Matthias Wandel That is an excellent idea, as I haven't started my bandsaw build yet (despite having your plans for a while) I think I will find this approach useful for a few other jobs. Did you find that the speed of the blade needed changing at all or did it just stabilise the blade with no untoward affects. It looks like it's fine.
Matthias Wandel I would like to know if it could lead to a problem when all the sawdust and wood pieces fall into the jigsaw which is mounted below the workspace? This is a great solution to reduce the inaccuracy of these devices. Thank you for showing this :)
i was in college (british version) the other day finishing my mechanical engineering course, and i decided to have a look at your website for some time wasting and i called my designated helper over to show him your gear template maker, to which he replied "oh yeah i know that website, i used it to design my tattoo!" and pointed at the gear tattoo on his arm!
Thanks for sharing the idea of mounting a jigsaw on a board. Today, I just followed your idea and successfully built a bandsaw by mounting my jigsaw under a board as you do. It’ll now make my future wood work easier when cutting irregular shape. Keep up your good work. Thanks again.
Love it. I have an old Rockwell "scroll saw" that is really an upside down jig saw with a spring mechanism that keeps tension on the blade. Old tools are so cool. I actually has a crankcase with oil that has to be changed.
Matthias Wandel You keep coming up with solutions that are simple and elegant and I keep wondering "Why did I never think of that?!!" Keep up the good work.
I was thinking of mounting my jigsaw because I don't have a band saw at the moment and your idea really helps Matthias. Thanks! I do plan on using your band saw plans to build my own, but that is a bit of time away. However, I do need some wooden gears asap and this jigsaw mount will help with that.
Rob Mckennie Building a saw mill as a large version (8:1, 4hp motor) of this might work indeed. But you will get a lot of vibration and a relatively wide kerf.
I made some wooden gears using your gear generator a few years back. at the time i didn't have a scroll saw so i had to use my jig saw. all i did was screw the piece of wood down to the edge of the work bench and turned it as i cut it out. it worked really well. i think i'll give this way a go as well.
One tool I can really recommend for the frugal woodworker is a Japanese style pull-saw. They cut extremely precisely, leaving very smooth and flat faces, they have a very thin kerf and sharp teeth, thus being very efficient and fast for a hand tool. I have used mine recently to cut some fairly complicated multi-angled box joints into 40mm plywood. Hardly any tweaking needed to make them fit.
surfcello I will concur with you on that. I don't even have a good pullsaw, just some SharkSaws, which, I have read, are mediocre at best. They might be mediocre, but just 30 minutes ago I used a ryoba to rip into a piece of ash. It cut straight on the line, and despite me wanting to make a rough cut, the cut was smooth and took only two passes with a Stanley #5 to make it glue-ready.
The Rockwell BladeRunner is basically this concept. It's an upside down jigsaw with an arm housing two guide bearings for the top of the blade and down at the table beneath the throat plate there is a bearing on the back of the blade. I was given one for Christmas and was very excited to try considering my hand cut gears (cut with a coping saw over 3 hours) were a bit wonky.
Depend on your skills, because the more resourceful and patient you are, the fewer tools you really need! Now this is the most great thing you've ever said, in all of your videos so far!!! I Agree!!!
Concerning the jigsaw blade flexing: Mafell produces jigsaw blades that don't flex and are a lot easier to use for round cuts because they are basically 2 blades welded together and then sanded down on the backside giving them a triangular profile. I don't know if you can get them in the US too, but they are pretty useful if you don't mind that the cut is about twice as thick as an ordinary jigsaw cut.
Rockler makes a full table top saw like this (one was bought for me as a gift; not something I'd ever have picked up for myself). The biggest improvement it makes over this setup is that the upper blade guide has adjustable height and a presser foot mechanism similar to what you'd see on a sewing machine, so that it will hold the work piece down for you. It's big advantage is that it's good for cutting interior circles fast, as you just need a hole drilled in the piece, and then you can quickly place it with the blade going through the hole and return the guide to hold the piece down while you cut. Since the blade is rigid and the guide goes up and down quickly with a single clamp, it's a faster set up than a scroll saw, and as long as the cut isn't too intricate, you can achieve similar results with patience and practice. I don't have to make those kinds of cuts that often though, so it's not that useful for me, and overall it's no where near as useful as a bandsaw would be.
