Electric jigsaw from a sewing machine by hand. DIY desktop jigsaw
Many people know from childhood the fun of sawing with a jigsaw. The technology is simple. But despite the seeming ease and simplicity of work, you can get very beautiful lace made of wood or plastic. This is a very slow process that requires perseverance and patience. To facilitate labor, jigsaw machines were developed. They are functionally divided into two groups: with manual and electric drive.
Muscle-driven jigsaw device
Homemade machine is easy to make. You can find many drawings of this plywood product. Jigsaw, do-it-yourself and improvised tools for a short time a simple but functional device is assembled.
The scope of jigsaws is extensive. They are used for cutting figured products from a variety of different materials. And also machines are needed when cutting lumber. In this case, the outer contour of the workpiece remains intact. If you use various nail files, then a homemade jigsaw will perfectly process natural wood, plywood, chipboard, plastic, metal, in particular aluminum.
Examples of drawings of a do-it-yourself jigsaw machine, which works on muscle strength, have been repeatedly cited in various magazines of the Soviet era.
Nail files for such a jigsaw machine are produced in the form of a flat blade.
The main parts of the machine:
- Stanina (A).
- A working table with a slot for a saw (B).
- Large drive pulley acting as a flywheel (D).
- Small drive pulley. The drive is combined with a crank mechanism (D).
- Levers (B).
- A pedal that spins the flywheel through the crank assembly (E).
- Saw Tension Unit (G).
The master, constantly pressing the pedal with his foot, spins the flywheel. Through the belt, the movement of the flywheel is transmitted to the second pulley. Which, in turn, makes the crank mechanism with the saw blade move.
If the flywheel is correctly balanced, without distortions and with a uniform, correctly selected mass, then the nail file achieves good smoothness. Such a plywood sawing machine allows you to quickly produce many simple similar products. Cutting time and effort is significantly reduced.
With this design of the machine, the size of the initial workpiece is limited. It depends on the length of the levers (B). When the pattern becomes more complex, it is necessary to rotate the product around the saw.
Since the foot drive does not provide a completely uniform stroke and limits the freedom and imagination of the master, most often these machines are replaced with electric ones.
The design of the electric jigsaw
An electric tape jigsaw is a household universal device for making souvenirs, furniture, and various interior items. There are many options for the manufacture of such machines. But the main elements on which product quality and ease of use depend are the electric motor and the blade of the blade.
Main structural elements:
- Saw blade.
- Crank mechanism.
- Drive part.
- Tape tensioner.
- Bed or desktop.
- Various accessories.
Device and principle of operation
Alteration from a manual jigsaw
The first step is to make a desktop for the mechanism. For these purposes, a metal sheet or thick plywood is suitable. Holes are drilled and cut out in the worksheet for the cutting tape and fasteners.
Then the jigsaw table is placed on a regular table. After fixing, you can assemble the guide rails. To reduce vibration, it is enough to cut the rubber gasket of the desired size and place it between the jigsaw table and the main surface.
The above design is convenient in that it can be easily disassembled, and it can be used again as a manual jigsaw.
Since the standard apparatus has springs that tension the saw, a rocker is needed. One end of the rocker arm is attached to the cutting element of the machine, and the other is under spring tension. These simple actions will easily turn an ordinary jigsaw into a machine.
When using the device, it is important not to forget to turn off the pendulum stroke before starting cutting.
Sewing machine assembly
From a sewing machine, you can also quickly and easily assemble a homemade jigsaw machine. Moreover, this device has an interesting feature - a nail file stroke regulator, since there is a speed switch on sewing machines.
First, at the bottom of the machine, you need to find the thread weaving knot. To do this, unscrew a few screws. Inside, the cotter pin is knocked out and the drive shaft is removed, which is connected to the weaving complex. After completing this procedure, the top panel is unscrewed. The groove along which the needle traveled expands slightly to fit the saw blade. The nail files themselves are slightly shortened to the size of the length of the needle. To fix the saw itself, you can make an adapter. But the easiest way is to grind off the upper part of the cutting blade and sharpen the lower one. After that, you can insert the nail file in place of the needle and get to work.
When working with jigsaws of any type, you should not forget about the safety rules. Do not leave the device turned on for a long time unattended.
If the master long hair, then it is better to pick them up or use a special hat. It is better to roll up sleeves on clothes. The room must be well ventilated. In the room where carpentry work takes place, a first aid kit with first aid for cuts must be kept.
