Hacksaws are one of the most common hand tools. Nearly everyone owns one, and if you don’t have one, you need to buy one. Hacksaws are inexpensive and very economical to use. But most of you never use it because the one time you tried to use it things didn’t go well. You broke the hacksaw blade, the blade kept falling out of the handle, or it kept getting stuck in the piece you were trying to cut. If you did manage to get the piece cut, it took forever and the cut ended up crooked.

The main reasons most people have difficulty when sawing metal with a hacksaw, are:

You have the knife in the wrong

You are not using a sharp blade

It is too much flex in the blade

The number of teeth is too low for the project

You're too much pressure on the saw

They do not clamp the work.

I will be on each of these problems as you and I go through this article.

Saws and shovels are designed to metal hacksaw (I'll cuttell you how to use it to cut wood and plastic) and most people will find the cutting of metal is very difficult and frustrating. The reason is most of the time, that they do not really know how to use a metal saw.

What's a hacksaw?

A saw is a metal frame designed to hold a temperature-controlled metal blade. The blade is generally high 1 / 2 inches, and most of them are 12 cm long. The blade has a hole at each end that fits into pens on the saw. Hacksaws are designed toCut on the push stroke. The handle (grip) on a properly designed looked just right for you a little pressure on the blade, if you push it through the material you are cutting angle. While some so-called "experts" will tell you that you are not the sword in the other direction, a hacksaw works well when you get to the blade in backwards.

Do you need a hacksaw?

You can cut almost everything with a hacksaw blade. Although it is designed to cut metal, you can use it tocut plastic, wood, metal tubing, aluminum, copper, and brass. It works very well to cut electrical tubing (conduit), BMX (flexible metal tubing), plastic water pipe, (PVT & CVT) and even nuts and bolts. You can use it to cut a 2X4 in a pinch and with the right blade porcelain tile.

Setting up the Hacksaw to Cut.

Step 1. Determine which blade you will use to cut the material. Use a 32 t.p.i. blade for conduit, an 18 tooth blade for cutting off a bolt or plastic Pipe and an 8 tooth for wood. In practice, want at least three teeth in contact with the material at any time. If you deeper than the depth of the blade cutting using a blade has wavy teeth. The wavy blade leaves a wider slit (cut) that holds the blade stuck in the groove you cut.

You can use it to cut wood. It will be much slower than a wood saw, cut, but it works if you do not something else. Use an eight or 10-tooth blade and mark the cutting line on the board bothhorizontally and vertically. Use the horizontal mark to make you initial cut (groove) and the vertical mark to keep your cut straight. Take your time and don’t put a lot of pressure on the hacksaw.

Step 2. Insert the blade so that the teeth are pointing forward. If you can’t see this, rub your finger gently over the teeth of the blade.

You will feel the teeth “grip” your finger. Put the blade so it grips when you push the saw. The holes of the blade go into the pins on the bottom of the frame. Many hacksaws are designed to take different length blades so if you have an adjustable frame you may have to shorten or lengthen the frame to fit your blade.

The teeth should try to “grab” your finger when pushed. If they don’t feel sharp, the blade is dull and should be replaced. Blades are inexpensive so don’t be afraid to replace it.

Step 3. Tighten the thumbscrew until you can’t turn it with your hand (Hand tight) This amount of tension on the blade should keep the blade from bowing as you cut. Sometimes when I am have problems with the blade falling off, I will tighten it another 1/4 turn with a pliers.

Ok, Let’s Cut Something.

I am going to use a metal pipe for this example. It is easy to cut and once you get a little experience using the hacksaw, cutting metal will be a breeze.

To really use a hacksaw well you need to clamp your work. I have a vise on a workbench that I usually use.

If you don’t have a vise, screw a 2X4 onto your bench and hold the pipe against the 2X4 with your left hand. When possible use a vise or clamp to secure the metal you want to cut.

Step 1. To use a hacksaw properly, grip the frame with both hands. (I am right handed so I grab the handle with my right hand and use my left hand to hold the other end of the saw.) Hold the hacksaw so that your right hand index finger is pointing ahead to help guide the saw. As you push the blade (forward stroke) use your left hand to guide the saw so that it cuts straight. DO NOT use your left hand to apply pressure, just use it to guide your cut. Use most of the blade. If you apply pressure on the forward stroke with your left hand the teeth will usually grab too much and the saw will “stick”. Again a hacksaw handle is angled to give you the proper down pressure on the blade.

Step 2. When you get to the end of the forward stroke, stop and pull the looked back with your right hand. As you pull back not apply any pressure with his right hand. (It cuts only in the direction of travel and pressure on the return stroke will prematurely wear out the blade only). Many teachers, you will lift the saw on the return stroke, so you do not damage the blade. Move your upper body forward and back as you cut, pressure on the flow and a decrease on the return.

Step 3 Repeat this process until you saw the whole waythrough the pipe. With a little practice you will be able to cut at about 1 stroke every second. Don’t stroke any faster than this because it will create too much heat and again wear out the blade prematurely.

Don’t put too much pressure on the blade. You may have to break a blade or two before you get the feel of how much pressure you can apply. Don’t worry, they are cheap. Don’t saw too quickly as that can cause the blade to break as well. Always check to make sure that the blade is secured tightly in its frame.

Reviews. Or Don’t buy one at Wally World

Believe it or not, I could tell you a lot more about using a hacksaw, but this is enough to get you cutting properly. Buy a good quality hacksaw I recommend on my website. Even the cheap one I recommend is good quality and will last you years. With a quality saw it won’t take long before you get good at using one.

DON’T buy a cheap one at the local dollar store. Why? The hacksaw handle has be strong enough so that the blade is correctly tensioned and the approval will be nothing but years of frustration. Buy a saw with the Stanley tipped as the handle 150 565. Some hacksaws have a straight handle and are very hard to use for a beginner.

Blades are cheap, you buy a box of them in at least two "teeth" numbers (32 teeth for metal tube and 18 teeth for solid steel, plastic pipe and general use. But not cheaply buy blades. The blades are cheap and brittleYou will end up breaking a lot of them. A good saw to cut it out with very little pressure, change the blades when they get dull own. To say whether a blade is dull dragging your finger over the blade. If it will do even more sharp teeth, "catch" on your fingers. A dull blade does not. I prefer Milwaukee blades, because it will flex without breaking and last a long, long time compared to the cheap blades. Better yet, buy two cheap saws and keep several bladeson each. Dull, worn blades take a lot of work to cut an item, so change them as often as you would a utility knife or razor blade.

Follow the link below for ToolBoxHero to buy your new Hacksaw, read reviews and get more information:

Paul is the owner of the great ToolBoxHero website. There you can find reviews and how to articles on hand tools power tools and using tools around the home.

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Tags: Blades, Hacksaw, Handles