1. Our own copy: five things a blade buyer needs, and none are there
The listing is two sentences long and one of them is about a box. For a product whose entire usefulness depends on three numbers, that is a problem worth fixing rather than polishing.
| What the source copy says | What is wrong | What we say instead |
|---|---|---|
| “excellent wear resistance and service life” | The wrong axis. Jigsaw blades rarely fail by gradual wear. They fail by tooth stripping, by shank fatigue, or by snapping through deflection — all of which are mechanical and happen while the teeth are still sharp | Blade life is governed by pitch, side load and seating, not by abrasion resistance. Section 2 and section 10 |
| “when cutting metal, use appropriate lubricants” | Correct but incomplete in a way that misleads. Lubricant helps; the dominant variable in metal cutting is tooth pitch, and the wrong pitch destroys the blade before the lubricant can help | Pitch first, then speed, then lubrication. Section 4 and section 5 |
| No shank type stated | The only hard compatibility gate in the category. T-shank and U-shank are not interchangeable and there is no adapter. A wrong shank is not a bad cut, it is an unusable product | State the shank on the product title, the box and the order. Section 6 |
| No TPI, no blade material, no blade length | A buyer cannot tell a 6 TPI coarse wood blade from a 24 TPI metal blade, and the two are not interchangeable in use | Pitch, material and length are the specification. Section 3 and section 7 |
| “the set includes a durable storage box” | Presented as the second most important feature. For a set, the assortment is the product; the box is packaging | Sell the matrix of pitch and material. A case of twenty identical blades is not a set. Section 12 |
The commercial consequence is straightforward. A distributor who lists these blades without a shank type will sell some to customers whose saws cannot accept them, and every one of those is a return that cannot be argued — the blade is not defective, it is simply the wrong standard. The same listing, with one extra field, prevents the whole category of complaint.
2. A blade is a cantilever, not a saw blade
A circular saw blade is supported by a flange and stiffened by its own diameter. A bandsaw blade is supported top and bottom. A jigsaw blade is held at one end and is free in the cut, which makes it a cantilever beam — and cantilevers are governed by a very unforgiving relationship.
Double the free length and the blade deflects eight times as much under the same side force. That is not an approximation or a rule of thumb; it is what a cantilever does. It is also why the longest blade in a set is a specialist tool rather than an upgrade.
| Overall length | Relative deflection | Typical capacity in wood | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 76 mm | 1.0 (reference) | About 15 mm | Curves, scroll work, thin stock |
| 100 mm | 2.3 | 30–50 mm | The general-purpose size |
| 132 mm | 5.2 | 65 mm | Thick timber, straight cuts |
| 152 mm | 8.0 | 80–100 mm | Deep straight cuts in beams and posts |
Read the index, not a measurement. The figures are relative stiffness for the same cross-section and free length, which is what the cube law predicts. Real blades taper, vary in thickness and sit different depths in the clamp, so treat the column as a ranking rather than a set of predicted numbers.
The second dimension of the beam
Deflection also depends on the section, and that is why blade width is a real specification rather than a cosmetic one. A narrow scrolling blade turns a tight radius because there is less material resisting the twist and the bend — and for exactly the same reason it follows a straight line badly. A wide blade tracks straight and refuses to turn. Neither is better; they are opposite ends of one trade.
What this diagnoses on site
A cut that is square at the top and leans underneath is the classic signature of deflection, not of a bent base plate. The blade is being pushed sideways at the bottom of the stroke, where it is furthest from the clamp and least supported. Three things fix it, in order: shorten the blade, reduce the feed so the side force falls, and turn orbital action down. Replacing the blade rarely fixes it, because a new blade of the same length has the same stiffness.
This is the first of two reasons a jigsaw is a different tool from the drills elsewhere in the catalogue. A twist drill is guided by its own point and supported by the hole it is making; a jigsaw blade is guided by the operator’s hand and supported by nothing. The second reason is the reciprocating impact, which is the subject of section 10.
