# Mounting Jig Saw in Router Table?



## awh (Mar 3, 2006)

Well, the subject pretty much says it all... Anyone ever see one? Is it possible?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

awh

Why would you want to do that. ???


Bj


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Tony, Mr Spock said it best: "I would like to think all things are possible." In this case the answer is yes. You will need to build a second mounting plate with a small hole just large enough for the jig saw blade. It doesn't need to be in the center of the plate, but should be along the centerline. Attach your jig saw using some screws and wooden blocks cut to hold the saw base tight against the plate. This installation leaves the blade fully exposed and a guard is needed for safety. I will try out a design I have in my head and if it works I will post a plan with photos. Remember your blade will be very unstable and only useable for rough cuts.


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## reible (Sep 10, 2004)

awh said:


> Well, the subject pretty much says it all... Anyone ever see one? Is it possible?


 If you had one of the older sears router tables they were designed to take a jig saw or router. It is a router / sabre saw table #925444 and was sold about 30 years ago. I still have mine mostly because I have the rosette maker attachment for it.......

I did use it with a sears jig saw I had at the time and it works fine for doing ruff cuts, how ever the newer jig saws have guides and might work much better for this sort of thing. The table has a rectangle in the casting for the base of the saw and then 4 u-shaped brackets that hold it in place. 

It should be easy to do if you really wanted to. The key would be to get the saw as close to the table top as you can.... the offset of 3/4" or more might make it very unstable.... it would be better to be only a 1/4" or 3/8" below the surface like on a mounting plate rather then the thickness of a the table top. If you are interested in more details let us know, I know I for one have a few other ideas that might make this easier and work better....

Ed


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## bennybbc (Feb 8, 2005)

I have done this with my Bosch 1591 barrel grip router and it works very well. It's not as good as a bandsaw but I had very good luck making precise, on-the-line cuts as long as I didn't try to cut material thicker than maybe 3/4" to 1". Also, if you try to get too tight with the curves it's a little tricky but that can be said with a bandsaw too. I think the biggest chance for success can be using a higher quality saw such as the Bosch. The model 1590 and 1591 use a unique blade clamping/guide mechanism that makes it cut more precisely than any other saw I've ever used or heard of. I think it's only competition is the Festool but I've never used one so that's just what I heard. 

I didn't bother with a complicated method of attaching the saw to a plate. I just removed the plastic cover for the metal base of the jigsaw and bought some longer screws that matched the holes. I made another table mounting plate from 3/8" MDF using my Woodhaven phenolic plate as a template. I placed the plastic base of the jigsaw onto the MDF plate where I wanted the saw and marked the screw holes. I drilled and countersunk the MDF plate and screwed the saw to the plate. I then marked where the saw blade would come through, drilled a small hole about an inch behind where the blade will end up and cut a 1" slot for the blade. Screw it all back together, insert the blade through the slot into the saw, plug it in and saw.

Now, as has already been mentioned, this leaves a completely exposed blade and I've never made any sort of guard for it. I figure that it's no more exposed than a bandsaw blade and they don't have guards. But I still think that if you don't feel comfortable with the completely exposed blade then you should add some sort of guard and I don't think that would be too hard to do. Also, the 3/8" MDF isn't the most ridgid material for this application but my saw hasn't made it sag visibly, yet. Also, I haven't used this very often at all and if it was going to see regular use then I'd buy a blank phenolic plate from Woodhaven and just repeat the process. I wouldn't use the MDF for any router because they are generally heavier than the jigsaw, (at least mine are) and the router is a lot more sensitive to having a very flat plate than a jigsaw is anyway. Worked for me quite well and it was easy. Aside from the trip to the hardware store for the metric machine screws, it might have taken me 10 minutes to make the plate and another 20 or 30 minutes to mount the saw. The MDF was a scrap I had so I call that free. 

Bruce


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## awh (Mar 3, 2006)

Thanks for the replies. I seem to remember Balck&Decker (or maybe it was Craftsman) selling a table for their jig saws many years ago. I need to do a lot of inside cuts, no way to do it on the bandsaw and I’m trying to avoid using the scroll saw and stopping every 30 seconds to undo the blade and poke it through another hole! I have a Bosch 1590EVSK (top handle) jigsaw and was thinking along the lines of taking the base off of it and mounting it to a spare router insert I have. I also seem to recall scrollsaw blades that chuck in the lower blade holder of a scroll saw, but I don’t know if that will work with the model I current have (Delta P-20).


