A rare owner does not have such a tool as a jigsaw in his workshop. The simplest (seemingly) device, which, I think, is required a little less often than a screwdriver. Even if it is an ordinary manual jigsaw, not an electric one. If the household has a jigsaw, such an owner can be called prudent. But we will go even further and explore an advanced incarnation of a familiar tool: a cordless version of a jigsaw.
Characteristics
| Manufacturer | Makita |
|---|---|
| Model | DJV182Z |
| Type | cordless jigsaw |
| Engine, power | brushless |
| Speed | 800-3500 rpm |
| Maximum cutting thickness in wood/metal | 135/10 mm |
| Web travel | 26 mm |
| Other characteristics |
|
| The weight | 2.4 kg |
| Type of batteries used | Makita BL18xx (18V) |
| Retail prices |
Equipment
The jigsaw in question is sold in a cardboard box and, alas, there is no plastic case included. It’s a pity. A power tool is not a hammer or a chisel to wallow in a pile of other tools. It turns out that you need to allocate a separate place for storing the jigsaw, which, however, will not save it from dusting.
Complete with a jigsaw, in addition to several blades for cutting different types of materials, there is a strange-looking nozzle. We will deal with it later.
There was no battery included with the jigsaw. This is due to the serious cost of batteries, a set of which, together with a charging station, costs more than any tool. The second reason lies in the fact that this jigsaw is clearly intended for those DIYers who already have any kind of Makita cordless tool. Moreover, it works from this type of battery, 18-volt.
The author is a long-time owner of a Makita cordless tool, but the batteries turned out to be “the wrong system”, 12-volt. Therefore, to test the jigsaw, we had to separately deliver an entire battery station.
At first sight
If you take all the electric jigsaws in the world and paint them the same color, it will be almost impossible to distinguish models, and even more so brands, from each other. This is because it is impossible to come up with a different form factor for an electric jigsaw, just as it is impossible to create a fundamentally new design for a bicycle or scissors.
In the case of a cordless tool, the developer only had to figure out how to best place the battery. The jigsaw has no other free space, except for the back of the case. Everything is logical.
Our jigsaw is equipped with a removable plastic sole. It may be required when processing soft or thin materials with a surface sensitive to damage: decorative plastics, painted plywood, etc.
A special transparent insert can also be fastened to the plastic sole, which reduces the risk of splitting the material being cut. This transparent plate has a narrow slit for the passage of the cutting blade, and, being flush with the sole, is pressed against the surface being cut, protecting it from hooks, creases and chips that may be caused by the operation of the saw teeth. It must be assumed that long-term use of the sole will lead to damage to its relatively soft surface (after all, plastic). Therefore, before each use of this overlay, you should think carefully: is it really necessary in this case?
The plastic body of the tool has rubber inserts, thanks to which the jigsaw is securely held in the hands. There are few ventilation slots in the case, they are located on the sides near the engine, as well as in front to cool the drive mechanism. The lock switch button is located at the top of the handle, it is not easy to reach with your thumb. If you look from below, you can find a hole in the sole, under which there is a six-sided tightening bolt. This bolt fixes the slope of the sole when cutting the material at an angle is required.
By the way, the manufacturer hid the key for this hexagon in the jigsaw itself. You’ll never guess where to find it! And here it is, in the back of the sole:
It is easy to pull it out of the recess by picking it up with your finger. And so that the key does not jump out due to vibrations, a metal plate is used here, which not only presses the key in the recess, but also holds it with a bent tongue. In order to see it, you need to unscrew the sole pad. It is held on by four short bolts.
In front of the blade holder (it can be called a cartridge or trunnion) there is a protective metal bracket, this is available in almost all electric jigsaws.
But the protective curtain, which would go down to the sole, is absent in this jigsaw. However, most of the time it just gets in the way.
Another nice feature of the tool: built-in LED work area illumination. It is provided by two white LEDs that automatically turn on when the release button is pressed and remain lit while the tool is in operation. In standby mode, the LEDs go out after 10 seconds of idle jigsaw. The backlight can be turned off forcibly by pressing the lock button again while the jigsaw is in standby mode.
The brightness of the LEDs is such that in good light, the backlight is almost invisible. But when working in the shade or at dusk, LEDs will be indispensable helpers.
Instruction
Once, one wonderful day, a certain nameless, but very effective manager, came up with a new method of saving. He invented a new type of paper instruction, no doubt revolutionizing the manufacturing process. Well, along the way in the minds of unfortunate users. Now any instruction is certainly multilingual and, if possible, applicable to several different product models at once. Moreover, again for the sake of economy, technical illustrations are located on the first pages of the book, while explanations for them are printed somewhere further down the text. Somewhere very far away.
The instruction of the jigsaw in question strictly adheres to this rule. Well, at least there are not ten or twenty languages here, but only three: English, Russian and Kazakh. It’s easier to search.
Traditionally, most of the text is devoted to recommendations for safety and maintenance of batteries. But, to the credit of the publisher, he did not forget about the description of the controls and even several methods of work. It even tells you how to start cutting without pre-drilling a hole. It turns out that this can be done by gradually cutting into the material at an angle. Live and learn.