3. Depth has two ceilings, and neither is the blade length
The number printed on the packaging is overall length. What a buyer needs is maximum cutting depth, and the two are related by two separate limits that bite at different pitches.
Ceiling one: geometry
The blade has to reach through the work at the bottom of the stroke and still clear the shoe at the top. That consumes the clamp engagement and part of the stroke, which is why a 100 mm blade with a 74 mm working length does not cut 74 mm. Geometry sets an absolute maximum that no tooth pattern can exceed.
Ceiling two: chip clearance
Within the geometric maximum, a fine pitch runs out of gullet volume long before it runs out of blade. Sawdust or metal chip has to fit between the teeth and leave the kerf; when the gullets pack, the blade stops cutting, heats up and burns the work. So the published capacity of a fine-pitch blade is much lower than its geometry would allow.
| Blade | Overall / working length | Pitch | Rated capacity | What sets the limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curve blade (T101AO type) | 76–83 / 50–57 mm | 18–25 TPI | 1.5–15 mm | Geometry, because the blade is short and narrow by design |
| Clean-cut wood (T101B type) | 100 / 74 mm | 10 TPI | 3–30 mm | Chip clearance — the same body reaches 50 mm in 6 TPI |
| Fast wood (T144D type) | 100 / 74 mm | 6 TPI | 5–50 mm | Geometry — nearly the whole working length is usable |
| Deep straight (T344D type) | 132–152 / 120–129 mm | 6 TPI | 80–100 mm | Geometry, and deflection becomes the practical limit before that |
Look at rows two and three together. Same blade body, same 74 mm working length, 30 mm versus 50 mm of capacity. The only difference is 10 TPI against 6 TPI. That is the clearest proof that “buy the longest blade” is the wrong instruction: within a length, pitch decides how much of the length you can use.
4. Tooth pitch: the three-tooth rule is a floor, not a target
The rule everyone quotes is that at least three teeth should be in the material at any moment. It is correct, and it is the most useful single number in the category — but it is a minimum, and treating it as an instruction is how people end up with blades that are far too fine.
| Material thickness | Minimum pitch for three teeth | What that means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mm | 76 TPI | Not achievable. Back the work with a sacrificial board and use the finest blade you have |
| 2 mm | 38 TPI | Only the finest metal blades qualify; expect to back the work |
| 3 mm | 25 TPI | A fine metal blade, at the edge of what exists |
| 5 mm | 15 TPI | Comfortable in the metal range |
| 10 mm | 8 TPI | A clean-cut wood blade or coarse metal blade |
| 20 mm | 4 TPI | Coarser than most blades are made; a 6 TPI blade is the practical choice |
| 40 mm and above | 2 TPI | The floor is irrelevant; use the coarsest blade that gives an acceptable finish |
Why thin sheet is the hardest job in the category
The table contains an uncomfortable fact: below about 2 mm, the three-tooth rule cannot be satisfied by any blade on the market. That is not a gap in the product range, it is geometry. Three teeth in half a millimetre would need something around 150 TPI, and a blade with teeth that fine has no gullet left to carry a chip.
So thin sheet is handled by changing the work, not the blade: clamp or back the sheet with a sacrificial board so the teeth are cutting a thicker stack, use the finest blade available, slow the stroke, and keep the feed light. Anyone who tells you a particular blade solves 0.5 mm sheet without backing is describing a blade they have not used.
The upper bound is just as real
Above the three-tooth floor, the limit is chip clearance. Too fine a pitch in thick stock and the gullets pack within a few centimetres, the blade rubs instead of cutting, and the edge scorches. In wood the symptom is a burned, slow cut with a smell of scorching; in metal it is a blade that stops producing chips and starts producing heat. The correct choice is the coarsest pitch that still gives the finish the job needs, not the finest that fits.
5. The counter-intuitive pitch cases
Two materials break the simple rule that harder or thinner means finer teeth, and both catch out experienced users.