Good evening My name is Ahmed Al-Attar decor designer and teacher of the State of Kuwait, and I'm a big fan of for its simple and inexpensive ideas shorten our time a lot in business and Almnjurat wood. More we wait for you and thank you.
Matthias.. I have your next video project for you to do. A work table that has a handle that you crank to raise and lower the work surface. So when you are working on something tall you crank one handle to lower the project and if it's short you crank the handle to raise your table. I'm thinking a threaded rod on each corner of the table with some sort of belt on pulleys so the rods all crank at same speed to raise and lower. Could even do a power drill instead of hand crank. Would be interested to see your vision of that idea. Thanks for all of your videos! I have taken away many great ideas from them and enjoy your work!
Having already made some gears with the "Reversed Jigsaw" method I would suggest an orbital motion of "0", the highest cutting speed available, the height of the support beam/bracket to be a liiittle bit higher than the thickness of the gear and the guide cut in the beam/bracket to be *no more or less* than the blade's depth *without* the teeth. Also, use the finest tooth blade available. There are special blades for cutting tight corners, with a very shallow depth and fine teeth. I would highly recommend those for this kind of work. Kudos to Matthias!
Awesome Clamps are by far the best tools I have learned a lot from your videos and don't have many tools or resources however clamps have improved my small projects buy a lot. And yes patience too
I did something similar with my sawzall, and used a 2x6 that pivots down from directly behind the blade, so you can make cuts that would normally require a scroll saw. Also, I made a springboard that pushes down on the workpiece, which allows for more turning while cutting.
I always enjoy your videos and projects, so thank you for all of them. I really appreciate this one since I happen to be band saw-less right now, at least till I get around to using your plans to make one.
Improvisation is the mother of inspiration. Nice work, Matthias. Lunch and a workshop visit are on me if you ever come to Vienna. cheers from sunny Austria, Scott (instrumentmaker)
I am very interested in wood working, but limited on my budget. After having seein what you are capable of creating, I am so impressed. You channel is now officially my no1 to watch. I log in to Y/Tube every couple of minutes/hrs, cause I cannot wait for what you are going to create next. Plzzzz keep up the awesome work. #awesomeStuff
This is great. I would find it hard to justify buying a bandsaw but I could easily apply these techniques to my jigsaw. Thanks for sharing. Any plans to do a more developed version akin to the tablesaw from a circular saw?
You could add a slotted centre radius guide and an outer slot that lock the gear as its being cut to limit depth of cut in gear and guide the cutting line ..nice work as awlays Matthias
Absolutely love your videos, and the plans ive purchased from you, haven't got around to building them but should start that soon. the last video about using alternatives to a band saw is great
One could also use a coping saw to make the cut outs for the gear teeth. A scroll saw would as work well. As pointed out in the video, more people are likely to have a jigsaw than a band saw or scroll saw. As you said at the end. The more you know the less tools you need to use/have to do some task. However that usually comes at the expense of time and effort.
Hello Sir... Happy Teachers Day.... I have learned many wood working techniques from your videos.... Your videos and tutorial are Quality with your outstanding guidance .... Thumbs ups for sharing such a Great Ideas. Thank you. :-)
Perfect video for me, because I only have a jig saw (and I'm trying to keep my tool collection small). Maybe I'll upgrade me jig saw and try out this tip one day! Thank you!