For a person who is accustomed on your own cope with everyday problems, a jigsaw is a necessity. Electric jigsaws are also good for tinkerers, for those who live in their own home and for summer residents. You can make a jigsaw with your own hands, since this model is significantly different for the better from hand tool. An electric tool improves the quality of sawn products, and also facilitates and speeds up the work process.
Types and purpose
A jigsaw is a thin saw, which additionally has a ski to guide the saw blade along the surface. The jigsaw was invented by Albert Kaufman, at first only replacing the needle of a foot or electric sewing machine with a blade. The modern jigsaw has simple design in the form of an electric motor and a simple mechanism that drives the blade. The front, upper part of the tool has a guide, and the lower part contains a retractable saw blade that makes cuts. The electric jigsaw has a support platform that allows you to focus on the part being cut and work with great accuracy.
A jigsaw can cut plastic, plywood, copper, brass or steel with equal success. The functions of the jigsaw should allow it to make both straight and curved cuts on various kinds of materials without violating the external contour of the products. The fixed position of the tool allows you to make high-precision cuts. Manual jigsaws do not have a tension system and guides, thanks to which the jigsaw has such a smooth and stable ride.
For cutting small parts, a manual jigsaw is inconvenient. Since it is quite heavy, it has to be held with one hand, while the other hand guides the workpiece. The desktop jigsaw does not have this drawback, but it is difficult to process large parts with it, and it has a considerable size. It is best to use such a jigsaw as a mini-machine for the production of small workpieces. Protozoa desktop jigsaw easy to make by hand.
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Manufacturing
The simplest model is made quite quickly, but its presence, as a rule, is enough for domestic needs. A neatly made jigsaw will not be worse than a factory-made one, but in some ways it may be able to surpass it. In order to make a jigsaw, you will need:
- manual electric jigsaw;
- heating thread;
- screws;
- plywood;
- duralumin pipes up to 12 mm in diameter;
- drill;
- clamp.
For the normal functioning of the jigsaw, there must be the following parts: a comfortable handle, a switch (most conveniently a push-button), a power cord, a heating thread.
First of all, a frame is made from a duralumin pipe, but textolite of at least 10 mm or thick plywood can also be used for the base. The lighter the frame made, the easier it will be to use the jigsaw. The frame must have a channel for the power cord. Experts believe that the best frame shape is one that has one of the sides deviated by 45º.
Then, an earring is made from a millimeter thick copper sheet and fastened to the frame with screws in the place where the frame is connected to the handle. An earring, a screw and a wing nut form a clamp in which the heating thread is fixed. Pressing cheeks are made from a duralumin sheet 0.8 mm thick, and a push-button switch is located between them.
After that, a slot-like hole is cut in the plywood through which the file can pass. It is convenient to make this gap with a drill. Marking is made and holes along it, the transitions between which are smoothed. Instead of plywood, plexiglass, plastic, metal can be used. The drill then makes mounting holes on the plywood and on the base plate itself. The jigsaw on the plywood base is fixed with screws so that the file can pass through the gap. The structure is attached to a table or workbench with a clamp in such a way that the file is directed upwards. If the clamp does not fit, you can use another mount that is more suitable for a particular case. Although the file in this case remains standard, both hands are freed, due to this, the cutting possibilities are increased, so the design is functional in this form.
As a heating thread, you can use a nichrome spiral from any heating device, for example, from an iron. It is fixed like a standard saw blade between the ends of the frame with a little tension. 14 V is supplied to heat the filament, and a rheostat is used to control the voltage. The current determines the length and thickness of the nichrome filament; a rheostat helps to set the optimal current strength. The current strength affects the temperature to which the thread is heated, if it is too high, the material heats up and may catch fire, and if it is insufficient, cutting will not be possible.
An optimally tuned do-it-yourself electric jigsaw will allow you to cut out figures with complex shapes.
We independently remake an old sewing machine into a jigsaw.
There are many videos on the network about using old sewing machines in a new quality. To do this, in the body we leave only a crank, a vertical rod for attaching a needle, a flywheel with a groove for a belt drive. To rotate the flywheel, an electric drive for manual sewing machines is used. (A lyrical digression off topic: I purchased the drive 30 years ago to make an electric spinning wheel according to drawings from the Young Technician magazine. Wool from a white sheep was spun on the spinning wheel and a winter sweater was knitted. e. disappeared). Foot pedal for speed control and electric motor in the picture below.
