What I’m Looking for
I am looking for a small knife or screwdriver-style handle that can work with standard t-shank jigsaw blades.
The above Stanley folding pocket saw is said to fit standard sabre and reciprocating blades, but I’m hoping to check out additional options. I’m not having an easy time putting together a list of alternatives.
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The saw handle should be compact. After I’m done using it to cut foam I’ll toss in a general purpose blade and keep the tool in my car or mobile tool kit.
Why?
I plan to buy a pack of Festool foam-cutting jigsaw blades ($15 via Amazon) so that I can cut outlines of my tools into foam. The cutting will be done by hand if possible.
Any Ideas?
Any input you guys could offer would be appreciated. Thanks!
If there’s nothing better, I’ll probably end up buying the Stanley (15-333) as it’s only $8 or so.
Carlos
http://gr123.powweb.com/hd-imagination-house/WiringAssets/046_full.jpg
An exacto knife handle. I imagine it would work even better with the screwdriver type handle in this kit.
http://gr123.powweb.com/hd-imagination-house/WiringAssets/046_full.jpg
Carlos
ooops…wrong second link.
http://www.usahobby.com/images/xacto/xac5076.jpg
Nick Marques
I have one of these kits. It’s pretty good for the price and has bailed me out of not having my jab saw a few times.
General Tools 86014 14 piece Quad Saw/Driver
Nick Marques
BTW. I haven’t tried this on jigsaw blades, but it does fit sawzall blades. I can try it out if you’d like.
James C
I have that Stanley recip saw blade holder. It works pretty well, but you need a screwdriver to change blades and the plastic handle feels cheap. You get what you pay for, I guess.
I’d love a much smaller tool for T shank blades that folds up and is no larger than a pocket knife. I haven’t seen anything yet. Seems like this would be a good Kickstarter project for an enterprising individual.
Stuart
The new Leatherman Surge is said to have a universal T-shank tool holder, but I would hate to have to buy a duplicate multi-tool just for the jigsaw blade holder.
Steve
I’m always ready for any excuse to buy another Leatherman!
DanG
I’m with you on that! I’m always looking for an Excuse to buy a Leatherman!
Jerry
I have a Surge, and the jig saw holder works very well. I actually own a couple handles for recip saw blades, one that folds, and one fixed, but I never found a ‘quality’ one for jig saw blades.
fred
You might search on “pad saw” or “pad saw handle” to see what you find.
I have an old one ( I bought probably 30 years ago) made in England that uses has a beefy ferrule and 2 fillister head screws that hold the saw blade in the handle. Mine came with a couple of long tapered keyhole-type blades.
fred
Here’s one still offered sale:
http://www.toolnut.co.uk/products/saws/other_saws/Joseph_Marples_Pad_Saw.html
Stan
Before I give any suggestions, I want to state I don’t work any of the manufacturers or distributors. Believe what you want, but that is the truth though. If you are looking for a jigsaw blade holder, that can also function for other purposes I suggest the American made Blue Point model number GA98A. This called a file holder, but can be used with jig saw blades as well.
In the long run, whilst the Stanley is probably the least expensive, I would go with Blue Point, as not only is this USA made, but this tool can be used for more than one purpose as well. Plus Amazon’s shipping rates aren’t cheap and they now charge tax and that is never cheap either. Sure Snap-On does charge taxes, but at least shipping is free under $500.
But understandably if Snap-On is out of your price league, I would definitely check eBay as well as pawn shop as well. Chances are you can easily find what you looking for on eBay for much less than at Amazon or a traditional brick and mortar shop.
Stuart
Thanks!
That looks like the General Tools 890 file handle, which is less than $8 via Amazon with free shipping. If it works well, I suppose the blade can be reversed inside the tool for storage.
John
A little googling came back with one of your posts on the Garage Journal suggesting a Bosch Pocket Saw for this application: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25436
Currently unavailable from Amazon but Build.com shows it as backordered for 2-3 weeks but available for $9 and change.
http://www.build.com/bosch-0603999007/s26439
It doesn’t show up on Bosch’s website anymore so it’s probably discontinued.
I know Milwaukee has offered foam cutting blades for recip saws in the past that would work well in their Job Saw handle or one of the other handles for recip blades previously posted.
Keep us posted if find anything that works well. I’m planning to buy some foam to outfit a couple of L-boxxes and think this could be useful.