Aluminium wants a coarse blade
Aluminium chips are soft, sticky and weld to the teeth. A fine-pitch blade has small gullets that pack solid within a few centimetres, after which the teeth are rubbing on a clogged ribbon of metal. The practical pitch is around 8 to 10 TPI — coarser than many wood blades — because the wide spacing gives each chip somewhere to go before the next tooth arrives. Anyone who applies the steel logic and fits a 24 TPI blade to aluminium will clog it almost immediately.
Laminate wants a reverse tooth, not just a fine one
A standard blade cuts on the upstroke, so the teeth exit through the top face and lift the veneer as they leave. That is why a fine blade alone does not solve chipping on melamine or a worktop: the damage happens on the exit stroke, whatever the pitch. A reverse-tooth blade cuts on the downstroke, pushing the tear-out to the underside, which is usually hidden. The finish on the visible face improves out of all proportion to the change in pitch.
| Material | Pitch | Why this is not the obvious choice |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminium, 1.5–10 mm | 8–10 TPI | Coarse, not fine: sticky chips need gullet volume, not more teeth |
| Thin steel, 0.5–1.5 mm | 24–36 TPI | Fine, because the three-tooth rule applies and gives no alternative at this thickness |
| Thicker steel, 3–10 mm | 13–21 TPI | Coarser than thin steel: chip clearance starts to matter once the kerf is deep |
| Laminate and veneered board | 13 TPI, reverse tooth | The tooth direction matters more than the pitch |
| Ceramic tile, glass, cement board | No teeth — carbide grit | An abrasive edge rather than a toothed one; a toothed blade strips instantly |
6. The shank is the only hard compatibility gate
Everything else on this page is a trade-off. The shank is a binary: the blade either mounts or it does not, and there is no adapter that rescues the wrong one.
| Feature | T-shank | U-shank |
|---|---|---|
| Clamp | Spring-loaded, tool-free lever or button | Pin or slot plus a set screw |
| Blade change | Seconds, no tools | Needs an Allen key or screwdriver |
| Seating | Three-point engagement, rigid | Single-point or two-pin, can loosen in heavy cuts |
| Era and availability | Standard since the early 2000s; every current major brand | Legacy and budget saws; blade range shrinking |
| Interchangeable? | No. The tang geometry is different and there is no adapter. A T-shank blade will not seat in a U-shank clamp, and forcing it damages both. | |
For a buyer, this means one instruction before anything else: look at the clamp, not the blade. A lever or button means T-shank; a set screw means U-shank. For an exporter, it means the shank belongs in the product title, the case label and the carton mark, because a mixed pallet of T and U blades that is not labelled per carton produces returns that cannot be defended.
There is a second, softer compatibility issue that is easy to miss: blade length against stroke travel. A long blade in a compact saw can bind because the machine cannot use the full length, and the blade spends part of each stroke being loaded in a way it was not designed for. Long blades belong on full-size saws with long strokes.
The T-shank family is also where the industry’s blade coding comes from, and the code is genuinely readable once you know it: the leading letter gives the shank, the number gives the length group, and the suffix letters give pitch and material. A code ending in F is bi-metal, one ending in HM is carbide, an O indicates a narrow scrolling blade and an R indicates reverse teeth. Reading the code is faster than reading the packaging.
7. The material ladder: HCS, HSS, bi-metal, carbide
Blade material is chosen by what the blade has to survive, not by what it has to cut. A jigsaw tooth is loaded once per stroke and unloaded on the return, which is a fatigue cycle rather than a steady cut.
| Material | What it is | Best for | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCS | High carbon steel, through-hardened and flexible | Wood, MDF, plywood, soft plastics | Softens with heat; useless on metal |
| HSS | High speed steel, harder and more heat-resistant | Steel sheet, tube, non-ferrous | Brittle; snaps under side load or impact |
| Bi-metal | HSS tooth strip welded to a spring steel body | Mixed work, metal where shock is likely, nail-embedded timber | Costs more; the weld line is the failure point |
| Carbide grit | Tungsten carbide particles on a steel edge, no teeth | Tile, glass, fibre cement, cement board, composites | Cuts slowly; needs water or dust control; not for wood |
| TCT | Carbide teeth brazed to a blade body | Abrasive and hard composites, some stainless | Expensive, brittle teeth, easily damaged by shock |
Bi-metal deserves a note rather than a paragraph, because the construction argument has already been made elsewhere on this site: an HSS tooth strip is welded to a spring steel body, the teeth are hardened, and the weld line is where the two requirements meet. The full metallurgy is on the bi-metal hole saw sets page. What is specific to a jigsaw is the loading: the blade is in cyclic bending at the same time as the teeth are cutting, so the body has to tolerate being flexed thousands of times per minute. That is why a bi-metal jigsaw blade is the default for metal work even though plain HSS has harder teeth.
