Anybody in the L.A. area who has/can work a jigsaw? Do you know somebody?

[MoonGod]

My g/f has an idea she's toying with for one of her paintings, but she'd need to have a pattern cut out of plywood several times. The pattern is an outline of a human torso from the waist up, pretty much life size (about 3.5' by 2' I think). The arms are in, so all that nasty detail work with hands isn't needed.

Is there anybody here who can give us any idea what this would cost? We honestly have no idea and would rather not just have to open the phone book at random.

[Maddy McCall]

1. Why not just buy a hand-held jigsaw?

They are really inexpensive, and VERY easy to operate. And then she can use her own in the future for other projects, too.

I used one for the first time when I was about 14 and had no problem operating it. Just exercise care and caution with the digits and you should be fine.

I think they sell for less than 50$ and it would be hard to find a carpenter to do that work for less than that, if possible at all.

[MoonGod]

2. It's one of the options under consideration...

... but there's several issues, including lack of a good workspace.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. I live in a small apartment...

and have a complete woodshop set up in one corner of the living room.

So much for space, but I live 3,000 miles away.

You can get a cheap jigsaw for 20 bucks, but closer to 50 gets you variable speeds and some other goodies. A hundred gets you a really nice one from Bosch or DeWalt. The blade is the important thing, and the one that comes with it will do OK, but a better blade will give cleaner cuts and last longer. A package of Bosch blades is a good investment. Blades bend and break a lot, 'specially the cheap ones.

So, you get a piece of 1/2" plywood, and the lumber yard or Home Despot will cut the standard 4' x 2' sheet in half, and you run a long extension cord into your parking lot, or you put lots of newspaper down on the floor, and you cuts out your shape. Cheap jigsaws can easily cut through two sheets of 1/2" or four sheets of 1/4."

If you get the 1/4" though, make sure you put tape over the cut line on the top sheet, or the cut will be raggedy. And be careful about digging into the floor or carpet. Don't push the saw too hard-- let it cut at its own rate.

Around here, 1/4" luan ply can be had for as little as 10 bucks a sheet, and exterior crappy 1/2" for $15 or so. So, your total cost could be as little as $30, and less if you borrow a jigsaw.

The first time you do this, you will screw it up-- everybody does. The second time, you should see where you made your mistakes.

[MoonGod]

4. Kicking for the daytime crowd...

... her preference is still to have somebody else do it, if it's feasible. We've both attempted to use jigsaws in the past with questionable results... and we'd rather not make this too much of an adventure, if we can avoid it.

Thanks for your suggestions so far, though. We're certainly keeping them under consideration.