Jigsaw (the electric ones)

[MLC]

I've been laying a wooden floor over the last couple of days. Just what is the secret to cutting a straight line with an electric jigsaw. Can't do it to save my life. A drunken man would've done a better job

Resorted to a good 'ole fashioned hand saw...nice and straight

[JuzzyD]

Nice and slow with your other hand guiding the bottom plate.

Or buy/borrow/hire a sliding chop saw with a fine tooth blade like we did!

Is it a real wood or engineered?

[Gsi3.2]

the trick is to leave the jigsaw in the shed and use the circular saw instead.. horrid things those jigsaws, for cutting curves only.

[plasma]

always used a mitre saw for mine mate

[BigMan]

Jigsaw's are only good for corner's, other than that, a normal hand held saw will be far better!!

[m20_swe]

same as the rest of the guys said leave it in the shed lol you really need a rip snotter or a hand saw mate will be the best way or if you have a hand plane leave a few mm on with the jig and plane the rest

[Jamie]

Clamp a straight piece of wood across the board you are cutting and use it like a 'fence' to run the jigsaw along.......

..... I knew those hours of watching Discover Home and Leisure would pay off one day!!!!

[soulman]

you need the blades that cut from underneath,that way you can clearly see the line you are attempting to follow...............being a bedroom fitter we have to cut the top fillets on site,mind you it does take a lot of practice to cut 2 meter lengths without running off the line,so tiny bits of flooring is no problem....also the advantage of doing it by jigsaw is the fact the
cut might not need to be square square.

[rob 2.2dti]

plenty of practice and straight cuts are no problem, get a decent jigsaw 500 watts + and pendulum action. You can get blades sharpened for cutting on the downstroke / std upstroke or both. Laminate flooring all your cuts will be out of sight anyway.

[lborob17]

take the skirting off - lay the floor - put skirting back - that way:
a) dont see the ends (which are probably easier to cut with a hand saw anyhow)
b) you don't have to resort to using those nasty skirting to floor fake wood trim strips

I only use jig saw for things like the hole in the work top for the hob etc - Circular saw for everything else, or if I want accuracy - do it by hand!!. I think the knack to succesful jig sawing is
a) make sure you have a sharp blade
b) make sure the blade is set up correctly and not too much slack all ways
c) let the saw do the work (I hear my Dad's voice saying this as I type!) - ie never push and force the saw along - just let it go at its own pace.
d) don't use a guide - just use your eye (behind PPE!!)