Stuart
I saw that too. I find it highly amusing that I answered my own question 5 years ago. The Bosch would have been a nice option and T-shank compatibility would have been guaranteed, but it seems to have been discontinued.
I recently purchased a Milwaukee handheld Sawzall blade holder, but I was really hoping for something smaller and better sized for jigsaw blades.
Plus, when I was done with the foam I would have made a point to evaluate the blade holder as an EDC-style tool, where compactness and portability is always a high priority.
John
Do any of your contacts at Bosch have access to any old stock that was never shipped or returned by retailers? I’d be in for one if they do. What about the guys at HJE?
Stuart
I didn’t ask.
It’s still available via a couple of dealers, but for $10-15 plus shipping.
Plus, it’s designed for recip and jigsaws. I was hoping to find something a little smaller.
george
I use this. handy
http://www.lowes.com/pd_247218-16878-60151_0__?productId=1070275&Ntt=kobalt+saw&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dkobalt%2Bsaw%26page%3D2&facetInfo=
Raj
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=62596&cat=1,43456
Note quite a jigsaw blade, but close to what you might want.
Dane
May I suggest an alternative?
I used a foam hot knife to cut tool outlines in kaizen foam that is cut to fit my L-boxxes. Worked great. I had the hot knife from ICF construction, it is an expensive industrial style belted unit made by Winn-lock. However there are also crafting/hobby foam hot knives that are relatively inexpensive. A quick search on amazon turned up a number of them.
fred
When EIFS work was all the rage in our area – we bought a couple of Wind-Lock cutter and groover kits – which have mostly gathered dust in recent years. Probably can find some – slightly used – on eBay or Craigslist. We also bought a batch of EIFS tools (dura rasps etc.) from a company called Demand Products – who sell hot knives:
http://www.demandproducts.com/EIFS-items/search.php?l1=3,15
Stuart
Sounds like a pretty good alternative, thanks!
The CutRite looks good but is a bit pricey. It has the option for shorter blades and customizable wire, which would be handy for making quick finger pulls. I’ll have to give it some thought, as it would be $212 for the Demand hot knife, a 2-1/2″ blade, wire, and shipping. That’s a bit much. I might have to try the Festool blades first and see how it goes.
Chris Ball
Hmm, looking at the Cutrite, it seems to me that if you already have a soldering gun (everyone over a certain age seems to have accumulated one even if they are seldom/never used. If not they run about 50 bucks), you really only need the fancy foam blades and a few minutes of modding work. The Weller guns are 140 watts so the specs match up nicely…
Kevin
I’m not so sure those blades will work effectively when used by hand to cut tool foam. I have a big Snap-On box that I have cut foam for, and I tried a LOT of methods before I found one that worked effectively.
I use foam from http://www.toolfoam.com/
I use 3M 77 spray adhesive to attach a sheet of heavy artist’s paper to the foam, and then lay out my tools and trace with a fine sharpie. I then cut out the outlines from the paper with an x-acto knife—not the foam; I only cut deep enough to break the paper loose.
Next, I use a Dremel tool in a router base with a very small diamond grit needle-shaped abrasive bit, and follow my paper pattern around to cut the foam. Because I use heavy paper—you MUST use heavy paper!—this functions similarly to how a wood template is used with a pattern bit when routing wood. The dremel bit rides against the paper and does a very good job of creating a clean, burnished cut of the foam without the tearout and shredding that pretty much every other method produces, and there is not a need for precise manual dexterity, as there would be with a hot knife.
See, I’m not so good at precise manual dexterity, and it sucks to mess up when you’re on the 38th outline out of 40 and you ruin the whole piece. The “right” way to cut these is with a laser, but I don’t have one of those… *sigh*
Stuart
I might give that a try too! I have Kaizen foam incoming, and plan to order foam from ToolFoam as well. I have a sample pack from them that I could experiment with. Kaizen isn’t particularly dense from what I’ve seen, but I believe the ToolFoam stuff should cut well with a rotary tool as you suggested.
RKA
Stuart, can you please write up your findings on the toolfoam and dremel? I’m interested in doing the same, but haven’t found a product and method that would yield a good result.
Toolfreak
I’d say the Bosch is the way to go, Craftsman used to have a blade handle like that, but with either end dedicated to holding a jig saw or recip saw blade, I got it for cheap and it’s been invaluable ever since.
It looks like Bosch is making a newer one too, so I think I’ll grab one of both.
