The first saber saw

[Branson]

A while back we were talking about saber saws.  They were invented, so the story goes, by a Swiss fellow, who stuck a saw blade on his wife's sewing machine.  Now, I wonder about the story.  He wasn't the first to try this.  Maybe he read The Woodworker magazine.  The attached scan is from the
 1920's annuals of The Woodworker magazine.  (found on the Cornish Workshop)

[johnsironsanctuary]

Leaving the bottom of the blade unattached would seem like a bad idea. Maybe the table rubbed against it. It would probably be an uphill battle to convince the resident seamstress that this was a good use for her sewing machine.

[Branson]

Leaving the bottom of the blade unattached would seem like a bad idea. Maybe the table rubbed against it. It would probably be an uphill battle to convince the resident seamstress that this was a good use for her sewing machine.

Probably explains why it took another 20 years to invent and manufacture the saber saw/jig saw.  The history goes:

"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. In 1947, after development of Kaufmann's invention, Scintilla started producing jigsaws under name "Lesto jigsaw".

Still makes me wonder if Kaufmann read The Woodworker magazine.