Buying a battery-powered tool can seem like a simple enough decision, but beware: you will find that you’re actually buying in to a whole and often growing ecosystem of power tools. When I bought my DeWalt 20V portable compressor—to reinflate tires after deflating them for extended rough-road trips—it was the first and, I felt sure, only DeWalt cordless tool I needed. I now have ten DeWalt cordless tools. The DeWalt 20V system has proven to be a good choice, and I’m pleased with each of those ten tools. But the DCS334 jigsaw is a stand-out.While jigsaws are handy around the house, they are nearly indispensable for boat work, in the shop, and any time clean, precise cuts are needed in plywood, solid lumber, composites, and sheet metal. With the proper blade, the DeWalt does all these jobs well. In addition to my boat work, I also build out custom camper vans where the most daunting tasks are cutting openings in a van’s sheet metal for vents, windows, and fittings—the tolerances are extremely tight and there is no recourse if a cut goes wrong. The DeWalt cuts with unrivaled precision and on my last three van builds I’ve used it exclusively, despite having three high-end corded jigsaws in the shop. The DeWalt 20v-system power tools use interchangeable batteries across the range from smaller 2AH versions up to 10AH options. Here, my jigsaw has a 5AH battery and a 2AH is on standby in the background. Blades are standard T-shanked blades available at any hardware store.
Photographs by the author
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