Carbide grit is the honest answer for tile and cement board, and it is worth saying that a jigsaw is not the primary tool for either. A wet tile saw does the straight cuts better; the jigsaw earns its place on curves, notches and cut-outs around outlets, which is exactly what a tungsten carbide grit hole saw cannot do either.
8. Tooth geometry and set
Two blades with the same pitch and the same material can cut very differently, because the teeth are shaped and set differently. This is the part of the specification that packaging almost never explains.
| Feature | What it does | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Ground teeth | Each tooth is sharpened individually after forming | Cleaner cut, better finish; more expensive than milled |
| Milled teeth | Stamped and set in one operation | Faster and cheaper; rougher edge |
| Side set | Teeth bent alternately outward to widen the kerf | Less binding and easier turning; slightly rougher edge |
| Wavy set | Teeth displaced in a wave rather than individually | Good for fine, clean cuts in thin material |
| Taper ground | No set at all; the blade body tapers to the teeth | Smoothest edge, but poor at turning because there is no clearance |
| Reverse tooth | Teeth point down and cut on the downstroke | Clean top face on laminate; must be used with orbital action off |
| Progressive pitch | Tooth spacing varies along the blade, coarse to fine | Handles mixed thickness in one cut; a compromise at every thickness |
The practical consequence is that “10 TPI” does not fully describe a blade. A 10 TPI taper-ground blade and a 10 TPI side-set blade will both be sold as clean-cut wood blades, and the first will leave a better edge on a straight cut while the second will turn a curve without binding. If the job is a visible edge on a straight line, the taper ground is the better tool; if it is a curve, the side set is.
Tooth geometry is also where the jigsaw differs most from a circular saw blade, where the same vocabulary applies but the loading is continuous rather than cyclic. For the rotating case, the wood circular saw blade page covers the equivalent choices at a much higher tooth-passing rate.
9. Orbital action, and when to switch it off
Orbital action pushes the blade forward on the upstroke and pulls it back on the downstroke. It turns a straight reciprocating cut into a slightly scooping one, which clears chips faster and speeds up straight cuts in wood considerably. It is also the setting most often left on when it should be off.
| Job | Orbital setting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fast straight cuts in thick timber | Highest available | Chip clearance is the limit, and the orbit supplies it |
| Clean edges on veneered board | Off | The orbit pushes the teeth into the top face and increases tear-out |
| Metal of any kind | Off | Sideways loading tears teeth off a hard, brittle edge |
| Tight curves | Off | The orbit makes the blade climb out of the line and overloads the side of the teeth |
| Reverse-tooth blades | Off | The orbit works on the upstroke and fights the reverse geometry |
The rule behind the table is simple: orbital action is a chip-clearing device, so it belongs where chips are the problem. In wood, chips are bulky and the orbit is a large gain. In metal, the chip is small, the tooth is brittle and the orbit is pure side load. In a tight curve the blade is already being bent sideways by the cut, and adding orbit to that is how teeth are lost.
The same logic applies to reciprocating saws, which share the blade-material ladder but not the guidance: a carbide tipped reciprocating saw blade is used where the cut is straight and the material is demolition-grade, and the orbital question there is about the same trade between speed and tooth survival.
