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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Hacksaw push or pull

    I was having a three way conversation yesterday with two older trades men and the topic of hacksaw blade direction came up and the opinion of the two guys was opposing.

    Is a hacksaw generally set up as a push or pull saw? Teeth forward or back?


    Found this in Wikipedia

    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 vice, hacksaw blades should be set to be facing forwards. Some frame saws, including Fret Saws and Piercing Saws, have their blades set to be facing the handle because they are used to cut by being pulled down against a horizontal surface.


    I know some of you have old school trade background and training others have read some really old texts. What are you opinions and how do you use it?
    …..Live a Quiet Life & Work with your Hands

  2. #2
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    Default

    Handsaw - always had it cutting on the fore-stroke, never seen one cutting on the back-stroke.
    My 1940's Hercus power hacksaw also cuts on the out stroke.

  3. #3
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    I must admit I have never given it any thought, always set the teeth forward. I might have to give teeth facing backward a go and see how it works. Of course using a hacksaw is not my favourite pastime, in fact I hate hacksaws so much I bought a Milwaukee hackzall - marvelous tool.

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Default

    To add another take on this, its possible to put the blade in what I would call the conventional way (teeth forward) but to still use it as a pull saw, as in using your front hand that is holding and supporting the saw frame, to pull the saw through the job, or at least to help the saw through the job by pulling to some extent, and helping to ensure the blade is cutting in tension rather than compression.
    It's Ripping Time!!!

  5. #5
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    Default

    I've always been taught/told, that hand hacksaws, cut on the push stroke, 60 strokes per minute?
    Power hacksaw, cut on the pull stroke, good quality ones, have a lifting arrangement to lift the frame on the push stroke, which is why the solid vise is mounted where it is.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  6. #6
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore View Post
    Power hacksaw, cut on the pull stroke, good quality ones, have a lifting arrangement to lift the frame on the push stroke, which is why the solid vise is mounted where it is.
    Kryn
    Except that my Hercus from the 1940s cuts on the out stroke, against the moveable jaw, that's how the lifting arrangement is timed. I checked another Hercus saw a while ago in case mine was set up incorrectly and it did the same thing.

  7. #7
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Default

    In all cases the cut has to be performed in the direction of the teeth - there's no question about this.

    The question then is this best done on a push or pull stroke and this depends on whether the blade is tensioned or not.

    Lifting the blade to clear the work aside, a tensioned blade doesn't care whether it cuts on the pull or the push as the blade won't flex much in either direction.

    For a blade not under tension the cut stroke is best performed as a pull.
    A excellent demonstration of this is Japanese woodwork saw which are extremely thin.
    Western wood saws have to either be stiffened by backing like tenon saws or made much thicker so they won't flex on the push.

    Another good example are those one ended hacksaw blade holders that just hold the blade at one end. Try using those in push mode and you end up with a bent blade but they work fine in pull mode. I din't know how many blades I bent before I realised they work better as a pull saw.

    After that it comes down to operator ergonomics.
    I reckon its easier to push a conventional (tensioned) hacksaw as using two hands you can generally push harder and smoother than you can pull.
    Same with filing.

  8. #8
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    I can remember as an apprentice Sparky back in the early 1970's being on a job where we needed to cut into a lot of existing Electrical Conduit to install new junction boxes and additional conduit branches and cables. All of the conduit was nailed to the over-head timbers, so we were standing on step ladders and sawing with our arms stretched over our heads. After a few hours of difficulty doing this overhead sawing, the supervisor on the job suggested that we reverse the hack saw blades in the frames so that the teeth were facing towards the handle and use it as a pull saw. It made working overhead much easier, and quicker.

    RoyG
    Manufacturer of the Finest Quality Swarf.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Well I can tell you for sure that cutting on the pull stroke is the way to go when cutting lamb shanks - yummmmmmm. Did that last night, tonight I'll be munching on them!

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