# Whats the difference between a Jig saw and Saber saw? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209 "2018-03-26T16:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/21 "2018-03-27T14:35:40Z")
Apparently there are lots of regional names for power tools. Talked to my carpenter. He needs one of these. The scrolling knob on top allows more precise cuts. [https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-motorola&biw=412&bih=322&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=JFa6Wv-iIeeYjwTA8ZuYCA&q=jig+saw+scrolling+knob&oq=jig+saw+scrolling+knob&gs\_l=mobile-gws-img.12..30i10.12759.17290..18860...1....204.1479.0j7j1..........1..mobile-gws-wiz-img.......35i39.K2f7af%2BEfJQ%3D#imgrc=DudlygtLu0raLM:](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-motorola&biw=412&bih=322&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=JFa6Wv-iIeeYjwTA8ZuYCA&q=jig+saw+scrolling+knob&oq=jig+saw+scrolling+knob&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.12..30i10.12759.17290..18860...1....204.1479.0j7j1..........1..mobile-gws-wiz-img.......35i39.K2f7af%2BEfJQ%3D#imgrc=DudlygtLu0raLM:) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/22 "2018-03-27T14:49:32Z")
One puts a fiendish death trap on your head that you have 10 seconds to escape from, because you didn’t always feed your pet gerbil his favorite chow. The other just chops off your head and is done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/23 "2018-03-27T22:02:34Z")
While we’re at it, in the UK (should you find yourself east of the pond and in need of powered cutting tools), a jigsaw means the one that sits atop a sheet of wood and is hand-guided through potentially intricate cuts, and - because Milwaukee aren’t the _biggest_ of names here (though they certainly have a presence) - Sawzall isn’t used so much: the coarser, more demolition-oriented ones are known as reciprocating saws. Jigsaw has been used to mean bench-mounted reciprocating saws into which wood is fed (and still is used that way, given the right context), but if you talk about a tool as a jigsaw, people will expect something hand-held. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/24 "2018-03-29T22:26:41Z")
> [@senoy](#): > > Where I’m from we call all reciprocating saws ‘Sawzalls’ and all on-top saws ‘jigsaws’ No one actually uses the term sabre saw for anything, although some people will call a reciprocating saw by its more proper name. This is my experience too. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/25 "2018-03-30T00:40:17Z")
To sum it up, it can’t be summed up. 🙂 There is (even just from the small sample “people who have posted in this thread”) frequent fundamental mismatch in the way these tools are named. In one area, “X” means a particular kind of saw, while in another area, the same “X” can never mean that kind, because it means something else. Conclusion: I declare that no one may ask me for any type of electrically-powered saw without showing me a reasonably accurate picture of it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/26 "2018-03-30T19:42:46Z")
Table saw, band saw, jig saw, sawsall, radial arm saw, coping saw, rip saw, crosscut saw; I’ve got them all. That’s all, continue what you were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/27 "2018-03-30T20:29:00Z")
> [@Fir\_na\_tine](#): > > Table saw, band saw, jig saw, sawsall, radial arm saw, coping saw, rip saw, crosscut saw; I’ve got them all. > > That’s all, continue what you were doing. What, no compound sliding miter saw? Amateur! ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/28 "2018-03-31T19:12:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > What, no compound sliding miter saw? Amateur! I’m so embarrassed. Forgot that one and the chain saw as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/29 "2018-03-31T20:52:34Z")
What about a see saw? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/30 "2018-04-01T02:40:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What about a see saw? Nope, but does a c-clamp count? Keyhole, Japanese saw, dovetail saw, hacksaw, plus the power saws mentioned above by **Fir na tine** and others. Seems like a good dick measuring competition to me. Next up: blade tools! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/31 "2018-04-01T12:17:07Z")
OK, then, zip saw. They were all the rage in the late 90s, and then I think the company making them must have spent everything on their marketing campaign and disappeared. They looked like drill bits, except they cut sideways instead of penetrating forward. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209/32 "2018-04-01T17:41:39Z")
> [@Hi\_Medlo](#): > > …The Sawzall hadn’t yet been invented, or at least wasn’t available to the average home craftsman… The Sawzall isn’t a craftsman’s tool; it’s a tool for apes to foul things up quickly. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-jig-saw-and-saber-saw/811209.md?page=1)