Flooring – Jigsaw cuts crooked when trying to rip enginered wood

cuttingengineered-flooringlaminate-floorpowertoolssaw

Cack handed DIY amateur here.. I need to cut engineered wood planks lengthwise – they're 4mm oak on a 10mm MDF base. I'm having trouble getting a jigsaw to cut straight. With a "clean wood" blade the jigsaw almost immediately starts bouncing up and down vertically, even with a tight hold on the saw it feels like it's about to fly off. With a standard wood blade the saw stays down, but the cut veers off to the right in a banana shape. I've tried clamping another piece of wood to the top to steer the runner against and clamping the whole thing to a table, but it doesn't seem to help. I'd be grateful for any advice. Am I using the wrong tool maybe?

Best Answer

You are, IME, IMHO, using the wrong tool, definitely.

  • A (sharp) hand ripsaw would be preferable.
  • A circular saw would be preferable.
  • A bandsaw would be preferable.
  • A tablesaw would be ideal

...but a circular saw is far less expensive than a tablesaw and still pretty capable with a rip guide.