The next time you use your jigsaw, forget about hauling out the sawhorses or cantilevering a hard-to-hold workpiece off your bench. Extruded polystyrene insulation board, the rigid pink sheets used in housing construction, makes sawing easy, whether you’re cutting a small piece of hardwood or a full sheet of plywood. During the cut, the workpiece is always fully supported, so your saw has constant, stable support. The 2“ thick insulation houses jigsaw blades as long as 31/2“. The same piece can be used repeatedly; one 4‘x8‘ sheet will likely last you a lifetime. This same trick works well with track saws. —Vern Johnson
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.