Power hacksaw blades

[gashat@dreamscape.com]

Hello I have a three and one half cut power hacksaw that I am trying to get to cut square. It was called to my attention that I need to find a blade made for a power hack. The size is ten inch. I have a Nicholson blade in it now.It does not cut square even with no weight on it, It is new.Anyone know who makes a ten inch blade for one of these saws? Thanks Gene Shatrowsky

[Alistair Hosie]

Buy the best is my only reccomendation as I am in the uk Scotland I can't offer you local advice.Have fun Alistair

[firbikrhd1]

One option would be to buy 12" blades, make a new hole at the proper place and cut the extra off. Starrett and Morse both make good blades.

[gashat@dreamscape.com]

Hello Alistar you typing was fine.Firbk That was going to be my next question. Thanks to both of you gentlemen for taking your time to post. Gene

[jep24601]

I bought mine from KBC. My big power hacksaw never cuts straight though.

[flylo]

I bought 60 14" on ebay dirt cheap, new & 11/4" wide. Check there.

[Ian B]

Gene,

10" blades - all of the power hacksaw blades I've seen were longer. It sounds to me as if this is a machine made to accept the standard 10" hand hacksaw blades. I once had a Kennedy like this.

A few things to look at:

How much tension do you have on the blade? It should be about the same as a hand hacksaw would have (it's doing the same job).

Is there any play in the arm pivot, or on the sliding mechanism?

Is the blade clamped vertically in its holder?

Is it cutting on the pull or push stroke? Maybe swapping the blade around would help - depends if it has a hydraulic relief mechanism to lift the blade on the return stroke.

Note - when you say it won't cut square, I guess you mean the blade wanders sideways as the cut progresses - not that the work's not being held square in the machine...

Ian

[Bryce.R]

get an actual power hacksaw.........

[cameron]

I have an old Atlas hacksaw. I use 12" hand saw blades in it . A crooked cut is standard. I've adjusted it to cut straight, but when the blade is changed, the cut is crooked again. I don't think the hand hack saw blades are rigid enough or made uniformly enough to consistently cut straight. No real need for them to be so, you steer the cut when you're cutting by hand.

I wonder if a small light saw could even stand the stress of driving a thicker power hacksaw blade for long.

Dave Cameron

[oddball racing]

If the blade retaining mechanism permits it, install two of the coarsest (if that's a word) blades side by side. The resulting cut will be wider of course, but on the last Mini power hack that I saw, that was the set-up.
The owner stated that he could no longer find "real" blades for it and this was his solution to not finding a stiff enough blade. He did show me the old blade; unlike the typical 1-1/2" high power hack blade, these looked like a hacksaw blade only slightly scaled up. They were thicker, 3/32" or so and only about 1" high but just as long as a little short hacksaw blade (10").

FWIW, His saw was a Troyke (like the rotab people that is why I remember it) but the logo was different. I googled when I got home and found no matches.
It was also turn of the century, as the castings it was made from would make it an ideal "interior decorators" piece. Extremely artful Is all I can say. When I first eyed it at a tracor show , I thought it was a foot powered Singer sewing machine.
If it permits, give it a try.
Mike