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## Shells (Feb 20, 2014)

*Sears Rosette Maker*



reible said:


> If you had one of the older sears router tables they were designed to take a jig saw or router. It is a router / sabre saw table #925444 and was sold about 30 years ago. I still have mine mostly because I have the rosette maker attachment for it.......
> 
> ....
> 
> Ed


I was interested in the rosette maker and was wondering how you liked it? Are they difficult to use? Sears doesn't have the manual for them. Thanks!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Had you thought about your on/off and speed control method?


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I just made a longish bench top type table with my old sabre saw in it, for rough cuts. Hand it up when not using it. It works well enough, but not fantastic, so often as not wind up just using my new saw.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

awh said:


> Well, the subject pretty much says it all... Anyone ever see one? Is it possible?


You were wondering who made one... Craftsman did. It also held a circular saw to use as a table saw.

Have I seen one made? Yes. I have one:
Router Forums - View Single Post - Portable Router-Jigsaw Table


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Susan, Reible left the forums in a huff when someone made fun of his new Hitachi router years ago. I wouldn't hold my breath for a response.


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## vindaloo (May 30, 2009)

Triton did one too.

Lots of examples on google


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## DarrenWK (Jul 2, 2013)

*Not exactly a router table*

Not exactly a router table, but worth watching:
Jig Saw

Oops, just realized the question was from 8 years ago.


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## AzWoodWarrior (Nov 12, 2021)

awh said:


> Well, the subject pretty much says it all... Anyone ever see one? Is it possible?


Yes, I mounted mine upside down to my router table. Why? Because I live in Arizona and marijuana is legal. I had to have been baked to come up with the upside down jigsaw screwed to my router table contraption. Again, why? Short answer, I don't have a bandsaw. Long answer, I am working on becoming the world's only supplier of saguaro lumber. The yeild is so small I wanted a thin kerf to cut the ribs into strips. It starts out tapered and forms a smashed bell shape at the bottom. Did it work, yes. Was it worth the time and effort, no.
View attachment 400089


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum @AzWoodWarrior


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I seem to recall something like this made by Rockwell at least 10 years ago. It was advertised on late night TV and the selling channels. Here's a picture: Went used for $80. Looks like it uses standard blades.


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## John Smith_ (Jan 10, 2020)

oh yeah, I remember now: AZWoodWarrior = the guy with the Saguaro Skeleton Sword projects on WWT.
the original question here was posted in 2006.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, @AzWoodWarrior .

There are a number of more up to date methods shown on Youtube these days...


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## MontecarloZ38 (Sep 20, 2021)

I did it. Built a router table / jigsaw table. You can watch the video here if you like:


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Nicely done. Using the Bosch saw was a good decision. Very precise and a solid blade guide. I do wonder how you make sure the fence is parallel to the blade?


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## MontecarloZ38 (Sep 20, 2021)

DesertRatTom said:


> Nicely done. Using the Bosch saw was a good decision. Very precise and a solid blade guide. I do wonder how you make sure the fence is parallel to the blade?


Thank you! It is a very nice jigsaw. I tried their barrel grip jigsaw and ended up returning it, but this one is super. To be honest, I have not used it much yet. I built that in early spring of this year, and soon after winter eased up and I started working outside. Well winter is almost here again, so I will start using it again. I would say using something rectangular, like a thickness bar, or a 3/4 piece of ply, and use the blade and ply to align with fence. I am planning to add a support arm and bearings, to keep the blade from deflecting. That was the plan originally, just haven't had time yet.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

MontecarloZ38 said:


> ...I am planning to add a support arm and bearings, to keep the blade from deflecting. That was the plan originally, just haven't had time yet.


That sounds like a good idea. You'd think the outside edges of the saw base would be parallel to the blade. Perhaps you could align to that and use some press on rule tape, indexed so the zero aligns with the inside of the saw blade. That might do the trick. You might check with ereplacementparts.com for the blade guide parts. Might save you some time and trouble. 

You also did a really nice job on that split fence.


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## MontecarloZ38 (Sep 20, 2021)

DesertRatTom said:


> That sounds like a good idea. You'd think the outside edges of the saw base would be parallel to the blade. Perhaps you could align to that and use some press on rule tape, indexed so the zero aligns with the inside of the saw blade. That might do the trick. You might check with ereplacementparts.com for the blade guide parts. Might save you some time and trouble.
> 
> You also did a really nice job on that split fence.


Great idea and advice! And thank you for the compliment!!!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Thinking over the stick on ruler tape, I think I'd want to cut a very shallow groove just deep enough so the rule is maybe 1/64th below the surface so the lettering and numbers don't get worn down.


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