Yes. mechanical scroll saws are sometimes called jigsaws. And yes they reciprocate. These were made all the jigsaw puzzles in the '30s. However, both ends of the blade are captured.
The jigsaw we're talking about, though, also called a saber saw, has a blade attached only at one end, the tip operating freely. It is a hand held tool that operates by moving it over the work.
The known history is:
"The first powered jigsaw was created in 1946 when Albert Kaufmann, an engineer of Scintilla AG company in Solothurn, Switzerland, replaced the needle on his wife's sewing machine with a saw blade.[1][2][3] In 1947, after development of Kaufmann's invention, Scintilla started producing jigsaws under name "Lesto jigsaw". In 1954 Scintilla was acquired by Bosch and in 1964 the name "Lesto" was replaced with Bosch."
This information is found on Wikipedia, and is sourced to:
1. ^ Bosch Media Service
2. ^ Invention of the Jigsaw
3. ^ Bosch Media Service
The idea was not so new, though. In the old thread I posted that I had found the suggestion of using a sewing machine to produce a home made stationary saber saw in a woodworking magazine from the 1920s. And now this primitive hand held sewing machine pattern based saber saw, seemingly from 1924. It's the only example I know before 1947, when Albert Kaufmann, an engineer of Scintilla AG company in Solothurn, Switzerland (who did put a saw blade in his wife's sewing machine, so he said, had his invention produced by Scintilla as the "Lesto jigsaw."
Bosch acquired Scintilla in 1954.