Can this methode be applied on mild metal such as aluminum, by drill all teeth point first, than cut with iron jigsaw or grinder? realy like your last dvice in this one
I wonder if you could do it on the tablesaw with a sled, kinda like how you cut box joints but rotating around a pin on the fence instead moving it side to side
if you take a square out of the corner of a piece of wood, you can use that as a guide. matthias has also shown a technique where he rotates the work piece while drilling on his drill press to negate any errors in his table, which might (or really super might not) be helpful with a hand drill and the guide block
haha matthias wandel. great job. i has always wanted to know how to mount a jgsaw upside down the simplest way possible. i will for sure use this one. great job. i hope there will be more videos on how to do more with basic tools
Hi Mathias. Is it possible to do wooden clock gears of different sizes with this cool idea? I find the scroll saw to be over my budget for a diy gear clocks
Great video Matthias!! I'm sure it is a great help to those that don't have a shop full of tools, I started out using a saber saw and circular saw mounted in a fixture upside down for my power shop tools!! W
now here is an interesting thought... have you tried making a gear at least 4 feet, or at least 1.5 meters in diameter, and how you might mount it to a shaft for turning it...
I have tried many times to make these gears and just cannot seem to do it. As a result my screw advance box jig is collecting dust. It does this very well.
One of the smartest people on RUclips, without question. I still like my wrong-pronounciation of "Math-I-As" better, though. You ruined Redwall for me!
You don't always need all the fancy tools to make something. Experimenting with cutting out a gear with a jigsaw - it worked pretty good!
Matthias Wandel That is an excellent idea, as I haven't started my bandsaw build yet (despite having your plans for a while) I think I will find this approach useful for a few other jobs. Did you find that the speed of the blade needed changing at all or did it just stabilise the blade with no untoward affects. It looks like it's fine.
Matthias Wandel I would like to know if it could lead to a problem when all the sawdust and wood pieces fall into the jigsaw which is mounted below the workspace?
This is a great solution to reduce the inaccuracy of these devices. Thank you for showing this :)
Christian Petschke Unless you clean it....
Matthias Wandel Thanks for this. Will work for me.
شكرا .. اتمنى ذلك.
Words to live by:
"The more resourceful and patient you are, the fewer tools you really need." - Matthias Wandel.
Thank you for sharing.
You're my favorite genius on RUclips. I hope you never stop making videos.
i was in college (british version) the other day finishing my mechanical engineering course, and i decided to have a look at your website for some time wasting and i called my designated helper over to show him your gear template maker, to which he replied "oh yeah i know that website, i used it to design my tattoo!" and pointed at the gear tattoo on his arm!
Classic !
This new "improvised tools" series you are doing is very good.
Last sentence = great advice
This is a very neat and useful idea that i've been wanting to do forever! Great job!
"The more resourceful and patient you are the fewer tools you really need" So I need every tool going then.
MrFakit Good on you! Make some tool reviews while you're at it!
Thanks for sharing the idea of mounting a jigsaw on a board. Today, I just followed your idea and successfully built a bandsaw by mounting my jigsaw under a board as you do. It’ll now make my future wood work easier when cutting irregular shape. Keep up your good work. Thanks again.
Love it. I have an old Rockwell "scroll saw" that is really an upside down jig saw with a spring mechanism that keeps tension on the blade.
Old tools are so cool. I actually has a crankcase with oil that has to be changed.
Matthias Wandel You keep coming up with solutions that are simple and elegant and I keep wondering "Why did I never think of that?!!" Keep up the good work.
Brilliantly simple method to hold the jigsaw blade steady!
This is why I really do love what you doing here on RUclips, you are awesome man
Well said Matthias, "patience", it is really important for woodworking.
I was thinking of mounting my jigsaw because I don't have a band saw at the moment and your idea really helps Matthias. Thanks!
I do plan on using your band saw plans to build my own, but that is a bit of time away. However, I do need some wooden gears asap and this jigsaw mount will help with that.
I hope the next video is on building a saw Mill with a jigsaw
Rob Mckennie hahaha :D weld a bunch of jigsaw blades together maybe!
Rob Mckennie Building a saw mill as a large version (8:1, 4hp motor) of this might work indeed. But you will get a lot of vibration and a relatively wide kerf.
Rob Mckennie Nah real men just use a chisel
Rob Mckennie LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!
hhoowwaarrdd a Fingernail clipper!!!!
