This is more out of curiosity. I came across the term sabre saw and tried to figure out what it was.
Searching the internet turned up results for both a jigsaw:
...and a reciprocating saw:
This leads me to wonder if sabre is a descriptive word to describe a reciprocating blade mechanism found in both jig saws and reciprocating saws. Or is it another type of saw?
Questions like this will lead to contradictory answers. There are some main points I would like to make to aid in everyone's answers.
Experience plays this role very well. As you are introduced to tools you will typically accept what you are being taught. If my dad handed me a jigsaw and called it a Lemon Mutilator that is what I would have called it.
I had mentioned this in comments but your region plays a big part in this. A simple example would be: trunk and boot. They are the same thing but it depends which word you use in which region (US and UK respectively).
Time also changes things. I had a question about quarter-sawn lumber and the meaning of that term meant something different decades ago. If you asked wood workers of different generations what a piece of quarter-sawn lumber was they could give you two different answers that are both right.
I have a theory that both of the saws you have pictures are the spiritual ancestors of the "sabre saw". As the tools evolved into their respective uses, intricate and rough, the naming might have become convoluted.
I would like to come to CharlieHorse's defense at this point. I found an old advertisement for a Weller Sabre Saw. Its the tool Mr. Mantle is holding.
If you look it is making intricate cuts much like a jigsaw would. Modern jigsaws don't have the same design as they do in that picture. Those changes might have driven the name change as well (Warning: This sentence contains speculation). Mostly trying to show that time changes things.
Here is another one just to show that its not just one manufacturer.
I have always seen the tool above, in your question, as a jigsaw and the other a reciprocating saw. Until today I have never even heard the phrase Sabre Saw. If it gives context I am 33 at the time of writing this.
Currently Saber Saw and Jigsaw refer to the same tool. My Dad always called the top item a Saber Saw. Up through the 1980's, the hand held tool was referred to as a Saber Saw in Popular Mechanics, but was called a Jigsaw by the manufacturers.
The name Jigsaw predates hand held tools by about 100 years. It then referred to what we now call a scroll saw.
This 1977 quote sums it up perfectly:
“For one thing, with a scroll saw (sometimes called a jigsaw) you will be able to do all the curved and intricate sawing you would like to be able to do with a saber saw (sometimes also called a jigsaw), but can’t.”
There is an entire article on the history of these names found here.
The item on the bottom photo, often known by the tradename Sawzall, was invented by Milwaukee Tool Company in 1951 as the first electric hacksaw. Generally known as reciprocating saws, they are typically used for rough cuts and demolition.
It's another one of those dastardly terminology issues - I think woodworkers are particularly prone to calling different things the same thing, and the same thing different things depending on who you ask!
I would disagree with CharlieHorse's answer and call the top pictured saw a handheld jigsaw, and the bottom pictured saw a sabre saw or reciprocating saw. Again in reality they are both types of reciprocating saw, and the term "jigsaw" can also refer to a fixed/bench-mounted version of the same thing as the handheld one shown above.
For my own definition I would say that a jigsaw has a shallow blade, and is meant for doing fine, controlled/intricate work generally to thin boards (like a jigsaw puzzle!) whereas a sabre-saw has a deeper blade and is particularly suited for doing fast but rough cuts and is of particular use for demolition when removing old windows or other timbers. Both sabre-saws and jigsaws can also be fitted with metal-cutting and other types of blades.
A further distinction is that what I call a handheld jigsaw is always meant to be used with the large flat base guide on flat material, whereas with the sabre saw it's often used as a quick "cut-off" saw without relying much on the guide, which is usually smaller and may be mounted non-rigidly so that you can easily follow contoured material.
Wikipedia currently claims that the top pictured saw may also be called a sabre saw, but I've personally never heard of it being referred to anything other than a (handheld) jigsaw. To be clear, "reciprocating saw" would be (in my mind) the general term for any type of saw where the blade moves back and forth.
Edit: I've done some research on Makita's, Ryobi's, Black and Decker's, and Bosch's websites (all large power tool manufacturers:
So they would tend to agree that the top is a jigsaw and the other one is a reciprocating saw, though I'd still contend that a "reciprocating saw" is a valid term for any kind of saw where the blade moves back and forth.
In general, a Sabre Saw is a hand held tool, like the one in your top picture. Only one end of the blade is supported by the tool. This can cause cuts to vary in angle when you encounter areas of differing density (like a knot).
A jig saw in normally a bench top tool that has the blade secured at both ends (sometimes called a scroll saw). The term "jig saw" is sometimes used interchangeably for both tools.
The saw in your second picture is a reciprocating saw (sometimes called by the brand-name "Sawzall") and is normally used for very rough cuts.
I'm old enough now I suppose I'm the "fathers" age group. Shop class and catalogs of the era when I was in school said saber saw was the handheld power tool and jigsaw was the benchtop tool. Even back then there was confusion over the terms. Scrolling was something you did with either tool, a process, not a tool. As much as I dislike it, jigsaw has become the dominate term for either. Times, and the language we speak changes over time and I'm afraid the term Jigsaw has superseded saber saw and unless you want to appear as one of the model T generation, jigsaw is the term to use.
Being a stickler for "accuracy" I'm not sure what I'll use. Be correct and outdated and use a term nobody else knows or be wrong but have people understand what I'm saying.
It is somewhat wrong use of the name for basically the same tool.
Originally what you would call a 'Jig'Saw and 'Sabre'Saw were the same tool fitted with different kind of blades, where 'Jig' simply referred to the fact that blade was going in an (up/down) or (in/out) motion instead of rotating or like with a bend-saw in continuous one way motion. thus you could have a 'Jig'Saw with a normal thin/fine toothed blade for fine cut works and a 'Sabre'Saw with a thicker more rough toothed blade for fast rough jobs and metal cutting. Hence the name identified the specific job you are doing. it could be the same tool just fitted with different blade suited for the job at hand.
In 1953, Shopmaster sold the model J.S. 3000 Jig Saw which is what today, most of us would call a scroll saw. This could be converted into a Saber Saw by removing the arm that holds the top blade guide.
They also sold the model SS-700 Saber Saw, which is essentially a scroll saw without the top blade guide.
See pages 14 & 15 of their catalog from that year courteously hosted by Vintage Machinery.
They were always sabre saws until the late 1990's in my recollection. Find any old craftsman catalog and you will see that the portables were sabre saws and the bench top models were scrolling jig saws. However I remember my father telling me when I was young that they used to use both names to describe the portables depending on the maker. Maybe it was more a branding patent thing that created multiple names? Today it seems they are now all called jigsaws for the portables. I'm not sure there is a correct answer.
Many years ago, in wood shop class, I learned what a jig saw was. It was a mechanized saw which used a coping saw blade to make the same, intricate types of cuts. The blade is attached top and bottom, allowing for some degree of stability, even with the thin blade. This, obviously, is not possible with a sabre saw. The sabre saw has a blade which is attached at one end, like a sword. I recall one variation called a bayonet style blade, sold by Porter-Cable, which I owned. The blade was relatively short. It also , as I recall, was prone to the unique mounting scheme breaking. I would like to say how disappointing it is when tool people call a sabre saw a jig saw. I do not believe they are remotely interchangable.