10. Failure modes and diagnosis
| Symptom | Most likely cause | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| Cut square at the top, leaning underneath | Blade deflection under side load | Shorter blade, slower feed, less orbit; confirm the blade is fully seated |
| Teeth stripped along one side | Orbital action on in metal, or a coarse pitch snagging in thin sheet | Orbit off; finer pitch for thin section |
| Blade snaps at the shank | Fatigue from movement in the clamp, or a blade too long for the stroke | Check seating and clamp wear; match blade length to the saw |
| Blade snaps in the body | Side load from steering the saw, or a blunt blade being forced | Let the blade cut; do not twist the saw to follow a line |
| Burned edge and a scorching smell in wood | Pitch too fine for the thickness; gullets packed | Coarser blade; reduce feed; clear the kerf |
| Blade clogged with metal | Pitch too fine for aluminium, or no lubricant | Coarser blade around 8–10 TPI; lubricant |
| Torn top face on laminate | Standard up-cut blade | Reverse-tooth blade, orbital off, slow feed |
| Wandering cut in a thick beam | Long blade at high side load | Accept the deflection and manage it: straight cuts, steady feed, or use a different tool |
11. Full specifications
| Product type | Reciprocating jigsaw blade, supplied as an assorted set in a case or as single blades |
|---|---|
| Shank | T-shank (modern standard, tool-free clamp) or U-shank (legacy, set screw); not interchangeable |
| Blade materials | HCS, HSS, bi-metal, carbide grit, TCT |
| Overall lengths | About 76, 100, 117, 132 and 152 mm as standard; other lengths on request |
| Working lengths | About 50 to 130 mm, measured from the clamp to the tip |
| Tooth pitch | About 6 to 36 TPI; progressive pitch available |
| Cutting capacity, wood | About 15 mm at 76 mm length, 30–50 mm at 100 mm, 65 mm at 132 mm, 80–100 mm at 152 mm, depending on pitch |
| Cutting capacity, metal | About 0.5–1.5 mm at 24–36 TPI; 1.5–3 mm at 21–25 TPI; 3–10 mm at 13–21 TPI |
| Tooth geometry | Ground or milled; side set, wavy set or taper ground; reverse tooth; progressive pitch |
| Blade width | Narrow scrolling blades for tight radii; wider blades for straight tracking |
| Orbital action | Off for metal, tight curves and reverse-tooth blades; on for fast straight cuts in wood |
| Suitable materials | Softwood, hardwood, plywood, MDF, laminate, plastics, aluminium, steel sheet, stainless, fibre cement, ceramic tile and glass with carbide grit |
| Not suitable for | Masonry and concrete (use a masonry bit or core drill), heavy steel section, and any material requiring a tooth pitch outside the range |
| Set contents | Assorted pitch and material combinations; composition to order |
| Case | Storage case included; colour, insert card and labelling to your artwork |
| OEM / ODM | Blade marking, pitch assortment, case artwork and carton marking to order |
12. What to put on the purchase order
Because a jigsaw blade set is an assortment rather than a single item, the order has to describe the matrix. A line that says “1000 jigsaw blades” produces a pallet of whatever the factory had.
| Field | What to state | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Shank | T-shank or U-shank, and the split if both | The only hard compatibility gate; a wrong shank is unsellable in that market |
| Pitch matrix | The TPI values and how many of each | This is the product. Six pitches well chosen beat twenty copies of one blade |
| Material split | How many HCS, HSS, bi-metal and carbide grit | Determines which trades the set can serve |
| Lengths | Which lengths are in the set | Length sets the depth ceiling and the deflection penalty |
| Geometry | Ground or milled; reverse tooth; progressive | Decides finish quality and whether laminate work is possible |
| Case and labelling | Case artwork, insert card, pitch marked per slot | A set with unmarked slots becomes a pile of unidentified blades |
| Marking on the blade | Code and pitch etched or printed on each blade | Lets the user refill the case correctly instead of guessing |
One further field is worth adding for distributors: state the replacement split. A set sells once and then the customer buys singles, so the two or three pitches that wear out first should be available as a separate SKU from the start. A set that cannot be refilled becomes a case the customer stops using.