I made some wooden gears using your gear generator a few years back. at the time i didn't have a scroll saw so i had to use my jig saw. all i did was screw the piece of wood down to the edge of the work bench and turned it as i cut it out. it worked really well. i think i'll give this way a go as well.
This is a great video that covers a bunch of building challenges. As a guy who has to make his own jigs I appreciate the ingenuity!
That's basically "How to make an improvised Bandsaw using a Jigsaw".
Outstanding. Thank you very much.
Thanks Matt for as always great video. So far you're a king of improvising that makes our amateur carpentry a real fun. Cheers.
One tool I can really recommend for the frugal woodworker is a Japanese style pull-saw. They cut extremely precisely, leaving very smooth and flat faces, they have a very thin kerf and sharp teeth, thus being very efficient and fast for a hand tool. I have used mine recently to cut some fairly complicated multi-angled box joints into 40mm plywood. Hardly any tweaking needed to make them fit.
surfcello I will concur with you on that. I don't even have a good pullsaw, just some SharkSaws, which, I have read, are mediocre at best.
They might be mediocre, but just 30 minutes ago I used a ryoba to rip into a piece of ash. It cut straight on the line, and despite me wanting to make a rough cut, the cut was smooth and took only two passes with a Stanley #5 to make it glue-ready.
The Rockwell BladeRunner is basically this concept. It's an upside down jigsaw with an arm housing two guide bearings for the top of the blade and down at the table beneath the throat plate there is a bearing on the back of the blade. I was given one for Christmas and was very excited to try considering my hand cut gears (cut with a coping saw over 3 hours) were a bit wonky.
God job Matthias. A hug from Brazil.
Very refreshing to watch videos that aren't all about cnc. Nothing against cnc, just like to see problems solved in creative ways like this. Thanks
Depend on your skills, because the more resourceful and patient you are, the fewer tools you really need! Now this is the most great thing you've ever said, in all of your videos so far!!! I Agree!!!
Concerning the jigsaw blade flexing: Mafell produces jigsaw blades that don't flex and are a lot easier to use for round cuts because they are basically 2 blades welded together and then sanded down on the backside giving them a triangular profile. I don't know if you can get them in the US too, but they are pretty useful if you don't mind that the cut is about twice as thick as an ordinary jigsaw cut.
That last line was really great
Thanks Matthias, I have wondered a lot lately about how to make these gears without a bandsaw!
This works great with a sharp blade and the orbit setting. With a narrow blade it's possible to cut tight curves too.
Rockler makes a full table top saw like this (one was bought for me as a gift; not something I'd ever have picked up for myself). The biggest improvement it makes over this setup is that the upper blade guide has adjustable height and a presser foot mechanism similar to what you'd see on a sewing machine, so that it will hold the work piece down for you. It's big advantage is that it's good for cutting interior circles fast, as you just need a hole drilled in the piece, and then you can quickly place it with the blade going through the hole and return the guide to hold the piece down while you cut. Since the blade is rigid and the guide goes up and down quickly with a single clamp, it's a faster set up than a scroll saw, and as long as the cut isn't too intricate, you can achieve similar results with patience and practice. I don't have to make those kinds of cuts that often though, so it's not that useful for me, and overall it's no where near as useful as a bandsaw would be.
Bravo Matthias! Recently discovered you on RUclips and I am amazed by your inventiveness. You are a natural born engineer.
I really like how you make videos for us poor men who don't have a ton of tools
Good evening
My name is Ahmed Al-Attar decor designer and teacher of the State of Kuwait, and I'm a big fan of for its simple and inexpensive ideas shorten our time a lot in business and Almnjurat wood. More we wait for you and thank you.
have seen this method in several videos but your version is the best and simplest so far, great, thanks....
