Heavy-Duty, Long Blades
For this review I’ll be using a 6″ blade and a heavier 9″ blade.
Profile Pattern Tracing
The beams I needed to cut where 6×6 red cedar with a quarter ellipse profile. I made a plywood pattern and traced it onto both sides on each end. That way I could check the accuracy of my cut.
Cut Profile on Beam
I decided to start from the end and work my way in and try to keep to the line as best I could. I like the barrel grip on this jigsaw design as it allows my hand to be lower and closer to the work piece I’m cutting. It feels more stable and natural to me and I think gives me better control and accuracy.
These 9″ blades are fairly wide and thick so I wasn’t sure if I could cut this elliptical curve as the radius decreased and became sharper at the end of the cut.
The vibration moved the beam on the sawhorses so I had to stop and weigh them down. I just didn’t have enough weight on the material. I found the level of vibration acceptable as I was pushing the saw pretty hard with a log heavy blade through very thick material.
I used orbital setting number 1 for what I was cutting and it worked well and gave me a very smooth cut.
I was very happy with the result and I only had a small degree of blade wander.