limited. It depends on the length of the levers (B). When complicating the pattern, it is necessary to rotate the product around the saw.

Since the foot drive does not ensure a completely uniform stroke and limits the freedom and imagination of the master, such machines are most often replaced with electric ones.

Construction of a jigsaw machine

An electric band jigsaw is a universal household device for making souvenirs, furniture, and various interior items. There are many options for manufacturing such machines. But the main elements on which the quality of the product and ease of use depend are the electric motor and the blade.

Main design elements:

• Saw blade.
• Crank mechanism.
• Drive part.
• Belt tension unit.
• Stand or work table.
• Various auxiliary elements.

Design and principle of operation

Conversion from a hand jigsaw

The first step is to make a working table for the mechanism. A metal sheet or thick plywood is suitable for these purposes. Holes for the cutting tape and fasteners are drilled and sawed out in the worksheet.

The jigsaw table is then placed on a regular table. Once secured, the guide rails can be assembled. To reduce vibration, simply cut a rubber pad of the required size and place it between the jigsaw table and the main surface.

The above design is convenient in that it can be easily disassembled and can be used again as a hand jigsaw.

Since the standard device has springs that tension the saw, a rocker arm is necessary. One edge of the rocker arm is attached to the cutting element of the machine, and the second is under tension from springs. These simple steps will easily turn an ordinary jigsaw into a machine.

When operating the device, it is important not to forget to turn off the pendulum motion before starting cutting.

Assembly from a sewing machine

You can also quickly and easily assemble a homemade jigsaw from a sewing machine. Moreover, this device has an interesting feature - a regulator for the stroke of the nail file, since sewing machines have a speed switch.

First, at the bottom of the machine you need to find a thread weaving knot. To do this, several screws are unscrewed. The cotter pin located inside is knocked out and the drive shaft, which is connected to the thread weaving complex, is removed. After completing this procedure, the top panel is unscrewed. The groove along which the needle rode widens slightly to accommodate the saw blade. The files themselves are shortened slightly to the length of the needle. To fix the saw itself, you can make an adapter. But the easiest way is to grind off the top part of the cutting blade and sharpen the bottom. After which you can insert the nail file into place of the needle and get to work.

When working with jigsaws of any type, you should not forget about safety rules. Do not leave the device turned on for a long time without supervision.

If the master has long hair, it is better to pick it up or use a special cap. It is better to roll up the sleeves on clothes. The room should be well ventilated. In the room where carpentry work is carried out, a first aid kit with first aid equipment for cuts must be kept.

After several unsuccessful attempts to cut out complex shapes with an electric jigsaw, I decided to make a homemade desktop jigsaw using the drawings from the network. It will be very easy to cut complex shapes of small sizes from lightweight materials.

To assemble a jigsaw machine with your own hands from a jigsaw you will need:

• electric jigsaw
• sheet of plywood and boards for support
• wood screws
• bolts with nuts

Tools: drill, sandpaper, clamp, tape measure.

Step 1: Cut out the lid and base

Draw two 250x300 mm rectangles on a sheet of plywood and cut them out with a jigsaw. These rectangles will be the base and cover of your machine. Carefully sand the surfaces of the rectangles, especially the one that will be the lid.

Step 2: Making the front pillars

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Measure the height of the jigsaw from the sole to the handle so that the jigsaw fits in the machine box; the stands must be greater than this distance. My jigsaw is 18 cm high, so I made 20 cm long stands from the board. Then I pressed the two pieces together with a clamp and sawed off 5 mm from them on both sides so that both stands were the same height.

Now the racks can be screwed to the base. To prevent the wood from cracking, you need to pre-drill holes for the screws and countersink them.

Step 3: Attach the jigsaw to the lid

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1. Remove the soleplate from the jigsaw using the supplied hexagon. There is already one hole in the cover, you just need to drill three more so that there is a mounting hole in each corner.
2. In the central part of the plywood cover, mark the place where you will attach the jigsaw sole and the hole for the jigsaw blade.
3. Now you can drill four holes in the plywood, countersinking them with a spade bit so that the screw heads are flush with the surface. All that remains is to make a hole for the file.
4. Now put the sole back on the jigsaw skis, and attach the plywood cover to the sole so that the file fits into the hole provided for it.
5. Insert a washer into the widening of each mounting hole, insert bolts into the holes and tighten them on the other side with nuts. It was a little difficult to tighten the bolts, so I secured the head of each bolt with a flat head screwdriver and turned the other side with a wrench.

