A Jigsaw was one of the first power tools I got for my workshop. Due to its versatility, it is probably the best tool for a DIYer and woodworking beginner. I have already created a few DIY jigsaw guides in the past and now I made another one – an easy jigsaw guide for shortcuts. I was really happy about the previous ones and I was wondering how this one would perform.
This one is very simple and easy to make. You can make one yourself in no time, at no cost using only the material you already have in your workshop. The guide is great for short straight cuts and crosscuts.
This guide was designed for a jigsaw but you could make one exactly the same way for a circular saw. Although if you were planning on making a guide for a circular saw I would recommend this one – DIY circular saw track.
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Table of Contents
- General Questions
- Can you cut straight with a Jigsaw?
- Why does my Jigsaw blade bend?
- Building the Jigsaw Guide
- Building the Jigsaw Frame
- Attaching the tightening wood piece
- Using the Jigsaw Guide
- Simple Jigsaw Guide Video
*Safety is your responsibility. Make sure you know what you’re doing and take all necessary safety precautions while working with power tools. Safety comes first!
Woodworking is awesome and a lot of fun but always be cautious and careful when using any power tool.
What you'll need to build this Easy Jigsaw Guide
This guide serves both as a jigsaw cutting guide as well as a jigsaw crosscut jig. You will only need a jigsaw to make it, a few spruce wood bars you probably already have, and a bolt.
The best part is, it really doesn’t cost much and you’ll have a nice addon to your workshop. You can easily get below $10 for the build. Check out the listed material below.
Jigsaw Guide Body:
Spruce wood (planed)
2x – 40 x 2,8 x 1,9 cm
2x – 30 x 2,8 x 1,9 cm
1x – 6 x 2,8 x 1,9 cm
Other:
M5 Bolt – 6 cm, M5 Washer, M5 Wing Nut
Wood screws, Wood Glue
Jigsaw Guide Plans
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Can You Cut Straight With a Jigsaw?
Yes, you can. But it is not entirely easy and it takes practice. As a great tool for DIYers, a jigsaw excels when you need to cut curves, and angles, or make other specific cuts. If you want to make straight cuts with a jigsaw it is better to use a cutting guide.
This guide will help you with short straight cuts. If you want to make long cuts with a jigsaw then a guide track/guide rail would be a better option.
However, there are other factors that affect how straight and clean the cut will be – for instance, the jigsaw model, the type of blade you are using, and the type of material you are cutting.
RELATED: How to Change a Jigsaw Blade
Why Does my Jigsaw Blade Bend?
Very often why a jigsaw blade bends is when cutting through thick material or putting a little too much side (lateral) pressure on the saw.
These tips will help you to end up with a square cut and not a beveled/ skewed edge.
- Use the right blade for the job and the material you are cutting. There is a huge difference between the best and the worst blades.
- Avoid putting too much pressure on the saw. Keep the Jig Saw straight and let the blade do the cutting.
- Take your time and don’t rush.
- For better quality and accurate cuts use a heavy-duty saw that is equipped with blade guides (pair of rollers) and variable speed that lets you slow down when you’re at a tricky point in a pattern.
Let's Build It
How to Build and Easy Jigsaw Guide
Step 1: Build the Jigsaw Guide Frame
First, let’s start with the jigsaw frame. Cut all wooden pieces to the desired length (see dimensions above). For that, I used a crosscut jigsaw guide I built earlier.
Dimensions:
Piece 1 – 2x – 40 x 2,8 x 1,9 cm
Piece 2 – 2x – 30 x 2,8 x 1,9 cm
Piece 3 – 1x – 6 x 2,8 x 1,9 cm
Glue pieces 1 and 2 together, leaving on the second piece a distance greater than half the width of your jigsaw (that should be approximately 8 cm).
(Once finished with the jigsaw guide you will cut off the extra wood. You don’t need to worry about that at this point. The main intent now is to leave a bit of extra wood, that will be cut off afterwards)
NOTE:
Take your time when gluing the pieces together. Make sure they are fixed at a right angle to achieve 90-degree crosscuts. It is definitely worth spending a bit of extra time on this part since this determines how accurate the guide will be.
It is good to use a square to fix the pieces at 90 degrees.
Glue the second long wood piece (piece 1) to the frame. I inserted 2 M5 Bolts between the wood pieces to make sure they are parallel. Again, pay attention to the right angles.
Fix the bottom of the jigsaw guide with the smallest wood piece (piece 3).
Leave the bolts in until the glue dries off.
Additionally, I am tightening the whole jig with screws. This step might be overkill since the glue alone would be sufficient, but I wanted the jig to be strong and durable.
Countersink the holes and make sure the screws are flush with the wood pieces.
At this point, you should have the jigsaw guide frame finished.
Step 2: Attach the Tightening Wood Runner
After getting the shape of the jigsaw guide done, I attached the last wood piece (piece 2) to the base.
The piece serves as a tightener that runs in the created track.
It holds the moving wooden piece in place with a wing nut.
Align both wooden pieces, mark the center and drill a hole for an M5 bolt.
NOTE: Optionally you can sink the washer with the bolt in the wood piece and make it flush with the surface.
Test the jigsaw guide by attaching a dispensable piece of wood between the jig arms and cut off the wood excess.
The jigsaw guide edge should be perfectly aligned.
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How to Use the Jigsaw Guide
The steps below describe how to setup and use this jigsaw guide.
- Draw a line on a piece of wood you want to cut.
- Insert the piece in the jigsaw guide and adjust it as necessary – make sure the drawn line is flush with the edge of the jigsaw guide.
- Secure the wood piece and tighten it down with a wing nut.
- Fix the jigsaw guide to the workbench with clamps.
- Make the cut.
Having trouble making a straight 90-degree cut with a jigsaw and not ending up with a skewed bevel?
Check out the tips at the beginning of this blog post or these few tips on how to make a straight cut using a jigsaw.
My experience
This is a quick and simple jigsaw guide. If you have the material ready it will take you only a few tens of minutes to build it. The jig is especially good to be used as:
- Jigsaw Straight Cut Guide – for clean short cuts along a line
- Jigsaw Crosscut Guide – for short 90-degree cuts
Generally, the guide is convenient for cutting smaller pieces. It is easy to use and quick to set up. Though I wouldn’t recommend using the guide for cutting anything longer than 20 cm. To cut longer pieces using a jigsaw, I would either use a jigsaw guide track or a straight edge guide designed for longer cuts.
NOTE – if you want to have 90-degree crosscuts make sure the wood pieces are fixed at 90 degrees. It is definitely worth spending a bit of extra time on this part.
Jigsaw Guide Upgrade
This jigsaw guide is using 1 wing nut to fix the wood piece in place. You can make an upgrade and add an additional rail to the jigsaw frame creating 2 tracks and adding an extra wing nut to provide a better fix for the piece cut.
Jigsaw Cutting Guide Video Tutorial
If you’re interested in seeing how it all comes together, check out the full build video below!
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How To Make a Jigsaw Guide
If you only have a jigsaw in your shop and you are building a workshop on a budget you should consider making this jig. You can quickly set it up, it costs nothing and it will help you with your projects.
