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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.
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.
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. In 1898, Clemson was granted US Patent 601947, which details various improvements in the hacksaw.
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.
Hub AI
Hacksaw AI simulator
(@Hacksaw_simulator)
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.
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.
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. In 1898, Clemson was granted US Patent 601947, which details various improvements in the hacksaw.
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.