Step 4: Install the jigsaw on the base

Lower the lid with the jigsaw onto the base with the stands and secure it on top with screws, having previously drilled holes for them. Be sure to countersink these holes to prevent the wood from cracking when screwed. The jigsaw should not touch the base and should have a good grip on the lid. Therefore, the screw heads must be flush with the surface of the lid, otherwise they will unscrew while the jigsaw is running.

From the remains of the board, I made two additional rear posts, so the machine became much more stable.

Step 5: Modification of the machine

At this stage, the machine is quite functional; it is enough to simply secure it with a clamp on the tabletop and you can work.

I identified two features of my jigsaw:

• the blade moved a little to the sides, especially when working at high speeds.
• The blade width was wider than standard jigsaw blades, which made cutting particularly thin holes poor.

Step 6: Reduce the width of the canvas

A narrower blade will give you the ability to cut fine curves and make it easier to cut rounded corners.

1. Pull the saw to the maximum, do not forget to turn off the jigsaw from the mains.
2. Mark the point where the blade exits the housing. Below this point nothing needs to be removed.
3. Remove the file from the jigsaw and use a grinder to grind the blade down to the desired width. When grinding, dip the file in cool water so that it does not overheat, otherwise the metal will lose its hardness and the file will no longer be able to cut through anything. A change in color is a sign of overheating of the metal.
4. Once you have the desired blade width, place the file back into the jigsaw.

Step 7: Making a guide for the file

The guide will prevent the blade from moving to the sides during cutting, especially at high speeds.

I made the guide from a small strip of PVC plastic. At one end of the strip, use a jigsaw to make a small slot at an angle to the middle of the strip. We secure the strip behind the file by screwing it to a wooden L-shaped piece mounted on the lid of your machine. The guide can be lubricated with oil for better movement.

Remember:

1. The guide should never be higher than the blade at the lowest point in the blade's path.
2. The guide limits the size of the material you are going to cut due to its height and mounting point on the surface. Therefore, it is better to secure the guide as high as possible (taking into account the previous remark), and move it as far away from the canvas as possible, with a slope to the side as soon as possible.

Step 8: Conclusion

With a little effort, you will have an almost real tabletop jigsaw. Of course, it will not replace a real machine, but given its zero cost, it is an excellent option.

A jigsaw is a tool without which it is now simply impossible to carry out many works on processing wood and the materials in which it is used. Being compact and light in weight, a handheld portable jigsaw is capable of cutting out products of very complex geometry from a workpiece.

The jigsaw is very convenient to use and also provides very precise and thin cut. If you don’t want to spend money on a purchased jigsaw, you can make your own at home.

The lightest product

The jigsaw table itself can be made with your own hands in a short period of an hour. The advantage of the manufactured design will be its simplicity. It can easily be mounted on a tabletop or workbench and, if necessary, can also be easily disassembled. The disadvantage of a homemade design can be considered its small area.

The simplest product consists of the following parts:

1. Plywood.
2. Mounting screws.
3. Clamps.

The working basis of the machine can be laminated plywood, in which it is necessary to drill holes for installing fasteners and for the saw itself. Plywood must be at least 10 millimeters thick. At the same time, you may also have to make holes in the base of your power tool for mounting screws.

A homemade structure can be attached to the workbench using clamps. Please note that the heads of the screws for fastening must be recessed into the surface of the sheet so that they do not interfere with you while working. Such a machine can easily handle the processing of small workpieces up to 30 millimeters thick. You can easily find a drawing of this type of machine on the Internet, and then assemble it yourself at home.

Another variant

This option consists of the following parts:

1. Bed made of chipboard.
2. Tube for vacuum cleaner.
3. Laminated plywood for the machine cover.
4. Confirmants.

There is a second option for a stationary device for working with wood material, which is assembled from a larger number of spare parts, but making it will not be difficult. The frame is made of chipboard and consists of a back wall and two sidewalls. To make it easy to get to the power button, the machine has no front wall.

