Hacksaw

A hacksaw is a fine-toothed saw, originally

and mainly made for cutting metal. The
equivalent saw for cutting wood is usually
called a bow saw.

Typical full-size hacksaw frame, with

12" blade

Most hacksaws are hand saws with a C-

shaped walking frame that holds a blade
under tension. Such hacksaws have a
handle, usually a pistol grip, with pins for
attaching a narrow disposable blade. The
frames may also be adjustable to
accommodate blades of different sizes. A
screw or other mechanism is used to put
the thin blade under tension.

On hacksaws, as with most frame saws,

the blade can be mounted with the teeth
facing toward or away from the handle,
resulting in cutting action on either the
push or pull stroke. In normal use, cutting
vertically downwards with work held in a
bench vise, hacksaw blades are set to be
facing forwards.

History

A woman using a hacksaw

for vocational training during
the Second World War

While saws for cutting metal had been in

use for many years, significant
improvements in longevity and efficiency
were made in the 1880s by Max Flower-
Nash. George N. Clemson, a founder of
Clemson Bros. Inc of Middletown, New
York, United States, conducted tests which
involved changing the dimensions, shapes
of teeth, styles of set, and variable heat
treatments of blades. Clemson claimed
enormous improvements to the cutting
ability of blades and built a major
industrial operation manufacturing
hacksaw blades sold under the trade
name Star Hack Saw.[1] In 1898, Clemson
was granted US Patent 601947, which
details various improvements in the
hacksaw.[2]
Design

Small hacksaw (also known as junior

hacksaw). The teeth of the hacksaw
blade point forward, away from the
handle

Standard hacksaw blade lengths are 10 to

12 in (250 to 300 mm). Blades can be as
small as 6 in (150 mm). Powered
hacksaws may use large blades in a range
of sizes, or small machines may use the
same hand blades.
The pitch of the teeth can be from
fourteen to thirty-two teeth per inch (TPI)
for a hand blade, with as few as three TPI
for a large power hacksaw blade. The
blade chosen is based on the thickness of
the material being cut, with a minimum of
three teeth in the material. As hacksaw
teeth are so small, they are set in a "wave"
set. As for other saws they are set from
side to side to provide a kerf or clearance
when sawing, but the set of a hacksaw
changes gradually from tooth to tooth in a
smooth curve, rather than alternate teeth
set left and right.
Hacksaw blades are normally quite brittle,
so care needs to be taken to prevent brittle
fracture of the blade. Early blades were of
carbon steel, now termed 'low alloy'
blades, and were relatively soft and
flexible. They avoided breakage, but also
wore out rapidly. Except where cost is a
particular concern, this type is now
obsolete. 'Low alloy' blades are still the
only type available for the Junior hacksaw,
which limits the usefulness of this
otherwise popular saw.
For several decades now, hacksaw blades
have used high speed steel for their teeth,
giving greatly improved cutting and tooth
life. These blades were first available in
the 'All-hard' form which cut accurately but
were extremely brittle. This limited their
practical use to benchwork on a workpiece
that was firmly clamped in a vice. A softer
form of high speed steel blade was also
available, which wore well and resisted
breakage, but was less stiff and so less
accurate for precise sawing. Since the
1980s, bi-metal blades have been used to
give the advantages of both forms, without
risk of breakage. A strip of high speed
steel along the tooth edge is electron
beam welded to a softer spine. As the
price of these has dropped to be
comparable with the older blades, their
use is now almost universal.

The most common blade is the 12 inch or

300 mm length. Hacksaw blades have a
hole at each end for mounting them in the
saw frame and the 12 inch / 300 mm
dimension refers to the center to center
distance between these mounting holes.[3]
The kerf produced by the blades is
somewhat wider than the blade thickness
due to the set of the teeth. It commonly
varies between 0.030 and 0.063 inches /
0.75 and 1.6 mm depending on the pitch
and set of the teeth.

Uses

Hacksaws were originally and principally

made for cutting metal, but can also cut
various other materials, such as plastic
and wood; for example, plumbers and
electricians often cut plastic pipe and
plastic conduit with them.

Variants

A panel hacksaw

An electric hacksaw

A panel hacksaw has a frame made of a

deep, thin sheet aligned behind the blade's
kerf, so that the saw could cut into panels
of sheet metal without the length of cut
being restricted by the frame. The frame
follows the blade down the kerf into the
panel.

Junior hacksaws are a small version with a

half-size blade. Like coping saws, the
blade has pins that are held by notches in
the frame. Although potentially a useful
tool for a toolbox or in confined spaces,
the quality of blades in the Junior size is
restricted and they are only made in the
simple low alloy steels, not HSS. This
restricts their usefulness.

A power hacksaw (or electric hacksaw) is a

type of hacksaw that is powered either by
its own electric motor or connected to a
stationary engine. Most power hacksaws
are stationary machines but some
portable models do exist; the latter (with
frames) have been displaced to some
extent by reciprocating saws such as the
Sawzall, which accept blades with
hacksaw teeth. Stationary models usually
have a mechanism to lift up the saw blade
on the return stroke and some have a
coolant pump to prevent the saw blade
from overheating.

Power hacksaws are not as commonly

used in the metalworking industries as
they once were. Bandsaws and cold saws
have mostly displaced them. While
stationary electric hacksaws are not very
common, they are still produced. Power
hacksaws of the type powered by
stationary engines and line shafts, like
other line-shaft-powered machines, are
now rare; museums and antique-tool
hobbyists still preserve a few of them.

See also

Coping saw
Fretsaw
Piercing saw

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related

to Hacksaws.
1. Woodley, G. MacLaren (1955). "The
Clemson Story" (https://web.archive.org/we
 b/20140518175026/http://www.wkfinetool
s.com/hus-saws/ClemsonBros/history/cle
msonStory-04.asp) . The Historical Society
of Middletown. Archived from the original
(http://www.wkfinetools.com/hus-saws/Cle
msonBros/history/clemsonStory-04.asp)
on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
2. "US Patent: 601,947" (https://www.google.c
om/patents/US601947?dq=patent:60194
7) . Google Patents. April 5, 1898. Retrieved
18 May 2014.
3. Machinery's Handbook, 14th Edition, by Erik
Oberg & F. D. Jones, The Industrial Press,
1952, pages 1390-1391
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Hacksaw&oldid=1188609585"

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