A few years ago when I attached my Bosch jigsaw upside down to a board I was going to make something like this. I found out quickly that you must hold the board down, and you can't let your mind wander for even a second or you'll have a problem. I was using mine to cut metal.
I was going to make this out of aluminum because I have a tig welder. With thicker material it could be pinned instead, or I suppose it could be made of steel also if you have the means.
There is no adjustment for different thicknesses, but I didn’t think that far ahead because I was going to use it on sheet metal less than 3mm.
I had forgotten all about it until your post.
Bruce, my Bosch is not expensive and I think it's as good as most could hope for, it is an excellent tool.
Hold down had crossed my mind when I quickly discovered, like you, that it must be held down and no lapse in concentration. In the past I always moved the saw under the work and not the work over the jigsaw.
For a hold-down, I was contemplating a roller/bearing/something suspended from above exerting downward "pressure"... actually just preventing upward movement. Any attachment to the board would inhibit movement of larger pieces. Then I thought uneven surface, the thought bubble burst.
Being ispired by your suggestion I found that the hold down could be controlled by a TSO loc dog mounted Bessey clamp (using your type of arm), All it did was to hold that long piece to stop the work from rising. It was just tight enough to provide easy movement underneath yet leave it stationary.
I slapped a curve cut blade into the Carvex. I could do much tighter curves, with fairly smooth cuts and minimal burning...
I quickly discovered that my jigsaw scrolling was no better than my normal scrolling.
RobsCastle commented about 5 hours ago OMG you should have rung me I could have sent you a new power cord in the mail I have heaps of them! What length would you want 6" 8" or longer?