In the back wall you need to do it yourself drill holes for the vacuum cleaner tube and cord. The cover for the machine can be made from laminated plywood 10 millimeters thick. The entire structure can be tightened with confirmants. The jigsaw can be secured in the same way as described above in the first case.

On a machine made according to this option, it is possible to process more massive workpieces, however, when working with a thick workpiece, the jigsaw saw can go in both directions and lean back. At the same time, cutting accuracy deteriorates. This drawback can easily be eliminated with your own hands by installing a bracket on a homemade machine that will serve as a stop.

The jigsaw blade will move between two 11mm bearings, which must be screwed to an L-shaped strip made of steel. The back of the saw will rest against the wall of the bracket itself. This design will prevent your jigsaw blade from deviating from the intended path.

The bracket must be attached to the frame, made of 50 by 50 millimeter bars. It can be lowered or raised depending on the length and thickness of the wood being processed. To do this, the frame itself, together with the stop, must not be firmly attached to the side of the machine, but pressed against it with a hardboard, steel or textolite plate. We install a vertical frame post between the hardboard and the frame.

The machine can be more convenient if you install an additional limit bar on it, with which you can cut the material into workpieces of the same length and thickness.

The limiter is attached to the machine using clamps. His made from wooden beams, aluminum or steel corner. For convenience, you can also install a bar on the slide, which must be secured to the sides or bottom of the tabletop.

Table for a jigsaw made of chipboard

To make this jigsaw table, you must have a certain carpentry skill, since when connecting its frame to the legs, it must be made into a tongue and groove. The tongue and groove itself can be replaced with a connection using dowels, wood glue and self-tapping screws.

The machine cover must be made liftable to facilitate access to the tool when replacing it. In order for the machine to be multifunctional, it is necessary to provide space for mounting a manual milling machine.

The table is assembled from the following materials:

• block 80 by 80 millimeters;
• block 40 by 80 millimeters;
• laminated plywood or chipboard measuring 900 by 900 millimeters.

Measure the distance between the legs, it should be from 60 to 70 centimeters. The bars for the legs and drawers will be obtained if you cut the bars lengthwise 80 by 80 millimeters. You can choose the height of the legs themselves at your own discretion, it all depends on how comfortable it will be for you to perform work on the machine.

At each end of the legs and drawers, it is necessary to drill two holes for dowels. The same holes must be made on the sides of the legs. Coat the dowels with glue half their length and insert them into the ends. After this, assemble the entire frame. It will turn out to be non-separable. After checking and possible corrections, it is tightened tightly.

All surfaces at contact points must be coat with glue. Use self-tapping screws for additional structural strength, which must be screwed through holes prepared in advance for them.

The lid must be attached to one of the drawers using hinges; to do this, a slot must be made in it to facilitate removal and installation of the jigsaw. In the back of the tabletop, you need to screw two strips with a pre-selected quarter into which the sole of the power tool should fit.

Holes must be made in the strips, into which bolts or clamping screws must then be installed. A jigsaw mounted under the tabletop will be able to cut thicker material if a recess is made in the lid for its sole. The easiest way to make this deepening is using a milling machine.

The resulting table will be very simple and spacious, so the necessary strength of its lid can be provided by a large thickness of chipboard or plywood. Use sheets of 20 millimeters or thicker.

Jigsaw using thin saws

Since when cutting out complex patterns in plywood, a jigsaw is not well suited for this, you need to take a thin file. It can be attached to a hand-held power tool using the original tool.

We also attach the jigsaw to the tabletop, but the thin file needs to be tensioned, since it will not be enough just set on a pendulum. To facilitate the process of tensioning the file, it is necessary to make a rocker arm from a block.

The tension of your canvas is ensured by a spring. Place its lower loop on the transverse pin. The upper loop must be inserted into the adjusting screw, which changes the tension force of the damper. All wooden blanks for a homemade machine are made from hard wood.

Since a jigsaw machine does not have the ability to fasten a blade with a thin section, you can remake a piece of an old saw by first drilling a hole in it and adding a screw with nut and clamping plate.

A vertical slot must be made in the rocker arm into which a second steel plate must be inserted. It is attached to the rocker with screws. The upper part of the file must be attached to it in the same way as the lower one. To make it easier for you, you can use scraps from an old jigsaw to make the plates.