13. Incoming inspection
| Check | Method | Accept / reject |
|---|---|---|
| Shank fit | Trial fit in a known saw, or gauge against a master blade | Reject any batch that does not seat positively; a loose shank is a fatigue failure waiting to happen |
| Pitch | Count teeth over a measured length, several blades per batch | Reject a blade outside the stated TPI; pitch is the specification |
| Tooth set | Visual and a straight-edge check along the blade | Reject blades with irregular set or a bent body; both cause wander |
| Tooth hardness | File test on a sample, or a hardness check if available | Reject soft teeth; they will strip on the first metal cut |
| Weld line, bi-metal | Visual along the tooth strip | Reject visible voids or a discontinuous weld line |
| Straightness | Roll on a flat surface or sight along the edge | Reject bent blades; they cannot be straightened and will wander |
| Marking and case | Code and pitch on each blade, insert matches the assortment | Reject mismatched cases; they cause the wrong blade to be used on site |
14. Applications
- Rough cutting in construction timber: 6–8 TPI, long blade, orbital action up. Speed matters more than finish.
- Clean joinery cuts in hardwood and plywood: 10–12 TPI, ground teeth, orbital action reduced.
- Laminate, melamine and worktops: 13 TPI reverse tooth, orbital off, slow feed. The blade choice that saves the most rework.
- Sheet metal and tube: 21–36 TPI bi-metal, orbital off, lubricant. Thin sheet is the case where backing the work matters more than the blade.
- Aluminium section: 8–10 TPI, coarse for chip clearance, lubricant.
- Curves and cut-outs: narrow scrolling blade, 18–25 TPI, orbital off.
- Tile, glass and cement board: carbide grit, no teeth, water or dust control, and a jigsaw only because the cut is curved or notched.
Where the job is a round hole rather than a cut, the right family is a hole saw or a drill: the wood hole saw set for timber, the Forstner drill bit set for a flat-bottomed cabinet hole, the flat drill bit set for fast rough boring, or a single Forstner bit when only one diameter is needed. For a straight cut in sheet goods at speed, a multi-purpose cutting disc or a cutting and grinding blade will be faster than any jigsaw; the jigsaw wins where the line is not straight.
15. Frequently asked questions
How do I know whether my jigsaw takes T-shank or U-shank blades?
Look at the blade clamp on the saw, not at the blade. If there is a lever or a button that releases the blade without a tool, it is T-shank. If there is a set screw that needs an Allen key or a screwdriver, it is U-shank. T-shank has been the standard on virtually every jigsaw made since the early 2000s, so any current saw from a major brand is T-shank. The two are mechanically incompatible and there is no adapter, so this is the first question to settle before comparing anything else.
What TPI do I need for a given material thickness?
Start from the three-tooth rule: at least three teeth should be in the material at any moment, so the minimum pitch is roughly 76 divided by the thickness in millimetres. For 5 mm stock that is about 15 TPI, for 10 mm about 8 TPI, for 20 mm about 4 TPI. That is a floor, not a target. Above it, the limit is chip clearance: too many teeth in thick stock and the gullets pack, the blade heats and the cut burns. So choose the coarsest pitch that still gives the finish you need, not the finest blade that fits.
Why does my cut lean out of square on the underside?
Almost always blade deflection, not a bent base plate. A jigsaw blade is clamped at one end and free at the other, so it behaves as a cantilever: side load bends it, and the deflection rises with the cube of the free length. A blade twice as long deflects about eight times as much for the same side force, which is why a long blade that reaches through a thick beam wanders in thinner stock. Shorten the blade, slow the feed, reduce orbital action, and check that the blade is seated fully in the clamp.
Is a longer blade always able to cut thicker material?
No, and the ratings show it. The same 100 mm blade is commonly listed at 30 mm of capacity in 10 TPI and 50 mm in 6 TPI. The geometry is identical; the difference is that a fine pitch cannot clear its chips from a deep kerf, so the practical ceiling is set by the teeth rather than by the length. Length sets a geometric maximum, pitch decides how much of that maximum you can actually use, and deflection decides how straight it will be.