Looking around the web for saw blade handles also showed a lot of other good ideas for jig saw blades, such as sticking them in screwdriver handles, taking apart a small pocket knife to use the jig saw blade in, or even just sticking it in an X-acto hobby knife handle, or a piece of wood. I’d say the X-acto knife handle or similar slim design would give the most control.
As for the foam thing, that sure looks nice, but it wastes a ton of space in the toolbox. It makes a lot of sense when you’re making a portable tool kit and don’t want the tools to rattle around, or when dealing with expensive precision tools, but in terms of aesthetics for a drawer in a garage tool box, it just wastes space and results in needing a gigantic tool box to store the same amount of tools you can fit in a much smaller box if you maximize the space available.
Whatever floats your boat.
Stuart
Good advice, thanks!
As for the foam, I have a bunch of small portable tool boxes 10″ x 6″ x 2″ and a portable tool chest that will be seeing most of the foam treatment. It will be necessary to avoid things flopping around during transport.
fred
Seems like there are a few sources out there for the Bosch.
You need to search on part # 0603999007
Dave L
Here’s cheap: I took a broken long recip saw blade, slotted a piece of dowel to fit and epoxied it in. I sharpened the tip, which turned it into a jab saw. You could easily do the same with a jigsaw (or even hacksaw) blade.
Aviator
Try LENOX FOLDING JAB & UTILITY SAW
http://www.lenoxtools.in/Pages/Product.aspx?productId=TrifoldSaw
Phil
Stuart,
I used to use a broken scroll saw blade or a broken piece of band saw blade to carve pumpkins. I slotted the end of a dowel and just use the appropriate-sized hose clamp to keep the blade piece in.
Yadda
This is another option if you have a Leatherman Wave or Charge.
http://www.edcsource.com/Toftys-Jigsaw-Holder,name,117042,auction_id,auction_details
ktash
I love the Ridgid tabletop sander with the spindle and belt. I’d like to build some jigs for it, but just as is, it’s a great benefit.
Another thing I love is the bosch VAC005 5-Meter Vacuum Hose 35mm. It’s not a fancy tool, but I had all kinds of hoses jury-rigged together, using tape to make them fit, etc. They would fall out/fall apart (tearing hair). This hose fits Festool things well (and of course, bosch). I use it with the Fein adapter Fein 921072K13 Step Adaptor that’s small and cheap but has some stretch and it fits most of my tools and also fits the Bosch hose on the other end. I have so many hard plastic crappy adapters that don’t work at all. I use a rubber plumbing connector to connect the other end to my cyclone dust collector. Amazing change. No more falling apart hoses. This was the thing I liked least about woodworking. Sometimes it’s the little things that count.
Of course, I’d rather have a Domino, but this was in my budget. Maybe I could sell all the dust collector parts on ebay and get enough money for a Domino ;).
BikerDad
Late to the party here, but I saw some interesting Bosch jigsaw blades at a local woodmonger.
T-Shank Jigsaw blades specifically for SLICING foam. Yes, slicing. No teeth, instead it has a knife edge.
http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Accessories/Pages/BoschAccessoryDetail.aspx?pid=T113A3#specs
Bosch has a second longer knife edge blade as well. I realize this doesn’t address your desire for a handle for these puppies, but this blade may be better for your purposes.
Ernie
This is not a pocket saw. The handle is 8 inches amf oversized to store extra blades in the handle. It only supports the recipicating blades and jigsaw blades with holes, as it uses the hole to secure the blade. Will not support T-Shank blades.
It is oldscool in that you must have a screwdriver and take the screw completely out each time you change blades.
I would recommend purchasing a multitool plier with the T-Shank Blade Holder such as Leatherman or Gerber.
Greg
One more suggestion on this old post since I was just looking for something similar, and found this holder that looks rather nice.
https://www.amazon.com/SUNFLAG-Board-pierced-cutting-BN-200/dp/B001VB4OLI
William Fouste
Thanks Greg! Exactly what I want.
Xindong
I was looking for the same type of folding jigsaw, but eventually ended up some folding jab saw.
Lenox has some “tri-fold” folding jab saw that can accept both sawzall blades and hacksaw blades.
https://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/lenox-tri-fold-saw-folding-jab.aspx
Milwaukee has some folding jab saw that is better designed.
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Hand-Tools/Cutting/Saws/48-22-0305
It seems t-shank blades might be not that robust with a folding package.