Matthias.. I have your next video project for you to do. A work table that has a handle that you crank to raise and lower the work surface. So when you are working on something tall you crank one handle to lower the project and if it's short you crank the handle to raise your table. I'm thinking a threaded rod on each corner of the table with some sort of belt on pulleys so the rods all crank at same speed to raise and lower. Could even do a power drill instead of hand crank. Would be interested to see your vision of that idea. Thanks for all of your videos! I have taken away many great ideas from them and enjoy your work!
Having already made some gears with the "Reversed Jigsaw" method I would suggest an orbital motion of "0", the highest cutting speed available, the height of the support beam/bracket to be a liiittle bit higher than the thickness of the gear and the guide cut in the beam/bracket to be *no more or less* than the blade's depth *without* the teeth. Also, use the finest tooth blade available. There are special blades for cutting tight corners, with a very shallow depth and fine teeth. I would highly recommend those for this kind of work. Kudos to Matthias!
nexus01gr I'd rather drill the hole and just cut the 2 sides like he did rather then use a smaller blade and cut the radius..
Awesome
Clamps are by far the best tools
I have learned a lot from your videos and don't have many tools or resources however clamps have improved my small projects buy a lot. And yes patience too
Very clever idea and a great message at the end.
Awesome trick! Really useful!
I did something similar with my sawzall, and used a 2x6 that pivots down from directly behind the blade, so you can make cuts that would normally require a scroll saw. Also, I made a springboard that pushes down on the workpiece, which allows for more turning while cutting.
Remember that tool that Rockwell came out with. I think it was the Blade Runner. same thing as you made in a few minutes. Good going Matthias
Nice job Matthias. Cool project. Douglas
I respect you even more because of stuff like this.
You are a freaking god of woodworking...
I always enjoy your videos and projects, so thank you for all of them. I really appreciate this one since I happen to be band saw-less right now, at least till I get around to using your plans to make one.
Andy Lanning But unboxing a bandsaw, or removing a 550 lbs. beast from a shipping pallet, is such fun! Don't make your own! Buy, like I did! :P
I feel like eventually you're going to show us how to cut these things with a paperclip and a hammer... you're literally a genius.
Your work is amazing bud , congratulations.
Improvisation is the mother of inspiration. Nice work, Matthias. Lunch and a workshop visit are on me if you ever come to Vienna.
cheers from sunny Austria, Scott (instrumentmaker)
I am very interested in wood working, but limited on my budget. After having seein what you are capable of creating, I am so impressed. You channel is now officially my no1 to watch. I log in to Y/Tube every couple of minutes/hrs, cause I cannot wait for what you are going to create next. Plzzzz keep up the awesome work. #awesomeStuff
This is great. I would find it hard to justify buying a bandsaw but I could easily apply these techniques to my jigsaw. Thanks for sharing. Any plans to do a more developed version akin to the tablesaw from a circular saw?
I use a similar setup, but never thought of a blade guide up top. I'm going to have to modify my setup now.
You could add a slotted centre radius guide and an outer slot that lock the gear as its being cut to limit depth of cut in gear and guide the cutting line ..nice work as awlays Matthias
Very clever and the result is excellent!
Absolutely love your videos, and the plans ive purchased from you, haven't got around to building them but should start that soon. the last video about using alternatives to a band saw is great
wow. a lot of ideas coming to my mind right now. planning to diy a christmass music box.. about 4 feet. needing some rotation...
i like the use of the jigsaw as a scroll saw. have you ever thought of making a lathe? i would love to see your spin on it
You're a mad genius. I'm waiting for your woodwork-based star ship.
Great words at the end. Thanks Mathius.
Great video Matthias, this none fancy tools videos are awesome!
Another gem of an idea.
Excellent idea Matt. Good work as always
Hi mattias I enjoy Your video's always. But I have a question do you now how I must build a work station for my power tools I hope you have some ideas
Your closing words were so true.
One could also use a coping saw to make the cut outs for the gear teeth. A scroll saw would as work well. As pointed out in the video, more people are likely to have a jigsaw than a band saw or scroll saw.
As you said at the end. The more you know the less tools you need to use/have to do some task. However that usually comes at the expense of time and effort.
