{"id":2325,"date":"2023-02-02T13:54:12","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T13:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/?p=2325"},"modified":"2023-02-02T13:54:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T13:54:22","slug":"can-you-use-a-metal-jigsaw-blade-to-cut-wood-with-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/can-you-use-a-metal-jigsaw-blade-to-cut-wood-with-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Use A Metal Jigsaw Blade To Cut Wood? – With Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Finding the right jigsaw blade is usually simple. When cutting wood, we use an HCS or bi-metal blade designed for cutting wood. When cutting metal we use an HSS or Bi-metal blade designed for cutting metal. But what if we need to cut through wood and metal in the same cut, what jigsaw blade should we choose then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A jigsaw blade for metal will also be able to cut through wood. But it will cut slower and produce more heat than a jigsaw blade for wood. When cutting wood and metal in the same cut with a jigsaw, it is best to use a Bi-Metal jigsaw blade for metal with a TPI of 12 – 20.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did some tests before I wrote this article and tried cutting metal and wood with the different types of jigsaw blades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also tried cutting metal with a wood jigsaw blade. Read on to see how that went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cutting Wood With A Metal Jigsaw Blade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When cutting wood with a jigsaw, it is obviously preferable to use a jigsaw blade that is designed for cutting wood. But sometimes we might not have a wood-cutting blade in our blade collection, do we really have to go out and buy a new set of wood blades just to do some simple cuts in wood? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are going to make a lot of cuts in wood, for example, if you are cutting 20 pallets up for firewood, then I would recommend you buy a new set of wood-cutting blades for the jigsaw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A metal cutting blade will be able to cut through wood effectively. <\/strong>So if you only need to do a couple of cuts, the metal blade will do the job. However, there are some downsides to using a metal jigsaw blade for cutting wood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The metal cutting blade will cut wood slower. <\/strong>Metal cutting blades usually have fewer teeth per inch than a wood cutting blade, and are also smaller. This will make the cut time longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a 2X2 I cut with my jigsaw. <\/strong>I first cut it with a 6 TPI HCS blade for making fast cuts in wood, <\/strong>this blade made the cut in 5 seconds. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Then I cut the 2×2 with an 18TPI HSS blade for cutting metal, <\/strong>this blade made the cut in 12 seconds. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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The difference in cut time does not really matter if you are only going to do a couple of cuts, but if you are cutting a lot of wood, using a blade for cutting metal will slow you down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jigsaw blades for cutting metal are also less flexible than wood cutting blades, <\/strong>avoid making curved cuts with metal jigsaw blades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cutting Wood And Metal At The Same Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Sometimes, we have to make a cut where metal and wood are stuck together. We can cut through wood and metal in the same cut with a jigsaw, depending on how thick and hard the material is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would always recommend using a Bi-metal blade or HSS metal blade when cutting metal and wood in the same cut.<\/strong> This is because HCS wood blades are not that good at cutting metal, but HSS metal blades are able to cut wood. Bi-metal blades are one of the most durable types of jigsaw blades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanna Learn More About Jigsaw Blades? – Check Out This Detailed Guide To Jigsaw Blades <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The type of metal we are cutting will also be a big factor.<\/strong> If it is a thin piece of aluminum, we will not have any problem cutting through it with the jigsaw. But if it is a 1″ piece of stainless steel that is fastened to 1″ of hardwood, then the jigsaw might have some problems getting through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is an example cut I made, this chest has a thin piece of aluminum fastened onto 1\/2″ thick wood. <\/strong>I’m using an 18 TPI HSS jigsaw blade for metal to cut through it, and cutting through something like this is no problem for the jigsaw. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Cutting Aluminum And Wood In The Same Cut <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Because of the thin piece of soft aluminum, an HCS wood blade would actually be able to cut through this too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can A Wood Jigsaw Blade Cut Metal? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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An HCS wood cutting blade for the jigsaw is able to cut through very thin pieces of aluminum.<\/strong> But in general, an HCS wood-cutting blade should not be used to cut through metal. Cutting hard and thick pieces of metal with a wood cutting blade will reduce the durability of the blade and dull the cutting teeth. <\/p>\n\n\n

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I tried cutting this 1\/5″ (5mm) thick aluminum plate <\/strong>with an HCS jigsaw blade that is meant to be used for wood.<\/strong> I was able to cut through the aluminum, but the blade was basically unusable after the cut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aluminum is also a soft metal, if I tried cutting a harder metal like stainless steel, then the wood blade would have no chance to cut through it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding the right jigsaw blade is usually simple. When cutting wood, we use an HCS or bi-metal blade designed for cutting wood. When cutting metal we use an HSS or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2325"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2336,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions\/2336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainlywoodwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}