Management, operation
The jigsaw is equipped with five standard controls:
- lock switch (on handle, top)
- trigger switch (at the bottom of the handle, under the index finger)
- lock button (on the handle, on the side)
- speed setting wheel (on the side of the case)
- cutting switch lever (on the side of the body)
Let’s take a look at the operation of these switches and buttons, accompanying the information with short videos whenever possible.
In order to get started, you need to press the lock button once, decorated with lock icons. The jigsaw will immediately go into standby mode, turning on the LED backlight. This mode will last 10 seconds, during which time you need to aim the cutting blade and start the engine by pressing the trigger switch. At the same time, an ordinary electric jigsaw bucks and starts frantically moving the file up and down. But the model under consideration behaves differently. This jigsaw differs from others in that it is equipped with soft start technology. It works as follows: pressing the trigger turns on the motor at low speeds. For clarity, they can be called idle. In this mode, the jigsaw will work until it feels pressure on the cutting blade. And only after that the engine will turn on at full power. The manufacturer calls this feature smooth rotation without load.
Do I need to talk about the advantages of such a decision? Anyone who has ever worked with a jigsaw can easily imagine the benefits of a soft start. This feature makes it possible to start an accurate cut in the right place, smoothly bite into the material. Also, soft start will protect against breakage of the cutting blade, if at the time of starting it is clamped in the material being cut.
By the way, our jigsaw has the beginnings of an electronic mind: the described function of smooth rotation without load is not tightly sewn into the tool, it can be turned off and on again. This is done by turning the speed wheel from position 1 to position 6 and vice versa, the jigsaw must be in standby mode. The success of the operation is confirmed by double flashing of the LED backlight. The soft start function is activated in exactly the same way. It’s nice to own a smart tool.
The second charm of our jigsaw is an instant stop. This feature saves a lot of time, because when working with a regular jigsaw, you have to wait a few seconds until the file stops. Here it is enough to release the lever, and the movement stops instantly. The jigsaw in question is involved in the next video, and for comparison, a shot of a conventional electric jigsaw produced by the same Makita is shown. Nowhere is more visible.
Working with an ordinary jigsaw, it happens that you are in a hurry to pick it up without waiting for the cutting blade to stop completely. But the tool punishes for such haste, the result of the punishment is a chip on the material from a blow with a file, or a broken canvas. With the jigsaw in question, such troubles are completely excluded. However, I would like to give the manufacturer one wish: this function would be much more effective if the canvas was braked not in an arbitrary, but in the maximum retracted position.
The next control in line is the trigger lock button. Many electrical devices are equipped with such a button: planers, trimmers, etc. It is really convenient – you do not need to keep the lever constantly pressed, which allows you to pay attention to the grip you need at the moment, using both hands.
Finally, one more control, characteristic only for electric jigsaws. It’s about the sawing mode change lever. This function adds a horizontal movement to the vertical movement of the cutting blade. For this, a special device is used – a pushing roller (otherwise – a guide or support), fixed at the end of a curved lever. The lever, in turn, is driven by a pendulum mechanism, as a result, the cutting blade receives an impulse that throws it forward in the course of sawing. The pulse intensity is regulated by a lever, our model has four positions: Off, 1, 2 and 3. The third mode, as it is easy to understand, gives the strongest pulse. How it works can be seen in the following video, which was shot with a GoPro Hero 9 camera at 240 frames per second and was slowed down by 10 times during editing. On the left – a jigsaw with the pendulum mechanism turned off, on the right – the pendulum mechanism is switched to the maximum impulse.
But why such a function is required – only one who has dealt with an electric jigsaw more than once or twice, sawing different materials, can tell about this. Most likely, he will note such advantages of the pendulum stroke as an increase in cutting speed, as well as a significant reduction in heating and wear of the file. But still, the choice of this or that mode is a purely individual matter and depends not only on the material being cut or its thickness, but also on the requirements for the cleanliness of the cut. An approximate correspondence between the modes and their applications will look like this:
| Lever position | cutting action | Application |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Straight line cutting | For cutting mild steel, stainless steel and plastic. For fine cuts in wood and plywood |
| one | Cutting with small pendulum radius | For cutting mild steel, aluminum and hard wood |
| 2 | Cutting with medium pendulum radius | For cutting wood and plywood. For fast cutting of aluminum and mild steel |
| 3 | Cutting with large pendulum radius | For fast cutting wood and plywood |
The most obvious result of changing the mode is, of course, cutting speed. The next video shows the cutting of a dry pine board in all four modes. You can see how when the pendulum stroke is turned off and in the weakest (first) mode, smoke appears, this indicates a critical overheating of the canvas, which threatens to break it. Conversely, the maximum third mode of the pendulum stroke gives such a fast cut that the jigsaw flies away from the frame while the jigsaws operating at lower modes tread on one spot.