The Network Roll Review recommends the use of leaf springs with the point of application of force at the center of the long spring, or a block of coil springs with precise fixation of the lower edge of the file. A long leaf spring significantly increases the overall dimensions of the device. The coil spring unit is difficult to make at home. A scheme is chosen - a short spring fixed at one end.
A piece from an old metal meter was perfect for this. The stiffness of the spring can be adjusted by setting the number (stack) of springs and moving the latch along the spring. The use of a short spring complicates the attachment of the file, because. the free end of the spring describes a curved line, respectively, and the lower end of the file will also not move strictly vertically.
Available round hole in the spring it is bored out with a needle file under a rectangular hole according to the size of the fixing unit of the file. The result was a knot swinging along the long axis of the spring. Fixing the node from below with a segment of the rod. Fixing the saw blade with a screw. When changing the file, the knot does not fall out. the screw clamping the file does not allow from above, and from below the axis of rotation at a small angle.
The manufacture of the attachment point for the upper end of the file is not difficult and is clear from the photo.
The next feature of using sewing machines for making a jigsaw is a small stroke of the working rod - about 25 mm. For reference: the working part of purchased files is approximately 85 mm with a total length of 120 mm files. It is possible to eliminate this shortcoming. To do this, the body of the machine is installed through a gasket (I have a thickness of 45 mm - three plates furniture chipboard,) Under the working rod there are three gaskets of 15 mm. As the working part of the file wears out, one gasket is removed and so on.
When using files (notched saw teeth on piano wire with a diameter of 1 mm for a length of about 30 mm), it is not necessary to remove the spacers. Since the machine is quite old and worn out, i.e. rumbles and to eliminate noise, rubber shock absorbers are fixed on the base racks. The first works - plywood material 3mm of good quality.
!
Perhaps you have an old sewing machine lying around and covered with dust.
In this article, the author of the YouTube channel "Vladimir Natynchik" will tell you how you can make a completely suitable and functional electric jigsaw from it.
This homemade machine will not require turning in the manufacture. All you need are screwdrivers and wrenches.
Materials.
- Old electric sewing machine
-
- Spray paint blue metallic
- Sheet plywood
- Bolts, nuts, washers M6
- Second glue, soda
- A pair of bearings, like these
Tools used by the author.
-
- Hacksaw
- Spanners, screwdriver
-, wood drills.
Manufacturing process.
So, Vladimir found an old seagull sewing machine.
To make a machine out of it, you will have to remove the fabric feed mechanism and rotate the bobbin. Those bolts that were not unscrewed, the master warmed up gas burner. After such a procedure, everything is very easy to understand.
At the top of the mechanism, the author made a small revision, lubricated important components, and removed the regulators.
old electrical wiring has also been replaced.
Then the master painted all the surfaces of the machine with blue metallic spray paint.
With painting, he hurried a little, the machine needs to increase the working stroke of the rod. After all, now the plywood will be cut, and the fabric will not be sewn together. He made a lining out of 20mm plywood and screwed it between the base and the top of the machine.
In order to avoid unwinding of the bolts from vibration, the author filled them with paint.
The first check for performance and the amount of stroke of the blade.
There was a small problem. When the blade is loaded, it does not hold well on the rod, and shifts back.
In order to solve this issue, the master made a special stop from an M6 bolt and two bearings with washers laid between them.
Having made a cut in the plank, I fixed the bearings in it, and cut off the excess bolt.
On the underside of the machine, he secured the thrust mechanism with superglue and soda.
Now small tests on sawing a piece of plywood. Cuts very quickly and without chips. Well, Vladimir gave a second life to an old typewriter!
A desktop jigsaw is useful for every craftsman who cuts out thin details. However, it is far from always possible and meaningful to acquire a full-fledged machine. In this case, get down to business and do it yourself!
The device of the jigsaw machine - what lies inside?
Jigsaws are more special tools than devices that are needed by both an experienced craftsman and an amateur who runs a garage. Their purpose is reduced to a special task, namely, cutting out complex curvilinear contours from sheet materials. A special “chip” of such machines can also be attributed to the execution of the cut without violating the integrity of the external contour. Most often, sawing occurs on wood and derived materials (plywood, chipboard, fiberboard), although modern machines equipped with appropriate nail files are able to work with other materials, such as plastic or drywall.
Such equipment has found application in the music industry (manufacturing musical instruments) and, of course, in furniture. They buy such units and lovers of tinkering in their own workshop. The device of a traditional jigsaw machine, designed in accordance with all the rules, is as follows: the working surface on which the saw is placed hides the drive (electric motor) and the crank structure underneath. The tension mechanism can be located both below and above the machine.
