Disappointed in Makita DJV180 Jigsaw - Am I Asking Too Much Of It?

[uptoyou]

As i stated in a previous thread, I was looking to replace my Makita 4334D jigsaw.
After some advice on here and lots of searching, I went for the DJV180.
I am about to return down to a few issues, unless someone can advise how to resolve.

First off, the blade does not align with the guide plate cutout - it is maybe 1mm out (maybe 2mm), which makes trying to accurately follow a line impossible.



Then there is the issue of the clear plastic guide plate, which constantly pops out.

Finally, power seems a bit of an issue too. my 4334D would rarely struggle with any part of cutting scaffold board along the grain (apart from some thick knots), but this feels quite lightweight in comparison. I knew I would not get the same weight on the DJV180 as the 4334D, but it just doesn't feel at all solid.

This is meant to be a straight down cut (admittedly, the blade I was using was one which came with it which felt a bit flimsy, but still...):



Thoughts?

 

[blup]

A jig saw isn’t designed to make perfectly straight square sided cuts, a circular saw or even quality bandsaw would give better results. But you should get reasonable results with those gently curved edges

Ignore the plastic guide and follow the marked line, turning the blade causes it to splay out so turn off the pendulum and don’t force it.

I am surprised you say it doesn't feel solid, its pretty hefty by jigsaw standards.

Let us know what Makita say if you return it under warranty.

Blup

 

[Tigercubrider]

The plastic insert isn't a guide, it's an anti splinter device.
Have you set the saw up correctly and are using the correct blades?

 

[uptoyou]

Thanks both.
The blades which came with it were pretty crap, so bought some better ones, and then aligned the blade so its perfectly square - its better, not perfect, but better.
You are correct, it is a splinter device, but there is a V cutout which looks like is is designed as a guide also - the 4334D has an additional plastic section with a guide on it, whereas the DJV180 has a weird metal hoop which I find to be pretty useless guide as the splinter device hides the line.
I had the return approved from where I purchased it, but I'll probably keep it as I still need a replacement, and for the price I got I don't think I'll find better.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I'm sorry that the DJV180 wasn't suitable for your task. As I said earlier my experience of the DJV180 is that it is a solid tool, but in terms of straightness of cut, unless you increase you budget to considerably above your original figure of £200 and go for either a Bosch GST160 (which features a secondary guide system) or better still a Mafell P1cc (which features a heavy, oversized shaft) you'll never achieve anything approaching a truly straight cut with a jig saw, and even then... But I do seem to recall also saying that jigsaws are NOT truly accurate devices, and most regular jigsaw users, I'm sure, would concur.

As you have surmised though, not all blades are equal. If you need a blade that cuts cleanly and consistently, you need to choose a blade which is specifically suited to the task at hand, from a "quality" manufacturer. In my own experience that boils down to blades from Bosch and Metabo (both of whom source their blades from Scintilla in Switzerland - a Bosch subsidiary, and the inventor of the jigsaw back in the late 1940s), Wilpu (German), Starrett (American, but also manufacture at Jedburgh in the UK) and Lenox (American). I've tried others but never been that happy with the results.

For the straightest and cleanest cuts you also need to turn the oscillation (used to gain speed) down to zero.

Another factor with straightness of cut is that of blade use. If you are constantly sawing curves jigsaw blades (and for that matter scroll saw blades and bandsaw blades) have a tendency to take on a set to one side or the other. Saw a number of tight anti-clockwise circles with a new blade in thick stuff like a kitchen worktop, then try making a straight cut with the same blade in the same material. It's an interesting exercise (in frustration)

Lastly, as has been frequently stated on this forum and elsewhere, cordless tools do not have anywhere near the same power output as equivalent capacity corded tools. It stands to reason that an 18 volt brushed cordless jigsaw will only have the same power as something like a 200 to 300 watt corded tool, if that. This means that battery tools are a lot more sensitive to blade thickness and sharpness because they are relatively so low powered.

An example of this: I am currently fitting a lot of cement fibreboard floor insulation (about 3,000 square feet on the last week), which involves making large numbers of saw and jigsaw cuts where we need to fit around stair openings, queen posts, steel stay rods, ventilation ducts, electrical wires, soil stacks, etc. I've ended up with a corded (Bosch) plunge/rail saw being used for the straight cuts rather than my 36 volt cordless (Makita) plunge/rail saw which used a lot of batteries cutting the boards. The vacuum extractor is a 36 volt cordless/110 volt mains hybrid (Makita) - but it is being used on 110 volt because on battery power it doesn't clear the dust sufficiently well, and battery life is so lpoor when used heavily. Small cut outs are being dealt with by a Bosch GST150BCE 110 volt jigsaw with third party TCT blades, because I find my Makita DJV182 (brushless, cordless) is a bit lacking in power for this material. In fact the only cordless tool I am using is a Makita DHP481 combi drill wich is used to drive a couple of different sized TCT grit hole saws. This cordless kit had been good enough to install about 35,000 to 40,000 square feet of 18mm hardwood sub,- flooring and 9mm birch ply diaphragm flooring over the last 3-1/2 years requiring many thousands of crosscuts, trim cuts and squaring cuts so it isn't incapable.

My other installation team, doing roughly the same job but with DW brushless cordless tools similarly found that their cordless tools were struggling a bit with the material, and so switched to corded kit as well.

Put simply, even with the right blades there are jobs cordless tools don't do well on because they lack the necessary power and where used tooling choice and sharpness is absolutely crucial (a true case of NOT "anything goes")

So what material are you sawing, what blades are you using, how thick is it, and what radius curves are you cutting? Maybe someone could suggest a more suitable blade for the task

 

[uptoyou]

Thanks JobAndKnock, no need to apologise, I did a lot of research after your suggestion, and all things considered this came as my best option - I would have been led to this jigsaw either way I suspect.
Don't get me wrong, its a very good saw, I got it for a good price, and it will likely suit every task I will ever need of it. It was just this one very specific task I needed it for, where my old Makita was failing, and I was hoping this would be the magic bullet to solve everything.
The lighter weight is not as big an issue I thought it would be, it is just the guide letting it down. I hadn't realised that my old Makita was missing the splinter device, and it has a separate guide (almost like the sighting on a gun), which worked well. This doesn't have that, it has this metal loop thing instead (maybe I can mark it).
I am trying to use the V cutout in the splinter device as my guide, but it is about 1mm out now I have aligned it all up.
I am using Bosch T101B blades, which I had previously used and are very sturdy - this has improved the bending of the blade when doing curves.
It is overall a large improvement, so all good.

The reason why I need it as accurate as possible, is because the wood I am using is ever so slightly warped, so tool accuracy is even more important.

Long story short (as mentioned in another thread), I have template diagrams to trace onto the wood. Once cut all the wood is glued together.
The problem is, the amount of templates required is based on American 2 x 8 (I need 7 lengths of wood), with the important measurement being 2" = 38mm US. I cannot get hold of this dimension in the UK, but what comes VERY close is scaffold board - 36mm x 225mm
This is not the best quality wood (mostly good enough for my purpose), but is not perfectly square, adding to inaccuracies.
I can't plane it perfectly flate - I don;t have a thicknesser, and I can't afford to lose any thickness, so I am have to work with slightly 'out' wood.