a RANT!!! just to warn you.....

[frascati]

Is there a simple rigid (non quick change) retrofit for the business end of this tool?

Bottom line is... this tool SUCKS ABSOLUTELY for accurate cuts in anything thicker than an inch. Even inch thick stuff is iffy, but I don't build pianos, so I can live with that much. I have wanted to demolish this tool half a dozen times now in a fit of rage for its poor performance. Anyway.... onto the story.....

Every Milwaukee tool I own is a JEWEL. Been kind of collecting them over the years since I feel (and they have not let me down) that they will likely last my lifetime and their ergonomics always seems perfect for me.

Wanting to upgrade my dad's ol' Stanley jigsaw for decades I finally got my dream machine 6276-21 Milwaukee about eight years back.

I was immediately unhappy with it, but assumed it must be my own shortcomings as a carpenter and decided to try to learn to live with it. Perhaps it owed to an early design combination of quick change blade and orbital mechanism (maybe they've improved?), but it wandered and beveled (talkin' beveling when not intending to) worse than an eight year old child with a coping saw. I thought I would overcome it with technique, but to no avail. I kept having to go back to the old rigid mount, non orbital, Stanley which cut true and flawlessly every time by comparision.

Curved cuts in 1.5 to 2 inch wood? Just ugly. Curved and beveled cuts in 1.5 to 2 inch wood? Just forget about it. Made no difference if I used orbital action or not. Same crappy wandering.

****************By wandering I mean the bottom kerf of the cut significantly wanders from the trace of the top resulting in very irregular bevels throughout the cut, even when attempting to cut perpendicular.***************

I realize the mechanics involved here. If the hand, somehow, can be made to apply NO pressure whatsoever right or left of the forward direction of the cut then the bottom extent of the blade will not be induced to deflect from the top part of the blade which is being guided by the top of the kerf. Fine. There may be world class pros out there who can do so, consistantly, even on curved cuts. But most of us can't. And the fact that the rigid mount, non-orbiting, 55 year old Stanley keeps the blade perpendicular to the top of the kerf, no matter that my hand is less than 100 percent accurate, is proof enough for me that it's this Milwaukee's fault. The damn blade acts like a noodle in the Milwaukee by comparison. Even perfectly straight cuts are worse than the Stanley. Depending on the blade style and the material being cut the saw itself has to be maintained at a camber of a couple of degrees off of the pencil line to keep the blade cutting in the intended direction.

Whatever orbiting, quick-change, etc mechanisms are incorporated into the design of a shaft holding a blade that is intended to stroke up and down, the absolute HIGHEST priority should have been given to keeping the action of that mechanism ROCK SOLID in two planes. Milwaukee really fell down on this on.

I eventually returned it to Hoekstra Tool in Grand Rapids, MI, (a specialist in Milwaukee), for an inspection. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Could not just return it any more since it was well used and well past warranty.

It finally just found a place in the shop for quickly hogging through rough cuts where accuracy was not important but the orbital action made it much faster than the Stanley. But it remains USELESS for accurate cutting in anything thicker than an inch. Shame that it cost three times as much as the Stanley, even after inflation.

As an aside, I hate the fact that I can't make use of great prices on non quick-change blades or easily snap off and regrind the mounting end of an old blade in order to make use of the unused section. So to wrap up where I began, is there a rigid mount blace retrofit for this saw?

[wayneburgess]

I made this point a few months ago.

Even manufacturers who make some of the very best tools sometimes make a pup.

Just because someone makes a great drill doesn't always guarantee they make a great saw.

[frascati]

I made this point a few months ago.

Even manufacturers who make some of the very best tools sometimes make a pup.

Just because someone makes a great drill doesn't always guarantee they make a great saw.

...you made that point regarding this tool? Did you find a remedy?

I suppose I could just dig into it a bit and retrofit a clamp style blade mount. But I'd rather get something made for it. In other regards this is still a fine tool.

[wayneburgess]

I made the point about tool manufacturers in general, but one remedy I would look into is to find blades with as little lateral flex as possible.

I would not recommend trying to make any alterations though to the tool.

[Conductor562]

No retro-fits that I'm aware of. I really liked the looks of this saw but I ended up balking on it in favor of the Makita 4351

The 4351 has an LED light but does not offer toolless bevel adjustment. Milwaukee's decision to place the power switch on the right side of the tool kinda puzzles me too. This has to be a manufacturing defect. Something in the cutting mechanism has to be bent, loose, or just manufactured to be inferior. I'm a big Milwaukee fan but I believe I'd scrap this one in favor of the Makita or the Bosch. I had a disappointment with a Milwaukee after the utter failure of their 6020-21 1/4 sheet palm sander which I reviewed HERE. Best of luck to you.

[wayneburgess]

Just remember folks the best saws in the world are only as good as the blades you put in them.

[PutnamEco]

Sounds like an ambitious project, to swap out blade holders. It might be considerable less frustrating to just get another tool. Bosch and Festool make some really good jigsaws.