To process a part, it must be placed on the desktop. Many models have the ability to rotate it at different angles to make bevel cuts. Stops and guides on the surface, as well as rotary mechanism can have markup, which greatly simplifies and speeds up the work. It is on the length of the desktop that the length of the cut depends - most models are limited to 30-40 cm. The power of the electric motor is an important, but still far from the most fundamental factor, since the machine has a huge margin of unclaimed power. For example, for a home workshop or even a small production, a “engine” of only 150 watts is enough.
The crank mechanism is a much more important detail, because in this case it is on it that the quality of the transmission of the drive torque into the reciprocating motion directed in the vertical plane by means of a file depends.
Standard jigsaw machines are considered devices with a range of motion in the region of 3-5 cm at an oscillation frequency of up to 1000 per minute. In many models, a change in speed mode is provided for different materials. The jigsaw itself is usually made up to 35 cm long and is able to cut material up to 10 cm thick. The width of the files can vary in a fairly wide range - from very thin two-millimeter to coarser ten-millimeter, with a thickness of 0.6 mm to 1.25 mm.
Even the thickest and widest nail file will easily break if you do not provide sufficient tension along the entire length of the nail file. For this, spring and helical springs are used. Quite often, such machines are equipped with an air pump, which cleans the cut from sawdust by blowing, as well as a drilling unit. The latter device is especially useful, because in this case the master does not need to be distracted by connecting an electric drill and drilling a hole - everything happens on the working plane of the machine. Of course, you have to pay for convenience!
How to make a jigsaw machine with your own hands from a manual jigsaw?
On the web you will find many different designs homemade machines, but most of them come down to reprofiling into this machine. Using your ingenuity and watching the video, you can easily make a homemade jigsaw machine from this tool. You only need to modify the jigsaw a little. In fact, it plays the role of a machine tool drive and a crank mechanism, the rest needs to be thought out and implemented.
Of course, manufacturers are trying to please consumers in this area as well, offering their own platform options for quick and convenient rework, however, in reality, only you can make an apparatus that meets your needs. So, the first step is to make a support table, for which sheet metal is most often used. In it you need to make a slanted oblong hole for the saw blade and holes for fasteners (countersunk screws are recommended), and attach the jigsaw to the bottom of the support table.
This design can only be strengthened on a wooden table. You can go beyond this and install guide rails. The convenience of such a device lies in the fact that in addition to performing functions that are not entirely inherent in it, you can always disconnect the drive and turn it back into a manual electric jigsaw with a flick of the wrist! If you constantly need this tool for work, it makes sense specifically for the machine - it will be cheaper than spending money on a real machine.
Advantages and disadvantages - we continue to modify!
But such an assembly inherits not only the advantages of the tool, but also its disadvantages, in particular, a nail file that is too wide for filigree work, which significantly limits the curvature of the lines. If there is a need for this, there is a way out. So far, our machine differs from the classic jigsaw unit by the absence of springs that would provide sufficient tension for the nail file. But to build a simple rocker, which on the one hand will be under the tension of the springs, and on the other hand fixed on a nail file, is quite easy.
There is another option - to clamp the nail file between two guide rollers, but the first option is still more reliable. Remember to turn off the pendulum motion on the jigsaw before you start using it. homemade machine. There is another design - if your tool is powerful enough, then it can only serve as a drive in a design of two rocker arms, between which a nail file is stretched. The movement is transmitted by means of a nail file fixed on the lower rocker arm.
Machine from a sewing machine - we give a second life to old tools!
If you inherited a foot or hand sewing machine from your grandmother or mother, consider yourself the owner of an excellent jigsaw! Of course, for this you need to “conjure” a little over the machine. First, remove the thread weaving device, which is usually located at the bottom of the machine. There is nothing complicated in this, it is enough to unscrew the two bolts. Then we knock out the cotter pin and remove the drive shaft leading to the thread weaving mechanism.
Having unscrewed the top panel that protects the mechanisms, it is necessary to expand the slot in which the needle went. Focus on the needs and width of the nail file that you will use in your work. Jigsaw blades of this kind also need to be slightly modified, namely cut to the maximum length of the needle that could be used on this machine. After grinding off the upper teeth and sharpening the lower part on the point, you just have to insert the nail file into the needle holder and test your machine in action!