whats the differnce

Larry...

2 cents...

A jigsaw and a sabre saw are the same thing. Mostly called jigsaw these days. Like the Bosch in the photo. Everybody makes a version. Have been around since water. Blade attaches at one end and the other end waves in the breeze...can be a problem with thick stock getting a perpendicular cut. Actually some do have an adjustment to cause the blade to travel in an orbital path inline with the cut for aggressive cutting (Milwaukee for one). The blade is thicker and wider than the blade used on a scroll saw. It can easily be used for an inside cut (handheld of course), as opposed to a bandsaw.

The orange machine is a scroll saw...typically used for more intricate cuts on (usually) thinner material. The blades are much thinner than jigsaw blades and break easily (scrollers buy them by the gross). They attach at both ends. There are many models and two or three different generic designs for having the top arm move up and down. The biggest problem with the cheap ones is vibration...it's difficult to make an intricate cut with a machine that vibrates so much you can't see the cutline. Today's scroll saws go for less than 100 bucks to over two thousand (the one in the photo is around $750).

I disagree that recip saws are replacing jigsaws. The Milwaukee Sawzall (in photo) is the best known reciprocating saw...it's kinda like Xerox has become the generic term for a copy machine, Sawzall has become the generic term for a recip saw. Some jobs are best done with a reciprocating saw, and some jobs are best done with a jigsaw.

Cheers.

Larry, Jig saw/saber saw can be either hand held or table mounted. The older version of scroll saws where jigsaws and cut different then scroolsaws. Scrollsaws have two arms the cut on a slight angle(sea saw) as the y move up and down. Jig saws attach on the bottow and have a spring that pulls them up(more vibration). Hope this helps.

I always thought that a jigsaw would be the orange one, because I do not think that you could cut a "jigsaw puzzle" with the sabre saw.

And they have always been called jigsaw puzzles not sabre saw puzzles.

Al is right, a jigsaw can be table-mounted. But a table-mounted jigsaw would never have been called a scrollsaw by anyone who actually knew what a scrollsaw was, historically or otherwise...the cuts they make are entirely different, and it's impossible for a jigsaw to make the intricate cuts that a scrollsaw can make. You can check the history of scrollsaws in Patrick Spielman's "Scroll Saw Handbook"...nary a jigsaw in sight. The earliest ones were handheld and were called fretsaws...still available today...check Lee Valley. Then came industrialization and fretsaws were motorized and called scrollsaws...not jigsaws. Check here for some scrollsaw patterns and you will see that a jigsaw could never be used for this kind of work.
http://scrollsawpatternsonline.com/newpatterns.htm

Toni...yep, that's confusing. Not sure how the term sabre saw morphed to jigsaw, but they are the same thing. A thick and wide sturdy blade that can be used attached at only one end. And if you did cut a jigsaw puzzle with one the pieces would be quite large because the radius of curvature of the cut is limited by the width of the blade. Scrollsaws are routinely used by scrollers to make "jigsaw" puzzles, so I suppose to be accurate we should call them scrollsaw puzzles. But check the nomenclature of the separate parts of a mortise and tenon joint for a quick reminder that it doesn't always make sense. Check here for some scrollsaw blades to get an idea of their variety and small size, and partway down the page you'll find a listing for a "puzzle blade":
http://www.mikesworkshop.com/blades.htm
Also, since you are unconvinced that the orange one is a scrollsaw, check here for a listing of the Hegner saws (the orange ones). Also on this page you can see one whose cost exceeds $2k. I have the Multimax 22V, and am quite pleased with its performance.
http://www.advmachinery.com/default.asp?pg=products&grp=24

Cheers.

ok in school this thing was called a jig saw.. but ti does pull from the bottom like AL mentined and it has around a 3.5 to 4" blade.. so which is better a pull down setup or the sesaw setup? and if it pulls down the teeth should be set to cut on the down stroke and not the other way around right? and is this one gonna be to much vibration then like Al mentioned.

I understand that the direction of cut and orientation of teeth has to go always against the material one is cutting and the support that holds it either under it as in a bandsaw (teeth pointing down) or as in a reciprocating, or sabre or whatever is called saw that are pointing up because it is the saw itself the one that provides the support against which the force of the saw is exerted.

Larry mine is the pull down type. The teeth should cut on the down stroke. Also I find mine has almost no vibration.

I think the names have changed over time. About 40 years ago what we now call a jigsaw was called a saber saw, and what we now call a scroll saw was called jigsaw, at least by the people I knew. It could be we were misusing the names, but the "jigsaw" we had then was pretty old at the time and had not been called anything else.

I learned 'em the same as Alan. What we called a saber saw then is now called a jigsaw, and what we called a jigsaw is now a scroll saw.

I have an old Sears Jig saw.. a light weight thing that kinda looks like a flat iron with the blade protruding from the bottom plate... I can cut 1/2-3/4 plywood with it - with a new blade and enough time for it to work.
I also have two dremel Scroll saws... one a smaller 13 inch throat and a larger 16" that has two speeds... high and low... problem with it is... the low speed is faster than the high... need to take it apart see what the problem is with switch.... haven't used either in over 3 years...
also use a reciprocal saw... it is a longish jig saw type with the blade extended off the end... you'll see them on DIY or THIS OLD HOUSE being used to cut open walls and demolition. Haven't used it in a while either.