Great information and great inspiration for woodworkers with minimal tools. Thanks for sharing.
Some great advice at the end there.
Спасибо, давно хотел делать деревянные шестерёнки.
Great video Matthias, always thinking. Thank you.
You could also glue sandpaper to the sides of the jigsaw blade.
Hello Sir...
Happy Teachers Day.... I have learned many wood working techniques from your videos.... Your videos and tutorial are Quality with your outstanding guidance .... Thumbs ups for sharing such a Great Ideas. Thank you. :-)
Perfect video for me, because I only have a jig saw (and I'm trying to keep my tool collection small). Maybe I'll upgrade me jig saw and try out this tip one day! Thank you!
Can this methode be applied on mild metal such as aluminum, by drill all teeth point first, than cut with iron jigsaw or grinder? realy like your last dvice in this one
I wonder if you could do it on the tablesaw with a sled, kinda like how you cut box joints but rotating around a pin on the fence instead moving it side to side
I love your videos, this one again is brilliant. Thank you for all tips, ideas, skills you teach us.
Great video! Awesome out of the box thinking!!!
What jigsaw are you using?
Also, can I put a file in the jigsaw (in place of the knife)?
Awesome idea. I will be implementing that very soon!
Like a lot of things patients is a big part of life even when making things or working on a project cheers Matthias
What a great idea. What about a substitute for the drillpress to drill perfectly straight.
if you take a square out of the corner of a piece of wood, you can use that as a guide. matthias has also shown a technique where he rotates the work piece while drilling on his drill press to negate any errors in his table, which might (or really super might not) be helpful with a hand drill and the guide block
haha matthias wandel. great job. i has always wanted to know how to mount a jgsaw upside down the simplest way possible. i will for sure use this one. great job. i hope there will be more videos on how to do more with basic tools
Hi Mathias. Is it possible to do wooden clock gears of different sizes with this cool idea? I find the scroll saw to be over my budget for a diy gear clocks
Awesome jig jig!
Great video Matthias!! I'm sure it is a great help to those that don't have a shop full of tools, I started out using a saber saw and circular saw mounted in a fixture upside down for my power shop tools!! W
Monsieur, merci de votre démonstration, un français du nord de la France
Great advice - resourceful and patient!
Would your gears work if they were cut out of metal like a 1/2 inch aluminum.
now here is an interesting thought... have you tried making a gear at least 4 feet, or at least 1.5 meters in diameter, and how you might mount it to a shaft for turning it...
Привет Дружище!Мне очень нравятся твои идеи и технические решения!Какое у тебя образование и кем ты работаешь в жизни? С Уважением,Сергей.
Briliant! I have two jigsaws and no band saw.
Man how true that last statement is!!!!!!
Bravo fai sempre degli ottimi lavori
I have tried many times to make these gears and just cannot seem to do it. As a result my screw advance box jig is collecting dust. It does this very well.
Wow your channel is amazeballs dude
Why did you glue a small piece of wood before attaching the handle?
Is it for the screw more meat to bite?
Rexus King Yeah, just check your older "How to make a gear" video, and it said it's for enforcement.
Why are you talking to yourself
Because I found the answer, and I want others wondering the same question know the answer too.
Shape cutter saves lot of work and time
wow thats really good I've bin trying to find a bandsaw replacement and this just gave me the idea:)
With a little bit imagination and patience we can do anything with anything! Thank you very much for this video :-)
Muito Bom!
Parabéns!
Poderia ensinar como fazer os cálculos das engrenagens!!!
Everton Zamignan Pabon Iae Everton, eu perguntei em português de propósito mesmo, só pra ver se ele iria tentar responder!
Mas valeu pela dica!
Everton Zamignan Pabon muito bom esse link, valeu pela dica!!!
Thanks Mattias 🇺🇸🤙🏽
Yes --- you don't have to have a lot of tools to have a lot of fun :)
One of the smartest people on RUclips, without question.
I still like my wrong-pronounciation of "Math-I-As" better, though. You ruined Redwall for me!