Why is aluminium cut with a coarse blade rather than a fine one?
Because aluminium chips are soft and sticky, and they weld to the teeth. A fine-pitch blade has small gullets that pack solid within a few centimetres, after which the blade rubs, heats and clogs. A coarse blade of about 8 to 10 TPI gives each chip somewhere to go before the next tooth arrives. This is the opposite of steel, where thin sections need 24 TPI or more, and it is the most common counter-intuitive blade choice in the category.
What is a reverse-tooth blade for?
A standard jigsaw blade cuts on the upstroke, which pushes the splintering to the top face, the face you usually want to keep. A reverse-tooth blade cuts on the downstroke, so the top face stays clean and the tear-out happens underneath. It is the blade for laminate, melamine, veneered board and worktops. Two rules go with it: orbital action must be off, because the orbit pushes the blade forward on the upstroke and fights the reverse geometry, and the feed should be slow.
What is the difference between HCS, HSS and bi-metal jigsaw blades?
HCS is high carbon steel: flexible, cheap, and intended for wood. HSS is high speed steel: harder and more heat-resistant, intended for metal, but more brittle. Bi-metal welds an HSS tooth strip to a spring steel body, which gives a hard edge on a body that survives the impact of reciprocating cutting — the sensible default for mixed work and for metal where the blade is likely to be shocked. Carbide grit is a fourth family with no teeth at all, for tile, glass and cement board.
When should orbital action be turned off?
Off for metal, off for tight curves, and off for reverse-tooth blades. Orbital action pushes the blade forward on the upstroke and pulls it back on the downstroke, which clears chips faster in wood and speeds up straight cuts. In metal the same sideways loading tears teeth off, and in a tight curve it makes the blade climb out of the line. For a clean straight cut in thick timber, orbital action on the highest setting is the fastest configuration the saw has.
Why do my jigsaw blades keep snapping rather than wearing out?
Because the blade is being bent, not worn. Snapping is a fatigue failure, and it comes from three things: too much side force, usually from feeding too hard or twisting the saw to steer; a blade that is too long for the work; or a blade that is not seated fully in the clamp so it moves in the holder. On thin metal, a pitch that is too coarse snags and jerks, which is the other way a blade breaks. If the break is at the shank rather than in the teeth, suspect the clamp and the seating before the blade.
Can one blade cut wood, metal and plastic?
A bi-metal blade can be used across mixed work in an emergency, but it will not be good at all of them. The pitch that clears wood chips is too coarse for thin steel, and the pitch that survives thin steel is too fine for thick timber. That is why sets exist and why they contain several pitches rather than several copies of one blade. A set with five different pitches is useful; a set with twenty copies of one general-purpose blade is not.
Why can’t I get a blade fine enough for very thin sheet?
Because the three-tooth rule cannot always be satisfied. For 0.5 mm sheet, three teeth in the material would need about 150 TPI, and no jigsaw blade is made at that pitch. The practical answer is not a finer blade but a different setup: use the finest blade available, back the sheet with a sacrificial board so the teeth are cutting a thicker stack, reduce speed, and keep the feed light. Thin sheet is genuinely the hardest jigsaw job, and it is hard because the geometry stops working, not because the blades are poor.
What should a jigsaw blade set contain?
A useful set is a matrix of pitch and material, not a pile of one type. At minimum: a coarse wood blade around 6 TPI for thick stock, a clean-cut wood blade around 10 TPI, a reverse-tooth blade for laminate, a fine bi-metal blade around 24 TPI for thin steel, a coarser metal blade around 14 to 18 TPI for thicker section, and a curve blade narrow enough to turn. If the set is for tile or cement board, add a carbide grit blade. The storage case is a convenience; the assortment is the product.
OEM & Wholesale
GUSHI supplies jigsaw blades in assorted sets or as single blades, with the shank type, pitch matrix, material split, length range, blade marking and case artwork specified per market. Because the assortment is the product in this category, the set composition is treated as a specification: tell us the trades you are selling into and the pitch matrix follows.