As for setting the cutting speed, the manufacturer also gives a correspondence table here.
| Material | Recommended Speed |
|---|---|
| Wood | 4-6 |
| Mild steel | 3-6 |
| Stainless steel | 3-4 |
| Aluminum | 3-6 |
| Plastic | 1-4 |
However, it should be remembered that the cutting speed is the same individual parameter as the cutting mode. The speed is usually selected in the course of work, because the tree is different from the tree. Cherry is as different from pine as stainless steel is from plastic.
Finally, let’s remember the nozzle included in the kit. It is designed to collect dust generated at the cutting site. A cunningly shaped plastic tube is screwed with a narrow end to the left or right side of the metal sole of the jigsaw. A hose is connected to the wide end, leading to a vacuum cleaner, and the narrow end at the bottom of the tube has an opening directed towards the contact of the blade with the material being cut.
The distance between the suction hole and the file is a little more than two centimeters, and if the vacuum cleaner used has sufficient power, then the dust content in the room during operation can be significantly reduced.
True, free sawing in arbitrary directions in this case is difficult to imagine. Most likely, this nozzle is useful for the stationary use of a jigsaw. This way of operating the tool is not mentioned in the manual, which is strange. After all, nothing prevents you from releasing the sole from the standard bolts and fixing the jigsaw on the workbench up with a file, screwing it with bolts or self-tapping screws. The main thing is to pick up thin bolts or self-tapping screws, with a diameter of no more than 3 mm.
In conclusion of the operational chapter, I would like to share my impression of the main thing that is in this jigsaw. This is freedom from the outlet. When working with a conventional electric jigsaw, which is tied to the network with a wire, a significant part of the time is spent throwing the wire from side to side, pulling out the wire stuck in the gap between the boards of the workbench. Cordless tools exempt from this duty.
Care
Any tool requires attention, and a jigsaw is no exception. After each session of work, it is desirable to clean the case from dust, paying special attention to moving frequent and ventilation holes. It will not be harmful to monitor the condition of the guide roller, lubricate it regularly. It is also advisable from time to time to check whether the bolts that secure the metal lining to the sole are well tightened. It is recommended to store the tool in a dry, frost-free room.
Our measurements
What jigsaw factor is measurable? Yes, none! Measure the maximum thickness of the processed (cut) material? Will not work. It depends on the type of material, its condition, the length and thickness of the file used, etc. The cutting speed also depends on many factors: type of blade, type of material, cutting mode … Come up with a standardized method for measuring something in the case of jigsaw is simply impossible. But in the case of a cordless tool, there is always a factor that interests the user most often. Of course, this is the battery life. Perhaps this is the only significant circumstance that can be fixed and somehow measured.
It is clear that even autonomy can depend on several reasons. This is the sawing mode, and the type / density / thickness of the material, the type / wear of the blade … Even the ambient temperature can affect the battery capacity. But let’s try to create conditions that will be easy to repeat in the future. Let the sawn material be an ordinary pine board with a thickness of 2 cm, set the speed and sawing mode to the maximum, and let’s cut with a blade that is designed for high-speed cutting. Now you can estimate how long the jigsaw will work on one fully charged 5 Ah battery.
The next video is sped up several times, and the footage of the cut made is shown in the corner.
So, on a single battery charge, we managed to work for about 20 minutes, during which time the blade made 26 meters of cut. Is it a lot or a little? Let us give a clear example: a carved casing, consisting of many details of various shapes. The total cutting length of all parts reaches 70 meters.
Consequently, on one battery charge, we (conditionally) did a third of the work on making the casing. This is very, very good! And if the owner of such a tool took care of purchasing two or more batteries in advance, then the work can be done non-stop. Of course, in practice this is unrealistic, because most of the time is spent not at all on cutting the material, but on preparing for cutting.
Battery
The 18-volt battery we had had a built-in remaining charge indicator.
Makita offers several different models of batteries and chargers for them. The station we have is the oldest in the line. Very unusual. There are two charging slots at once, as well as a USB port for charging mobile devices. But the most unusual thing is the presence of an active cooling system: a rather noisy fan is placed inside the case, which turns on automatically while the batteries are charging. Moreover, the station is equipped with a built-in speaker: at the beginning and at the end of charging, it plays a melody from Beethoven’s piano piece “For Elise”.
Charging time for an 18V 5Ah battery is 35 minutes. For such a capacity, this is very fast. And if you charge two batteries at once, then you can work with a jigsaw without interruptions, just have time to change the batteries.
findings
The Makita DJV182Z cordless jigsaw not only frees you from electrical wires. Two rare features – soft start and instant stop – allow you to work neatly and comfortably. Built-in dual-lamp illumination helps you to carefully control the cut, and the vacuum cleaner attachment keeps the workplace clean. The only thing that can upset a beginner is the high cost of branded batteries. However, we have already said that it is customary to buy current batteries separately from the tool – of the capacity and in the quantity that are required. Moreover, these batteries are compatible with different tools of the brand. In particular, the battery that was used with the studied jigsaw can be used with a huge fleet of other tools of the Makita LXT system : from drills and screwdrivers to trimmers and flashlights.
