0:00
In this video I want to give you the basics of using a jigsaw to cut a subfloor panel
0:06
If you've done any kind of carpentry work you can just skip over this video
0:10
It's all very basic stuff. But if you've never done it before I think you might find something useful here
0:16
This is a carpenter's square. So it measures 24 inches this way and 16 inches this way
0:24
That's standard. There's a lot of numbers and things on the side of these that will help you do fancy things
0:30
if you're a fancy carpenter laying out rafters and stuff. But for us here all we want is a 90 degree corner
0:36
So let's say we want to make this... We need to cut this so it's say 18 inches
0:44
I'm doing 18 inches there. But I want a square line. So I'm just going to hold it here along the edge so that the square is resting against the side of the tile
0:56
And then I'm going to mark it. Now I'm ready to cut
1:07
If you don't have a jigsaw and you don't want to use one you could use a handsaw
1:11
A circular saw, a handheld power circular saw works well. A table saw works fine too
1:17
There are a lot of options here. Just the smoothness of this cut doesn't really matter a whole lot
1:23
It's going to be close to the wall. Wall board is going to cover it
1:28
Finished flooring. So it's not a precise cut by any means. Now this is a cordless jigsaw
1:34
I really like jigsaws because they're effective. But they're quite safe. They're not going to surprise you
1:42
There's no kickback potential or anything. The blade just kind of goes up and down and does the cutting
1:48
Most high-end jigsaws have an orbital blade action control. So in this position, you can see the blade is going directly straight up and down
2:01
It's just back and forth. If we go all the way to orbital, can you see the difference here
2:10
In addition to moving up and down, it's also moving in a kind of a D-shaped pattern
2:15
It's moving forward as it comes up. That makes the saw much more aggressive in its cutting
2:22
Rougher too, but much more aggressive. For a job like this, I think we'll just try a mid-range orbital action
2:31
We'll get a little bit of orbital, but not a whole lot
2:35
Just come down here and see how I guide this. I'm going to be cutting on the waste side of the line
2:43
This is my good piece, and this is the scrap that I don't need
2:47
I'm going to cut on the waste side of the line. I'm just going to be keeping my eye on the blade and pushing it through
3:13
And that's it! This is the kind of subfloor that has the plastic layer on the bottom
3:23
The saw blade went through that no problem. If I was actually finishing a basement here, I think I'd keep this handy
3:30
It is wide enough that I could use it in other places
3:34
I'm not going to throw this out right away, even though this is the piece that I wanted to cut and use right now
