What is the Best Cordless Jigsaw?

This is the biggest seller on the UK market. 91% of all online buyers gave this a full 5 star review
The base is die cast base and made of heavy duty aluminium to increase durability and maximise the tool life.

The Ryobi R18JS-0 cordless jigsaw is a good choice for cutting straight and curved lines in a variety of materials such as wood, metal and plastic. It can cut up to 101mm in wood, and 6mm in steel. Uses a 4-stage pendulum action and has variable speed control.

This Bosch jigsaw uses a four stage orbital pendulum action, which allows for quicker sawing and improved handling round corners. It can cut up to 80mm in wood and 5mm in steel. It also has a work light and a dust blowing function.

Jigsaw Motor Power

These come in different battery sizes. A pretty ignorant but effective rule of thumb is, the higher the voltage the better. With the better and much improved Lithium-Ion batteries, anything 18 Volts or above works really well to drive the motor.

Battery Pack & Charger

A cordless jigsaw is only as good as the battery it comes with. You should only ever buy Lithium-Ion batteries as they charge fast, and hold their charge for weeks. The bigger the battery the better as it is simply more powerful Most brands will use either an 18 volt or a 20 volt option.

You also want a fast charger. The better ones will be able to do a full charge in an hour to an hour and a half. If you are going to be a regular user of a jigsaw, then well worth considering buying an extra battery. It is always good to have one on standby.

Variable Speeds on a Jigsaw

When cutting materials like wood, plastic or metals being able to control the speed of the strokes per minute(spm), can be an important consideration. The huge majority of cordless and indeed corded jigsaws have a maximum speed of around 3,000 spm.

That really is more than enough for almost all sawing tasks. Ideally though you want a jigsaw with a range of speeds. Somewhere between 4-8 speed settings is ideal. That allows you to cut through different types of material without either burning them, or putting too much load on your blade.

Weight and Fatigue

Cordless jigsaws will always be heavier than their corded counterparts. That is simply because they have the additional weight of the battery. Many buyers say this is a good thing as the weight of the saw, keeps it steadier and you can make a better cut. While there is some merit in that, you just don't want the jigsaw to be too heavy.

A heavy saw can be tough on the hands and arms. Over time that can cause user fatigue. Ideally, somewhere between 3.5-5 Kg is the ideal weight. Some of the very cheap cordless jigsaws weigh a ton, and I would avoid those.

Blade Changing

Initially when buying any type of jigsaw, you may not think of how the blade is changed. Trust me on this, it can be really annoying, if you get the wrong type. Most good cordless jigsaws will use some form of quick release blade.

In other words you can quickly change a blade without the use of tools. Some jigsaws hold the blade in place using a clamp that is then tightened by a screw. Some use an Allen key. My advice is to avoid those. The screw driving one gives trouble over time as the head of the screw can start to fragment. It also wastes time when you simply want to get a job done.

Make sure it is a tool free operation is my strong advice.

LED Work Space Lighting

In the past I thought this was more of a nice to have for my jigsaw. Now I would not buy one that doesn't have it. It makes a huge difference when it comes to being able to easily see the line that you are cutting along.

Bevel Cuts

Most UK users buy a jigsaw to do some pretty basic cuts. One cut that might be worth your consideration is a bevel cut. That is a cut where you can tilt the base of the jigsaw to a particular angle, and make a cut at that angle. They are used mainly in woodworking for table edges and for some cupboards and drawers.

If that is important to you, it is worth checking that your jigsaw has that feature.